53 Overview of Change Activity Planner

Change Activity Planner (CAP) enables you to plan, manage, and monitor operations within your data center. These operations involve dependencies and coordination across teams and business owners, as well as multiple processes. Operations can include rollout of security patches every quarter, building new servers to meet a business demand, migration or consolidation of data centers, and rolling out compliance standards across an environment.

Using CAP, you can:

Plan change activity, including setting start and end dates; and creating, assigning and tracking task status.
Manage large numbers of tasks and targets, using automated task assignment and completion support.
Use a dashboard where you can monitor your plans for potential delays and quickly evaluate overall plan status.
Have task owners manage their tasks using a task-based dashboard showing task priorities and schedules.

This chapter covers the following:

53.1 Before Getting Started

Before you start using Change Activity Planner, ensure you have the necessary privileges and familiarize yourself with the CAP terminology.

53.1.1 Change Activity Planner Roles and Privileges

For security purposes, Change Activity Planner provides the following roles:

EM_CAP_ADMINISTRATOR
EM_CAP_USER

The EM_CAP_ADMINISTRATOR role grants the CREATE_JOB, CREATE_CAP_PLAN, and BASIC_CAP_ACCESS privileges. To create, create-like, edit, and delete plans, you must have been granted the EM_CAP_ADMINISTRATOR role. The EM_CAP_USER role grants the BASIC_CAP_ACCESS privilege only. Without the basic access privilege enabled, you will be unable to access Change Activity Plan and My Tasks features.

Change Activity Planner security model adheres to owner-based management. Object level privileges are currently not supported.

53.1.2 Change Activity Planner Terminology

The major concepts in Change Activity Planner are plans, task definitions, task groups, and tasks. This section explains these concepts in detail.

53.1.2.1 Plan

Plans introduce new changes into an organization, and specifies the start and end date for the required changes. It identifies the set of changes that are required, as well as the targets where the changes are needed.

To create plans you must have been granted the EM_CAP_ADMINISTRATOR role. (See 'Privileges and Roles' in the Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control Administrator's Guide for additional information.) Once a plan is created, it is possible to monitor the progress of the plan. A plan is considered complete once all tasks that make up that plan are closed.

The following terms are used when working with plans.

Plan Term	Description
Activation in Progress	Plan is in the process of being activated. Tasks are being created. Plan cannot be edited.
Activated	Plan definition is complete and the plan has been activated. Activation means that tasks have been created and you can start managing the plan's progress.
Overdue Plan	An Active Plan which still has open tasks but has passed the Plan's scheduled end date.
Due Within One Week	Active Plan which is due within seven days.

The various statuses of a plan are:

Plan Status	Description
Active	Plan for which tasks have been created, and which is already in progress. A plan is also considered active if the plan has been activated, and CAP is in the process of creating tasks. While CAP is creating tasks, the plan's progress will be displayed as 'activation in progress'.
Completed	Plan is complete. All tasks are completed or canceled.
Deactivated	Plan was activated but then canceled. All tasks associated with the plan are canceled. The plan can still be viewed in the Change Activity Plans page, and operations such as Create Like, Manage, and Delete are available. You can view the Manage Plan page for Deactivated Plans.
Definition in Progress	Plan has been partially defined and saved for later use. Edit the plan to continue or complete its definition, and to activate it.
Failed in Activation	Error occurred when the plan was being activated. The Comments and Audit Trail or the log files will have more details on the error.
Pending Activation	Plan has been scheduled to be activated at a future date.

53.1.2.2 Task Definition

The description of one step of the work to be accomplished to meet the plan's goal.

The action described in the task definition can be associated with a target type, or the target type can optionally be set to None which means that no target will be associated with the task. This is usually the case when the task defines a manual action, for example 'Get management approval to proceed'. In this case, the task owner will obtain management approval, acknowledge the approval by marking the task as completed, and then proceed with the follow on tasks.

If the task definition has a target type specified, then it can be associated with one or more targets. When a plan is activated, a task will be created for each task definition / target combination. If no target type is specified, then a single task will be created.

A task is given a start and scheduled end date and is assigned to an owner.

Task Type: Specify the type of task to generate for users.
- Custom (or Manual)
  
  Allows you to specify the Action to associate with this task definition. Custom task types also support two modes of verification:
  - Manual
    
    Task owners will have to update the task status.
  - Use evaluation results from the compliance standard rule to update the status. (Only available for task definitions with a target type specified.)
    
    A compliance standard rule can be associated with the task definition. When the tasks are generated, and as work is done on the target, this rule is evaluated and the results are used to determine if the task is still open, or if the task can be automatically closed.
- Patch Plan
  
  This choice integrates with the My Oracle Support Patches & Updates support. A patch template is associated with the task definition, and when you assign your tasks, you can use the template to create and deploy a patch plan.
  
