10 PeopleSoft Admin Interview Questions and Answers

PeopleSoft Admin is a critical role in managing and maintaining PeopleSoft applications, which are widely used for enterprise resource planning (ERP) across various industries. This role involves ensuring the smooth operation, performance tuning, and security of PeopleSoft systems, making it essential for organizations that rely on these applications for their business processes.

This article provides a curated selection of PeopleSoft Admin interview questions and answers. By reviewing these questions, you will gain a deeper understanding of the key concepts and practical skills required for the role, helping you to confidently navigate your upcoming interview.

PeopleSoft Admin Interview Questions and Answers

1. Describe the architecture of PeopleSoft.

PeopleSoft architecture is a multi-tiered system comprising several components that work together to provide a scalable enterprise solution. The main components include:

• Web Server: Handles HTTP requests and serves as the entry point to the PeopleSoft system, hosting the PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture (PIA).
• Application Server: Processes business logic and manages communication between the web server and the database server.
• Database Server: Stores all data used by PeopleSoft applications, typically using an RDBMS like Oracle, SQL Server, or DB2.
• Process Scheduler: Manages background processes such as batch jobs and reports.
• File Server: Stores files used by the PeopleSoft system, providing a centralized location for file management.

The interaction between these components ensures the performance and reliability of the PeopleSoft system.

2. Explain the process scheduler in PeopleSoft and its components.

The PeopleSoft Process Scheduler runs background processes and reports, allowing users to schedule and manage batch processes. Its components include:

• Process Scheduler Server: Manages the execution of scheduled processes.
• Process Definitions: Metadata definitions describing the processes to be run.
• Process Requests: Instances of processes scheduled to run.
• Process Monitor: Tool for monitoring the status of scheduled processes.
• Report Repository: Storage area for the output of completed processes.

3. How do you configure Application Server domains?

Configuring Application Server domains involves creating the domain using the PeopleSoft Domain Configuration tool (psadmin) and defining parameters like database connection details. Further configuration is done by editing files such as psappsrv.cfg. After configuration, the domain is started using psadmin, which also allows for monitoring and administrative tasks.

4. Explain the use of PeopleSoft Data Mover and provide an example of a script you might run.

PeopleSoft Data Mover is a utility for data-related tasks like importing and exporting data and running SQL commands. It’s often used for data migration between environments. A typical script might export data from one table and import it into another, as shown below:

-- Export data from the source environment
EXPORT * FROM PS_EMPLOYEES;

-- Import data into the target environment
IMPORT * INTO PS_EMPLOYEES;

This example demonstrates a basic data transfer between environments.

5. Describe the process of setting up Integration Broker.

Setting up Integration Broker involves configuring the Integration Gateway, setting up the Integration Network, configuring the Integration Broker Domain, creating queues and handlers, setting up security, and testing the integration. This setup facilitates messaging and integration with other systems.

6. How do you monitor and optimize performance?

Monitoring:

• Application Server and Process Scheduler Logs: Regularly review logs for errors or performance issues.
• Performance Monitor: Track system performance metrics like response times and server load.
• Database Monitoring: Use tools to monitor query performance and resource utilization.
• System and Network Monitoring: Ensure hardware and network resources are not causing issues.

Optimization:

• SQL Tuning: Optimize queries by analyzing execution plans and adjusting indexes.
• Application Server Tuning: Adjust settings like cache sizes and thread counts.
• Database Optimization: Perform maintenance tasks like updating statistics and rebuilding indexes.
• Load Balancing: Distribute workload across multiple servers.
• Hardware Upgrades: Upgrade components like CPUs and memory as needed.

7. Explain the process of creating and managing roles and permissions.

Creating and managing roles and permissions involves defining roles, assigning permissions, managing user access, and conducting regular reviews and audits. Roles are collections of permissions that define user actions within the system.

8. Explain your approach to disaster recovery planning.

Disaster recovery planning involves risk assessment, implementing a backup and recovery strategy, setting up redundancy and high availability, establishing a disaster recovery site, developing recovery procedures, conducting testing and drills, and establishing a communication plan. These steps ensure the system can be restored and operations can continue in the event of a disaster.

9. Describe your strategy for managing customizations.

Managing customizations requires documentation, version control, testing, change management, backup and recovery, and training and support. These components ensure customizations are effectively controlled and maintained.

10. Explain the importance of load balancing and how you implement it.

Load balancing in PeopleSoft optimizes performance, ensures high availability, and allows for scalability. Implementation involves configuring web servers, setting up a load balancer, configuring application server domains, and monitoring performance.