Siebel CRM Patch Set 7 for Innovation Pack 2013 is Available

Last Saturday, Oracle made the latest patch set 8.1.1.11.7 / 8.2.2.4.7 available for download on My Oracle Support.

Apart from various bugfixes, including the Open UI and Mobile Applications realm, the patch set includes changes to the eScript ST engine which are described in document 1668366.1.

As usual, the patch set comes with a button that says "Read Me" which leads you to the installation guide which also contains descriptions of the resolved issues.

(All links require a valid account for My Oracle Support)

have a nice day

@lex

Statement of Direction for Siebel Open UI IP 2014

Earlier this month, Oracle has published a statement of direction (SOD) document for Siebel Open UI on the My Oracle Support portal. The document with the Id 1643468.1 lays out the features planned for release with Siebel CRM Innovation Pack 2014 which is intended to be shipped in late fall this year.

The document is especially important for customers and developers who are planning or already implementing features which are not yet available in the current IP 2013 version. 

For information on features like barcode scanning or iHelp and the planned roadmap, please refer the the Open UI Statement of Direction for IP 2014 (and beyond). 

Everyone involved in Siebel Open UI projects is strongly advised to access this document and visit the Open UI Information Center on My Oracle Support frequently in order to stay up to date.

have a nice day

@lex

February Repost: Upgrade Helpers

This is a repost from February 2009, seems that upgrading Siebel CRM doesn't go out of fashion anytime soon, especially with Innovation Pack 2013.

It appears that many of those Siebel consultants are busily upgrading and I think that timeframes are challenging as always ;-)

The following command line utilities are here to help you during the upgrade and save your precious time (you'll need it for other tasks ;-). Please note that the list below is not complete.

1. Log Parser

When Siebel Upgrade Wizard performs the Upgrade Database Schema (upgrep) and Upgrade Physical Schema (upgphys) and any other step against the database, it forwards the command line utilities' log files to a central directory, a subfolder of the Siebel Server's log directory. You can run the logparse executable from the command line and generate a nice and pretty html summary.



The logparse utility is also useful to summarize tasks not related to an upgrade such as a repository migration (notoriously known as dev2prod). You can easily automate it, archive the directory and keep it for later reference.

2. cfgmerge utility

So you merged your repositories? What about the Siebel Enterprise configuration data stored in the Gateway Name Server's siebns.dat file?

On your new Siebel 8.1 production server you will need your custom components as well as the nifty new components from Oracle (such as ADM, BIP etc.). Using cfgmerge on the command line you can create an input file for the srvrmgr command line. You have to edit the file before you run it against the target enterprise.

The utility merges parameter based data for components that exist in both configurations. So if you want to use it for a custom component, you have to create a component with the same name in the target enterprise before you run the utility. The input file will then help you to update the parameter values.

The cfgmerge utility is also suitable for other tasks outside the upgrade process.

3. utleimdiff

This utility is provided to identify differences in EIM tables and their mappings between two repositories (usually Prior Customer Repository and New Customer Repository). During a recent upgrade project, I found that the utility behaves a little odd in 8.1.1. But it's worth to note that it exists.

If you feel that you need more information on a Siebel CRM upgrade and how to do it, please add a comment to this post. Oracle University offers a Siebel Upgrade Workshop on a private event basis.

Have a nice day

@lex

Siebel CRM Patchset 4 for Innovation Pack 2013 Released

Yesterday, Oracle has released the 4th patchset for Siebel CRM Innovation Pack 2013 which provides cumulative fixes and features for Siebel 8.1.1.11 and 8.2.2.4.

The official version numbers are 8.1.1.11.4 and 8.2.2.4.4. (a feast for numerologists ;-)

As a frequent reader of this blog, you are aware that Oracle has started shipping monthly patchsets for the latest Siebel Innovation Pack releases.

As with all patches, the package is available for download on My Oracle Support.

The Readme document combines release notes and installation guide. Good old opatch is taking care of placing the new files onto your disk, so make sure you follow the instructions to avoid surprises.