  Both Patch Template and Compliance Rule require a target type selection on which to base the evaluation.
- Job
  
  Enables the plan creator to create tasks based on jobs. In turn the task owner submits a job for the task or associates the task with an existing job execution. Use either the My Tasks page or the Manage Plan Tasks tab for submitting jobs and associating tasks.
  
  A library job must be associated with the task. Only those library jobs whose target type matches the task's target type will be available for selection.
  
  There are a number of ways to specify when a task is completed.
  - Task is marked as complete when the job completes successfully. This is the default. Once a day CAP updates the job-based tasks based on the status of their associated job executions.
    
    To immediately update the status of a job-based task, select the task in the My Tasks page or the Manage Plan Tasks tab.
  - Task is manually marked as complete by the task owner.
  - Task is marked as complete based on the evaluation of a compliance rule.
  Note: When selecting a job for use with a CAP task definition, ensure that task owners have the appropriate access to the job and any appropriate job runs or executions. You can change the access to a job from the Job Library page. When creating a job, or editing the job later, select the Access tab. Add access for the appropriate users. Failure to grant the proper access will prevent task owners from viewing the job associated with their task.
- Deployment Procedure
  
  Enables the plan creator to associate a configured deployment procedure with a task definition. A popup displays the available configured deployment procedures.
  
  Note that only configured deployment procedures will be available for selection. To create a configured deployment procedure, select a procedure from the Procedure Library page. Click the Launch button, fill in the desired attributes, and then save the configuration.
  
  The task owner can associate a CAP task with a procedure run which has been launched from the Procedure Library.
  
  There are a number of ways to specify when a task is completed.
  - Task is marked as complete when the deployment procedure completes successfully. This is the default.
  - Task is manually marked as complete by the task owner.
  - Task is marked as complete based on the evaluation of a compliance rule.
  Note: When selecting a deployment procedure for use with a CAP task definition, ensure that task owners have the appropriate access to the procedure definition and any procedure runs for the selected procedure. You can edit the access for procedure definitions from the Procedure Library page. You can edit the access for procedure runs from the Procedure Activity page. After launching a procedure, Edit Permissions for the procedure execution associated with the CAP task, and grant access to the appropriate administrators. Failure to grant the proper access will prevent task owners from viewing the procedure associated with their task.
Task Status: The task definitions and task groups all have an associated status, indicated by an icon. The status is determined by the status of the tasks that make up the task definition or task group.

Example: If a task definition has four associated Tasks: Task 1 is Unacknowledged, Task 2 is Complete, Task 3 is In Progress and Task 4 is Canceled, then the task definition status will be In Progress.
Dependent Task (or Dependency): Task that cannot be started until another task is complete.

When creating a task definition or task group, you can define a single dependency on another task definition or task group. When the plan is activated, tasks are generated. Task dependencies are determined based on the dependencies defined during plan creation. If a task is dependent on another task, it will be flagged as waiting until that task is complete. If a task is dependent on a task group, it will be flagged as waiting until all the tasks in the task group are complete.

53.1.2.3 Task Group

A folder containing one or more task definitions and can be used to represent a phase in the plan. When defining a plan, targets can be assigned to task groups. All task definitions within the task group will inherit the target assignments. You can set the task group to be dependent on another task definition or group, providing you a quick way to establish dependencies among sets of task definitions.

The task group is in progress if at least one task is in progress. The task group is completed when all tasks in the group are closed.

53.1.2.4 Task

When a plan is activated, tasks are created based on task definitions. If the task definition has targets, a task will be created for each licensed target.

The following terms are used when working with tasks:

Task Term	Description
Unassigned	Task that does not have an owner.
Open	Task with a status of Unacknowledged, Acknowledged, or In Progress.
Closed	Task with a status of Completed, Canceled, or Deactivated.
Waiting	Indicates the task is dependent on another task, and the task it depends on has not been closed. If a task is waiting, it is indicated in the Waiting column of the Tasks table. To see details, click on the task. The Tracking section will show information on the task's dependency.
Require Attention	The system checks tasks for certain conditions, and if they are found, the task is flagged as needing attention. The system checks for the following conditions: Is Overdue - Indicates the task is still open and its scheduled end date has passed. Is Due Within One Week - Indicates the task is due within seven days. End Date Beyond Plan End Date - Indicates the task's scheduled end date is after the plan's scheduled end date. Is Unassigned - Indicates the task does not have an owner. Was Completed Out of Order - Indicates the task was set to Completed, while it was still waiting.

The task status shows where the task is in its lifecycle. The task statuses include:

Task Status	Description
Unacknowledged	When a plan is activated, all tasks start as acknowledged.
Acknowledged	Indicates a user has seen the task but has not yet started work on it.
In Progress	Indicates work has started on the task.
Completed	Indicates work on the task is complete. Tasks with automatic verification will enter this status when the system verifies the expected changes were made. For manual tasks, users will have to set the task status to Complete once they finish their work. Once a task is completed, the details become read only. Note: Completing a task cannot be undone.
Canceled	Indicates the work specified in the task is no longer needed, and will not be done. When a task is canceled, the details become read only. Note: Canceling a task cannot be undone.
Deactivated	If a plan is deactivated, all associated tasks are marked deactivated.

