Oracle Applications Cloud

Environment Refresh
Service Entitlement Definition
Oracle Fusion Applications

MARCH 2016

Contents

Contents
Overview ...................................................................................................................... 3
Why Refresh Your Nonproduction Environments? ....................................................... 3
About the Environment Refresh Service ...................................................................... 4
Fulfillment Considerations ............................................................................................ 5
How to Request an Environment Refresh .................................................................... 9
How to Validate Service Fulfillment ............................................................................ 12
Frequently Asked Questions ...................................................................................... 13
Related Information on My Oracle Support ................................................................ 13
Appendix A: What Gets Copied During Environment Refresh ................................... 14

Overview
An environment refresh migrates data from a source environment, usually production, to a target
environment, usually nonproduction, making a copy of the source environment. Environment refreshes
ensure a predictable experience during testing activities by providing a comparable nonproduction
environment for testing and validation, before applying changes to your production environment.
There are two refresh services available:

Production-to-Test (P2T): Refresh from a production (source) environment to a nonproduction

(target) environment.
Test-to-Test (T2T): For those customers with multiple nonproduction environments, refresh from
one nonproduction environment to another.

Environment refreshes dont support migrating data from a nonproduction environment to a designated
production environment.
This document describes how to prepare for and request your environment refresh.
Appendix A lists what does and does not get copied during an environment refresh.
Important! Do not request this service if you are using the delivered integration between Fusion and
Taleo Recruiting. Instead, request an environment refresh using the Taleo Zone Refresh with Fusion
HCM Environment Refresh service.
See more details in the Cloud Service Requests and Fulfillment for Oracle HCM Cloud Service article,
available on My Oracle Support (Doc ID 2004494.1)

Why Refresh Your Nonproduction Environments?

Environment refreshes address several business objectives during your implementation lifecycle and
ongoing use of the Oracle Applications Cloud Service. They provide a one-to-one, or a copy of an
environment, to support the following scenarios:

Update your nonproduction environment with your real production data to support ongoing
extension and configuration changes, testing, and maintenance work.
Refresh your nonproduction environment to reflect your production environment before applying
an upgrade to your nonproduction environment so you can test before cutting over to the new
release in your production environment.
Refresh a nonproduction environment whenever you need to reestablish a new baseline for such
purposes as initiating a new project and replacing test data that is no longer useable.
If you have multiple nonproduction environments, copy content from one nonproduction
environment used for development purposes to another used for testing.

About the Environment Refresh Service

Request an environment refresh using either the online self-service scheduling feature or the Service
Request (SR) user interface in My Oracle Support (MOS). If you need to request a coordinated FusionTaleo refresh, or require data masking as part of your refresh request, log a Service Request (SR).
Without Data Masking Service (Release 9 and Above)
Cloud Service Type

ERP, SCM, HCM, and Sales

Typical Frequency

Based on business need

Fulfillment Method

Self-service Scheduling Tool or the MOS SR User Interface

When to Submit SR

Submit your SR 3-12 weeks before the date you need changes applied.
Submitting an SR before or after this submittal window will result in your
environment refresh request being canceled and rescheduled.

Maximum Downtime
for Target
Nonproduction
Environment

48 hours

With Data Masking Service (Release 10 and Above)

Be sure you understand limitations with using masked data before you request the data masking
service. Do not request the data masking service if:

You have not subscribed to the data masking service.

You want to replicate the same results as when using real, unmasked data.

Your test purpose is to verify interfaces to downstream systems that require real data that is not
modified.

Cloud Service Type

HCM Only

Typical Frequency

Based on business need

Fulfillment Method

Scenario 1: You want the environment refresh and data masking

service to occur as a combined activity. In this scenario, complete a
single SR for both. Data migrated to a test environment using an
environment refresh is masked as part of the environment refresh
fulfillment process.

Scenario 2: You need to add or change data after it is migrated using

an environment refresh, but before data masking is applied. With this
scenario, you must submit two SRs: one to request the environment
refresh service and one to request the data masking standalone
service. If you need only data masking without an environment refresh,
refer to Oracle Applications Cloud - Data Masking Standalone Service
Entitlement on My Oracle Support(Doc ID 2092389.1.)

When to Submit SR
Maximum Downtime
for Target
Nonproduction
Environment

Submit your SR 3-12 weeks before the date you need your environment
refresh. Submitting an SR before or after this submittal window will result in
your environment refresh request being canceled and rescheduled.
72 hours

For more information about data masking, refer to Oracle Applications Cloud - Data Masking
Standalone Service Entitlement on My Oracle Support (Doc ID 2092389.1).

