Want to get a glimpse of Fusion Applications?

By now, most of us know it takes more resources to run a Fusion Applications environment, than any other ERP system. Creating a local sandbox, to acquire knowledge and experience of  Fusion Applications, is not done on local servers anymore.

Do not despair ...

PeopleSoft & Oracle Secure Enterprise Search (SES)

Oracle Secure Enterprise Search (SES) provides a familiar user interface to internet search users and gives secure access to all of your organization's data sources—Web sites, file servers, content management systems, enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management systems, business intelligence systems, and databases.

Looks familiar?

That is indeed familiar, that's Google with an Oracle logo... Oracle seems to have build a search engine and has made use of the familiarity of the Google GUI and behavior to position this tool. Oracle is supplying SES as stand alone product and has integrated SES with it's other products like Siebel, JD Edwards, E-Business Suite & PeopleSoft.

Where Google will search the internet based on supplied keywords, SES will search your Enterprise data based on keywords. Oracle has created an embedded framework in PeopleSoft to integrate and communicate with SES, called PeopleSoft Search FrameWork.

Fusion Applications in the Cloud

Oracle Open World 2011 was mainly dominated by Exalogic. Exalogic is hardware and software engineered together to provide extreme performance for Java applications, Oracle Applications, and all other enterprise applications.

And yes, now Oracle is also offering Oracle Fusion Applications HCM and CRM in the Cloud!

Get in control of your HTML Pagelets

With PeopleTools you have the ability to create pagelets using the Pagelet Wizard. Pagelet Wizard pagelets, also known to the rest of the world as portlets, are small pages that provide display-only snapshots of applicable content which can be placed on the PeopleSoft Homepage. With the Pagelet Wizard you can create a variety of pagelets:

• HTML
• IB Connector
• Integration Broker
• Navigation Collections
• OBIEE Report
• PeopleSoft Query
• Rowset
• Search record
• URL

This post describes how you can get more control in formatting and setting up your HTML pagelets.

Fusion Applications Final(ly) no more Beta version!

On 22 may 2011 Oracle released Oracle Fusion Applications R1 Beta version and was available for download from eDelivery. Yesterday (04 October 2011 ) at Oracle Open World 2011, Oracle announced general availability of Oracle Fusion Applications. This final version is now also available for download from eDelivery.

So what has changed from Beta to Final?

Fusion Applications: Extending the Domain with Oracle Access Manager

In my previous post I described the steps needed to configure Oracle Virtual Directory for virtualizing LDAP. In this post I will describe the steps that need to be taken to configure Oracle Access Manager and Webgate.

Oracle Access Manager allows users to seamlessly gain access to web applications and other IT resources across the enterprise deployments. It provides a centralized and automated single sign-on solution. It also contains an authorization engine, which grants or denies access to particular resources based on properties of the user requesting access as well as based on the environment from which the request is made.

Oracle Access Manager consists of various components including Access Server, Identity Server, WebPass, Policy Manager, WebGates, AccessGates, and Access SDK. The Access Server and Identity Server are the server components necessary to serve user requests for access to enterprise resources. WebGates are web server agents that act as the actual enforcement points for Oracle Access Manager.

Fusion Applications: Extending the Domain with Oracle Virtual Directory

In my previous post, ODSM was configured to manage OID. In the post I will describe the steps you need to take to configure Oracle Virtual Directory (OVD) and create a connection in ODSM to manage OVD.

Oracle Virtual Directory is an LDAP version 3 enabled service that provides virtualized abstraction of one or more enterprise data sources into a single directory view. Oracle Virtual Directory provides the ability to integrate LDAP-aware applications into diverse directory environments while minimizing or eliminating the need to change either the infrastructure or the applications. Oracle Virtual Directory supports a diverse set of clients, such as Web Applications and portals, and it can connect to directories, databases and Web Services.

Fusion Applications: Extending the Domain with Oracle Directory Service Manager (ODSM)

In my previous post I described the steps to configure Oracle Internet Directory. In this post I will describe the steps you need to take to configure Oracle Directory Service Manager (ODSM). ODSM is a java application that runs as a Managed Server on Weblogic and it's purpose is to manage Oracle Internet Directory and Oracle Virtual Directory.

PeopleTools and Oracle 11g installation issues

Until now I was used to installing PeopleSoft on SQLServer 2005/2008 or Oracle 9i/10g. For this particular installation, PeopleTools 8.51 on a Unicode Oracle 11g database, I ran into two issues I never ran into before. Luckily fixes were easy, but finding a solution usually takes a lot of time.

Fusion Applications: Extending the Domain with Oracle Internet Directory

In my previous post I created the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console and Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control. In this post I will configure Oracle Identity Directory (OID) and extend this domain with OID. Furthermore I will seed the Identity Store and Policy Store with data to be used by Oracle Access Manager.

OPN Provides Fusion Learning Center Access to Partners

As of August 15, 2011 Oracle PartnerNetwork provided hundreds of Oracle Fusion Applications self-paced learning assets to partners!

Yes, it is true, with this Oracle has shown to be committed to deliver Fusion Applications as a serious part of the Oracle stack and not just a hype as many skeptics would like to position a Apps which they have not seen yet.

