Oracle Support

Accreditation Study Guide

Oracle PeopleSoft

Your Study Guide

Welcome to PeopleSoft Accreditation!
Using the Study Guide

This guide is your official study guide for PeopleSoft Accreditation.

Please leverage it along with the learning content to prepare for your exam.

The content is a fast-paced approach targeted to experienced users. We expect that you have been
actively using My Oracle Support for 6-9 months and have been logging service requests and using
the core functions.

We recommend you preview the modules before you begin your accreditation. Make sure the content
and level of information is right for your current level of experience.

The content builds on your existing foundational knowledge. If any topic is new to you, please take
time to study it in more detail.

Make the program work for you by pausing the video, looking up actions in My Oracle Support, or
asking questions in Community at any time.

Your Companion Resources (whenever you need them)

How to use My Oracle Support How-To Video Series Doc 603505.1

Accreditation Community Oracle Support Accreditation

Contact Us link provided on the home page of this accreditation. Talk directly to the program team
about questions or if you need assistance moving forward.

Copyright 2015 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Why Get Accredited

Accreditation Results
This product-specific accreditation program is designed to help you become proficient with best practices to
support your PeopleSoft products.
The content will highlight Proactive capabilities and provide use cases to ensure that you can effectively use
them in your business for maximum impact and value.
Subject-matter experts from the product team partnered with the accreditation program team to provide
targeted, relevant content to help drive your expertise to a new level.
This study guide provides links, use case details, and additional information to help you get the most from
your learning experience.

0.0 Introduction to Accreditation

Are you ready to proceed with your PeopleSoft support accreditation?
This series will build on your current knowledge of PeopleSoft Systems and serves as an introduction to key PeopleSoft
tools, resources, and knowledge available to you in My Oracle Support.

Section 0

The Accreditation program is a guided learning path intended to increase your awareness and knowledge of the many
proactive support offerings. These capabilities help you resolve issues before they impact your system and business or
lessen the impact should an issue occur. Passing the required exam will reinforce your knowledge and enable you to
become accredited on the Oracle PeopleSoft proactive support offerings.

0.1 Path Objectives

Lets get started by introducing a key resource the PeopleSoft Accreditation Resource Guide. This guide should become very familiar to
you as you go forward. It contains references to detailed documents covering all the items and concepts in this series, so please
bookmark it and browse through it often.
In this series, well be following several PeopleSoft users from the same organizationAdele, Bob, and Andreawho will demonstrate
common activities you need to know to pass the accreditation exam. If a topic is new to you, use this study guide and any additional
knowledge documents highlighted in the module.

This video series will cover:

Module 1 Getting Started
Module 2 Installing PeopleSoft
Module 3 Supporting and Maintaining Your PeopleSoft System
Module 4 Optimizing Performance
Module 5 Troubleshooting Issues
Module 6 Upgrading PeopleTools and Applications

By undertaking the accreditation series and passing the exam, you will:
Enhance your expertise with proactive tools for Oracle PeopleSoft.
Take advantage of additional insights about capabilities you already use and take your experience to the next level
Fully adopt best practices for faster results as it relates to PeopleSoft product use cases
Improve your ability to create fully qualified Service Requests (SRs) in order to work with Oracle Support more effectively.

The PeopleSoft users in this series will use the highlighted resources to achieve faster resolution, simplify daily tasks, reduce
risks, and help them enable preventative and proactive approaches across their businesses.

Bob is a project manager working closely with the Oracle DBA for a company using PeopleSoft Human Resources and
Financial Management. A key part of his role is to develop a proactive strategy that leverages PeopleSoft resources and
tools. His focus right now is Payroll Year End activities. Bobs supervisor has requested that he learn more about the
upcoming payroll year end process. He needs to get information on running year end for PeopleSoft. Bob needs to come up
with a general plan (his starting point).

This is Bobs first time to run year end on PeopleSoft, so he will need to request first-time users scripts.

Section 1

1.0 Getting Started

1.1 Get Proactive Portfolio

Lets follow Bob as he reviews the Get Proactive Portfolio for PeopleSoft to identify capabilities related to payroll year end
process.