53.2 Creating a Change Activity Plan

When you create a plan, you specify the tasks required to complete the plan. When you define tasks, you:

Associate targets with the tasks.
Define dependencies between tasks. By setting dependencies, you provide a warning signal that a dependent task should not be started until the task it is depending on is completed or canceled either automatically or when marked as completed by the task owner. This provides the ability for task owners to detect when their tasks should be performed.
Specify a task hierarchy that contains nested groups of tasks with related dependencies. Using task groups, you can organize your tasks and structure the flow of how your plan should be processed.
Either auto-assign tasks on plan activation or manually assign tasks on plan activation.
Specify custom instructions for completing the task or select a patch template that should be applied to the targets.
Specify whether the system will automatically detect that the task is complete or whether the owner of the task will manually close the task.

To create a Change Activity Plan:

From the Enterprise menu select Configuration, then select Change Activity Plans.
On the Change Activity Plans page, click Create. This activates the Create Plan Wizard.
On the Create Plan: Properties page, provide general information:
- Name
- Target type - A plan's target type determines the types of targets that can be associated with the plan's tasks.
- Priority - When managing a plan, priority may be used to indicate the order of importance of ensuring task ownership is assigned and completion dates are met.
- Description - Provide pertinent information.
- External Links - You can also add Links to documentation pertinent to the plan. For example, a link could be one document that explains a specific patch set, a specific internal procedure or policy, the set of applications impacted by the task, and so on. Provide a name for the link and type the URL.
Click Next.
In the Create menu on the Create Plan: Task Definitions page, select either Task Group or Task Definition to create a hierarchy of task actions to perform in this plan.

See Creating a Task Definition and Creating a Task Group for detailed information.

Click Next.
On the Create Plan: Schedule page, you can:
- Activate the plan immediately or at a time in the future.
- Determine the duration or date by which the plan needs to be completed. Specify either the exact date by which the plan needs to be completed or the completion date relative to when the plan is activated.
- Assign tasks automatically or manually. If you choose to manually assign tasks, assign the tasks after the plan has been activated. If you choose to assign tasks automatically, tasks will be assigned to target owners when the plan is activated. See Assigning Tasks to the Group Owner for information on how to create a Task Owner.
Note:
You can leave this Activate page blank until you are ready to activate the plan.

Click Next.
On the Create Plan: Review page, ensure all the information you have entered is as you intended. If updates are necessary, click the Back button and make the necessary changes.

To save your in-progress plan definition, go to the end of the flow (the Review step), and click the Save and Exit button.

Note:

The information on this page is not saved until you click Save and Exit or Activate Plan on the Create Plan: Review page.

53.2.1 Creating a Task Definition

When creating a task definition, provide the following information:

Type the name for the task. Task group and task definition names should be unique within a plan

Note: If you select an existing task, you can create a task before, after, in parallel, or inside the selected task. If you select Before or After, it specifies the order in which the tasks should be performed, and sets the task dependencies accordingly. If you decide that you do not like the order, you can change the order by using Move or Set Dependency.
Select the target type the task definition is associated with.

Use the NONE option when a task definition is not based on a target.
Select the task type. The options are:
- Custom (or Manual)
  
  A custom task is one that you define. Custom tasks may include tasks you do manually, typically outside Enterprise Manager, but want to account for as part of the plan.
  
  Provide enough information in the Action field for the task owner to complete the task, or add a URL to the Links section with instructions for the task.
  
  In addition, specify how to verify that the task is completed.
  - Select Task owner will update the status to indicate that the task owner will manually mark the task as completed when appropriate. Tasks can be marked as completed from the Manage Plan page or from the My Tasks page.
  - Select Use evaluation results from the compliance standard rule to update the status to indicate that the task should be automatically marked as completed when a target is compliant with the selected compliance rule. Click the magnifying glass to access the Search and Select Compliance Standard Rule dialog box to select the compliance rule from the list of rules appropriate for the task target type.
- Patch Plan
  
  When you select this option, use the Patch Template dialog box to select a patch template which specifies the list of patches that should be applied to the targets for the task.
  
  The tasks for each target in this task definition will be closed automatically when the system detects that the patches have been deployed to the target.
  
  You can add more instructions in the Action field, or add a URL in the Links section that leads to more information for the task owner.
- Job
  
  This option enables the plan creator to create tasks based on jobs. Click the magnifying glass to access the Search and Select Job dialog box to select the job to be executed.
  
  The task owner submits a job for the task or associates the task with an existing job execution. Use either the My Tasks page or the Manage Plan Tasks tab for submitting jobs and associating tasks.
  
  A library job must be associated with the task. Only those library jobs whose target type matches the task's target type will be available for selection.
  
  There are a number of ways to specify when a task is completed.
  - Task is marked as complete when the job completes successfully. This is the default.
    
