Oracle Peoplesoft VM Template based Install. NOT!

I have just three words to describe the experience: Counter-intuitive, Convoluted and ATROCIOUS.

Yes. Atrocious.

Getting a working Peoplesoft setup using the OVM templates is about as easy as pulling teeth. After having installed the OVM, the OVM-MANAGER, Converting the template zips to an accessible format, Importing the templates, Creating Virtual Machines, Starting Virtual Machines, Going through the initial config, and NOT GETTING A WORKING SETUP, I have decided to finally give up on this being in any way "a sane approach" to getting a demo environment going quickly.

It took me a good week of farting around with Virtual Box (what I installed OVM on top off), OVM, OVM Manager and I'm still no further off than if I had just downloaded the edelivery zip files myself.

I don't know what exactly Oracle is trying to accomplish here by making things so ridiculously difficult by forcing prospective customers to use OVM... I think as far as pushing "Oracle VM" as a "virtualization solution" is concerned the writing is on the wall. Oracle better recognize that VMWare won that race long time ago. Please stop struggling with it, it will be easier for all of us ;)

I have now decided to just do a full install of 8.52 , something which I should have done to begin with. However, I was seduced by the thought of (1) not having to install 40 GB of install media, and (2) being able to get a running PSOFT environment once I got past the OVM Server/Manager installation part. Suffice it to say that OVM Server & Manager part is the easy piece...

So the plan now is to download UGGH!!! the 8.52 media kit, and just do a straight VBox->OEL5 install for the WEB/APP/DB tiers. I might even try running all tiers on one OEL virtualbox instance and use an XP or Win7 Guest as the "developer Workstation"

This is something that Oracle can very easily do since they now own VirtualBox however they choose to make things needlessly over-complicated and end up making the end product pretty much useless for 99% of their customer base.

My suggestions to Oracle:

1. Supply VmWare images or templates.
2. Supply VirtualBox importable templates.
3. PLEASE. PLEASE. KILL Oracle VM. It is done like dinner. VMWare won that war, the sooner you recognize, the better off we'll all be in the long run.

kthxbye! :)

Oracle VM Templates

I have been working on getting the kinks out of an Oracle VM Template Demo install for HCM9.1, and to say the least, it has not been easy. I'd say it looks good on paper. You think you'll just head on over to the edelivery site, download the templates and off you go, but you'd be gravely mistaken.

The OVM templates are about as difficult to get going from a logistical perspective as is a new install. Maybe I say this because I'm used to direct installs, but I found that if you don't have dedicated hardware to run the OVM Server and Manager combo, you're in for a bit of a rig-a-ma-roll!! Especially if you're going to use VirtualBox or VMWare to "fake" the metal for OVM Server/Manager machines.

At present I'm looking into converting the OVM images (essentially xen images) into Oracle Virtual Box images, because for a really simple throwaway install, it is quite quick to get going with Virtualbox.

I think it's about time Oracle started supplying VirtualBox images for Peoplesoft instead of making people jump through hoops to do a vanilla throwaway install.

I'll be documenting the steps I had to take to convert the images, and the pitfalls of installing OVM Server on a VirtualBox substrate, because believe me, it is nothing short of pulling teeth to get this setup going if you don't have physicall servers to work with.