Here are some areas which benefit from the patchset in terms of issues addressed:

• Siebel Order Management
• Open UI
• Mobile Applications (connected and disconnected)

have a nice patch

@lex

Upgrade Notes: Siebel Innovation Pack 2013 - Part 2

In the second part of our notes on an upgrade from Siebel 8.1.1.x to Innovation Pack 2013, we are back waiting for the Siebel Upgrade Wizard to finish its arduous task.

When suddenly...

8. Backup the Database and execute DB stats

At this step, the Upgrade Wizard stops with the above dialog and urges us to take a backup of the database and then execute DB stats. This is obviously a manual step.

The Database Upgrade Guide shares with us the necessary lines for executing DB stats as follows (Oracle database example):

EXEC DBMS_STATS.gather_schema_stats (ownname => '', cascade

=>true,estimate_percent => dbms_stats.auto_sample_size);

The above command (with the correct table owner name which usually is SIEBEL) must be run using a SYSDBA account.

Alternatively you can run the more sophisticated stats package available from My Oracle Support as Document Id 781927.1 (thanks to Oli for the link).

Because I encountered problems with too many open cursors on a previous occasion, I also used the following command to increase the maximum amount of open cursors for my Oracle database (not sure if this is truly necessary for Oracle 11g):

alter system set open_cursors=500 scope=spfile;

After doing all that, I restarted the database which should now be in perfect condition for the remaining steps.

9. Siebel Tools invocations

As the Upgrade Wizard continues, it generates command lines for Siebel Tools, which naturally only works when you run the process on a Windows machine with Siebel Tools installed. If you run on UNIX/Linux, please check the Database Upgrade Guide for details on how to conduct these steps.

The first Siebel Tools invocation is actually a batch compilation of the New Siebel Repository to a new SRF file. This file is then renamed in order to replace the siebel_sia.srf of Siebel Tools. In the first part of this series, I described how to download the vanilla SRF, and here we see that good guy Upgrade Wizard even ensures that Siebel Tools has a fresh vanilla SRF for 8.1.1.11. Nonetheless, it is a good thing to know where to get a vanilla SRF without having to run a full compile.

The second Siebel Tools invocation is the IRM proper. Siebel Tools will start up with the following dialog.

The IPack Deployment Wizard (introduced in 8.1.1.10) shows the progress of the actual repository merge. Again, we have to be very patient as this takes hours.

10. Error Recovery (hopefully not needed)

As I said above, this process went belly up on me on one occasion, so if you have the same bad luck, here are the steps to re-start the process (after you have removed the error condition, which in my case was a lack of open cursors).

First, rename the now unusable New Customer Repository (or delete it entirely) using Siebel Tools.

Then re-import the prior_custrep.dat file as “New Customer Repository”. Here is the command line to do that:

SES_HOME\siebsrvr\bin\repimexp.exe /a I /G ENU /u SADMIN /p ******** /c "Siebel_DSN" /D SIEBEL /M y /R "New Customer Repository" /F SES_HOME\dbsrvr\oracle\prior_custrep.dat /l D:\repd_custrep_man.log

Finally, restart the Upgrade Wizard from command line using a command similar to the following:

SES_HOME\siebsrvr\BIN\siebupg /m  master_upgrep_dev_811sia.ucf

11. Analyze and resolve merge conflicts in Siebel Tools

This step in the process of upgrading to IP 2013 can be inherently lengthy and complex depending on how much time (and customization) elapsed between your last upgrade (or first installation) and IP 2013. Basically, you have to identify conflicting objects or properties and resolve the conflicts. In this older post, I have described the merge conflict scenarios based on a major release upgrade.

The Innovation Pack versions of Siebel Tools have some new functionality around the merge log views which is a filter for critical conflicts and a Hierarchical Merge Report window. Both utilities assist us in identifying and resolving merge conflicts more easily.

The Hierarchical Merge Report window in Siebel Tools IP 2013

So after a few weeks, you should be ready to continue with the upgrade process...

