Application Maintenance – Tips and Tricks for Keeping Your Application Current October 8, 9:30 AM USM Regional PeopleSoft Conference Cumberland, Maryland

Session Overview This session will cover the following areas:  Tips and tricks for searching customer connection for patches and fixes  Tips and tricks for applying patches and fixes  Developing a maintenance schedule for applying patches and fixes (Financials and HR/SA)  Introduction to Change Assistant (new to PeopleTools 8.44 or higher)

Searching Customer Connection How to Find What I’m Looking For? 1. Login to customer connection 2. Select Updates and Fixes 3. Select Apply to Release 4. Under Apply to Release 1. Enter the following information: 1. Product Line (ex. – Student Administration) 2. Product (ex. – Academic Advisement) 3. Release (ex. - 8 SP1) 4. Last Posted (ex. > 08/01/2004) 5. Click Search

Searching Customer Connection

Is there a way to search for patches for the entire product????

Searching Customer Connection Yes, there is! Remove the &pr=AA from the URL and press Enter

Searching Customer Connection New results:

Documenting Patches and Fixes

Applying Patches and Fixes – HR/SA/CR  Before you begin  Create the ps_home directory structure on your C: drive  Example – C:\TEMP\PATCHES  Create a copy of the installation document and spreadsheet provided by PS with each patch

Applying Patches and Fixes – HR/SA/CR 1. Apply the first patch to DMO and/or SYS 2. Copy the source files from the patch to your PS_HOME directory under c:\temp\patches 3. Update your custom installation document 4. After applying the first patch to the database:  Select File, Save Project As  Enter the name of your new custom patch project (ex. – CSU063004)

Applying Patches and Fixes – HR/SA/CR

1. Apply the next patch to the database 2. Again, copy the source files from the patch to your PS_HOME directory under c:\temp\patches 3. Update your custom installation document 4. After applying the second patch, open the custom project (CSU063004)  Merge the second patch into your custom project  File, Merge Projects  Enter the patch name and click Insert 5. Repeat steps for each subsequent patch

Applying Patches and Fixes – HR/SA/CR

 After you have installed all the patches and fixes, copy your PS_HOME from the C drive to your file, app, and batch (process scheduler) server for the database you just updated  Compile ALL COBOL programs  Compile INAS programs

Applying Patches and Fixes - Financials PeopleSoft provides Maintenance Packs to keep your system current! What is a Maintenance Pack? A maintenance pack is a quarterly update provided by PeopleSoft that includes all updates and fixes delivered during a specified timeframe for the entire product line. Note: Maintenance Packs can only be used if you’ve been patching the entire product!

Maintenance Schedules  Regs Release Schedule  Regs 1 – November  Regs 2 – January  Regs 3 – April  Regs 4 – June  Tax Updates  A – January  B – April  C – June  D – August  E – November  F & G? - December HR/SA/CR Base maintenance schedule around Financial Aid Regs Releases and Tax Updates

Maintenance Schedules Financials / Supply Chain Management Base on delivery dates of maintenance packs:  April  July  October  January

Change Assistant - Overview  Delivered with PeopleTools 8.44 and above  Works in conjunction with the EMF (Environmental Management Framework) Hub  Replaces Upgrade Assistant in PeopleTools 8.46  What is it?  From PeopleTools 8.45 PeopleBooks  Single tool for administrators designed to automate the process of installing software patches, updates, and upgrades  Note: Information provided from Change Assistant is only reliable for the most recent PS applications (such as Financials 8.8)

Summary  Patches and Fixes - Tips  Download and document patches and fixes on a “regular” basis  Recompile ALL COBOL programs  Recompile ALL INAS (FA) programs  Run ALL STORExx.DMS scripts  Patch the entire application (not just the licensed modules)  Plan for at least one PeopleTools upgrade per year  For SA/HR – upgrade usually required for Regs release for the next aid year  Develop a maintenance schedule

STAY CURRENT! Questions? Chris Kennedy Senior Technical Consultant The Cedar Group