    Once a day CAP updates the job-based tasks based on the status of their associated job executions. To immediately update the status of a job-based task, select it in the My Tasks page or the Manage Plan Tasks tab.
  - Task is manually marked as complete by the task owner.
  - Task is marked as complete based on the evaluation of a compliance rule.
  Note: When selecting a job for use with a CAP task, ensure that task owners have the appropriate access to the job and any appropriate job runs or executions. You can change the access to a job from the Job Library page. When creating a job, or editing the job later, select the Access tab. Add access for the appropriate users. Failure to grant the proper access will prevent task owners from viewing the job associated with their task.
- Deployment Procedure
  
  Enables the plan creator to associate a deployment procedure with a task definition. Click the magnifying glass to access the Search and Select Deployment Procedure dialog box and select the appropriate deployment procedure.
  
  Note: Only configured deployment procedures will be available for selection. To create a configured deployment procedure, select a procedure from the Procedure Library page. Click the Launch button, fill in desired attributes, and then save the configuration.
  
  The task owner can associate a CAP task with a procedure run which has been launched from the Procedure Library. Ensure that the task owners have permission to view the necessary procedure runs.
  
  There are a number of ways to specify when a task is completed.
  - Task is marked as complete when the deployment procedure completes successfully. This is the default.
  - Task is manually marked as complete by the task owner.
  - Task is marked as complete based on the evaluation of a compliance rule.
  Note: When selecting a deployment procedure for use with a CAP task, ensure that task owners have the appropriate access to the procedure definition and any procedure runs for the selected procedure. You can edit the access for procedure definitions from the Procedure Library page. You can edit the access for procedure executions from the Procedure Activity page. After launching a procedure, Edit Permissions for the procedure execution associated with the CAP task, and grant permission to the appropriate administrators. Failure to grant the proper access will prevent task owners from viewing the procedure associated with their task.
Provide the action for this task definition, for example, schedule a blackout, backup a database, and so on.
Select the verification method. The methods displayed are dependent on the type of task. Methods include:
- Task owner will manually update the status
- Use status from job execution to update the status
- Use status from procedure run to update the status
- Use evaluation results from the compliance standard rule to update the status. Select the compliance standard rule.
Patch plan deployments are automatically verified by the system.
Click Add to add links to documentation pertinent to the task definition. Provide a name for the link and type the URL.
Click Next.

Note: The information on this page is not saved until you click Save and Exit or Activate Plan on the Create Plan: Review page.

Setting Dependencies

When you add task definitions to the plan, using the Add After or Add Before options automatically set a task dependency to specify the order in which the tasks should be completed. If you want to change the order, use the Move option to move a single task before or after another task.

You can manually specify a dependency between task definitions to indicate whether a task definition should be completed before another one starts. Use Set Dependency to move a task and all the tasks after it to be performed after another task. To set a dependency, select a task definition and click Set Dependency located in the toolbar. Specify the task definition that should be completed before the selected one starts. This does not prevent the task owner from completing a task definition out of order, but the task owner will be able to see the dependency and will be warned that the task definition should wait until the dependency is completed.

Dependencies can only be created on task definitions that are defined at the same level of the task definition tree, and that appear above the selected task definition.

Moving Task Definitions

Task definitions can be moved to a different location in the tree by selecting a task definition and clicking the Move button. Note that this does not affect the order of task definition execution, unless by moving the task definition a dependency must be removed. Moving a task definition in or out of a task group can affect the targets added to the task definition if the target is inherited from the task group.

Note: The information on this page is not saved until you click Save and Exit on the Create Plan: Review page.

Adding Targets

Click Add Targets to select the targets associated with the task. To activate the plan, there must be at least one target associated with each task except for tasks with None as the target type.

If the target type for the plan is a system, tasks will only be created for targets in the system appropriate to the task definition.

Note the following:

You can only add targets that correspond to the target type for the plan. If the target type for the plan is a system, tasks will only be created for targets appropriate to the task definition.

For example, if the plan target type is a Database System and the task definition is for a Listener, tasks will be created for any Listener targets associated with the Database Systems you select.
Assigning targets to task groups

If you assign targets to a task group, the targets will also be added to all the tasks within the group.
If a task specifies a target type, at least one target must be associated with it before the plan can be activated.
To see which targets are added to a task or task group, select the task definition and click the Edit Targets button, or the target count in the table.

The Edit Targets dialog box will show the targets added directly to the selected task, as well as the targets inherited from enclosing task groups.

53.2.2 Creating a Task Group

Use task groups to organize tasks. Task groups are useful for assigning targets to tasks. When targets are added to a task group, the targets will also be added to the tasks inside the group.

Provide the following information:

Type the name for the task group. Task group and task definition names should be unique within a plan.

Note: If you select an existing task group, you can create a task group (or task definition) before, after, in parallel, or inside the selected task group. If you select Before or After, it specifies the order in which the task groups (or task definitions) should be performed, and sets the task group (task definition) dependencies accordingly. If you decide that you do not like the order, you can change the order by using Move or Set Dependency.
Provide a description of the task group, for example, what is the purpose of the group. A task group is a folder used to group related task definitions.
Click OK.

