Tag Archives: 11g
How-to: Upgrade Usage Tracking OBIEE 10g to OBIEE 11.1.1.x
Oracle has provided plenty of documentation on how to upgrade your OBIEE 10g environment to their new 11g platform. They've even outlined the process of configuring a new instance of Usage Tracking on a new 11g environment - outlined here. What I haven't been able to find is the ability to take an existing Usage Tracking environment in OBIEE 10g, and port it over to the new 11g environment. The upgrade assistance tool won't work because the data model for Usage Tracking has actually changed between the two versions. This guide is going to cover the process of:
You'll need to make the physical join on NQ_LOGIN_GROUP.LOGIN = S_NQ_ACCT.USER_NAME
I've created a sample report with the Usage Tracking subject area as outlined below:
- Taking an existing OBIEE 10g Usage Tracking environment
- Making the necessary changes to the Usage Tracking data model
- Applying the configuration changes in weblogic to enable Usage Tracking in OBIEE 11g
Step 1: Make changes to existing OBIEE 10g Usage Tracking RPD
The data types and nullable check box have changed for nearly every column in Usage Tracking's primary table: S_NQ_ACCT. Using the Admin Tool, modify each column as outlined below:
Step 2: Modify Physical Data Model
I've noticed on some engagements that the NQ_LOGIN_GROUP table may not always be deployed. I don't think this is an 'out of the box' table but rather something manually deployed to track the applicable group of an individual user. Note that as you move to the application role based security model you'll no longer need this table. In the event that you do need this backwards compatibility, you'll need to fix the broken link - which is made evident by the red line that appears when you attempt to display the physical data model:
Step 3: Enable Usage Tracking in Enterprise Manager
It's at this step where Usage Tracking implementation differs dramatically between OBIEE 10g and OBIEE 11g. In the 10g platform, Usage Tracking was enabled by modifying the nqsconfig and instanceconfig files, but with the advent of Oracle's Enterprise Manager you must now go through EM's MBeans configuration to enable the tool. To Oracle's credit, they did provide a detailed guide on how to enable Usage Tracking in EM . Rather than re-invent the wheel, i'm going to defer everyone to the section titled 'Configuring Usage Tracking in Enterprise Manager'. We're past the 'OBIEE 10g' upgrade so Oracle's guide is more than appropriate.Step 4: Deploy Usage Tracking Tables to Your 11g Database
Most implementations use the DEV_BIPLATFORM that come pre-populated with the S_ETL_DAY, S_ETL_TIME_DAY and S_NQ_ACCT tables, but if your version did not, or you're not using the default schema, run the following scripts located at the following directory:instancesinstance1bifoundationOracleBIServerComponentcoreapplication_obis1sampleusagetracking
- Oracle_create_nQ_Calendar.sql
- Oracle_create_nQ_Clock.sql
- Oracle_nQ_Calendar.sql
- Oracle_nQ_Clock.sql
Step 5: Confirm Usage Tracking is Enabled
I've created a sample report with the Usage Tracking subject area as outlined below:
When viewing the log generated by the query, you'll see that a query is generated against the Usage Tracking connection pool and no error is thrown!
keywords: obiee 11g, usage tracking, upgrade usage tracking , enterprise manager
Announcing BITeamwork 2.4 – Engelbart – A Must See Release
This is a milestone release with some bug fixes but mainly it boasts fantastic enhancements that we are really excited to show the Oracle Business Intelligence (BI) community at large. If you had seen a previous release of BITeamwork you owe it to yourself, your organization, or your clients to download and see the new features built into this release.
The post Announcing BITeamwork 2.4 – Engelbart – A Must See Release appeared first on Art of Business Intelligence Blog.
OBIEE Workspace Integration Requires a Browser Plugin
Oracle BI 11.1.1.7 now has the ability to integrate with the well-known entry point for Oracle EPM, Workspace. However, from a browser perspective this integration requires additional plug-in configuration on each user's browser in order to render the interface correctly. Some users already attempting this OBIEE to Workspace integration may have already seen an alert or notice to install a plug-in for their browser finding that the OBIEE Workspace Integration Requires a Browser Plugin.
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How-to: Automated Web Catalog Deployment in OBIEE 11g
In a previous article I covered the process of how to automatically migrate the repository from a developer environment to production. Equally important is the process of migrating the web catalog. Most BI Architects are familiar with the ability to archive and unarchive, but there are many unknowns that the Oracle documentation does not cover.