He logs into My Oracle Support and types get proactive in the global search bar. He selects PeopleSoft from the GP product
page index. He notices the Now Trending is related to Payroll for Year End and starts there. A key benefit of the portfolio is
ongoing capabilities as well as the latest news. He watches the Now Trending video and learns about an upcoming advisor
webcast. This is a good option as its a live, interactive session with product experts and gives him the opportunity to ask
questions.

Bob has a meeting next week with the PeopleSoft upgrade team, and he can use the information from the webcast to prepare
for his update on Year-End. From the Get Proactive PeopleSoft page, he can navigate directly to the PeopleSoft page for
advisor webcasts and select PeopleSoft from the menu.

On the Oracle PeopleSoft home page, he see the current schedule. Each of the topics is sortable by mouse-clicking them.
Select Register for Tax Update 14-C General Information Session, review the details of the session, then scroll down to the
register link.

You may be interested in sessions that have already occurred. We have those recorded for you. Selecting the year tabs will
show you the listing of advisor webcast sessions delivered that year. Well look at 2013 for example. To help search, select the
Product area to sort it and scroll through to find the sessions for your product area.

Bob also wants to check out the Information Center highlighted in the Now Trending video.

From the Advisor webcast page, use the back button or the GP link on the Get Proactive page to return back to PeopleSoft.

He can easily access this from the GP portfolio under Resolve > PeopleSoft Product Information Center > ACT

From within My Oracle Support, Bob could search for Payroll Year End Information Center.

2.0 Installing PeopleSoft

Information Center for Installing PeopleSoft

Importance of a certified platform

Searching for a certified platform

Section 2

The objectives for this module are to build a solid foundation for your PeopleSoft project and ensure you have the key components
to a well-designed architecture. We will cover:

2.1 Installation Planning and Resources

An important early step in planning for an install is identifying what is needed for the new release environment.

Adele, our System Administrator for a PeopleSoft Financial 9.0 to 9.2 Upgrade, is going to pull this installation information
together for her team. Lets watch Adele as she investigates the installation documents, fixes required at install, and certified
platforms using our Information Center for Installing PeopleSoft.

Adele can use the same PeopleSoft Get Proactive page that Bob leveraged in the previous demo. We just watched Bob use the
portfolio for year end information, and this same resource helps Adele with her upgrade.

She will go to Resolve > PeopleSoft Information Centers > ACT

From the PeopleSoft Information Index, she clicks on the PeopleTools tab and sees the Information Centers for Install and
Upgrade and selects the Install Information Center.

Tip: If she needed to find this information from within My Oracle Support, Adele could search for Installation Information Center.

She will start her review on the Install and Configure tab.

From there, Adele will review the installation documents for Financials/Supply Chain (Doc 1531302.1 link in info center)
and review key information and downloads documents as appropriate.

Next, Adele wants to check the fixes required at install so she moves out of the Information Center to the patches and
updates tab and selects Product or Family (Advanced Search).

Adele enters the selection for a required at install search (be sure to select Include all products in a family) and selects Search.

The results are displayed for Adeles download and use.

2.2 Installation Planning and Resources

One of the more frequent Service Request types the PeopleSoft install and upgrade support group see is Certified Platforms.

Running on a certified platform can prevent issues across all the layers of your architecture. Knowing how to find these
certifications so they can be checked each time any component in your architecture is changing can prevent downtime from
mismatched releases and help avoid Service Requests.

Many PeopleSoft customers have questions related to what specific components and third party products are certified to run on
specific PeopleTools and Database combinations.

Adele is planning for a meeting to discuss the databases being upgraded. Her Financial System is on PeopleTools 8.53. Lets
follow Adele as she investigates certified platform information to prepare for this meeting.

She begins her information gathering by logging into My Oracle Support.

Then, she navigates to the Certifications tab > selects More certifications if necessary.

