IDM 11gR2 changes/new features : OIM Sandboxes
In my last post I touched on new console (System Administrator /sysadmin) introduced in OIM 11gR2 and highlighted new link sandboxes, this post covers information about sandboxes (new feature) in OIM 11gR2
As per OIM Admin Guide Sandbox is an area where metadata objects can be modified without affecting their mainline usage. In simple words, sandbox is a temporary storage area to save a group of page customizations before they are either saved and published to other users, or discarded.
Creating and activating a sandbox is mandatory for customizing the UI by using the Web Composer, Defining Application Instances etc… Without an active sandbox, Oracle Identity Manager does not allow to open any page in customization mode.
1. Before doing any activity in OIM (like Create/Modify Forms, Custom Attribute, creating application instances, adding roles/attributes to catalog) you must create Sand Box and activate it.
Note: more on catalog and application instances in OIM (introduced in 11gR2 later) later
2. You can have multiple sandboxes in OIM but only one sandbox can be active at any given time
3. You can export/import the sandbox to move the changes from the test to production environment.
4. Operations that you can perform on sandbox are ACTIVATE, PUBLISH, DEACTIVATE, EXPORT, IMPORT More on operations on sandboxes here
5. To create sandbox , login to identity manager self service (/identity) or System Administration (/sysadmin) and click on top right of link “Sandboxes” and then click on Create SandBox
6. Before publishing a sandbox , it is recommended to backup MDS . You can use /EM to backup MDS, steps here