Siebel Anywhere Terminology

This topic provides information about the following crucial terms and concepts for understanding and working with Siebel Anywhere:

"Upgrade Kits"
"Upgrade Components"
"Upgrade Configurations"
"Siebel Anywhere Subscribers"

Upgrade Kits

A Siebel Anywhere upgrade kit is an archived file that contains software or Siebel database schema changes required to upgrade a specific upgrade component on a subscriber's computer. An upgrade kit contains one or more upgrade kit items, which are instructions for actions to be performed and the files associated with those actions. An upgrade kit also contains information about the sequence in which the actions are to be performed.

The available actions include:

Executing any type of program or batch script. For example, this could include installing a Siebel Innovation Pack release or a Siebel Patchset release.

Copying, moving, or deleting files.

Note:

In this guide, these actions are generally referred to as installing the upgrade kit, even where some actions might not represent installation in the same sense as what is described in the Siebel Installation Guide for the operating system you are using or in Siebel Patchset documentation.

The Siebel Anywhere architecture supports the creation of upgrade kits in a Web deployment. A Siebel administrator can use a Web browser, without any locally installed Siebel Business Applications software, to perform many Siebel Anywhere administrative tasks. The administrator prepares upgrade kits by using the Upgrade Kit Wizard and the Upgrade Kit Builder server component.

After the Siebel administrator creates an upgrade kit, it is automatically stored on the Siebel File System. From this location, it is available for retrieval and installation by subscribers. Files or scripts that are included in the upgrade kit are stored in compressed form. For more information about how Siebel Anywhere stores and identifies upgrade kits and the files that are included in upgrade kits, see "About Siebel Anywhere File Attachments".

It is very important to test upgrade kits. For example, it is recommended that you distribute each upgrade kit to selected mobile users through the use of a test configuration, and have those users attempt to download and execute the upgrade kit before you distribute the upgrade kit to a wider group of users.

Upgrade kits for Siebel client subscribers can be either required or optional.

Required Upgrade Kits

A required upgrade kit is an upgrade kit that must be retrieved and installed on the intended Mobile or Developer Web Clients or Siebel Servers. The Siebel clients and servers will prompt the user to upgrade if there is a required upgrade. If a required upgrade is not implemented, then the Siebel client can only be started in read-only mode and the Siebel Server will not start.

Upgrade kits created for Siebel Servers must always be defined as required upgrade kits.

Optional Upgrade Kits

An optional upgrade kit is an upgrade kit that is made available to subscribers, but subscribers are not required to retrieve and execute the upgrade kit. For example, optional upgrade kits are useful for making third-party applications, files, or other noncritical components available for users to retrieve at their discretion.

Siebel Anywhere does not automatically prompt users to retrieve and execute optional upgrade kits. Optional upgrade kits are manually retrieved using the Component Upgrades view (in the User Preferences screen), and are installed using the Upgrade Wizard.

Note:

To support this functionality, Siebel administrators must include the Component Upgrades view in the responsibilities that are assigned to mobile users. See "Retrieving and Installing Upgrade Kits".

Caution:

It is strongly recommended that you use the optional upgrade kit method when testing every Siebel Anywhere component upgrade. When an upgrade kit is created as an optional upgrade kit, test users can retrieve the upgrade kit from the Component Upgrades view whenever it is convenient to do so. If the upgrade kit is created as a required upgrade kit, then test users can retain read and write access to Siebel Business Applications only if they upgrade when they are automatically prompted to do so. After testing, you can make the upgrade kit required or optional.

Upgrade Components

An upgrade component is a logical unit of software for which Siebel Anywhere performs version checks to determine whether that software must be upgraded. The determination is made by comparing the subscriber's existing version of the component with the version requirements specified in an upgrade kit. Each upgrade component defines how to check versions for a particular software module. For example, the upgrade component Siebel Sales CFG, which is used to check the version of the Siebel Sales client configuration file (siebel.cfg), defines how to locate the file and how to read the version from it. For more information about how Siebel Anywhere conducts version checks, see "About Siebel Anywhere Version Settings".

Upgrade components can be thought of as belonging to two broad categories:

History-dependent components depend on the presence of certain previously installed software.
History-independent components can be upgraded regardless of the software previously installed.

Components are associated with subscribers by means of Siebel Anywhere configurations, which are discussed in more detail later in this topic. A configuration contains one or more upgrade components. The Siebel administrator can include one or more upgrade components in a configuration.

Siebel Business Applications provide several preconfigured upgrade components. These components are available based upon the Siebel languages for which seed data has been added to the Siebel database. The Siebel administrator can also create additional Siebel Anywhere components or other third-party software. Siebel Anywhere can upgrade these components, just as it does the predefined components used by Siebel Business Applications. For example, it would be possible to create an upgrade component to run a batch program in the form of a BAT or EXE file.

Note:

Make sure that all of the components that you need are included in all applicable Siebel Anywhere configurations before you try to deliver upgrade kits for those components.

Each upgrade component is classified by a component type, as described in Table 2-4. For more information about upgrade components, see "Setting Up Custom Siebel Anywhere Upgrade Components"

Table 2-4 Predefined Examples of Siebel Anywhere Components

Siebel Component Type	Siebel Anywhere Component	Comments
Customer Revision	Siebel Client Customer Revisions Siebel Client Customer Revisions__language-code	This nonspecific component distributes any customer-revised files, such as Online Help files, Siebel Help files, Siebel Sample Database files, or third-party files or software on the Siebel client. Can be either history-dependent or history-independent.
	Siebel Server Customer Revisions Siebel Server Customer Revisions__language-code	This nonspecific component distributes any customer-revised files, such as Online Help files, Siebel Help files, Siebel Sample Database files, or third-party files or software on the Siebel client. Can be either history-dependent or history-independent.
Siebel Upgrade Wizard	Siebel Upgrade Wizard	This component distributes the Upgrade Wizard. It is automatically associated with every upgrade kit to make sure that the client uses the current version of the wizard. History-independent.
Siebel Database Extension	Siebel Database Schema	This component distributes updates for the Siebel database schema used by the Siebel Regional Node database and by Siebel Remote mobile databases. History-independent.
Siebel Executables	Siebel Client Executables Siebel Client Executables__language-code	This component distributes files for installing Siebel Innovation Pack releases. History-independent. Use the Siebel Client Executables components for creating Siebel Innovation Pack upgrade kits.
Siebel Quick Fix	Siebel Quick Fix	This component distributes files for installing Siebel Patchset releases. Use the Siebel Quick Fix component for creating Siebel Patchset upgrade kits.
Siebel Repository File	Siebel Client Repository File__language-code	This component distributes the repository file used by Siebel Business Applications (SRF file). Generally history-independent. However, components for delta repository file upgrade kits are history-dependent.
Third Party Software	Third Party - Adobe Acrobat Third Party - Adobe Acrobat Reader Third Party - IBM DB2 Client Third Party - Microsoft Internet Explorer Third Party - Microsoft SQL Server Driver Third Party - Microsoft Word Third Party - Oracle 8 Client (use for any supported Oracle version)	This component distributes third-party software, as used on the Siebel client. Can be either history-dependent or history-independent. Some Third Party Software upgrade components are for version checking only. Siebel Anywhere is not intended to deliver complex third-party software products by using upgrade kits. For smaller and simpler software products such as Adobe Acrobat and WinZip, you can use Siebel Anywhere to deliver them as Third Party Software upgrade kits. Note: Before using any Third Party Software components, update Min Version values to conform to supported versions noted in the Certifications tab on My Oracle Support.

Upgrade Configurations

An upgrade configuration is a definition of the setup used by a particular set of Siebel Anywhere subscribers, such as users of Siebel Call Center clients or Siebel Sales clients. A configuration associates a particular set of Siebel Anywhere subscribers with the specific set of upgrade components that those subscribers must have managed and maintained. Each Siebel subscriber belongs to an individual Siebel Anywhere configuration.

When Siebel Anywhere checks whether a particular subscriber needs an upgrade, it checks the versions of all components included in that subscriber's configuration.

Siebel Business Applications provide client configurations to support different applications. Some examples include the following:

Siebel Call Center Client
Siebel Marketing Client
Siebel Partner Manager Client
Siebel Sales Client
Siebel Service Client
Siebel Test Client

Each subscriber can be assigned to one of these configurations. Siebel administrators can also create new configurations for special situations or for applications or products for which predefined components or configurations are not provided.

Note:

Siebel Anywhere supports global deployments by including seeded upgrade configurations and components for some supported languages included within your Siebel Business Applications. You might need to create new configurations to support languages for which seed data is not provided. Consider carefully the receivers or subscribers to any upgrade kit you create, and use the correct upgrade component based on end-user languages for Siebel applications.

By default, Siebel Anywhere uses the value of the ComponentName entry in the [Siebel] section of a Siebel client application's CFG file to determine what configuration is used by the client user (employee) and thus what components are to be checked. The server parameter Upgrade Component specifies the configuration for Siebel Server.

It is possible to override a client's default configuration assignment by using the Administration - Siebel Anywhere screen to assign the client to a different configuration. This method of assigning a client to a configuration is appropriate for situations in which the assignment is temporary. For example, a client might be assigned to a specific configuration to let that client's user test an upgrade kit for a particular application's CFG file before it is released for general use. These temporary assignments are also called dynamic assignments.

For more information about viewing the employees that are dynamically associated with Siebel Anywhere configurations, see "Identifying Configurations to Deliver Upgrade Components". For more information about modifying and creating Siebel Anywhere configurations, see "Modifying and Creating Siebel Anywhere Configurations".

Siebel Anywhere Subscribers

A Siebel Anywhere subscriber is a Siebel client or a Siebel Server that belongs to an active configuration. It can be a laptop computer, a desktop computer, or a Regional Node Server. A Siebel Anywhere subscriber belongs to one upgrade configuration. Types of subscribers include the following:

Mobile Web Clients of Siebel Business Applications such as Siebel Sales, Siebel Partner Manager, Siebel Field Service, or Siebel Call Center
Developer Web Clients of these applications
Siebel Servers operating against regional databases (referred to as Regional Node Servers)

For more information about viewing the employees that are dynamically associated with Siebel Anywhere configurations, see "Identifying Configurations to Deliver Upgrade Components".

Caution:

It is strongly recommended that you run only the Siebel Web Client (the client type that does not require a Siebel installer) for user accounts that have Siebel administrator responsibilities, to make sure that administrative tasks are performed while connected to the HQ Server, and to make sure that the administrator is not prevented from logging in for reasons related to component versions. If you run the Siebel Developer Web Client for any administrator account, then it is strongly recommended that the account not be associated with a Siebel Anywhere configuration. This precaution also helps prevent version-related login problems.