Sometimes we have an application that is server-based and it crashes when you start the application server or throws an error or warning during execution. The only way to fix it is to get into the log of the error. Looking at web console's log is a simpler technique that requires less setup than a remote session to the server! If your application server is the IBM Websphere, where can you get it?   Here are the steps: 1. Log into the application server (E.g. http://localhost:9060/ibm/console) 2. In the left toolbar,... [More]

Tags:  log maximo tracing logging websphere

Security is more important than ever, and securing applications is a priority to every company. Many clients ask for documentation on configuring Maximo for LDAP authentication. You end up having to review many different articles to address a single topic, so I've decided to lay out a basic LDAP configuration using WebSphere 7 and Maximo 7.5.0.5. This will walk through connecting WebSphere to your domain right down to the synchronization process and hopefully give a more clear understanding of the configuration process. For the purpose of... [More]

Tags:  websphere maximo security ldap vmmsync

Customers have varying options on how they integrate other applications with their Maximo system.   Some common choices include SOAP-based web services and XML files.   The Integration Framework (i.e. MIF or MEA) provides a new option available, starting in Base Services 7.5.0.1, to customers to access Maximo data in a RESTful manner.   REST stands for Representational State Transfer.   REST, as defined by Roy Fielding, is an architectural style of networked systems.   As described on xfront.com Why is it called Representational State Transfer?... [More]

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I've been working with the new Maximo 7.6 installer for a while now. Compared to the installer used with Maximo 7.1 and 7.5, it is a big improvement. First, you have many fewer screens to go through. At most, you'll see 11 screens, instead of more than 25. Each screen provides field validation for your entries. Second, before you install anything, you can review, validate and modify all of the entries, rather than waiting until everything has been entered and pressing that next button. Third, there is additional contextual information,... [More]

Tags:  maximo+7.6 maximoinstaller maximo maximo7.6 installation-manager

Today I am going to introduce you to the world of scripting with Maximo. Maximo scripting let you customize a slew of Maximo components. These components include these kinds of customizations: Customizing MBOs through save-point and initialization-point validations and actions and MBO field validations and actions. Customizing workflow, escalation, conditional UI, menus, and push-button actions via scripted actions and conditions. It is important to understand that the Automation scripts are a server-side artifact, as opposed to a client-side... [More]

Tags:  ibmeam

We use bind variables a lot in maximo. We are familiar with relationships like “ LOCATION=:LOCATION and SITEID=:SITEID ”, and conditions like “ :CLASS='INCIDENT' ”. “ :LOCATION ”, “: CLASS ” are maximo bind variable. They are resolved to the actual value of the specified attribute of the current business object. Current business object means the object that the expression is evaluated against. Depending on the context, it is the parent object that the relationship is defined on, or the object a condition is evaluated against. Less familiar to... [More]

Tags:  relationships objects variables attributes maximo ibmeam v7 v75

Introduction Many Maximo business objects, processes and applications record date and time measurements. Such measurements can be utilized to compute the total time spent by operators on particular tasks. For example, in the Service Request application, finding the elapsed time difference between Actual Finish and Actual Start date and time can help measure the time spent by service desk agents in completing and closing a ticket. This computed information can then be utilized in ad hoc reporting to gain insights into the efficiency of... [More]

Tags:  maximo ibmeam scripting

 Introduction    What should you do if the message "BMXAA0578E - You must turn on Admin Mode before performing a structural database configuration." is displayed when you are applying a database change?      What should you do if the admin mode is ON and the administrator is not able to log into Maximo? How do you turn OFF the admin mode?    This post helps you to solve these problems.    Objective    This post guides you how to configure system properties to turn ON and turn OFF Admin mode at Maximo. It also describes how to... [More]

Tags:  ibmeam configuration adminmode

I am often amazed how many times I receive questions regarding Maximo's rotating inventory functionality.  The surprise comes from the fact that this functionality has been in the product since at least the days of 3.x (maybe earlier...anyone have a copy of 2.1.1 and can tell me?) Many customers are looking to implement or expand their usage of rotating inventory so it seemed appropriate to provide a bit more information on what all this rotating stuff is about.   So what is a rotating item?  Functionally, it is an item record that has... [More]

Tags:  supply_chain 7.5 ibmeam materials rotating asset mam maximo inventory

Introduction The objective of this post is provide a definitive view of how configuring Maximo authentication using WebSphere and a LDAP Federated Repository. During the reading, it will be possible to understand some definitions and get tips to take the best of this capability. This example uses the Federate Repository functionality of WAS, which means, allow one-to-many authentication sources be used as a single view from the application perspective. It is worth considering this approach due its easy configuration and ability to expand to... [More]