12. Mark Conflicts as Resolved

Once you have resolved all conflicts, it's time to restart the IRM Wizard and officially mark the conflicts as resolved. To start Siebel Tools in IRM mode, you use a command like the following:

TOOLS_HOME\bin\siebdev.exe /u SADMIN /p ******** /d "ServerDataSrc" /c "TOOLS_HOME\BIN\ENU\tools.cfg" /l ENU /iPackmode /IRM UpgDeltaMerge

Siebel Tools will launch with the IPack Deployment Wizard and we are prompted to check the Conflict resolution completed flag and click Finish.

13. (Optionally) Run Log Parser

This is the final step in the "upgrep" process. As indicated in the previous post, we can use the logparse command line utility to generate an HTML summary. This is the command to invoke the Log Parser:

SES_HOME\siebsrvr\BIN\logparse /S "SES_HOME" /G ENU /R upgrep_dev_811sia

In the above command "upgrep_dev_811sia" is the name of the log destination folder which is created by the upgrade wizard in the Siebel server log directory.

The logparse.exe reads all log files in this folder and generates a variety of very insightful HTML files which can be accessed from a start page which will usually open in your default browser when you are running it on Windows.

14. Upgrade the Physical Schema

The development database must undergo some more treatment before an object manager can access it. In particular, there is no "Siebel Repository" yet.

Again, we invoke the Database Configuration Wizard to collect the parameters to conduct the final upgrade steps, a process which is also known as "upgphys", or "Upgrade Physical Schema".

Some key steps that the upgrade wizard executes are:

• Export "New Customer Repository" to a .dat file
• Truncate the repository tables
• Import the new customer repository as "Siebel Repository"
• Migrate Open UI manifest data from XML files to the database

The last step in the above list applies especially to customers who were already using (and customizing) Siebel Open UI in versions 8.1.1.9 or 8.1.1.10.

Once the upgrade wizard has finished, we have a real 8.1.1.11 development database, ready to rock'n'roll.

Summary

'tis but a patch doesn't really hold true when it comes to upgrading to Innovation Pack 2013, even from previous patch levels of 8.1.1.x or 8.2.2.x.

Prepare yourself for a separate, somewhat lengthy multi-step upgrade project and read the documentation before you start and you are on the safe side.

have a nice day

@lex

Documentation Link: Siebel Database Upgrade Guide 8.1/8.2 Rev. A

Upgrade Notes: Siebel Innovation Pack 2013 - Part 1

Siebel Innovation Pack 2013 (aka 8.1.1.11 / 8.2.2.4) is available for a while now. During discussions with customers and students, almost every project wants to be on this release sooner or later. The reason for this might well be Open UI.

Regarding the version numbers, going from 8.1.1.x to 8.1.1.11 might well be "but a patch". But alas, this couldn't be further from the truth. In reality, installing IP 2013 "on top of" a previous 8.1.1.x version is more than a full upgrade than a patch.

Recently, I had the privilege of going a full round, upgrading an existing 8.1.1.0 (yes .0, but it could have been any version up to 8.1.1.7) installation to 8.1.1.11. In this two-part article, I would like to share my findings with you.

So this is what I had in front of me: A Windows machine with a Siebel 8.1.1.0 server, connected to an Oracle 10g database and also a SWSE/web server machine.

1. Download and create installers

First, I duly downloaded, extracted and created the 8.1.1.11 installers from Oracle's Software Delivery Cloud. I will not go into detail on this process.

2. Install Siebel Enterprise Server

The brand new, refurbished IP 2013 installers are quite a sight to behold:

As you can see, the IP 2013 installer offers a choice between "New Installation" and "Migrate Installation". If you have installed your previous version using Oracle Universal Installer (which is the installer of choice for Siebel Enterprise Server and SWSE since 8.1.1.8), the "Migrate" option is quite nice as the installer identifies the Oracle Home of the SES or SWSE and "migrates" it to 8.1.1.11. In fact, it simply renames the old home folder and installs in the same path.

If you chose "New Installation" you will have a brand-new SES directory in place. As we are talking about preparing for an upgrade, we need at least the Siebel Server and Database Server Utility directories.

To conduct the upgrade process it is not necessary to configure servers at this point, all we need are the binaries which the installer extracts to disk. If we chose "New Installation", of course we would have to set up a new enterprise later to actually run the new version.