In Certification Search, search for PeopleSoft PeopleTools (all PeopleSoft products are certified against PeopleTools not the
application releases). Select release (8.53 from our use case). Select Platform (using Solaris on SPAC (64 bit) 11 for the demo
here. Click search.

Users can view the information online or like for Adele, you can deliver to a spreadsheet that you can take to the meeting.

Start by selecting View > Expand All then export to XLS and save the file for future viewing.

For Adeles meeting, she has now confirmed their current Oracle Database release (11.2.0.3.0) will work with their Platform. Her
report to the project team will confirm they dont need to make any database changes for their project.

Adele gathered important installation information that the project team needs to get ready for their upgrade.

She downloaded the Installation Guide for her application, identified the fixes they will need to apply for the installation and
researched the certified platform for their new tools release. This information is key to creating a good foundation for their upgrade.

Releases Prior to 9.2

Release 9.2 and later

Search for
Maintenance

MOS - Patches and Updates

Tab - Patch Search

PeopleSoft Image

Delivered by

Bundles and Maintenance

Packs

Images; cumulative for the applications release

Individual Postings

Single Patches

PRP - PeopleSoft Release Patchset (Applied to your local IMAGE not your environment). NOTE - found via Patches and Updates tab

Its important for users to understand the differences

between the Classic Method and PeopleSoft Update
Manager (known as PUM).
The table here provides a quick comparison.

Section 3

3.0 Support and Maintain Your System

3.1 Classic Method

Lets start by talking about the Classic Method. The term classic method refers to the patching method used for updating
PeopleSoft Applications on releases 9.1 and previous releases. It requires the user to search for fixes and updates via My
Oracle Support and then apply them to the system. This method uses Maintenance Packs and Bundles to deliver large groups
of patches together.

Customers on Applications Release 9.2 use a different method for maintenance called PUM or PeopleSoft Update Manager.
PUM is the maintenance process you use with new PeopleSoft Images. PeopleSoft Images are Oracle VM VirtualBox virtual
machines that you download from My Oracle Support to your system. PeopleSoft Update Manager is the only supported
application maintenance process for PeopleSoft 9.2.

What is the value of PUM? It allows customers to take only the changes they want based on their implementation and needs
and determine when they adopt changes.

The PeopleSoft Update Images dont just contain maintenance, fixes, and legal and regulatory updates they contain new
capabilities too.

With PUM, users can easily achieve a fix-current system for analysis as the user maintains, implements, or upgrades the
system.

PUM enables customers to:

Get Innovative New Capabilities without Upgrading
Take Only the Changes They Want, Tailored to Their Specific Needs
Determine When They Adopt Changes
Retain Strategic Customizations
Get Current Regardless of Prior Changes

3.2 Upgrade to PeopleSoft 9.2/Tools 8.53

Lets follow Bob. Hes the Project Manager of a PeopleSoft Human Resources customer. His company is upgrading to
PeopleSoft 9.2/Tools 8.53. Bob needs to learn about maintaining his PeopleSoft system in 9.2 and incorporate any tasks
needed into the upgrade project plan. Based on the tweets he receives from Twitter Bob knows that Oracle changed the
maintenance method for PeopleSoft Applications 9.2 so he goes to research it.

His first action is to learn about PeopleSoft Update Manager (PUM).

Since Bob has taken the level 1 MOS Accreditation, Bon signed up to receive several PeopleSoft Newsletters. While reviewing
the recent HCM Newsletter; he sees an article on PeopleSoft Update Manager and decides to learn more.

Using the link from the newsletter, Bob Navigates to the PeopleSoft Update Manager (PUM) Home Page.

Using the menu navigation at the top, Bob selects Learning about PeopleSoft Update Manager.

He needs to set aside some time to review this information against his upgrade planning documentation.

He continues setting up and Using PeopleSoft manager and the Training.

After reviewing the details here, Bob decides that his next step is to take the recommended training. Before proceeding with his
upgrade, he thinks the time spent on the training modules is important as a good foundation. His next step is now to investigate
further so that he can complete his upgrade plan.

3.3 Locate PeopleSoft Update Image

Lets continue with PUM by following another user Andrea, a Human Resources Manager.

