Release Notes

The Fall 2020 FINDINI 4.0.18 release will be available to users on Monday, December 14, 2020.

Please continue to review updated release messages and outage information that will be posted in the e-news articles, on the Oracle Financial splash pages, and on the sites listed below.

SUMMARY:

The focus of this release has been the development, testing, & delivery of the Oracle database upgrade to version 19c for Oracle EBS Financials, including the new container database technology. This upgrade requires additional retrofitting of existing code sets and system settings. We have also been working on the Oracle EBS internal sunsetting of NOETIX software & Golden Gate replication in conjunction with the DMS reporting initiative they completed earlier this past summer. During this release timeline, we have completed many steps and updated programs and configurations for fixes and enhancements for the continued transition away from HCOM to the new Buy-to-Pay procurement system. We have and will continue to roll out the remaining University Cohorts throughout the rest of this calendar year. For more information on the Buy-to-Pay project (B2P), please visit the B2P Website.

In addition, within FINDINI 4.0.18, we will be implementing several CAPs enhancements that will deliver automated interfacing between CAPs and the Fixed Assets module. We are also addressing the standard security and compliance software and database patching to keep EBS, CPATH, and our automated testing platform, OATS, up to date with many industry security regulations and requirements. These will include updates for PSU, ATG, CPU, JDK, JRE, & Linux & WebLogic Operating System patching.

Key deliverables of the Fall 2020 FINDINI 4.0.18 Release include:

• Testing & Delivery of the Oracle database upgrade for EBS v19c
• Decommissioning of NOETIX Software, Concurrent Jobs, & related Golden Gate database schemas in Oracle EBS
• Continued rollout of the ITCRB Buy-to-Pay project for the new Jaggaer ePro module to our remaining University Cohorts
• Several new CAPs enhancements
• Updating the CITIBANK PCARD transaction import program to accommodate the final TS2 Leg2 upgrade
• Applying the standard Oracle software security patching, weblogic updating, and database patching in order to keep the EBS, OATS, & CPATH systems up to date with many industry security regulations and requirements. These will include the July-2020 updates for PSU, CPU, JDK, JRE, Weblogic middleware, & Linux Operating System patching

SYSTEM OUTAGES:

The Oracle EBS Financial systems will be unavailable from Friday, December 11 at 6:00 p.m. until Monday, December 14 at 7:00 a.m. to complete the installation of this release. The Oracle EBS Financial systems that will be offline during this time include:

• Accounts Payable
• Accounts Payable Adjustment Form for Assets
• Accounts Receivable
• iReceivables & Collections
• CAPS
• Cash Management (CMRA)
• Chart Security Maintenance Application (CSMA)
• Chart of Accounts GL Validator
• FedEx
• General Ledger
• Oracle Assets
• HCOM & iProcurement
• PCard
• Web ADI
• Web Reimbursement

CPATH (Capital Planning at Harvard) will be unavailable during this release window. DMS Financial Data Warehouse & HART reporting environments will also be offline at times during this release outage. The HDW load from EBS Financials will NOT take place Friday night 12/11. Instead, a special cycle will be run Sunday night, 12/13, and once that completes DMS Financial Data Warehouse & HART reporting environments will have up to date data from EBS.

ADDITIONAL RELEASE DETAILS FOR FINDINI 4.0.18:

The FINDINI 4.0.18 release will include a Java JRE update to 1.8.0_261. For Mac desktop users only, when logging in for the first time after December 14, those users will be required to download this updated Java JRE. This is needed for Mac users who rely on the Safari 11 browser using Java JRE plug-in to open Oracle Forms. Please note, that Safari 12 and higher used on the Mac, no longer supports Java JRE plug-in, thus Oracle forms will not open using this browser. Any Safari browser can be continued to be used for any Web-pages/HTML based modules in Oracle EBS, however, Safari browsers on the Mac are currently incompatible with Java Web Start Technologies. Firefox version 60.x and greater will now allow Oracle Forms on a Mac to open using Java Web Start Technology as long as the base level of JRE 1.8.0_201 is installed. The Firefox browser can also be used for any Web-pages/HTML based modules in Oracle EBS. If users receive a popup message that a more recent version greater than 1.8.0_261 is available, they should NOT act upon the request.

Windows PC desktop users will no longer have to install Java JRE updates for Oracle Financials due to the Java Web Start technology. Oracle Forms will no longer prompt Windows PC users to update their Java JRE. All universal browsers, including Safari, will successfully open Oracle Forms on a windows PC using the Java Web Start technology.  At a minimum, they must have JAVA JRE 1.8.0_141 which was pushed to them several FINDINI releases ago. If needed for other applications, there is no harm for those users to update to JAVA JRE 1.8.0_261 after 12/14.

Further information regarding Java Web Start Technologies can be found at https://oracle.fss.finance.harvard.edu/user-resources.

PLEASE NOTE:

Always clear your browser cache and cookies if you encounter any screen issues or errors logging into Oracle Financials. Please follow the cookie clearing instructions found in the Appendix.

Oracle Financials desktop standards can be found on site https://harvard.service-now.com/ithelp?id=sc_cat_item&sys_id=05d7a432dbacc7c083a2f3f7bf961977 under the Enterprise Application Supported Desktop Configurations section. These desktop standards will be updated for this release during our cutover. Further helpful tips & release information can be found on sites http://fss.finance.harvard.edu/popular-resources & http://oracle.fss.finance.harvard.edu/releases & https://oracle.fss.finance.harvard.edu/user-resources.

It is highly recommended for all users to subscribe to the https://status.huit.harvard.edu/ page. This will enable status alerts and notifications to be received by the users regarding all HUIT applications, as well as our specific Financial Applications. All Financial System links can be found https://huit.harvard.edu/apps/finance.

Click here for further E-news publication information regarding this release:

October Edition: https://admin-enews.eureka.harvard.edu/news/findini-4018-release-upcomin...

November Edition:  https://admin-enews.eureka.harvard.edu/news/findini-4018-release-upcomin...

December Edition:  https://admin-enews.eureka.harvard.edu/news/findini-4018-release-upcomin...

For questions please contact the HUIT Service Desk at ithelp@harvard.edu or call them at 5-7777.

APPENDIX:

See Attachments for Summary of release changes and Training Tips: