Configuring the Adapter for PeopleSoft

In this section:

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In order to configure PeopleSoft, you must add the underlying SQL adapter, create and register the PeopleSoft application (SNAPCAT) in the catalog path, add the first PeopleSoft connection, and, optionally, configure a JSCOM3 listener to ensure password authentication for PeopleSoft 8 and higher.


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Adding the SQL Database Adapter

The Adapter for PeopleSoft is an enhanced version of the underlying data source adapter. The adapter must be added into the server configuration.

When you add an SQL adapter, there is no need to provide configuration parameters since these connection parameters are stored in the server profile, which is accessible at all times to any user or application connecting to the server.

For most applications, the data access is then secured through procedure logic and operating system security. With PeopleSoft, this is not possible as there may be very large numbers of users who do not have operating system login IDs. Instead, these configuration parameters are supplied later when configuring connections to PeopleSoft data sources.

As a recommended practice when adding the new adapter, you may initially supply the configuration parameters, test data source connectivity, and then delete the connection statement in the server profile. While not required, when you attempt to create a connection to the PeopleSoft data source, this process may save significant time.



Example: Adding an Oracle Adapter

The Web Console provides graphical point and click tools to add and test the adapter.

  1. From Web Console menu bar, click Adapters.
  2. Expand the Available folder, if it is not already expanded.
  3. Expand the SQL group folder and the Oracle folder.
  4. Right-click a version and select Configure.

    The Add Adapter to Configuration pane opens.

  5. Without supplying Oracle configuration parameters, click Configure.

    The Oracle adapter is added to your server configuration.

  6. Optionally, test the connection if you provided temporary configuration parameters.

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Creating the SNAPCAT Application

How to:

Before you can configure the PeopleSoft adapter, the SNAPCAT application must be created and added to the application path of the server. This can be done through the Web Console.

Note: In the server release 7.7.04 and higher, it is no longer necessary to include the SNAPINST application directory in the application PATH. This directory is automatically added or removed from the PATH when needed.



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Procedure: How to Create the SNAPCAT Application
  1. From the Web Console menu bar, select Applications.
  2. Right-click the Application Directories folder and select New, Application Directory.

    The Create New Application window opens, as shown in the following image.

    Create New Application Window

  3. Change the Application Name to snapcat. Make sure it is all in lowercase.
  4. Click OK.

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Configuring PeopleSoft Password Authentication

How to:

To leverage integrated authentication against PeopleSoft, a JSCOM3 listener must be configured using the Web Console. When completed, all user requests will pass calls to the PeopleSoft Component Interface architecture for authentication. If the configuration is either not using PeopleSoft or the connections are to be configured with TRUSTED authentication, then this step is not necessary.

Note: At this time, the PeopleSoft Component Interface does not support LDAP, even though the PeopleSoft Internet Architecture does read from LDAP repositories in general. This limitation means that if your PeopleSoft site uses LDAP integration for user authentication only, TRUSTED authentication is possible. To leverage your LDAP repository for WebFOCUS, use any of the standard integration methods available. For details, see the WebFOCUS Security and Administration manual.

Before configuring JSCOM3, the following conditions must be met:

Note: With PeopleSoft 8.4 and higher, the pstools.properties file is no longer required.

If the Reporting Server is installed on the same computer as your PeopleSoft Application Server, then you may configure JSCOM3 to point directly to the files. Otherwise, the files must be copied to the computer with the Reporting Server. In this situation, it is recommended (but not required) that they be placed in your EDACONF\bin directory.



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Procedure: How to Configure the JSCOM3 Listener

To configure the JSCOM3 listener:

  1. From the Web Console menu bar, select Workspace.
  2. From the navigation pane, expand the Java Services folder.
  3. Right-click DEFAULT, and select Properties.

    The Java Services Configuration pane opens.

  4. Expand the Class path arrow.

  5. Type the location of the psjoa.jar file in the IBI_CLASSPATH field, including the file name, for example, C:\Program Files\PeopleSoft\lib\psjoa.jar

Note: When upgrading the PeopleSoft Application Server after having performed these configuration steps, you must update the PeopleSoft files (psjoa.jar).