She needs to locate the latest PeopleSoft Update Image for HCM. Shell start on the PUM Home Page since she has already
completed the install and prep work for maintenance in HCM 9.2 and has consumed the learning videos and downloaded the
set-up documents.

Lets watch Andrea as she navigates to the PUM home page to find her PeopleSoft Update Image.

Once on the home page; Andrea selects the navigation at the top HCM under the PeopleSoft Update Image Home Page
Links and Schedule

She is taken to a grid that displays the current and upcoming HCM image information. Andrea selects the link for HCM and is
taken to a page containing the download.

She selects PeopleSoft HCM Update Image Link and from there she can download the image.

Once Andrea has the image downloaded and installed locally, she can then use the PeopleSoft Update Manager PIA tool to
search for any needed fixes. When shes ready to apply maintenance, shell create her custom change package and use
Change Assistant to deploy her change package to her environments as needed.

4.0 Optimizing Performance

Section 4

In this module, well follow Bob, a project manager for a PeopleSoft Customer using PeopleSoft Financial Management. His
company is Upgrading their Oracle database, and Bob needs to ensure that there is no impact to Performance in the
PeopleSoft system as a result

4.1 Resources

Bob uses the Get Proactive Portfolio by logging My Oracle Support and typing get proactive in the global search bar.

He selects PeopleSoft from the GP product page index

He is now on the Get Proactive with PeopleSoft page.

In the Resolve Section, there is a link for the Prevent and Resolve Performance Issues Advisor.

The advisor contains best practices, tools, and knowledge to help users like Bob prevent and resolve performance issues.

Prevent

Resolve

Prevent performance issues when you start a

PeopleSoft project

Resolve a performance issue when you encounter it

The Advisor guides customers on exact tasks that

can easily be added to a project plan, thereby
preventing performance issues at the end of the
project.

Customers can leverage this advisor to diagnose an

issue and find a resolution, or gather the information
needed to log an SR and work the issue with Oracle
Support.

Project examples include: Database Upgrades,

PeopleSoft Upgrades, Patching Projects, Large
additions of the user population, new
implementations

5.0 Troubleshooting for PeopleSoft

Diagnostic Framework

TraceMagic

Section 5

In this module, we will cover two key troubleshooting capabilities for PeopleSoft:

5.1 Diagnostic Framework

The Diagnostic Framework section covers: 1) Understanding Diagnostic Framework plug-ins and how to use them, 2) Locating
the plug-ins you need, 3) Demonstrating how DFW can help with both reactive and proactive business objectives.

What are Diagnostic Framework Plug-ins?

A set of delivered Application Class-Based PeopleCode.
Diagnostic tools for troubleshooting data related to set-up and other issues.
Opportunity to prevent issues by finding set-up problems or resolving problems faster.

Diagnostic Framework Plug-ins provide significant diagnostic value to PeopleSoft customers. They capture detailed information,
discover problematic application-related data and set-up details, and help Development and Customer support engineers
diagnose and troubleshoot problem issues.

Lets follow Andrea, our Human Resources Manager, as she uses the Diagnostic Framework plug-ins to proactively help her
business. She uses PeopleSofts Time and Labor application to create employee time to be paid. She loads this data into
PeopleSoft Payroll for North America on a bi-weekly basis.

Shes been experiencing periodic performance issues with this process.

A global support center (GSC) engineer recommended that she use the plug-ins as a diagnostic step for her issues and on a
regular basis to proactively prevent issues.

In this case, the GSC engineer has provided a link for Andrea, but the plug-ins can also be found in the Resolve section of the
PeopleSoft Get Proactive Portfolio.

Andrea logs into My Oracle Support and checks for a plug-in in our troubleshooting and diagnostic information center
Diagnostic and Troubleshooting Assistance for All PeopleSoft Enterprise Products.

There is a tab on this page dedicated to plug-ins. She scrolls to HR and reviews the list to find PeopleSoft Enterprise DFW
Plug-in for HRMS Time Admin Performance Diagnoses.