Tags:  security websphere maximo tivoli ldap

Introduction In my previous article working with dates I showed how elapsed time could be measured. In this second article covering date manipulation with Maximo scripting, I present a Java-based approach to calculating dates. I have chosen a scenario in which an escalation executes a scripted action. I take this opportunity to walk readers through the Tpae scripting framework’s action launch point capability. Service Request date calculation In Maximo as well as other products built with the Tivoli process automation engine (Tpae),... [More]

Tags:  maximo scripting ibmeam

Maximo Activity Dashboard (PerfMon) Overview: The Maximo Activity Dashboard commonly known as PerfMon is available as a UI Interface from Maximo version 7 onwards. It is normally used when debugging performance related problems in Maximo.   Here are some of the capabilities of PerfMon –     Provides information on Individual Request Processing Time on the server side including – Overall response time Average response time for similar kind of requests The navigation event that led to the request being made.... [More]

Tags:  monitor v7 usage ibmeam maximo performance debugging

A new feature added to Maximo 7.5 allows application users to export data directly from the application they work in and view/manage that data (.csv) in MS Excel.  They also have the ability to make changes to the data in the spreadsheet and then import those changes back into Maximo.  See the enablement document available at the link below for more information.... [More]

Tags:  framework export maximo integration application import

Abstract This article aims at demonstrating the required steps to delete non-processed messages from a queue of IBM Maximo Asset Management 7.5, IBM WebSphere 7.0.0.13 and Oracle Weblogic 10.3.3.0 Introduction You can use Maximo Integration Framework (MIF) for integrating an external system to the Maximo Asset Management 7.5 system. With MIF you can exchange data through importing and exporting operations. XML and .dat files are examples of ways to do the operations. This article comprises the steps required for deleting messages of data... [More]

Tags:  deleting queues mif integration framework messages

Are you new to Maximo Spatial 7.6? No problem - Let's get started To get started, we will go through a few steps on how we can get your Spatial data set up to use Spatial 7.6. First task that I'll cover in this blog will refer to the creating the GIS Objects using the Feature Services. When using Spatial 7.6 - Creating GIS Objects is an important task to be able to get the full functionalities of Maximo Spatial. Creating the Objects used to be a tough task, but with Spatial 7.6 and Feature Services, it's actually very easy! Let me... [More]

Tags:  #maxsup creating map map-manager maximo spatial feature-service 7600 objects gis

Earlier this year, I blogged on installing IBM Installation Manager, without getting into too much detail, actually. I recently followed that up with a step-through migrating profiles from WebSphere 7.0 to WebSphere 8.5.5. I seem to have forgotten an important step, huh? Yep, that's right. This week's blog post will be all about How to Get Your Blog Posts In Order. First, the link to the Installation Manager install blog post Second, the link to the first Migrating profiles blog post .   Now,... [More]

Tags:  maximo+7.5 websphere8.5.5 websphere+8.5.5 maximo7.5 maximo migration+tool deployment websphere

When to use Child Work Orders, Tasks and the Multi Asset Location Table on Work Orders in Maximo In my blog entry this week I wanted to talk about the different ways you can utilize work orders to create projects or work packages in Maximo. The first question people tend to ask is: Should I use Child Work Orders, Tasks or this new Multi Asset/Location table? This is a very good question and the answer to this question depends on a number of factors. Let’s discuss those factors. When you have a large amount of work that needs to be done and you... [More]

Tags:  order asset maximo tasks ibmeam management work

Use the Workflow Designer application to create, view, modify, and delete Workflow process records that reflect your business processes. An active Workflow process revision defines the different paths that a record can take as it moves through the business process. The process also defines the actions and notifications that should take place at various points in the process.   You create a workflow process by inserting nodes and connection lines on a Workflow canvas. Each Workflow process includes start and stop nodes. Start and stop nodes do... [More]

Tags:  ibmeam implementation maximo configure overview workflow

Abstract This tutorial aims at explaining the steps required to configure an SMTP account for sending e-mails in the IBM Maximo EAM 7.x. Additionally, this tutorial provides a usage example of this SMTP account. Objectives Sending e-mails via Maximo is a feature that aims at alerting the users of some actions that take place within the system. In this article, I will provide you with an example on how to send the password of a user via e-mail. Prerequisites The user must have Administrative access privileges (Administrator) in order to execute... [More]