Note: The information on this page is not saved until you click Save and Exit on the Create Plan: Review page.

53.3 Operations on Change Activity Plans

You can perform the following on plans:

53.3.1 Creating a Plan Like Another Plan

When you have a plan that meets your requirements, you can create a plan like another plan. This saves you time and money.

On the Change Activity Plans page, highlight the plan which you want to mimic. Click Create Like. In the dialog box, type the name of the new plan. Click OK.

This activates the Create Plan Wizard. Follow the steps outlined in Creating a Change Activity Plan. The following steps alert you to changes that have consequences when creating a plan like another plan.
On the Create Plan: Properties page, you can change the name of the plan. You can also change the target type but if you do, all the task definitions will be removed!

Click Next.
On the Create Plan: Tasks page, you can add, edit, and remove task definitions and task groups. You can also move task definitions and task groups within the plan.

When moving or copying task definitions and task groups, dependencies if set will be retained. It is strongly recommended that all task names be unique. This ensures less confusion when managing tasks after the plan has been activated. During the copy operation, a new name with an updated index is provided to propagate unique naming. The name can be changed using edit.

Click Next.
On the Create Plan: Targets page, you can add and edit targets associated with a task definition. On the resulting dialog box, select the targets associated with the task definition. There must be at least one target associated with each task definition. Click OK after you have made the changes. Click Next.
On the Create Plan: Activate page, you can activate the schedule.

Note: You can leave this Activate page blank until you are ready to activate the plan.

Click Next.
On the Review page, ensure all the information you have entered is as you intended. If updates are necessary, click the Back button and make the necessary changes.

You also have the option to Save and Exit if you are not ready to activate the plan.

Click Activate if you are ready to activate the plan. Click Refresh on the Change Activity Plans page to see that the plan is activated. You can only manage a plan after it has been activated.

53.3.2 Editing a Plan

With the exception of the activity plan's owner, the types of modifications that can be performed on an activity plan are dependent on the activity plan's status.

Pending Activation - Indicates the plan is scheduled to start some time in the future. This plan can be modified up to and until the start date at which time it becomes Active.

The Edit button is enabled for activity plans that have not yet been activated. Clicking the Edit button shows a wizard that is essentially the same as the Create Plan wizard. All edits are enabled. Follow the steps outlined in Creating a Change Activity Plan.
Active - Once an activity plan has been activated, editing is available only from the Manage Plan page. From this page, it is possible to update the activity plan's scheduled end date and depending on a task's status, assign a task, update a task's start or scheduled end date, and cancel a task.
Completed, Deactivated - No edits are allowed
Definition in Progress - Edits are allowed

To edit a plan, on the Change Activity Plans page, highlight a plan in the Change Activity Plans table. Click Edit. This activates the Create Plan Wizard.

For information on how to change the owner of a plan, see Changing the Owner of a Plan.

53.3.3 Deleting a Plan

Delete a plan when it is no longer useful.

To delete a plan:

On the Change Activity Plans page, highlight a plan in the Change Activity Plans table.
Click Delete.
In the resulting Confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

53.3.4 Deactivating a Plan

Deactivate a plan when the plan is no longer relevant to the original task or project, but might prove to be useful for future informational purposes or auditing. Also consider that the structure of this plan could be useful for future projects.

Deactivating a plan results in the plan's tasks being canceled and the plan's progress is no longer monitored. However, for viewing purposes, the plan continues to be available from the Change Activity Plans pages.

If you no longer need to view the plan, consider deleting the plan instead of deactivating it.

Note:

After a plan is deactivated, it cannot be re-activated.

On the Change Activity Plans page, highlight a plan in the Change Activity Plans table.
From the Actions menu, select Deactivate.
In the resulting Confirmation dialog box, click Yes, deactivate plan.

53.3.5 Exporting Plans

Exporting plans captures in an external document the status of the Change Activity Plans.

To export activity plans:

From the Actions menu on the Change Activity Plans page, select Export.
Either save the file or open it as a spreadsheet.

The export function exports a list of all the plans, not an individual plan.

Note:

The resulting spreadsheet is in Read Only format.

53.3.6 Printing Plans

Because reporting is a major part of Project tracking and Auditing, print the plans to provide information to management.

To print plans:

From the Actions menu on the Change Activity Plans page, select Print.
Print creates a printable page in another tab. Select the tab and then Print content. The content is the list of all Plans, not an individual plan.

53.3.7 Changing the Owner of a Plan

The owner of an activity plan can be updated regardless of the activity plan's status. To change the owner of an activity plan:

In the Change Activity Plans table located on the Change Activity Plans page, highlight the plan whose owner you want to change.
From the Actions menu, select Change Owner.
In the resulting table, select the name of the new owner. Click Select.