5.2 Diagnostic Framework

Adele, our System Administrator, loads the plug-in into

Application Designer and gives Andrea the security she
needs to run it.

Note: Adeles involvement (IT) is only for the initial install

and then Andrea can now run the plug-in on her own.

For our demonstration, we will not cover the installation of

the plug-in. Refer to the PeopleSoft Accreditation Resource
Guide for further details.

After the plug-in is loaded, Andrea can run the diagnostic.

Andreas result report identified three issues that impacted

performance, and she now needs to follow the action plan
for each alert.

In this example, Andrea used the plug-in to react to her

performance issues.

She also plans to use the plug-in bi-weekly to proactively

monitor for problems as recommended by the GSC.

5.3 TraceMagic
The TraceMagic troubleshooting content will cover:

How TraceMagic assists with online performance issues, break-fix and *.tracesql comparisons.

How to locate, download and obtain support for TraceMagic.

How TraceMagic enables you to analyze or compare traces in just minutes.

Well be following some users as they locate TraceMagic and use the tool to identify performance bottlenecks.

What is TraceMagic?
Trace Magic turns text-based, time-ordered tracesql files into a sortable-grid display, allowing the user to quickly
locate ONLINE performance issues
This PeopleSoft diagnostic tool enables users to analyze or compare traces in minutes without TraceMagic, a
process that depending on the size of the trace can take hours. As a result, the error or performance issue can be
diagnosed and resolved faster
With the newest release, users can compare 2 tracesql files and quickly spot the differences between them. This can
be highly useful when attempting to locate the differences and/or patches between a broken system and a functioning
one, or when comparing your existing production to a patch current system.

5.4 TraceMagic to Analyze SQL

Users often call into the PeopleSoft Support team because they encountered online performance issues, and a frequently used
diagnostic is called a SQL Trace. Well start by showing you where to download and gain support for TraceMagic so you can be
prepared for performance analysis.

Lets follow Adele, our System Administrator, as she finds the TraceMagic tool to analyze her SQL.

For this demonstration, well search for trace magic in My Oracle Support and see the tool in our list of search results >
TraceMagic: Utility for analyzing *.tracesql trace files.

This document contains the download for the tool. Get help in community for TraceMagic questions and issues.

For your installation, follow the points in getting started. Adele already has this downloaded onto her desktop, so well navigate
there after we cover an important step in the trace gathering process: the Settings REQUIRED for traces when using
TraceMagic for your analysis.

5.5 Missing Index Identified

Failure to use these settings will result in a warning when opening the trace file or errors in the analysis.

Select the toolbar button > open folder.

Browse your computer or networked drives for a *.tracesql file and open the file.

The application will process the file and present the data in a series of sortable grids.

Well look at the select statements sorted by Total time.

Select the top row and see the complete SQL at the bottom new in the latest version of TM.

Scanning the path we see PS-TL_APP_PAY_XRF.

Putting our focus on the second example we can see that same xrf (PS-TL_APP_PAY_XRF).

Adele then searches My Oracle Support using this cross reference (XRF) and checks the search results: The last item matches
our reported problem and Adele finds a missing index she needs to add which resolves the issue.

5.6 TraceMagic Compare Feature

Lets follow Bob through the steps to highlight the compare feature.

He has struggled with analyzing traces by reading them lets see how TraceMagic can help

Bob has already downloaded TraceMagic from My Oracle Support, so he starts by opening it. He knows how to run traces, so
he can jump right in.

Start by selecting File Compare on the top left a dialog box appears.

Select the files you want to compare and click OK:

For our sample, we have one that worked (on the left) and one that didnt work (on the right).

TM Compares the two files and anything that didnt happen on the left that did on the right is shown in highlighted red on the left
and vice versa.

Also, when there is a divergent number of fetches for any given SQL Select, youll see that in red text.

Blue is simply the row currently selected.

When we scroll down further on the compare slide, we found a change on a select statement where one side was going to a
different table.