Fulfillment Considerations

Plan Ahead
Provide at least three weeks advance notice, (Six weeks if related with a release upgrade), or
you will be asked for a new date. This date must be 3 or more weeks from the date you filed your
SR. Your request will take 3-4 business days for review, initial approval, and scheduling.
Environment refresh scheduling is done on a first-come, first-served basis.

Review the Schedule Maintenance calendar in MyServices

Choose an available date for your environment refresh

An environment refresh cant be scheduled on the weekends when monthly updates occur.

For P2T, there is a blackout period between the 1st Thursday to the Sunday after the 3 rd
Friday of the month. If the 1st of a month falls on a Friday, the environment refresh cant
be scheduled on the Thursday before the 1st Friday of the month.

If you are on concurrent maintenance, there is no blackout period.

For T2T, there is no blackout period.

Additional Considerations

Concurrent Maintenance

P2T when production is on nonproduction update cadence, there is no blackout

period, since both environments are updated at the same time.

P2T when nonproduction is on production update cadence, there is no blackout

period, since both environments are updated at the same time.

T2T when nonproduction environments are on different update cadence. For

example, nonproduction 1 is on nonproduction cadence, and nonproduction 2 is on
production cadence. The normal blackout period between the 1 st Thursday to the
Sunday after the 3rd Friday of the month does apply, except when the 1st Friday of
the month is the 1st of the month. If the 1st of the month falls on a Friday, the
environment refresh cant be scheduled on the Thursday before the 1 st Friday of the
month.

For more information about concurrent maintenance, refer to Oracle Fusion Applications
Cloud Concurrent Updates Option on My Oracle Support (Doc ID 1646394.1).

No Monthly Updates on Current Release: If you are no longer receiving monthly

updates for your current release, there is no blackout period.

Release Upgrade: Environment refresh is not available between different release

versions.

Examples: The following examples show regular environment refresh blackout periods in two
consecutive months. This calendar does not apply to any of the additional considerations
previously mentioned:

September
Sun

Mon

Tue
1

Wed
2

Thu
3

Fri
4

Sat
5

Blackout
Period

Blackout
Period

Blackout
Period

Monthly Update Monthly update

nonproduction nonproduction
Middle East only Rest of World

7
Blackout
Period

13

Blackout
Period

8
Blackout
Period

14

Blackout
Period

10

Blackout
Period
15

Blackout
Period

Blackout
Period
16

Blackout
Period

11
Blackout
Period

17

Blackout
Period

12
Blackout
Period

18

Blackout
Period

Blackout
Period
19

Blackout
Period

Monthly update Monthly update

production
production
Middle East only Rest of World

20

Blackout
Period

27

21

22

23

28

29

30

24

25

26

October
Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu
1

Blackout
Period

Fri
2

Blackout
Period

Sat
3

Blackout
Period

Monthly Update Monthly update

non production nonproduction
Middle East only Rest of World

Blackout
Period

Blackout
Period

Blackout
Period

Blackout
Period

Blackout
Period

Blackout
Period

10

Blackout
Period

October
Sun
11

Mon
12

Blackout
Period

Tue
13

Blackout
Period

Wed
14

Blackout
Period

Thu
15

Blackout
Period

Fri
16

Blackout
Period

Sat
17

Blackout
Period

Blackout
Period

Monthly update Monthly update

production
production
Middle East only Rest of world

18

25

Blackout
Period

19

20

21

22

23

24

26

27

28

29

30

31

The two-week blackout period exists because your production and nonproduction
environments wont be at the same update level due to the mandatory monthly updates. For
more information, review the following My Oracle Support articles: Oracle Applications Cloud
Fusion Applications Update Policy (Doc ID 1966109.1) and Oracle Applications Cloud Concurrent Maintenance (Doc ID 1646394.1).

Match Update Levels Between Source and Target Environments: The environment refresh
process requires that your source and target environments must be at the same release, patch,
and language packs.
If you purchased the Database Vault and Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) services, they
must be present and at the same update level in both environments or the environment refresh
will be canceled.
Even if your request is initially accepted, if the environments are not at the same update level
before the scheduled environment refresh, your request may be canceled.
If your environments are not at the same level, you have the option of one or more of the
following actions:

Customer cancellation: You will need 1 week lead time for a cancellation.