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Adding the First Connection to PeopleSoft

How to:

Reference:

Although multiple PeopleSoft connections can be created, the first connection requires slightly different management steps. The reason for this is that before any connections to PeopleSoft data sources can occur, a base layer of application metadata is created and configured. This occurs transparently for the Administrator, but is a slightly different connection management process than when adding additional connections.

To create the first connection:

Note: In server release 7.7.04 and higher, it is no longer necessary to include PSLOGIN as a service profile.



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Procedure: How to Add the First PeopleSoft Connection
  1. Open the Web Console.
  2. From Web Console menu bar, click Adapters.
  3. Expand the Available folder, if it is not already expanded.
  4. Expand the ERP group folder.
  5. Right-click Peoplesoft, and select Configure.
  6. Click Configure.
  7. Click Next.

    xThe Administration - Create a DBA Password window opens.

  8. In the Enter DBA and Retype fields, specify a DBA of up to eight characters, then click Next.

    The Administration - Create a New PeopleSoft Connection window opens.

  9. Type the necessary information and click Configure.
  10. Once the configuration finishes, click Next.

    Most of the parameters can be changed in the future, but the connection cannot be created without initially supplying correct data source connectivity information. For details on the required information, see Administration - Create a New PeopleSoft Connection Window.

    Tip: A worksheet is provided to assist you in gathering the information you will need to type on this screen. For details, see PeopleSoft Connection Worksheet.

    Processing may take several minutes to complete. Once completed, you may begin managing your new PeopleSoft Connection by adding synonyms and administering security access.



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Reference: Administration - Create a New PeopleSoft Connection Window
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The Administration - Create a New PeopleSoft Connection window contains the following fields/options:

Description

Is a description that identifies the current server configuration.

PeopleTools Release

Is the major PeopleSoft PeopleTools release number to access.

Security Parameters

Security Enabled?

Determines whether to enforce PeopleSoft data access security. The options are Yes and No. Yes is the default value.

Specify Security Access By

Determines the way in which the PeopleSoft administrator enables users to access the adapter and PeopleSoft data. The options are:

  • Class/Permission List. Manages users in operating class (permission list) grouping.
  • User/Operation ID. Manages users by individual user IDs.

Connection Parameters

Database Type

Is the Data source type. The options are: Oracle, MS SQL Server, and DB2 Universal Database.

Database Identifier

Is the data source identifier or system data source name.

If the server is co-located with the data residing in Oracle, do not type anything in the Database Identifier field.

Server

Name of the Database Server (for SQL Server only, not Oracle or DB2). If the instance of SQL Server you are configuring for is not running with the default port number, then the following syntax should be used:

nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn\instance_name, port

where

nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn

Is the IP address of the machine where SQL Server is running.

instance_name

Is the name of the SQL Server instance.

port

Is the listening port of the SQL Server instance.

Access ID

Is the RDBMS login ID for data source connectivity. Typically, it is the same login ID PeopleSoft uses to access the data source. There are minimum data access requirements that the ID must have. For details, see Setting Up the PeopleSoft Access ID.

Access Password

Is a password associated with the access ID.

Database Owner

Is the data source owner identifier or the schema owner depending on your data source. The owner ID is used to fully qualify SQL requests passed to the data source. This allows multiple data source instances or schemas to exist in a single data source. Typical defaults are SYSADM on Oracle and dbo on Microsoft SQL Server.

Authentication Options

Authentication

Determines the authentication used in your application. The options are:

Enforce Mixed Case IDs

Determines whether passwords are case-sensitive. Select Yes to enforce the PeopleSoft 8 use of mixed case user IDs or select No to revert to PeopleSoft 7.x case insensitivity.

If Password Required (Standard) is selected, two additional input fields are displayed:

Application Server

This is the IP address of the machine on which the JOLT Listener resides for the configured PeopleSoft environment.

JOLT Listener Port

Is the port number of the JOLT Listener.

Synonym Options

Default Synonym

Is the type of synonym to default to when creating new metadata. The options are: Record Name, Record Name with Prefix, Record Name with Suffix, Table Name, Table Name with Prefix, Table Name with Suffix.

Note: If you specify any of the options with Prefix or Suffix, the following additional input box is displayed.

Prefix/Suffix Default

Enter the prefix or suffix you wish to prepend or append to the synonym name.

