2835061 - Learning Management System Automated Refresh Process

As opposed to the standard refresh requests which require LMS administrators to carry out several tasks pre and post refresh, the automated refresh tool namely Instance Refresh Tool (IRT) eliminated many of these to simplify the task (please see the resolution section for details on the automation).

• SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite
• SAP SuccessFactors Learning 

IRT tool is now available for all the customers who meet pre-requisites

Pre-requisites:

vSaaS environments are currently not eligible.

Prior to using the tool, you need to contact the LMS support team to verify that you are eligible for the tool to be enabled from the BizX backend (provisioning).

Also required:

• Enable Generic Object, if the feature is not enabled in your instance, you can upgrade your instance in Upgrade Center.
• Role-based permission, if your instance is using legacy permission please contact SAP Cloud Support, for information on migrating your instance to role-based permission.

You can review the SAP Help Portal Pairing the Instances area and the KBA 2791468 (end to end details from setting up permissions to generating tokens and pairing instances for the refresh). But since the tool is already available for HCM core you have more likely all the configuration done already.

Which BizX company id should be paired with source?

Please refer KBA 2655655 - How can SuccessFactors end users find the company ID - SuccessFactors to find exact BizX company id.

To find out LMS environment URL associated with BizX company id, please use below steps.

1. Login into BizX environment
   
   

2. Navigate to Admin Center -> Learning -> Learning Administration
   

3. From the Learning Administration URL, check for https://[companyname].[depends on DC but commonly it's plateau].[depends on region but this would be com or eu as an example]. Example: https://salesdemo123.plateau.com. This will be associated Learning url for your BizX company ID.
   
   
   
   Note: XXXX is specific to customer's LMS domain.

LIMITATIONS:

• IRT does not support cross DC refreshes at this time, for example DC2 to DC4, etc;
• LMS DC12 to DC12 Monsoon (GMP) & vice versa is also considered cross-DC & not eligible for IRT. 
• IRT does not support instances with Reverse Proxy configured.
• Both Tenants must be under 100GB. {Best way to determine is by scheduling IRT for LMS since it will notify you if not eligible due to size limitation}
• See KBA 2791468 for other limitations.

The following configuration tables are automatically backed up and restored from the target instance after a refresh:

• All System Configuration Property Files (so you will be able to navigate to LMS from Bizx post refresh without having to update the configuration, for example)
• Report Developer Role (Preview only) [You may have to reapply to the adminID you wish to have this role in LMS]
• Internal (backend) Configurations

The following actions are automatically performed in the target instance after a refresh:

• PA Mail table is cleared of all queued up emails
• Mail Archive table is cleared
• All email addresses are cleared from the system as to not send out erroneous emails
• Previous background job results table is cleared
• All recurring APM jobs will be disabled post-refresh in the Target instance except background, auto-scheduled APM Jobs. These APM jobs are those which the customer cannot see in the LMS Admin UI under the System Administration -> Automatic Processes. In other words, all the customer-facing APM jobs will be disabled in the Target instance post-refresh.
• Recurring Report jobs will be disabled by default after the refresh
• The Target instance will have its OAuth Client Secret overwritten by the Source's. If OData API is used in the Target instance, it's mandatory to generate a new client secret to avoid any issues.
• A post-refresh user sync via an ad-hoc run of the User Connector-SF (SF user connector in LMS) will be run to ensure employee data is synchronized between platform and LMS
  (only if BizX has exported the file accordingly else you can run manually or rely on the already planned scheduled time for this connector and the BizX provisioning export job, if not you will receive a warning that you can safely ignore: "The user export job cannot be found. Please contact your implementation partner or SAP Cloud Support to create a new job in Provisioning").
• SMTP settings will be cleared and you may see an error on the page: "Email has been disabled due to connectivity errors with the configured SMTP server settings. Please contact your system administrator to verify the settings to enable email", please see our "After the refresh section" for steps to take if you need to enable emails in your target instance post refresh.

Before the refresh:

if you have a different logo or images for each of your instances, please be aware of the following:

• QuickGuide images, Company logos and custom thumbnails are not backed up nor stored in the LMS database, therefore  you need to have these files available to upload them in the LMS target instance after the refresh.
• If you have any custom labels or custom reports unique to the target instance, you should export them before the refresh to keep a back-up.
• You should also have your OData API secret already backed up in case you use this functionality in Stage and should ensure you have it to replace.
• Disable any APM you do not want running in target or perform change post-refresh
• Disable any recurring report you do not want running in target; Please note that those will be copied over and can only be accessed by the admin who scheduled them (Reports > Report Job tabs) or from Bizx proxy, see 2250223.

After the refresh:

• Test accessing LMS from the platform (both user and admin UI)
• Review your configuration files (system administration > Configuration > System Configuration) to confirm the backup were properly applied (correct SFTP, deployment location ID etc...)
• Upload your images if needed
• To enable emails in the target instance please navigate to system administration > configuration > global application settings > Mail tab > check 'Enable Email' and populate the Admin and 'User Notification Email' fields (mandatory)
• Connectors will not be disabled in the target system post refresh, if you do not need them to run then please make sure to disable them once the refresh is completed (system admin > Connectors > open the desired connector and uncheck "Schedule this process")
  However the Connector configuration property file of the target system is backed up and restored after the refresh is completed (for example SFTP location and file path).
• Disable any APM as needed.
• Disable any recurring report jobs not needed, see 2250223.
• The Custom Labels and Customization on the User Landing Pages (including Custom Tiles) are not copied from the source to the target LMS environment and will need to be restored manually. We recommend that customer can take screenshots and copy any source codes they need for custom tiles from the source environment to re-create these post refresh.

Performing a Refresh only on Learning Management System:

• When doing a Learning Refresh, you will not see the LMS URLs as the options. Instead what you will see are the BizX IDs.
• Please note checkbox for "Learning Management System" will appear only after selecting target environment and if Learning Management System refresh has been enabled in both source and target environment.
• When performing a refresh only on the Learning Management System you will get the following Warning Message:
• In the case that you do have access to Provisioning you can Run this Employee Export without contacting SAP Cloud Support and then run the SF User Connector afterwards to sync the Users in the LMS.
• If you do not have access to Provisioning then contact the SAP Cloud Support team by raising a case under the component LOD-SF-PLT requesting to run a Employee Export in provisioning for the Target instance. Then run the SF User Connector in the LMS.
• This will sync the Users across LMS and BizX.

What if the refresh fails or I receive some errors?

• Please review this KBA 2791468 along with the Reference section of the KBA for some additional documentation on errors and validation messages.
• If you still need assistance, you can either reopen the case where you requested us to enable the tool (if not confirmed) or please submit a new case (LOD-SF-PLT-REF)

Please provide:

• company ID and support access for both the source and target instance
• notification received with validation or error
• Error logs (see here how to collect them)
• screenshot of the error if the message happens when scheduling the refresh and prevented you from proceeding

User Assistance documentation

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