Customer rescheduling the environment refresh: You will need lead time to reschedule
This will cause the 3 week lead time to restart, you will need to log a new SR.

Wait until after the monthly update to schedule the environment refresh so that your
environments are back at the same update level.

Understand Exception Updates May Impact the Timing of Your Environment Refresh:
Environment Refresh is not available if you requested an Exception Update on any one of your
environments. Oracle Support will explain the type of update youll receive and the timing for
applying it. If you are approved to receive exception updates during a month, applying them will
put your environments out of sync and result in cancellation of the previously scheduled
environment refresh. This means your environment refresh request cannot be fulfilled until both
environments are again at the same update level after the blackout period.

Obtain Required Preapproval: Submitting an environment refresh SR does not guarantee that
the request can be fulfilled on the date requested. Comparison of update levels for source and
target environments, as well as advance notice requirements, play a significant role in
determining whether the request can be fulfilled. Your request will be evaluated considering
these factors and youll see the acceptance or rejection of your request within your SR.

Even if your request is initially accepted, if the environments are not at the same update level
before the scheduled environment refresh, your request may be canceled. Consider Other
Factors

Are you expecting an upgrade soon?

o

If you require an environment refresh before your upgrade, schedule it to start 5 days
before your scheduled upgrade date. You must still avoid the blackout period.

If you require an environment refresh after your upgrade, schedule iti to start 3 days
after your scheduled upgrade date. You must still avoid the blackout period.

Have you subscribed to the data masking service, and are you requesting an
environment refresh with data masking? If so, the environment refresh should start 6
days before your scheduled upgrade date. You must still avoid the blackout period.
We recommend you submit an environment refresh request related to upgrades at least 6
weeks in advance to consider all additional restrictions.

Are you on a release that is no longer updated and near the end of an upgrade
window? If the answer is yes, normal environment refresh blackout periods do not apply.
Since previous release environments will not be updated during this time frame, they will
remain in sync and can be refreshed outside of the blackout period. However, any exception
updates approved and applied will still put your environment refresh requests at risk.

Do you use data integrations, such as HCM Cloud Service data loading tool, to move
data between your Oracle Applications Cloud environment and your system of
record? If so, carefully coordinate the Oracle Applications Cloud environment refresh with
the other systems content migration capability, such as for cloning or other refresh. If you do
not synch these processes, data integrity issues may surface in the target environment. To
avoid this:
o

Pair your integrated production environments together and your integrated

nonproduction environments together. Establish this pairing early in your
implementation and do not change it, if possible.

Do NOT run any integration processes between the two systems, once the first
content migration process has started, until the other systems similar process has
completed.

Schedule your P2T to coincide with the other systems content migration solution.
The closer in time they complete, the sooner you can process integrations between
the paired environments.

Review and change any setup or configuration in the target nonproduction

environment that points to a production environment. Instead, point to the other
paired nonproduction environment.

After both processes have completed, resume your integration processes.

How to Request an Environment Refresh

You can request environment refreshes using the online self-service scheduling feature. If you need to
request a coordinated Fusion-Taleo refresh, or require data masking as part of your refresh request, log
a Service Request (SR).

To request an environment refresh using the Scheduling Tool:

The online self service scheduling feature is available for the environment refresh process. Follow these
steps:
1. Sign in to My Services for the environment from which data will be refreshed. This is referred to as
the source environment.
2. Select Schedule Maintenance.
3. Follow the online instructions.
4. If you need further assistance, click Help about this page.
Once your request is submitted, a SR is created with Support. Work with Support using the SR as a
reference. You can track the status of the environment refresh approval through My Services.
Note: The self-service environment refresh feature in My Services simplifies the scheduling effort by
presenting you with a calendar that displays capacity for dates on which you can schedule both P2Ts
and T2Ts. If any of the considerations listed below prevent you from scheduling your environment
refresh via this self-service feature, you can always request it using the SR process described below
as Option 2.

The Service Administrator who submits the environment refresh request must have a MOS
account for the Customer Support Identifier (CSI) assigned to the customer. If they do not,
another Service Administrator should enter the request.

The self-service feature does not currently support the data masking option or the version of
an environment refresh which coordinates with Taleo Recruiting.

After submitting a self-service environment refresh request, you cannot change or delete it via
MyServices. Instead, you must update the SR previously generated in MOS.