If Bob searches for this table name in MOS, he finds that there is a fix for this table name. The fix has only been applied to the
working environment in this example. In this real situation, the update was applied to the non working environment and solved
the problem. If you select the Distinct button the view shows a distinct list of differences.

Today, we followed Adele and Bob as we demonstrated some highlights of the TraceMagic Tool.

Keep in mind, the tool has other uses and further training can be found via the PeopleSoft Accreditation Resource Guide.

6.0 Upgrade Preparation

In this module, we will cover:

Advantages of using this source of information for your upgrade.

How to locate information to plan for your Hardware and Software needs.

How you can learn about new releases to start your gap analysis, functional design, and testing.

Section 6

This video is intended for anyone looking to plan a PeopleSoft upgrade. In the previous modules, we covered certifications and
platforms already for upgrade, now we will focus on gap analysis, another important part of the upgrade process.

6.1 Upgrade Gap Analysis

Andrea is the Human Resources lead for the upgrade, and she needs to understand the new features and functions for HR and
Benefits in the 9.2 release. They are upgrading from 9.0 so they have two releases of enhancements to cover. Andrea needs a
quick way to find just the new features for her gap analysis. Well follow Andrea as she searches for upgrade information in MOS,
then she plans for her gap analysis.

From My Oracle Support, she enters upgrading PeopleSoft and sees Upgrading PeopleSoft? Start Here. This Information
center is a complete source of information for planning, executing and troubleshooting your upgrade.

For preparing your upgrade plans, creating a value proposition, or determining the new features and functions included in new
9.2 releases, start at our information center to take advantage of both Multimedia Learning Opportunities and Planning Tools.

Andrea is trying to understand the changes to the Human Resources and Benefits Administration products so she can assist with
the functional design of the new release.

Our Project Manager, Bob, told Andrea to use the Cumulative Features Overview Tool since Andrea has been working with the
product for several releases and only needs to understand the changes/enhancements with the new release. She navigates to
the Information Center / PeopleSoft Upgrade Resources Tab and locates the Cumulative Features Overview Tool CFO) and
clicks on the link: https://apexapps.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p=10319:18:0.

First, shell select her product area, then shell follow the steps. To select the product, Andrea highlights the product and uses the
arrows in the middle to move her selection to the selected products box. For a comparison, she selects the current release and
the release to which she is upgrading. The report is created with the Generate Report button and appears online.

Andrea scrolls to the bottom of the report to export to excel. Andrea reviews each new feature, using the links provided as
necessary and using the exported spreadsheet as the start of a worksheet where shell note the impact of the new feature and
her own PeopleSoft Implementation. Shell note if the feature is used by her company at all, if its currently addressed as a
customization that can be removed, or if they might desire to start using the feature with the upgrade. With this information, shell
be ready to review the HR and Benefits plans with her upgrade team.

Final Exam Prep

Get Ready for your Accreditation Exam
Using the Study Guide

We hope you followed our recommendation to use the study guide throughout this accreditation
series.

Please take a few minutes to review the points in each module to confirm you understand the
core functions and the suggested best practices.

Proceed to the Exam

Click on Take the Exam from the final module page.

Start your exam by clicking Play.

Carefully review and answer each question.

Click Submit.

View your results.

If you do not pass, you can retake your accreditation exam once per 24-hour-period.

Print your completion certificate from the accreditation home page.

Thats it You have successfully completed your accreditation!

Next Steps
Make Accreditation Work For You

The value of your Accreditation comes from continued use of the highlighted PeopleSoft
functions to support your Oracle products.

We recommend you implement at least 2-3 new best practices into your daily work as soon as
you can.

Confirm that your current settings in My Oracle Support enable the way you want to do business
in the portal.

Add the Getting Started region to your dashboard for easy access to resources for staying
informed and learning.

Leverage Hot Topics Emails to automatically update you on items of interest.

Bookmark and use highlighted resources.

Take advantage of My Oracle Support Community as part of your diagnostic process to discuss
questions, issues, and learn from experts who are actively using Oracle products in their
business.

Customize your personal toolkit based on the way you work.

Thank you for your time!

Copyright 2015 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.