Add Effective Date to synonyms

If this option is selected, additional field entries are added to any synonym created (or refreshed) after the configuration is saved. These new field entries provide the End Date of any row where an effective date field is part of the key. If an effective sequence is also part of the key, then the effective sequence field is also used in the calculation for the End Date field. In addition, filters are added to the synonym for the following:

  • Current Record

and, if Effective Sequence field is present, the following filters are also added:

  • First Effective Sequence
  • Last Effective Sequence
  • All Effective Sequences

These filters can be used in requests against the synonym and are available in the WebFOCUS reporting tool set.

To take advantage of this feature when migrating from an earlier release to release 7.7.02, first following the instructions in Migrating from 7.1x and 7.6.x to 7.7, then edit each connection that needs this functionality, select the new option, and save the configuration. All synonyms should now be refreshed to have the new fields/filters added to them.

Customize Synonym data type mapping

This option specifies how Long Character and CLOB data types in the PeopleSoft table should be reflected in the synonym.

Long Character Fields as

Fixed Length – Any Long Character or CLOB will be converted to the Fixed Length value. In the following image, the synonym will have A500V for these two data types.

Native Length – Long Character fields will reflect the length as specified in the PeopleSoft table definition, CLOB will be converted to the Fixed Length value. In the following image, the synonym will have A500V for the CLOB data types.

Length or CLOB Length

Length – This is the length that will be used for both Long Character and CLOB fields if Fixed Length is selected.

CLOB Length – This is the length that will be used for all CLOB fields if Native Length is selected.

If this is a new connection configuration, all synonyms created after the configuration is saved will have these values. If an existing connection is being modified, synonyms will have to be refreshed to use these values.



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Reference: PeopleSoft Connection Worksheet

Use the following worksheet to record connection configuration information and keep it for future reference.

Option Name

Response

Description

Description

 

Row.

DBA

 

8-character identifier for linking metadata to PeopleSoft security rules. Must be consistent across multiple connections.

PeopleTools Release

 

Major release of PeopleTools (8.1x, or 8.4x and above)

Security Enabled?

 

Specifies whether PeopleSoft data security (row-level and access group) is enforced.

Specify Security Access By

 

Specifies security access; by User (OPRID) or permission list (OPRCLASS).

Database Type

 

Designation for RDBMS. The options are Oracle, MS SQL Server, or DB2 Universal Database.

Database Identifier

 

Database System Identifier (SID) or Source Name used by the appropriate DBMS client software on the server.

Server

 

Name of the Database Server (for SQL Server only, not Oracle or DB2). If the instance of SQL Server you are configuring for is not running with the default port number, then the following syntax should be used:

nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn\instance_name, port

where

nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn

Is the IP address of the machine where SQL Server is running.

instance_name

Is the name of the SQL Server instance.

port

Is the listening port of the SQL Server instance.

Access ID

 

ID used by PeopleSoft to connect to the RDBMS.

Access Password

 

Password associated with the access ID.

Database Owner

 

Data source owner ID for the PeopleSoft data source.

Authentication

 

Select Password to always verify the user ID/password. Select Trusted to accept only user ID. Trusted authentication is useful when deploying in previously authenticated environments, such as a Portal.

Enforce Mixed Case IDs

 

Provides backwards compatibility for sites that previously used a case-insensitive version of PeopleSoft. (Yes or No)

Application Server

 

This is the IP address of the machine on which the JOLT Listener resides for the configured PeopleSoft environment.

JOLT Listener Port

 

Is the port number of the JOLT Listener.

Default Synonym

 

The type of synonym to default to when creating new metadata.

  • Record Name
  • Record Name with Prefix
  • Record Name with Suffix
  • Table Name
  • Table Name with Prefix
  • Table Name with Suffix

Note: If you specify any of the options with Prefix or Suffix, an additional input box is displayed for your Prefix or Suffix entry.

Prefix/Suffix Default

 

Enter the prefix or suffix you wish to prepend or append to the synonym name.

Add Effective Date to synonyms

 

If this option is selected, additional field entries are added to any synonym created (or refreshed) after the configuration is saved. These new field entries provide the End Date of any row where an effective date field is part of the key. If an effective sequence is also part of the key, then the effective sequence field is also used in the calculation for the End Date field. In addition, filters are added to the synonym which can be used in requests against the synonym and are available in the WebFOCUS reporting tool set.


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