PeopleSoft VM template installation frustration

Question

Hello,
After PeopleSoft VM setup, application access is fine.
But our Peoplesoft functional guys told me that some of the reports are not working for which COBOL is needed.
This is what VM template documentation says.
Production use of Oracle VM templates that include the running of COBOL processes will require the purchase of a COBOL license since there is only a 30-day evaluation licensed delivered with the templates.
So
1. can COBOL be used for 30 days?
2. How to start COBOL process(es)?
regards, Yora

Answer 1

Which application template are you using? i.e: Financials or HCM?
Which version of the template are you using? This will be shown in the README file that accompanied the template. i.e: when you extracted the disk images from the zipfile there will have been a README file. Inside that README file the PeopleTools and Application version will be shown. Knowing these will help us comment more accurately.
When you say that some of the reports are not working, does this mean that none of the functionality depending on COBOL works or that a subset of the COBOL based reports are not working? I ask this because it would tell us whether you are having problems with all COBOL based reports. If this were just some COBOL based reports I'd look at it from a non-COBOL perspective. Can you also tell us which reports specifically are not running?
1. Yes, COBOL can be used for 30 days after which you are required to obtain a COBOL license from Microfocus. This is because Oracle does not distribute Microfocus licenses for use with these VM templates. You need to enter into a license agreement with Microfocus if you plan on using the VM beyond the 30 day evaluation period. The 30 day evaluation period commences when you instantiate the VM from the template for the first time.
2. You don't start the COBOL processes. COBOL is a set of libraries that are loaded by the PeopleTools processes. Therefore when you start the Process Scheduler and Application Server domains these libraries are loaded into the memory space of the domain processes. This means that when you boot or shutdown the domains using PSAdmin, the necessary COBOL functionality should be available to schedule reports etc.