The link displayed in MyServices for the environment refresh SR created by this process will
direct you to the standard MOS SR viewer. From the SR page you can click Switch to Cloud
Support in the upper right hand corner, if you prefer that view. Note that this is a temporary
restriction.

SRs generated by the self-service environment refresh process will appear in My Company's
Service Requests instead of My Service Requests. To view your environment refresh SR,
search for it under My Company's Service Requests. Note that this is a temporary restriction.

To request an environment refresh using a Service Request (SR)

1. Sign in to My Oracle Support.
2. Select Create SR from the Services Requests section or tab.
3. Enter the following information:
Section

Enter

What is the Problem?

Copy from <Source Environment> to <Target

Environment>

Where is the Problem?

On the Cloud tab:

Service Type: the Oracle Applications Cloud Service

for which you are requesting a P2T.

Environment: the target environment for your P2T

10

Section

Enter
request.

Guided Problem Definition

Problem Type: Hosting Services

Support Identifier: Your CSI number.

Click Next in the upper right hand corner to proceed

The system will prompt you to answer a series of

questions. Each question may be followed by a question
mark (?) that lets you view help text and a list of
associated service entitlements from which to choose.
Select the question that most closely reflects the
issue you need addressed.
Select the specific service entitlement you need
fulfilled (e.g., Federated Single Sign On, Language
Pack).
Answer subsequent questions to provide details
needed to fulfill the request.

Click Next to provide your contact details.

Click Submit to complete your request.

4. Click Next and provide the following additional information.

Note: You must submit a new SR if you make any change to the source, target, or environment
refresh desired date, as the request fulfillment process is based exclusively on these
parameters. This will cause the 3 week lead time to restart.
Section

Enter

Confirm that you have read this document on My Oracle

Support (Doc ID 1632261.1) and that you understand the
documented policies and procedures contained in it.

Yes/No

Do you want data in the target environment to be

masked as part of the environment refresh?

Yes/No

NOTE: This option is available only to HCM Cloud

customers on Release 10 or above with a paid
subscription to the data masking service.
Confirm that you have read and understand, HCM Cloud
Service Definition Data Masking Standalone available
on My Oracle Support document, Doc ID 2092389.1.
Source and target Oracle applications environment
identifiers

[Your environment names]

Desired P2T Completion Date

The date youd like to have content refreshed to the

target/nonproduction environment. The target
environment will be down for up to 48 hours (without data
masking) or up to 72 hours (with data masking).

11

Section
Have you reviewed scheduled ESS jobs to be terminated
during the P2T process?
a.

Name

b.

b. E-mail,

c.

Cell phone number

d.

Office phone number

Enter
Yes/No/Uncertain

Technical contact information for the person Oracle

Support should contact if there are any questions or
issues.

Additional Information

Any additional information that will help clarify the timing

and special considerations for this request.

Is this P2T Release Upgrade related?

If so, provide the environment names and Oracleproposed upgrade dates for your nonproduction and
production environments. Your response to this question
is for additional information only. The upgrade scheduling
process is handled separately and must be handled by
filing separate SRs. You should carefully plan and
schedule these activities.
Note: If you have not heard from Oracle on the upgrade
dates, then do not file this as a Release Upgrade-related
P2T.

What happens after you log an Environment Refresh SR?

Your environment refresh SR is used to schedule the environment refresh and will remain open
until it has been completed. If you want to cancel a scheduled environment refresh, Oracle
requires a minimum of 7 days notice.
If any questions or issues need to be addressed after the environment refresh has completed,
you must create a new SR.
Well also reach out to you to discuss options if environments are not in synch.
If we dont have any questions about your request, the next communication step will be the
Oracle Service Outage Notification communication e-mail, which will be sent out just before your
environment refresh copy starts on your target environment. Youll receive a notification from
Oracle after your environment refresh completes and the target environment is available for use.

How to Validate Service Fulfillment

1. Sign in to the target environment and verify that the Oracle data matches the data from the
source environment using a sample data set and setup.
2. If you have administrative access to Oracle Identity Management (OIM), sign in as that user and
verify that all OIM functions available to that user in the source environment are identical in the
target environment.
3. You may want to run a report that your team has developed using OTBI or an equivalent
business intelligence tool.
4. If you requested data masking, query any person on the database through the user interface and
verify that their email address is sendmail-test-discard@oracle.com.

12

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time is needed to cancel the environment refresh?