Note:

The owner of the plan and Super Administrator can change the owner.

You can change the Owner of a task based on the Target Owner. If the task has a target, and that Target has an Owner defined, then you can set the task Owner to the Target Owner.

Assigning Tasks to the Group Owner

For project purposes, you might need to assign tasks to a manager. This enables the manager to evaluate the work load, the availability of the team, and then assign tasks accordingly.

To assign tasks to a group owner, you must first create a target property. The following steps explain how to create a target property.

Create an emcli property:

emcli login -username=sysman
emcli add_target_property -property=CAP_assignments  -target_type="*"

where CAP_assignments represents any property (NOTE: The property MUST begin with CAP_)
and * represents all targets in the Enterprise Manager Repository

From the Targets menu, select Host. From the table, click the host in which you are interested. On the resulting Host home page, from the Host menu located in the upper-left corner, select Target Setup, then select Properties. Type the target property value for the target.

Using the CAP UI, you can reassign tasks using this target property. For example, on the Tasks tab located on the Manage Plan page, click Change Owner, then select Assign Tasks by Target Property.

53.4 Managing a Change Activity Plan

After you create a plan, you need to manage the plan. The Change Activity Plans page displays a table of plans, along with their status and progress. It is the place to manage a plan once a plan is activated.

Using the manage capabilities of Change Activity Planner, you can:

View all activated plans; cancel activated plans.
Drill into the plan and get more details and manage individual tasks. This helps you to identify any issues that may delay the activity plan completion deadline.
View the audit trail on who made changes to the plan and what changes were made to the plan.
View and update links. Links associated with the plan during creation can be viewed during plan management. Plan owners and privileged users can update existing links.
Reassign a plan to a different plan owner; reassign a task to a different task owner.
Change the scheduled end date of the plan.
Manage tasks
- Manually update task status to: acknowledged, in progress, or cancelled.
- Update status to completed for manual tasks.
- Maintain audit trail on who made changes to the plan and what changes were made to the plan.
- View dependent tasks.

To manage a plan, on the Change Activity Plans page, highlight a plan that has been activated and click Manage or click the plan name.

The Manage Plan page provides the following features to help you manage your plan:

Summary Tab

Provides an overall summary of the plan's status including the status of tasks and plan summary.
Tasks Tab

Enables you to manage all the plan's tasks. Tasks can be updated individually or in bulk.
Comments and Audit Trail Tab

Enables you to view the audit trail to determine who made changes to the plan and what changes were made to its tasks.

53.4.1 Summary Tab

The Summary tab provides an overall summary of the plan's status. The following information is provided:

Overview - Shows the progress that has been made in the accomplishment of the plan. Plan details are also included: status, scheduled end date, priority, owner, and links.

The estimated end date is the maximum scheduled end date of all the tasks that make up the plan.
Plan Summary - Visual depiction of the task definitions and task groups that make up the plan. Dependencies are indicated by arrows between the objects in the plan and show the order in which tasks should be performed.

You can view the Plan Summary in either graph or table format. The topology graph (and alternate table view) show all the task definitions and task groups that make up the plan and the order in which the tasks should be executed.

The task definitions and task groups all have an associated status, indicated by an icon. The status is determined by the status of the tasks that make up the task definition or task group.

Example: If a task definition has four associated Tasks: Task 1 is Unacknowledged, Task 2 is Complete, Task 3 is In Progress and Task 4 is Canceled, then the task definition status will be In Progress.

Table View

In Table view, there are counts associated with each Task Definition / Task Group. Clicking the links displays the Tasks tab which automatically adds search filters to allow you to see details on that task definition / task group based on the link you clicked. For example, when you click the Overdue link, the task tab displays with the task name set and the Overdue flag checked (in requires attention). You will then see all overdue tasks outstanding for the task definition you were looking at in the table.

From the Table view of the Plan Summary, you can Print and Export the plan.

Graph View

When using the graph format, you can choose the graph format to be either top-down or left-to-right. You can opt for the following annotations to be displayed on the graph: Scheduled Start Date, Scheduled End Date, or Total Tasks.

In graph view, arrows will be drawn between task definitions that have a dependency relationship. Arrows will point from a task definition that needs to be completed first, toward a task definition that must wait for its completion.

Task groups are drawn as an encompassing box around other task definitions.

Hover over a task definition name and the resulting arrow to display information about the tasks created as a result of this task definition.

Right-click on an empty area of the graph to bring up a menu that allows you to switch the orientation of the graph, or print the contents of the graph.

The Display option allows you to toggle between the Graph and Table views.
If a plan is not yet completed, you can change its scheduled end date by clicking on the calendar icon next to the Scheduled End Date in the Overview section.
You can view the task completion trend by clicking on the line chart icon next to the Progress(%) in the Overview section.

53.4.2 Tasks Tab

Use the Tasks tab to manage all the plan's tasks. Tasks can be updated individually or in bulk.