2. Import Ancestor Repositories

Because Oracle no longer packages the ancestor repositories (i.e. vanilla repositories in their extracted .dat format ranging from the oldest to newest supported version) with the SES installer, we must also download and extract them from E-Delivery.

After the extraction, you will find a batch file (copydat.bat) which, when executed with the correct parameters as instructed, will run a checksum test and place the .dat files in the appropriate directory in the DBSRVR folder.

3. Install/Patch Siebel Tools

The IP 2013 IRM (Incremental Repository Merge) relies on Siebel Tools (as does any upgrade where a repository merge is involved). So we need a Windows machine with the latest version of Siebel Tools.

The IP 2013 patch is quickly applied to Siebel Tools. If a Developer Web Client is present on the machine, make sure to patch it as well.

Final page of the IP 2013 Tools patch.

3. Copy vanilla SRF

This step, when forgotten or overseen, causes much grief among developers. Siebel Tools must use the current (i.e. 8.1.1.11) version of the SRF file. Oracle ships the vanilla SRF files as a separate download on E-Delivery.

Simply download the archive, extract it and copy the SRF (language specific) to the OBJECTS folder of Siebel Tools (and Developer Web Client, if you need to). It is ok to replace the existing siebel_sia.srf.

4. Rename Siebel Repository

If you have ever conducted a Siebel upgrade, you will be most familiar with this task. Log in to the development server database using Siebel Tools and navigate to the Repository object type in the Object Explorer.

Delete any stray repositories which are not the current development repository (you might want to export them before to have a backup) and rename the "Siebel Repository" to "Prior Customer Repository". Check your typing twice before you log off Siebel Tools.

5. Verify Siebel Tools Parameters

As per the documentation, the following parameters must be set in the tools.cfg file before we start the IRM proper:

ServerDbODBCDataSource = SSD  default instance

SymStrPrefix = SBL_

EnableToolsConstrain = FALSE

DockRepositoryName = Prior Customer Repository

6. Run the Database Configuration Wizard

As we come closer to our goal, we now start the Database Configuration Wizard (the one installed by the IP 2013 installer) and enter the parameters for upgrading the database.

• Siebel Database Operation: Uprade Database
• Environment Type: Development
• Upgrade Options: Upgrade Siebel Database Schema (upgrep)
• Current Siebel Version: see text below screenshot

The screenshot above shows the Current Siebel Version dialog of the Database Configuration Wizard. As you can see, the prior 8.1.1.x versions (8.1.1.0 to 8.1.1.9 and 8.1.1.10 separately) are official ancestor versions. This is a big difference to how IRM worked in 8.1.1.10, where Siebel Tools was carrying all the burden.

As of IP 2013, the good ol' Upgrade Wizard will take care of importing repositories and will also invoke Siebel Tools to run the merge process.

Among the remaining parameters are the Siebel Tools installation folder, database user and table owner account as well as the ODBC data source to use to access the database.

7. Run the Siebel Upgrade Wizard

Once you finish the Database Configuration Wizard (and have chosen to "apply configuration changes now", the Siebel Upgrade Wizard will appear on your screen, mesmerizingly spinning its globe and waiting patiently until you press the OK button.

Siebel Upgrade Wizard in action. Go, buddy!

Now, we have to be patient as there is a lot to do for the Upgrade Wizard. I have used the logparse command line utility (as I always do) at the end of the first round to produce this nice little HTML summary table:

Click to enlarge

As you can see the "upgrep" process is lengthy indeed. One of the most important steps is the import of three repositories in order to prepare for the merge:

• "Prior Siebel Repository" (r811.dat; the vanilla 8.1.1.x repository)
• "New Siebel Repository" (mstrep.dat; the new vanilla repository)
• "New Customer Repository" (prior_custrep.dat; the current customer repository)

What is of particular interest is that the target repository ("New Customer...") is actually an exact copy of the prior customer repository. This is in stark contrast to major release upgrades where the target repository is a copy of the new Siebel standard repository.

So, while the globe is spinning, let's wait for the second part of the IP 2013 Upgrade Notes. Coming soon to a screen near you.

have a nice day

@lex

Documentation Link: Siebel Database Upgrade Guide 8.1/8.2 Rev. A