How customizations use custom OMS properties

Custom OMS properties that are defined in Self Service are available to IBM Sterling® Order Management System (OMS) at runtime as standard OMS properties. Administrators use this information to understand how property changes can affect custom behavior across environments.

When are custom OMS properties used by customizations?

Custom OMS properties are typically used when a customization needs configuration that:

  • Varies by environment.
  • May change over time.
  • Should not be stored in the OMS database.
  • Must be auditable and centrally managed.

Common use cases include:

  • External service or payment provider endpoints.
  • Feature flags that enable or disable behavior.
  • Integration identifiers.
  • Processing thresholds or routing parameters.

How are custom OMS properties made available at runtime?

The following flow describes how custom OMS properties become available to customizations:

  1. An administrator defines custom properties in Self Service.
  2. Self Service stores the properties securely in a vault.
  3. OMS pods retrieve the properties from the vault during startup.
  4. OMS exposes the properties to customizations at runtime as standard OMS properties.

Custom OMS properties are not persisted in the OMS database.

How do customizations access custom OMS properties?

Customizations access custom OMS properties in the same way as other OMS properties. The property name must match the name that is defined in Self Service.

For example, if the following custom OMS properties are configured:
1 yfs.paypal.url
2 yfs.visa.url.1
3 yfs.visa.url.2
A customization can read the appropriate value at runtime and then route requests based on the environment configuration.

Update and restart behavior

Changes to custom OMS property values take effect after OMS pods restart. When you update a property value in Self Service, restart the affected pods to make sure that OMS loads the updated configuration.

Administrative best practices

Follow these practices when managing custom OMS properties.

  • Use clear and consistent property naming conventions.
  • Avoid changing property names after deployment.
  • Document which customizations depend on each property.
  • Coordinate property changes with development teams.
  • Review property values after environment promotion.

Related development guidance

For more information about how developers design and consume custom OMS properties in custom code, see Using custom OMS properties in customizations.