From Production to Test (P2T) — A Practical Guide

Every now and then, we need to refresh our test environment by copying data from production — commonly known as P2T (Production to Test).

Having an up-to-date test environment is crucial because it allows us to verify recent production changes in a setting that closely mirrors reality. After all, we don’t want to test in an environment that resembles an ancient relic from the past.

So, I’ve put together a step-by-step guide to help you navigate the P2T process smoothly. In this post, I’ll cover the first two key steps, and in the next guide, I’ll tackle the remaining ones.

Step 1: Scheduling the Environment Copy

The first step in a P2T process is scheduling the refresh. Here’s how to do it:

1. Log in to:

   
   

   Oracle Cloud Sign-in

2. Enter your Cloud Account Name

• If you’re unsure what it is, check the unique identifier in your system URL.

• For example, if your Oracle Cloud URL is:

  
  

  https://NAMO.login.em2.oraclecloud.com/

  
  

  Your account name is NAMO.

3. Choose “Sign in with an Identity Domain”, then select:

• Identity Domain: OracleIdentityCloudService

4. Select your test environment

5. Go to “Refresh” and schedule the environment copy

• You can choose to execute the refresh immediately or schedule it for a convenient time.

• Keep in mind: The data refresh process typically takes 5–10 hours, so plan accordingly. Scheduling it overnight is usually a good idea — unless, of course, you enjoy watching progress bars for hours.

6. Disable “Data Masking”

• Don’t enable Data Masking — it’s better to handle data obfuscation manually, as I’ll explain in the next guide.

Step 2: Disabling Notifications and Other Disruptions

Once the P2T process is complete, we want to avoid unnecessary alerts flooding our inboxes and disturbing our test runs. Here’s how to silence the noise:

Turn Off Bell Notifications & Emails

1. Click on the bell icon at the top of the screen and select “Show More”.

   

   2. Open Worklist.

   

   3. Click on your user profile and go to Administration.

   

   4. Under Notification Mode, select your preferred option:

   • None — Completely disables notifications (recommended).

   • Email — Only sends email alerts.

   • In-app — Only enables notifications within the system (recommended).

   Click Save.

• All — In-app + email notifications (not recommended).

• None — Completely disables notifications (recommended).

• Email — Only sends email alerts.

• In-app — Only enables notifications within the system (recommended).

Click Save.

Disable Auto-Notifications for New Users

Oracle automatically sends notifications when new users or employees are created, which isn’t always necessary in a test environment. To disable this:

1. Go to Security Console > User Categories.

   

2. Select Default.

3. Navigate to Notifications and click Edit.

4. Uncheck the notification checkbox.

What’s Next?

In the next guide, I’ll cover:✔ Data scrambling (because we don’t want confidential data floating around)✔ Differentiating test & production environments (so you don’t accidentally make changes in the wrong place!)

Until then, happy testing!