At least 1 week advance notice is required to cancel an environment refresh.

How much advance notice do I need to give Oracle to schedule the environment refresh?
A minimum of 21 days advance notice is required. You can schedule the environment refresh up
to 12 weeks in advance.

How long does an environment refresh take?

The target environment will be down for up to 48 hours (without data masking) or up to 72 hours
(with data masking).

When is the blackout period?

For most months of the year, The blackout period starts on the 1st Thursday of the month and
ends on the Sunday following the 3rd Friday of the month. However, if the 1 st of the month falls
on a Friday, the environment refresh cant be scheduled on the Thursday before the 1st Friday
of the month.

Can an environment refresh be completed during a blackout period?

No, unless you are on concurrent maintenance or requesting a T2T. If this is the case, it can be
scheduled any time except on the weekends when monthly updates occur.

How do I schedule an environment refresh?

You can request environment refreshes using the online self-service scheduling feature. If you
need to request a coordinated Fusion-Taleo refresh, or require data masking as part of your
refresh request, log an SR.

Related Information on My Oracle Support

Oracle Applications Cloud Concurrent Maintenance Option, Doc ID 1646394.1

Oracle Applications Cloud Fusion Applications Update Policy, Doc ID 1966109.1

Cloud Service Requests and Fulfillment for Oracle HCM Cloud Service (Taleo Zone Refresh with
Fusion HCM Environment Refresh), Doc ID 2108681.1

13

Appendix A: What Gets Copied During Environment Refresh?

The most important thing to understand is that almost all data is refreshed, but compiled binary objects
are not. There are some exceptions to this general rule and some possible implications for you.
What is copied?

All data in the Fusion schema, such as all transactional data and functional setup.

Webcenter content, such as file attachments and inbound and outbound integration files.

Key artifacts managed through Fusion Middleware Metadata Services (MDS), such as user
interface extensions managed as Application Development Framework (ADF) sandboxes, such
as flexfields and workflow/approval extensions managed by the Service-Oriented Architecture
(SOA) Suite.

Business Intelligence Web Catalog and Repository Definitions (RPDs).

Pre-compiled Fast Formula used by the HCM Cloud Service.

What is not copied?

Compiled objects, such as Fusion Applications binaries, Fusion Middleware binaries, and for
HCM Cloud Services customers, compiled Fast Formula.

Home page notifications, such as approval requests.

Data maintained in the Functional Setup Managers (FSM) Topology Manager, such as endpoint
URLs to other environments.

Enterprise Scheduler Service (ESS) process parameters.

Special cases
You may need to take steps before or after an environment refresh as a result of what is and what is not
copied.
Application Object

Copied or Not?

Possible Action

User interface extensions

maintained in ADF sandboxes

Copied

To retain in-process UI extensions, export them from the

target environment before environment refresh and
import them back after. See Oracle Applications Cloud
Extensibility Guide for Functional Administrators.

Functional setup, including

HCM Fast Formula

Copied

To retain some functional setup in the target, export it

from the target environment before the environment
refresh and import it back after, using FSMs
Configuration Package capability. See Oracle
Applications Cloud Using Functional Setup Manager

Business Intelligence
definitions

Copied

To retain custom BI objects, export them from the target

environment before the environment refresh and import
them back after, using the BI archive/unarchive facility.

14

Application Object

Copied or Not?

Possible Action

HCM Extract definitions

Copied

To retain custom HCM Extract definitions, export them

from the target environment before the environment
refresh and import them back after, using the
export/import function on the Manage HCM Extracts
Definition user interface.

ESS process parameters

Not Copied

After the environment refresh, review the process

parameters in the target for your key ESS processes.
Reestablish scheduling and reset those default
parameters (for example, the number of threads) you
want to change.

EssBase cubes

Not Copied

Create EssBase cubes in the target environment after

the environment refresh, by submitting standard jobs
through the Scheduler page.
For example, to create a Ledger EssBase cube:
1.

Sign in to the Oracle Applications Cloud Home

Page.

2.

In the Navigator menu, select Tools >

Scheduled Processes.

3.

Select Schedule New Process.

4.

In the Search window, scroll to the bottom of the

list and select Search.

5.

Search for Create General Ledger Balances

Cube. Select the item in the results set, then
click OK, and then OK again

6.

Enter the details of the Chart of Accounts:

Name, Calendar and Starting Period, and then
click Close.

Repeat this process for all Ledger cubes.

15

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