If you see some error messages when you first open IFS (similar to the message below), make sure that all components of the Application Server have been installed.
These are installed in the Server Management area > Add Roles and Features. The Application Server role is delivered with PowerShell commands that are required for IFS to run.
If you have installed a new DSP for your LBI server, it is very simple to point LBI to the new DSP install.
First, update the sysconfig.xml file located at <LBI Install Directory>/FrameworkServices/conf. Look for the old DSP name and update it with the new name. Then, be sure to change the class paths in WebSphere > Your Application Server > Java and Process Management > Process Definition > Java Virtual Machine. Also, update the Custom Properties at the same location.
Restart the application server.
When you journalize a Recurring Journal Entry, it goes through the standard JE approval flow. There is no delivered flow that looks at the Recurring Journal.
If you want the Recurring Journal Entry to be approved once when it is created and not approved each time it is journalized, a Custom IPA will need to be created to do that.
If you want changes on the Recurring Journal Entry to be re-approved when generated, make sure your custom trigger kicks off the IPA every time the Recurring Journal Entry is released.
You may then want to modify your JE approval flow to exclude transactions with the RJ system code since it was already approved – both initially and when it was changed.
You may find the need to install or update DSP for your SSO applications, such as LBI or MSCM. DSP allows these external web application to authenticate against Lawson for Single Sign-On.
Information you will need:
First, download the latest DSP jar file from InforXtreme.
It is best practice to back up your ldap instance before you begin the install.
On the server of the SSO application, open a command prompt as administrator. Navigate to the directory where you saved the DSP install file.
Type command java -jar <DSP file>.jar. This will open the install wizard.
Enter a new configuration passkey. NOTE that if you are updating an installed DSP, you will need to know what passkey was used to install it.
Give your DSP instance a meaningful name
Set the location where you want the install files saved, and set the java location.
Mingle DSP install is a different process not addressed in this article.
Provide the FQDN of your LSF server. The standard and secure ports can be found in your LSF install log. Enter the password that you use to run ssoconfig.
Enter account information with administrative privileges in Lawson
Enter the appropriate values for the server that hosts your SSO application
Click Install
Update the JVM custom properties with the new install information (if necessary)
Install or update your security application in WebSphere. The install file lawsec.ear can be found in <DSP install directory/jar/secondary
Run a smoke test against the new DSP install at https://<application base url>:<port>/sso/SSOConfig
The procurement modules in large ERP systems are great for buying in bulk and keeping stock supplied for your larger purchasing needs. Usually items are shipped to a receiving dock and are received into the ERP system by the receiving personnel. This makes doing AP matching viable for these purchases.
What do you do with the items that your local store needs that are not shipped to a warehouse for distribution? What about when the items are not part of a current contract or even needed on a contract? A store may need light bulbs for their light fixtures, for example, and the local manager has the authority to place an order for them without getting them in his regular warehouse deliveries. This type of local purchase does not need approval beyond the store manager. Waiting for a long process to establish a local supplier of light bulbs could leave the store in the dark before the process completes.
You still want these local store purchases to have an approval process that is tracked for audit compliance and a way to know what your commitments are. How do you deal with these purchases now? Wouldn’t it be great to have a local purchasing solution that doesn’t require a receiving department and still allows you to know:
Who approved the order
What your total corporate commitments are
Where you purchased something before for when you need to purchase them again
A solution is coming – stay tuned for more information soon!
Here is a list of known IPA errors and their solutions as provided by Infor.
at java.net.InetAddress.getAllbyName0(InetAddress.java:1302)
Solution: Try adjusting the java.security file to disable caching while troubleshooting the problem on the DNS server. In order to modify this value, open JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/security/java.security and change the networkaddress.cache.ttl line to:
networkaddress.cache.ttl=0
This error can pop up upon pressing “Build” in IPA Designer LawsonQuery node.
Solution: This silly error may be caused by using a IPA variable (such as <!appProdline>) for your dataarea in the query string. Instead, just remove the variable and type in the dataarea manually instead.
Before: PROD=<!appProdline>&FILE=EMPLOYEE&INDEX=EMPSET1&KEY=<!Company>=<!Employee>&FIELD=ADD-ALLOW-AMT;AUTO-DEPOSIT;BIWEEKLY-RATE;COMPANY;EMPLOYEE&OUT=CSV&DELIM=
After:
PROD=lsapps&FILE=EMPLOYEE&INDEX=EMPSET1&KEY=<!Company>=<!Employee>&FIELD=ADD-ALLOW-AMT;AUTO-DEPOSIT;BIWEEKLY-RATE;COMPANY;EMPLOYEE&OUT=CSV&DELIM=
The Data Iterator node is commonly used to loop through records but it can also read a file into IPA. (For more on the Data Iterator Node, visit: https://www.nogalis.com/2017/05/04/ip-designer-series-the-data-iterator-node/)
Based on the responses of seasoned IPA developers on the Infor/Lawson forums, the best way to ‘load’ in a file to an IPA flow is to use a FileAccess node followed by a DataIterator node. This speeds up the flow considerably as the FileAccess node would read the file into memory and then the DataIterator node can use the data from the memory instead of reading and closing the file multiple times.
First ‘load’ or ‘read’ the file into IPA using the FileAccess node. Then set DataIterator to process the Data (and not File) and set the source to be the FileAccess_outputData. This should noticeably improve the performance of the flow as the data is just being loaded into memory once by the FileAccess.
If you run into this error, it likely means that many of your batch jobs in Lawson are going into recovery. The reason this may have occurred is due to a domain name change or possibly an accidental password reset.
To resolve, first login into LSA, then go to Manage Privileged Identities.
Once there, click the Environment named service ie. LSFPROD, LSFTEST or however yours is named. Select the BATCH key and find out what user is assigned under it.
This BATCH key may be named differently so check your lajs.cfg file under RUNUSERKEY as shown below in the system folder.
If you know the latest password login to LID with it first to confirm.
After confirming, type the password in the password field shown below and remember to click CHANGE after you confirm the password:
Go back to the job scheduler and attempt to recover your jobs.
Lawson makes it incredibly simple to add users to its reporting wing LBI.
First what you want to do is add the LBIUser GROUP to the user in LSA:
This group may be spelled differently but typically it’s called LBIUSER and is defined when Lawson is first setup for your organization.
Once you add this group to the Lawson user. Make sure you save and clear your server cache.
Log in to LBI, go to Tools, and under System Administration click “Synchronize Users and Roles”
LBI typically auto-synchronizes once a day but you can manually do it now and you’ll notice the users and roles will be the same after your sync them.
The user should be able to login into LBI but likely won’t be able to access much if reports, dashboards, and links are assigned additional Lawson groups as a means of restricting access. Again, these are called “roles” in LBI but “groups” in Lawson.
There is also a matter of bursting reports to the user which is another form of security that will be outlined in another article.
Infor Process Automation should be configured correctly to ensure proper functioning of other Lawson System Applications. Here are the official best practice IPA-LSF Server Configuration recommendations directly from Infor. (KB 1946828)
Recommended Configurations
Additional Recommendations for Infor Cloud Clients
Additional Recommendations for LSF on LINUX