Tags:  smtp maximo email

Sometimes, there is an specific need to deploy Maximo without those default demonstration data that comes within the installation. Following this idea, I wanted to share this simple post about creating and activating a brand new Organization into Maximo Asset Management. One of the first steps when setting up a clean Maximo environment is to create the financial information and it is still a little bit tricky for some people without experience in Maximo. In order to create your financial information and Organization, follow the steps... [More]

Tags:  organization ledger maximo ibmeam general

Do you prefer to not to include custom Java code in your integration implementation?  Don’t have available personnel with the appropriate Java skills?  There are capabilities in the integration framework to implement processing functionality by using integration processing rules and control where Java code is not needed. Processing rules can be configured on any Publish Channel or Enterprise Service in order to filter transactions or set field values.  Integration Controls can be used as part of a processing rule to allow for configurability of... [More]

Tags:  rules channels processing services controls enterprise publish integration mif mea

Over the last few years I've talk to a lot of Maximo users and implementers and one of the most FAQ often asked is, "How can we keep track of attribute changes?"  It's very clear that Maximo users value their data and want an ability to keep track of changes made to attributes they love the most.  By default there are many type of changes which are already tracked historically, like the history of an Asset moving from one location to another or the status changes of a Work Order but if a customer adds new attributes or wants to track... [More]

Tags:  ibmeam attribute maximo v75 faq changes v7 audit

Most of you are probably aware that Maximo has meters, and you can attach meters to assets and locations to drive your maintenance processes.   Since I’ve been getting a number of questions lately regarding the use of meters, I thought I’d take a few minutes and explain how they are used in Maximo and how they can provide you with a basis for your Preventive and Predictive Maintenance programs.  First let me clarify that Maximo meters are not actually physical meters.   When I attach a ‘Run Hours’ meter to an asset, it is simply a... [More]

Tags:  meters predictive eam maximo preventive

I'm back again, changing things up a bit this week from the usual LDAP blog.  Today we are going to talk about clustering and go into a detail step by step guide to configuring WebSphere 8.5.5 in a horizontal cluster. Unlike a vertical cluster which is built up on the same server, a horizontal cluster spans multiple servers/nodes to allow for another layer of fail over. Clustering is appropriate for implementations with a large user load, as you add more users you may need to add additional JVM's to either the existing nodes or new... [More]

Tags:  maximo 7.5 install websphere clustering maximo_asset_management websphere+8.5.5 performance balancing load cluster

URLs are what we send to our friends whenever we're trying to share a YouTube video of a cat playing the piano .  But URLs are more powerful in business contexts; launching a colleague to a specific bit of information can save lots of valuable time. To understand how to launch into Maximo and start an operation, you need to understand the format of URLs and landing events that Maximo supports.  For example, you can send an email containing a link that takes your users to a specific record within Maximo.   Here's an example URL that will... [More]

with Steve Haupman, Anamitra Bhattacharyya and Sampath Sriramadhesikan (IBM US)   Introduction The purpose of this article is to present a technical solution using Maximo Automated Scripting to the problem of plain text white space content via email appearing flattened in the SR ticket Rich Text Editor (RTE).    Creating the Script Navigate to: System Configuration > Platform Configuration > Automation Scripts then Select Action > Create > Script with Attribute Launch Point   Step 1: Create the... [More]

Tags:  7.5.0.3 scripting email 7.5.0.4 plain-text ibmeam tpae maximo

Part II and Part III of this series. Companion article:  Email Listener Communications via Live.com using SSL & STARTTLS (review the GMail series as a prerequisite) Email over SSL is new in IBM Maximo 7.5.0.3 .   A Note About SSL Certificates In general, SSL certificates are acquired from certificate authorities.  The implementation of certificates falls in the province of the email server and application server.  Maximo does not directly (or even indirectly) handle or... [More]

Tags:  maximo ibmeam 7503 ssl email

Work Order Tracking location and asset business rule In the Maximo product, the Work Order Tracking application is one of the most heavily used business applications. In the product release versions 5.x, 6.x and 7.x, right up to the most recent 7.5, a business rule is automatically applied that can be stated as follows: Populate the Asset field if the Location chosen for the work order contains just one asset. With many clients the auto-population of the Asset field is not useful. Most work orders are opened against a Location, not an... [More]

Tags:  maximo rule business scripting eam

During the last week of July, over 800 individuals gathered for IBM Tivoli’s Pulse Conference in Melbourne, Australia.   At the second largest Tivoli Pulse Conference, attendees networked and interacted to learn from IBMers and Business partners on the latest functionality and products and from other attendees on implementation best practices. This blog post has more details: Australian Pulse Conference. I had the amazing opportunity to present on Maximo Reporting at this conference, and a key topic that came up with a number of clients was... [More]

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