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Install VM

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This content applies solely to Vendor Management, which must be purchased separately from the Appian base platform. This content was written for Appian 26.6 and may not reflect the interfaces or functionality of other Appian versions.

Installing Vendor Management (VM) consists of the following steps:

  1. Download the software package.
  2. Import Mulish typeface.
  3. Deploy VM plug-ins to the Appian environment.
  4. Create the database objects in the business data source.
  5. Import the VM application into the Appian environment.
  6. Install Portals.
  7. Run reconciliation and migration.
  8. Set up VM and configure integrations.

Before starting the installation process, review the System Requirements to make sure all minimum requirements are met.

System requirements for VM 2.9

This section details the minimum requirements your system must meet to run Vendor Management (VM) 2.9:

Note:  These instructions are tailored for MariaDB or Oracle databases. For use with other databases, the SQL scripts used in Step 4 need to be modified.

Upgrade sequence for VM 2.9

Upgrade from VM 2.5 or earlier

If you have Vendor Management (VM) 2.5 or earlier, then follow these steps:

  1. Install GAM Acquisition Central (GSM) 25.3.1.3. Follow the instructions for the installation option that matches your needs:

    • Option 1: If you have vendor data in your existing VM solution, install GSM 1.3 first and then install VM 2.9.

      Caution:  GSM 1.3 must be installed before the reconciliation and migration step.

      • Run the reconciliation and migration process from the Vendor Management Vendor Data Migration site. See Step 7 for more information and troubleshooting scenarios.

        • Note: This process migrates vendors from VM to GSM and retrieves the GSM ID for each vendor record.

    • Option 2: If you do not have any vendor data in your existing VM solution, install GSM 1.3.

      • Follow the instructions to install VM 2.9.

After successful completion, VM 2.9 is ready to use.

Upgrade sequence for VM and CW

When you have both VM and Government Contract Writing (CW) solutions, then you must follow a specific upgrade sequence.

For CW version 1.6 and earlier

If you have CW version 1.6 or any earlier version, you must do the following:

  1. Upgrade to CW 1.7.
  2. Upgrade to CW 2.1.
  3. Upgrade to CW 2.5 and install GSM 1.0.
  4. Reconcile vendors from CW to GSM.
  5. Upgrade to GSM 1.3 and VM 2.9.
  6. Reconcile vendors from VM to GSM.

For CW versions 1.7 to 2.0

If you have CW versions between 1.7 to 2.0, you must do the following:

  1. Upgrade to CW 2.1.
  2. Upgrade to CW 2.5 and install GSM 1.0.
  3. Reconcile vendors from CW to GSM.
  4. Upgrade to GSM 1.3 and VM 2.9.
  5. Reconcile vendors from VM to GSM.

For CW version 2.1 and later

If you have CW version 2.1 or later, you must do the following:

  1. Upgrade to CW 2.5 and install GSM 1.0.
  2. Reconcile vendors from CW to GSM.
  3. Upgrade to GSM 1.3 and VM 2.9.
  4. Reconcile vendors from VM to GSM.

Step 1: Download VM software package

To install Vendor Management (VM), you need to download the software package that contains the following files you need to use in the remaining set up steps.

  • scripts/1.VendorManagementv2.9.0.sql: SQL script for creating the database objects needed for the VM application.
  • VendorManagementv2.9.0.zip: Application package to import into Appian.
  • VendorManagementv2.9.0.properties: Import customization file for configuring the application package.
  • VendorManagementv2.9.0-AdminConsole.zip: Mulish typeface file to import into Appian.
  • VendorManagementNativeAiv2.9.0.zip: Appian Native AI add-on for VM.