Fusion Learning Center can be accessed through the following link.

Way to go Oracle!

Fusion Applications: Creating the WebLogic Server Domain for Identity Management

In my previous post I had configure Oracle HTTP server and an Apache LoadBalancer to handle all HTTP(s) traphic for IDM. In this post I will create the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console and Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control. Later on we will extend this domain by adding Oracle Fusion Middleware components such as Oracle Identity Manager and Oracle Access Manager. Furthermore in this post we will configure Oracle HTTP server to handle HTTP(s) traphic for the Administration Server and Enterprise Manager through the loadbalancer.

Fusion Applications: Configuring the Web Tier

In my previous post, I installed the components for IDM. In this post I will describe the steps to configure Oracle Web Tier.

Oracle Web Tier comprises of two components:

• Oracle Web Cache

A content-aware server accelerator, secure reverse proxy server that improves the performance, scalability, and availability of web sites

•  Oracle HTTP Server

Apache based web server that provides a HTTP listener for Oracle WebLogic Server and the framework for hosting static pages, dynamic pages, and applications over the web and includes all base Apache modules and modules developed specifically by Oracle.

In this post we will configure Oracle HTTP Server.

Getting BIPublisher Desktop for PeopleSoft to work properly

Although BIPublisher Desktop is currently at level 11.1.1.5, PeopleTools is still shipped and embedded with BIPublisher 10.1.3.4. I stumbled into irritating errors after installing BIPublisher Desktop om my desktop, which used to work fine for me in the past. After installing BIPublisher Desktop on Windows 7 with MS Office 2007, I could nicely see the BIPublisher add in menu in the ribbon, but half the action buttons returned the same error :

The macro cannot be found or has been disabled because of your macro security settings.

Even after enabling all macro, setting trusted locations, this error kept popping up when trying to add an Repeating Group of Chart. Reading tons of posts stating registry hacks, deleting files with exd extensions, this still did not correct my issue.

Fusion Applications: Installing Oracle Identity Management Components

In my previous post, I created schema's in the database for Oracle Identity Management Components. In this post I will install the necessarily components for Oracle Identity Management. These consist of the following components:

• Oracle HTTP Server
• JRockit
• Oracle Weblogic Server
• Oracle Identity Management
• Oracle SOA Suite
• Oracle Identity and Access Management

Fusion Applications: Running Repository Creation Utility for Identity Management

In my previous post, I created an Oracle Database for Oracle Identity Management . In this post I will describe the steps,  to create the required Oracle schemas in the database used by Identity Management and Management Services, using the Repository Creation Utility (RCU).

Fusion Applications: Installing Oracle Database 11g for Oracle Identity Management

In my previous post I described the steps you need to take to install Oracle Enterprise Linux. As prerequisite for Oracle Fusion Applications, Oracle Identitiy Management needs to be installed and configured.

Oracle Identity Management is the equivalent of LDAP for Windows, except Oracle uses a database (surprisingly) to store its user management.

This post will describe the steps you need to take to install Oracle Database 11.2.0.2 on Oracle Enterprise Linux.

Oracle Fusion Applications: Installing Oracle Enterprise Linux (64bit)to host Oracle Identity Management

In my previous post I described which installation files where needed to install Oracle Fusion Applications. Prior to installing Oracle Fusion Applications you need to install and configure Oracle Identity Management (IDM).

This post will describe the installation of Oracle Enterprise Linux 5 Update 6 (64 bit) to host Oracle Identity Management.

Installing Oracle Fusion Applications: Where to start

On 22 May 2011 Oracle Fusion Applications (Beta version) was available for download on eDelivery.

What is Oracle Fusion Applications:

'Designed from the ground up using the latest technology advances and incorporating the best practices gathered from Oracle's thousands of customers, Oracle Fusion Applications are 100% open-standards-based business applications that set a new standard for the way we innovate, work, and adopt technology' (www.oracle.com)

To give you an impression of the end product see this demo.

To give an idea of the infrastructure of Oracle Fusion Applications, see the next picture.

This post and all posting still to come, will describe the installation steps to install Oracle Fusion Applications.

PeopleTools 8.52, starting to look like Fusion Applications

The Release Value Proposition for PeopleTools 8.52 has been posted on metalink.

This realese of PeopleTools introduces and extends current PeopleTools technology that look and behave more and more like Fusion Applications. With this version the transition or fusion of PeopleSoft customers to Fusion Applications will be more streamlined.

In this post I will highlight some of the new features of PeopleTools 8.52

Setting up predelivered Related Content services

With the release of PeopleTools 8.50, Related Content was introduced. Related Content Framework enables you to contextually link PeopleSoft pages to other PeopleSoft pages and non-PeopleSoft pages and view all related pages within one frame, without leaving the primary page.

With a PeopleTools 8.50 (or later) license, you are entitled to install and run the following PeopleSoft Applications Portal 9.1 Related Content services

• Related Discussion
• Related Links
• Related Tags

See following datasheet from Oracle describing the license use.

This post describes the steps that need to be taken to enables Portal Related Content Services in PeopleSoft Applications.