Automate Migration of Oracle SaaS Configurations with FlexDeploy

Entering or updating a large volume of setup data using Functional Setup Manager (FSM) user interface (UI) can be taxing and repetitive. Even when the setup tasks are simple; downloading, uploading, and general management of the tasks using the setup task UI is not the most efficient method.

With FlexDeploy’s Oracle SaaS FSM plugin you can migrate setup data in bulk using CSV file packages. CSV File packages manage the setup data of a specific task. They allow easy migration into other Oracle SaaS environments.

In this blog, you will see how to leverage the FlexDeploy Oracle SaaS FSM Plugin to make deployment of setup tasks a breeze. Today we will be showing off an example application with respect to Human Capital Managment (HCM). However, FlexDeploy’s FSM support goes beyond just HCM into other Oracle Fusion Applications such as Supply Chain Management, Sales, Enterprise Resource Planning, and more.

Let’s begin.

Oracle SaaS FSM Cloud Account

FlexDeploy integrations represent an external technology instance. Data in integration accounts can be conveniently reused throughout FlexDeploy. We will need account(s) to connect to your Oracle SaaS FSM environment(s). Let’s assume this account is pointing to your DEV environment.

Environment Instance

Each of your Oracle SaaS FSM environments will be mapped one-to-one with a FlexDeploy environment instance. The Environment Instance defines the environment-specific properties required to communicate to the underlying technology. Here on the DEV -> Oracle SaaS HCM environment instance we will set the Oracle SaaS FSM Account to point to the account information we just created.

There is much more to FlexDeploy Topology than what I’ve shown. I’ve glanced over details to keep the blog succinct so feel free to checkout our Topology User guide to learn more.

Create Build/Deploy Workflows

FlexDeploy utilizes workflows to determine what steps and operations will be used during build and deploy processing. To support the Oracle SaaS FSM build/deploy process we need two workflows:

1. A build workflow that contains a step to execute the csvExport operation from the Oracle SaaS FSM Plugin.
2. A deploy workflow that contains a step to execute the csvImport operation from the Oracle SaaS FSM Plugin.

Build Workflow

The build workflow will look like the following. A single csvExport step.

When configuring the csvExport you will also need to keep in the mind the following options:

1. Oracle SaaS FSM Account – This dropdown value will override the account we selected in the environment instance in the topology. I suggest only setting this value for testing purposes or if you don’t need to deploy to multiple environments. For those reasons I have not set it here but the option is available.
2. API Timeout – It takes time to process export setup tasks. This is the maximum amount of time our workflow should wait for each individual file package to export. If it takes longer than 5 minutes (default value), the execution will fail.
3. The rest of the inputs are for reporting purpose only. Check these if you would like FlexDeploy to download a specific report after the export has completed. These are the same reports you could download from the FSM UI.

Deploy Workflow

In the same fashion, the deploy workflow is a single csvImport operation.

The csvImport has the same inputs as csvExport, except of course the report files would contain data about import.

Create the Project

FlexDeploy projects represent the artifacts that can be built and deployed as a unit. The components we created in Topology and Workflows come into play now. For Oracle SaaS FSM deployments we will need to create a specific project type to make the most use of the plugin and automation. Create a partial deployment project of type Oracle SaaS FSM. In the example below, we are creating a project for Human Resources.

Project Configuration

The configuration portion of the project is used to define properties unique to the project including the build and deploy workflow, instances, and source control management (SCM).

In this case, we are pointing to the CSV build and deploy workflows and Oracle SaaS HCM instance shown in previous setup. Notice SCM Type is set to None. The FlexDeploy Oracle SaaS FSM Plugin only supports sourcing CSV file packages from SCM and also directly from Oracle environment. In this example, packages will be migrated environment to environment instead of from SCM.

Project Files – Create your files

Now that our project is set up, we need to populate some tasks to start building and deploy. To do so:

1. Navigate to the project files section on the project and click Create button.
2. Enter your File Name (with Path). FlexDeploy does not require a specific path, however, if you use the following convention, then all 3 file level attributes can be parsed you automatically: /SetupTasks/<Offering Code>/<Functional Area>/<TaskCode>.zip
   • Example: /SetupTasks/Compensation Management/Base Pay/PER_MANAGE_ACTIONS_AND_REASONS.zip
3. Click the Evaluate button and the attributes will populate underneath based on the File Name (with path).
4. Verify the attributes are correct and click the Ok button. If they are not correct, simply change the File Name and click the Evaluate button again until satisfactory.

If you choose to source from SCM, then you can ignore the previous steps and use the populate button to add the files automatically from SCM. By default, using the populate button will pull zip files whose path contains “SetupTasks”. This behavior can easily be overridden with a match script to fit any custom repository structure.

Unfortunately, initially adding these files will remain a manual task. In either case describe previously, some work will be required to add the zip files to SCM or create the files form the screen. However, these files need not be added all at once. It can be an incremental process overtime as build and deployments of setup tasks are required for new files.

How do I find the required Task Code needed for FlexDeploy?

To find the relevant code you will need to login to your Oracle Cloud environment and follow these steps:

1. Click Navigator > Setup and Maintenance.
2. In the Setup and Maintenance work area, click Manage Setup Content from the Tasks panel tab.
3. On the Manage Setup Content page, click Manage Task Lists and Tasks.
4. In the Search field, select Tasks and click Search.
5. In the search results, click the name of the task.
6. On the Task page, look for the value that appears against Code.

We are ready to start running FSM Setup Task migrations from FlexDeploy!

Example Adhoc Build and Deploy

We will use a package called GLORY-2 and add files from the project files we are interested in. In this case, we’ll migrate a few setup tasks under our Base Pay functional area. Now builds can be executed on the package.

After submitting the build, each setup task file will be sequentially exported into a single zip artifact and saved on the FlexDeploy server. Essentially, this is the same process as logging into your Oracle SaaS environment, downloading CSV File package for each task, and packaging those into a single zip file.

Once the build is complete, let’s deploy our GLORY-2 package to the Test environment.

At any time after the build or deployment request is submitted you can view real-time logs of the execution to see progression and to debug if any failures occur. By default, the log level is set to INFO level but log level can be increased for more debug information.

You can confirm a deployment was successful by checking on your Oracle SaaS FSM environment.

Find the Export/Import Setup Task you’re looking for and then click on the Status link to see more detailed information about the setup task.

If desired, you can use the Actions button in the top right to download process result, logs, or the CSV File Package itself. However, these files can also be downloaded from FlexDeploy if enabled in the workflows.

Here we can see the reports downloadable from FlexDeploy for each Setup Task on the Project Workflow Execution screen. Again, these are the same files downloadable from FSM UI.

We have shown building and deploying with a package, but FlexDeploy projects can be built and deployed in multiple ways. Learn more about Building and Deploying projects.

Conclusion

You have seen a quick setup and execution of Oracle SaaS FSM setup tasks. Although initial setup can take some time, it pays off when you realize the time saved versus manual deployments. Logging in and out of various environments, comparing setup data, and downloading setup data, FlexDeploy tracks the versions for you and allows automated build and deployment at the touch of a button. Using FlexDeploy’s release and pipeline features, the movement of FSM CSV file packages (Setup Tasks) can easily be incorporated into a release and deployed to any number of environments automatically.

For more information on release and pipeline features in FlexDeploy:

• [Case Study] How One Customer Reduced Deployment times by 60x
• 6 Benefits of Release Orchestration