To download the software package:

  1. Go to the SUPPORT tab on My Appian.
  2. Click the DOWNLOADS tab.
  3. Click SOLUTIONS.
  4. Find and open Vendor Management v26.6.2.9.
  5. In Downloads, click the Vendor Management Installer link.
  6. Click PROCEED to agree to the Vendor Management License Agreement.
  7. Choose your Relational Database Management System.
  8. Click Continue.
  9. Click Vendor Management Installer v26.6.2.9 to download the ZIP file.
  10. Unzip VendorManagementv2.9.0.zip to access the software installation files.
  11. Click Vendor Management Native AI v2.9.0 to download the add-on ZIP file.

Step 2: Import Mulish typeface for VM

To import the Mulish typeface:

  1. In the target environment, sign in as the deployment user.
  2. Navigate to the Admin Console.
  3. Click IMPORT.
  4. Click UPLOAD and choose the VendorManagementv2.9.0-AdminConsole.zip file that was downloaded in Step 1.

  5. Click INSPECT.

    Note: Make sure the inspection result is successful.

  6. Click IMPORT PACKAGE.
  7. After the Mulish typeface package is imported, click Typefaces to verify that the Mulish typeface is selected as the default typeface.

Step 3: Deploy plug-ins for VM

For the Vendor Management (VM) application to work, you must deploy certain plug-ins. The steps for deploying plug-ins differ depending on whether you have an Appian Cloud or a self-managed environment.

To download the necessary plug-ins and deploy them to your environments, follow the steps that match your environment setup.

Appian Cloud environments

To deploy the VM plug-ins for an Appian Cloud environment:

  1. In the target environment, sign in as the deployment user.
  2. Navigate to the Admin Console.
  3. On the left side of the console, click Plug-ins.
  4. Click ADD NEW PLUG-INS.
  5. Search for and click Appian Solutions Plugin.
  6. Click DEPLOY.

  7. Repeat the steps 4-6 for each of the following:

    • Appian Regular Expression Functions
    • AzureOpenAI
    • Content Tools
    • HTML to PDF Conversion
    • Rich Text
    • SFTP Functions
    • Similarity

Self-Managed environments

To deploy the VM plug-ins for a self-managed environment:

  1. Download the following plug-ins directly from the Appian AppMarket:

  2. Follow the Deploying Plug-ins instructions to deploy.

Step 4: Create database objects for VM

To create the structure for the database tables, views, and other objects that are a part of the Vendor Management (VM) application, you need to run a DDL script in your database.

To create the database objects:

  • In your database, run the VendorManagementv2.9.0.sql DDL file that was downloaded in Step 1.

Step 5: Import VM application

Install the Vendor Management (VM) application by importing the application files into the target environment.

To import the application:

  1. In the target environment, sign in as the deployment user.
  2. Navigate to the Appian Designer.
  3. Click IMPORT.
  4. Click UPLOAD and choose the VendorManagementv2.9.0.zip file that was downloaded in Step 1.
  5. Select Include related import customization file.
  6. Click UPLOAD and choose the VendorManagementv2.9.0.properties file that was downloaded in Step 1.
  7. Click INSPECT.
  8. Review the inspection results. If there are no issues, click IMPORT PACKAGE.
  9. Click UPLOAD and choose the VendorManagementNativeAiv2.9.0.zip file that was downloaded in Step 1.

  10. Repeat steps 7 and 8.

    • Note: The portal is not be published on import because there is no service account configured, thereby preventing an import from failing due to a non-existent account. The portal gets published after the import is complete. If there are no issues, click IMPORT PACKAGE.

    • Note: The import might time out due to file size, but continues in the background.

Note:  If the business database is not called Appian, a warning occurs when importing the data stores. To fix this, after the import is complete, open each data store object and update the Data Source dropdown list.

Step 6: Install Portals for VM

Once you have finished installing the Vendor Management (VM) solution, you can install portals.

To install portals for VM:

  1. In the target environment, sign in as the deployment user.

  2. Navigate to the Admin Console and select the Web API Authentication.

    • Note: In the Web API Authentication page, API keys created by Appian Administrator are listed. Make sure you DO NOT remove those keys even if unused.