Status of Tasks

Pie chart breakdown of the plan by task status.
Views

This section provides quick links to allow you to quickly find tasks that require attention. The supported views are: Unassigned Tasks, Unacknowledged Tasks, Overdue Tasks, Due Within One Week Tasks, and All Active.

All Active shows all open tasks. There is also a Show All link that shows all plan tasks, including completed and canceled tasks.
Tasks

This section displays a table of tasks and allows you to search, view and update the plan tasks. The Actions menu and table buttons provide bulk task update support for operations like setting dates, changing task owners, acknowledging and canceling tasks. By default, the tasks are filtered to show only open tasks.

Select a single task to see and update task details or select multiple tasks, and use the bulk operation buttons at the top of the table, and in the table's Action menu.

The plan task view automatically filters out closed tasks but search filters can be set by expanding the search section, or using the View Links.

Single Task

When a single task is selected, you can view and edit task information using the General tab, for example, target name. You can add task comments and use the Comments and Audit Trail tab to determine who made changes to the plan and what changes were made to the plan. The information is specific to the task you are looking at. Therefore it tracks all changes made to that task including comments that were manually added.

Multiple Tasks (Bulk Operations)

When multiple tasks are selected, you can perform the following:
- Acknowledge a task. Acknowledging a task means you have seen the task but have not started working on it. The only users who can set a task to Acknowledged are: the task owner, the plan owner, and super administrator. When a user is assigned a task, he is allowed to see the plan that contains the task.
- Cancel a task
- Set scheduled start and end dates
- Change owners
- Submit a job. You can submit a job only if the tasks are part of the same task definition.
  
  - Associate with existing job execution. Choose an existing job execution to associate with all the selected tasks. Note from engineer: Didn't have time to implement the bulk case.
- Create a patch plan. A patch plan can be created when patch plan-based tasks are selected. The tasks must be part of the same task definition. Use the Patches and Updates page to deploy the patch plan.
- Associate with existing patch plan. Note that when the patches in the patch template for the task definition have been applied to the task's target, the task will close automatically whether or not a patch plan is associated with the task.
- Associate with existing procedure run. This option is enabled for tasks in the same task definition. Once you create the association, use the Deployment Library page to launch the deployment procedure.
The task table also supports Export and Print of the task list. Use the Action menu for these operations.

Requiring Attention

When you click the Requires Attention icon in the table, the General tab and the Comments and Audit Trail tabs appear. Study the available information to determine what you should do next. For example, if the plan is overdue, determine what task is causing the delay.

You can study the audit trail for a particular task, for example, dates, whether dependencies exist, and owner or status of the task changes.

Changing Owner

One especially helpful thing you can do is change the owner. This is particularly useful when job responsibilities change and user roles change. Change Owner shows you a list of users; select the new user.

53.4.3 Comments and Audit Trail Tab

View the audit trail to determine who made changes to the plan and what changes were made to its tasks.

53.5 Viewing My Tasks

The My Tasks page provides you a way to manage the tasks assigned to you. My Tasks provides an overview of your tasks and allows you to search, view, and update your tasks.

To access the page:

From the Enterprise menu, select Configuration, then select My Tasks.
Highlight the task on which you want to perform any of the following operations:
- Change the owner of the task.
- Cancel the task.
- Set scheduled start and end dates for the task.

Note: You can select one or more tasks in the table and access bulk operations, such as Acknowledge and Change Owner.

By default the tasks are filtered to show only open tasks.

The following sections are provided on the My Task page:

Status of Tasks - A pie chart summary of the user's task, by status.
Advanced search options.
Views - Provides quick links to allow you to quickly find tasks that require attention. The supported views are: Overdue Tasks, Due Within One Week Tasks, Unacknowledged Tasks, and All Active.

All Active shows all open tasks. The Show All link shows all tasks, including completed, and canceled tasks.
Tasks - Displays a table of tasks and allows you to search, view, and update the tasks. The Actions menu and table buttons provide bulk task update support for operations like setting dates, changing task owners, acknowledging and canceling tasks.

Selecting a Single Task

Selecting a single task allows you to view and edit the details of the task, and lets you add comments to the task, as well as review the comments and audit trail for the task.

When you select a single task, the data associated with the task is displayed in the following tabs:
- General: Provides task details and tracking information
- Task Details: Provides basic task information like the plan, target and task action. In this section you can update the task's scheduled start date and scheduled end date.
  
