Planning your next Oracle NMS upgrade
As Oracle plans its release of the next version of the NMS, thoughts of planning that next upgrade come to mind. This upgrade will be different than the usual upgrade though. Why is that? The reason is the evolutions in the Oracle NMS product have created some very significant changes. The big things to keep in mind are 1) the Deprecation of X-Motif, 2) Switchover from JBoss to Web Logic, 3) Required LDAP or Active Directory usage, and 4) Deprecation of PDM (Performance Data Mart). There are always the usual challenges in an upgrade, but this blog entry is focused on the unique needs of this next upgrade. Preparing for this upgrade will require more than the usual preparations and planning.
In migrating from X-Motif to the Java tools, there is much to reconfigure. In prior releases, migration to X-Motif tools was performed by a script or minor adjustments to the configuration, but kept essentially the same. No migration script can convert X-Motif configurations into Java configurations. It is necessary to create new configurations for Java. Before beginning the configurations, the first recommendation is to document what you know you have in the old X-Motif environment. An example of what to document would be which columns are in Work Agenda, order of the columns, and the sorts, and filters. If one doesn't already exist, build a workbook while reviewing the current configurations.
Once the Workbook is built and reviewed, now is a good time try and take advantage of the opportunities reconfiguration provides. No matter what happens, there will be environment differences between the X-Motif and Java environments. Make the goal to be having the best, most useful, easiest to maintain environment possible. Don't make the goal be to look as close as the old system as possible. This is a great opportunity to lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and make future upgrades easier by using as much product configuration as possible. Oracle maintains product configuration and does the work of migrating product at no additional cost, but customers maintain custom configurations at their own expense.
In addition to taking advantage of product configuration, this is equally great of a time to include NMS features not in the old installation. After all, the environment is being reconfigured now anyway. It would be more expensive in the long run to come back later and add more than it is to do it all from the start. New NMS features can improve productivity and increase the ability to provide customer service. Before beginning the configurations of the upgrade, I recommend fully reviewing the functionalities in the NMS User Guide. Are there any new features that would be of benefit?
When the configurations are done, the Operator's Workspace will look significantly different to a user and there will be new features. More complete training is needed to get users acquainted with the new feel and features. Plan in the time to make materials and schedule all your users for training.
Other than environment configuration, take notice of other product shifts. A big item is the Web Application Server. If you have been using JBoss, it is required to switch to Web Logic. While JBoss was free in the past, Web Logic will require a purchased license. Oracle doing this gives the NMS one standard platform. Plan it in the budget and install it before beginning the migration. It will be needed right from the start.
The third significant evolution in Oracle NMS is that starting in NMS version 1.10, passwords are no longer stored in the NMS database. Either LDAP or Active Directory authentication of users is required. This includes test systems too. This has the most relevance in Load Testing. In the past, user names like nm1, nms2, ..., nmsn have been used. If generic user names are needed for testing, authentication must be set up outside the NMS. Plan whether LDAP or Active Directory will be used and how that is to be set up in your environment.
The fourth area to keep in mind is that PDM is no longer supported by Oracle. If you haven't already migrated off PDM, it will be necessary. Oracle now supports Oracle Business Intelligence for Utilities (OBIU). Learning about the BI, its features, and its maintenance will take time. It will also take time to build any customer reports or dashboards desired. BI is a powerful tool full and the possibilities and usefulness of the zones and portals are large.
In summary, upgrading the NMS will take extra planning and preparation this next upgrade. With the end of X-Motif, it is necessary to know what was in the old system so the new one can be configured in Java. But think of this as an opportunity to 1) end up with an even better NMS environment 2) lower the total cost of ownership. Plan to have the users trained to use the new system, they all will need it. Remember that Web Logic will be the app-server and not JBoss, LDAP or Active Directory are needed, and plan for Business Intelligence. If you remember these things and plan accordingly, your upgrade will go smoother.
Do you have any upgrade tips you'd like to share with the NMS user community? I'd love to hear them.