      The Web API Authentication page in the Admin Console showing existing API keys created by Appian Administrator that must not be removed.

  3. From the API Key tab, click CREATE.

  4. In the Description field, add a unique description for the API key.

    The Create API Key dialog with the Description field for entering a unique description for the new portals API key.

  5. Click Plus icon in blue circle next to the Service Account field to create a new service account.

  6. Enter vmportals in the Username field.

    The Create Service Account dialog with the Username field set to vmportals.

  7. In the Groups field, enter AS VM Portals Service Account to add it to the appropriate group.

  8. Click CREATE to apply the new service account to the API key.

  9. Click CREATE to create the new API key. Copy the API key and save it securely for use in the next step.

  10. Update the AS VM CS Portals Connected System.

    • Base URL: site url + /suite/webapi/. Example: https://examplesite.appiancloud.com/suite/webapi/.
    • API Key Value: API key saved in step 9.

  11. Open the AS_VM_Portal Portal Object in Designer.

  12. Configure and Publish the Portal. Refer to the Portal Object documentation for assistance.

    • If reCAPTCHA is needed, see Setting up Google reCAPTCHA.
    • If reCAPTCHA is not needed, AS_VM_TOGGLE_VENDOR_PORTAL_RECAPTCHA_ENABLED must be set to FALSE.
    • The service account must be set to the one created in Step 6.

  13. After Portal is published, copy the Web Address of the AS_VM_Portal Portal Object to the Value field of the AS_VM_TXT_VM_PORTAL_WEB_ADDRESS constant.

    The AS_VM_TXT_VM_PORTAL_WEB_ADDRESS constant showing the Value field where the published Portal Web Address must be pasted.

Step 7: Run reconciliation and migration for GAM Acquisition Central

You must run data reconciliation and migration for the GAM Acquisition Central integration with Vendor Management (VM).

Caution:  Before running data reconciliation and migration, make sure vendors have values for all required fields and that there are no duplicate entries to avoid any errors when the process runs. When performing this process, you must not access both the Vendor Management and GAM Acquisition Central solutions.

To run the reconciliation and migration process:

  1. Navigate to the Vendor Management Vendor Data Migration site.
  2. Click CONTINUE to view all vendors from the VM site.
  3. Review and update any vendors that have invalid data before proceeding to reconciliation.
  4. Click START DATA RECONCILIATION to begin the reconciliation and migration process.
  5. After the process successfully completes, VM 2.9 is ready to use.

See GAM Acquisition Central Integration Setup to finish setting up the integration.

Tips to troubleshoot

If you encounter errors while running the reconciliation and migration process, you need to check the process instance, fix any issues, and re-run the process.

Common errors

The following table outlines the two most common types of errors you might encounter and what they mean.

Error Type Message Description
Data error "There are some incorrect values passed to the vendor data. Please correct them and try again." Consult the process instance to determine the cause. After you've fixed all issues, re-run the process. Common reasons for this error are missing values in required fields or duplicate entries.
Authentication failure "Authentication failed. Please contact your system administrator or try again later." Reason 1: When the user performing the action does not have the required access to run the process for reconciliation or migration., Reason 2: An incorrect API key is configured in the connected system object AS VM CS GAM Suite.

Step 8: Set up VM and configure integrations

Vendor Management (VM) is a flexible solution that can be customized to fit your organization's needs. VM also comes with integrations with Azure OpenAI, SAM.gov, Award Management, Government Contract Writing, Government Source Selection, and Google reCAPTCHA.

Caution:  By default, the feature toggles for Azure OpenAI, SAM.gov, Award Management, Government Contract Writing, Government Source Selection, and Google reCAPTCHA are set to true. Complete the setup for each of these integrations if you intend to use them, otherwise you must set the feature toggle value for each integration to false.

To customize your solution and configure each integration in your environment, view the following pages:

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