  From the task details section, you can submit the job, create a patch plan, associate the task with a patch plan, associate a job with a job execution, and associate a job with a deployment procedure run.
Selecting Multiple Tasks

If you multi-select tasks in the task table, you can use the table buttons (and Actions menu) to perform actions across tasks. For example: Acknowledge, Change Owner, Cancel, Set Scheduled Start Date, Set Scheduled End Date for multiple tasks at one time. In addition, you can Submit Job, Associate with Existing Job Execution, Create Patch Plan, Associate with Existing Patch Plan, and Associate with Existing Deployment Procedure Execution.
- The bulk Change Owner feature supports the following ways of setting the owner:
  - Assign Tasks to User (Select using the Enterprise Manager user selector.)
  - Assign Tasks to Target Owners: (Only applies to tasks that have targets. The Target Owner must be set for that target for the assignment to take place.) Note: This label can change to Assign Tasks by Target Property, if you add any Change Activity Planner target properties to your environment. For additional information, see the 'Overview of Change Activity Planner' chapter in the Oracle Enterprise Manager Lifecycle Management Administrator's Guide.
  - Set Tasks to Unassigned (Removes the owner from the task.)
- For job-based tasks, you can select multiple tasks and submit one job to complete the tasks, provided the tasks have the same task definition.
  
  If the task definitions for the selected tasks do not all refer to the same job, the Submit Job option will be disabled.
- For deployment procedure-based tasks, all the tasks must have the same task definition. If the task definitions for the selected tasks do not all refer to the same deployment procedure, the Associate with Existing Deployment Procedure Execution option will be disabled.
- For patch template based tasks, the plan creator associates the task definition with a patch template. The task owner can either associate the task with an existing patch plan, or create a new patch plan. The patch template must be the same for all selected tasks.
Tracking: Allows you to see and edit the current owner and the task status. If this task depends on another task, the dependency will be displayed and, in the case where the task is waiting on this dependency, the waiting icon will be visible. If this task requires attention, details of the issues will be provided in this section.
Comments and Audit Trail: Displays all comments and the audit trail annotations.

Note:

For tasks involving jobs and deployments procedures, if you do not see your assigned task in the Tasks region, ensure you have necessary permissions to see the job and deployment procedure. If you do not have the appropriate access, contact the person who created the job or deployment procedure.

53.6 Example of Using Change Activity Planner

This section provides use cases when using Change Activity Planner.

Sections include:

53.6.1 Automating Activity Planning

For example, the System Manager or DBA wants to track and ensure the application of critical security patches to all production databases within three months.

The System Manager or DBA would perform the following steps:

Create a new plan and provide the priority of the activity plan, activity plan description, and the target type to which the activity plan applies.

The new activity plan is associated to the selected target type.
Create new task definitions/task groups under this plan. This is an iterative process until you finish entering all task definitions and task groups.

Task definitions can be set to complete automatically based on the evaluation of compliance standard rules, or require manual status update from task owners.

For information regarding compliance standard rules, see Managing Compliance.
Optional step. Assign at least one target to these tasks on which tasks need to be performed.

Task definitions that have a specified target type must be assigned at least one target of the specified type. If multiple targets are assigned to a task definition, a separate task will be created for each target. Note: Task definitions with target type 'None' do not require a target selection.

Note: For tasks involving jobs and deployments procedures, if you do not see the associated job or deployment procedure for your assigned task in the task details region, ensure you have the required permissions to see the job and deployment procedure. If you do not have access, contact the person who created the job or deployment procedure. You may also need to request permission to see specific job or procedure runs if they were submitted by another user.
Decide whether Enterprise Manager should automatically assign owners to the new tasks or you can manually assign owners to tasks after you have decided to activate the plan.
Activate the activity plan now or at some later point in time.

System either activates the activity plan immediately or schedules it to be activated at the time provided by the manager. Whenever the activity plan is activated, tasks are created and assigned to task owners. Tasks are automatically assigned to a target owner or will be assigned to owners the user has assigned.

If a task is defined such that the task owner updates the task status, the task owner has to manually mark it as completed. If the task status is updated based on a compliance standard rule, the task will be automatically marked as complete when the target for the task is compliant with the rule.

Task groups will be marked complete when all sub-tasks are complete.

53.6.2 Additional Steps in Automating Activity Planning

Here are additional steps you can perform when automating activity planning:

Supply URL links to the activity plan or task.
Get graphical topological view of the activity plan.
Automatically close the task using a compliance standard rule. The system will automatically close the task if the rule check passes on the chosen targets.
Close the task manually.
When you assign targets to a task group, all tasks in the task group will get the assignment. You can assign targets at the task group level or the individual task level. So if all tasks should be performed on Database1, and you select the task group folder and assign target type Database1, all tasks in the group will be assigned Database1. You can then continue to select a single task within the group to be assigned to an additional database target if needed.
Close the task group automatically. The system automatically closes the task group when all subtasks are complete.
During the task definition phase, rearrange tasks using delete, move and copy functions. Task definitions and task groups can be relocated in the plan hierarchy to ensure proper dependencies and flow.
During the task creation phase, create dependency between two tasks, for example task B depends on task A implying that task B cannot start until task A is completed. The system allows users to create dependencies at the same level (dependency only between siblings).

53.6.3 Using Change Activity Planner for Patching

To create patching tasks, select a patch template and associate targets to your patching tasks. Once tasks are assigned to target owners, target owners can apply the patches present in the patch template using the Patch Plan tool.

For information on how to patch targets, refer to Patching Software Deployments.