XE/B7333 - SP23

List,
My question is an extension to one of my existing post 'Copy PROD to DV'. Currently we are on XE/B7333(SP20), Oracle 8i and we need to apply SP23 in order to upgrade the database to Oracle 10g. Could anybody help me how long does it take to apply SP23 and does it mess up the custom/modified standard objects. We really have a very bad mess of objects in our current environments. I appreciate your help.

XE/B7333, Oracle 8i, HPUX 11.11 64 bit version

Your message states you are on SP20, and my question for you is if you have installed the newer password encryption pieces yet. If you have, then multi-foundation SP install should take less than a day to accomplish. However, I would reserve this for a weekend, as you may find yourself restarting services a few times while you do it.

Then you'll have to take another weekend day to bring it up to Production.

A Service Pack doesn't "mess up" objects in the sense that it does not modify them in any way. It can, however, mess things up in that some things may not work the way you expect them too afterwards. One example is that right around SP20 - SP21, JDE had to put out an ESU for G/L posting because something in the Service Pack broke the way it ran with subledgers (those with better memory than I may want to clarify that).

Also, related to SP20, the new password encryption routines went into effect around SP20_P1 or R1. If you are on a release prior to that, you will take some extra time to handle the new password encryption steps.

Thanks Wong. We are on SP20 J1. and we never installed the password security and I have confirmed this with the CNC. I am going to download the SP23 T1 installation doc and try to upgrade. Is there any specific precautions that we would need to take because of the security tables and they are shared between DV and PROD.

Siva,

Upgrading a service pack is not a big deal. Just make sure your CNC follows all of the special instructions. Between SP20 and SP23, there was an ESU that must be applied to upgrade the security encryption. Be careful with applying this, since it is tough to undo. You need to make a copy of the security table before you upgrade so you have a fallback position. The bigger issue is going from Oracle 8i to 10g. Make sure your DBA knows all the ins and outs of the new release. Do you have a test system? Whenever we do a major upgrade (service pack, database, Update) we apply it to our test servers ( a totally seperate set of servers from production). In other posts, people refer to that as their "sandbox."

If you don't have one, I highly recommend setting one up prior to the service pack and database updates. If you make it a virtual clone of the current system, you can also test out the procedure for cleaning up your out of synch application code issues.

Gregg

Siva,

The other things that you should look at are planner ESUs and other major ESUs. If you are back on SP20 and your CNCs and developers made all of those code change oopsies, then you are probably behind on some of the other major changes. I know I mentioned consultants before, I'm going to bring up the topic again (iconsortium and DSS guys, here's an opportunity). Your system needs a cleanup and a tune up.

As you read through the document, pay close attention to the section that talks about "Database Password Encryption for Multiple Foundation Environments" near the front, and at the end (there are 2 sections with that name in the SP23 Installation Manual).

You should also download the Multi-Foundation installation manual so you that you can test the new SP before hitting Production. Also, you will see that the new password encryption scheme has a SAR # noted for it. You should search for an ESU with SAR #6911235, and install that too. This will procedure will split the password table so that the newer Service Pack will use the newer encryption scheme while testing, and leave the Production environment alone until you are ready for it.

Finally, ditto Gregg's suggestion on taking the most current Planner ESU (JD24819). I would also check to see if you've got the ESU that pertains to posting transactions with subledgers. This was one application issue that newer Service Packs broke, and required an ESU to fix. The SAR # for that one is 6343258. I'm hoping you already took the ESUs that fix the memory violations in the posting program caused by SP19 and above.