- What about version control?
- How do you migrate only select files?
- How do you migrate object level security?
- What if there are multiple people editing the web catalog?
A typical web catalog migration path consists of:
- Developer checks out or download a local copy of the web catalog from version control
- This is only done on an as needed basis
- Developer makes changes to specific web catalog files
- Developer archives changes
- Developer checks out a folder (in this case called archive.zip) from version control that contains all production changes for the specific release
- Developer adds their changes to the archive.zip
- Developer updates 'change list' within the archive.zip to contain path of changed document
- Developer checks-in archive.zip to version control
- Deployment script automatically propagates through out each environment as outlined below:
This process uses the 'archive.zip' file as the directory to propagate changes throughout all environments. This is a preferred method because the archive.zip file only contains changes to the web catalog, and not the entire web catalog itself.
The Catalog_Deployment.csv contains only 2 columns:
What's in the archive.zip?
The archive.zip will contain
- Only the modified web catalog objects for your specific release.
- A csv file that contains the destination path of each web catalog object
- This is used as input for the shell script we're going to create for automatic deployment
- I call this file 'Catalog_Deployment.csv' but it can be renamed if needed
Your archive.zip file might contain the following:
In the above example I have 5 files:
- Financial_Reports.catalog is an archive of the 'Financial Reports' folder which contains multiple reports
- Financial_Reports_Dashboard.catalog is an archive of the Financial Reports Dashboard that displays all of the financial reports
- HR_Reports.catalog is an archive of the 'HR Reports' folder which contains multiple reports
- HR_Reports_Dashboard.catalog is an archive of the HR Reports Dashboard that displays all of the HR reports
- Catalog_Deployment.csv is a csv file that contains the target directory path when we unarchive each catalog file (via a shell script)
In the above example, the Catalog_Deployment.csv file would contain the following:
- The name of the archive file(s) in your archive.zip (Column A)
- The unarchive target directory (Column B)
How do you identify the unarchive target directory (Column B)?
The unarchive target directory (column b) can be found in the 'location' section of the' properties' tab for the specific folder you're trying to archive:
Let's cover the steps required in order for the web catalog to make it out of the developer's box and into assembly test
Step 1. Check out the archive.zip file from your version control software
'Check out' is the correct terminology because this will ensure the file is locked and no one can make any changes except for the specific developer. You should now have a locked version of archive.zip that you can modify.
Step 2. Archive the modified web catalog files
This is a straight forward step that can be achieved through Answers. The archive button can be found in the 'tasks' section as noted below:
Step 3. Modify the archive.zip file & Re upload to Version Control
Your modifications should include:
- The addition of the modified .catalog files
- Revisions to the Catalog_Deployment.csv
Once the changes are made, you can upload back to Version Control and 'check the archive.zip' back in so other developers can add their changes. The key here is only one developer modifies the archive.zip file at a time!
Step 4. Pragmatically deploy the web catalog via a deployment shell script
The script we're going to use is going read each row in the Deployment_Catalog.csv file and and use Catalog Manager's runcat.sh script to perform command line based unarchiving. Oracle has very little documentation on runcat.sh, but think of it as a way to launch Catalog Manager. You can launch Catalog Manager in either GUI mode or command line mode. Using the '.runcat.sh -cmd unarchive' parameters, we're telling Catalog Manager to unarchive in command line mode.
#!/bin/bash
#
# This file will read the archive files that are unzipped in /tmp/webcatmigration
#
/bin/dos2unix /tmp/webcatmigration/archive/Catalog_Deployment.csv /tmp/webcatmigration/archive/Catalog_Deployment.csv1
rm /tmp/webcatmigration/archive/Catalog_Deployment.csv
mv /tmp/webcatmigration/archive/Catalog_Deployment.csv1 /tmp/webcatmigration/archive/Catalog_Deployment.csv
while IFS=, read file path
do
echo ""
echo First Column in Catalog_Deployment - $file
echo Second Column in Catalog_Deployment - $path
echo ""
/export/obiee/11g/instances/instance1/bifoundation/OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent/coreapplication_obips1/catalogmanager/runcat.sh -cmd unarchive -offline /export/obishare/catalog/webcatalog -inputFile /tmp/webcatmigration/archive/$file -folder "$path"
done < /tmp/webcatmigration/archive/Catalog_Deployment.csv
~
This script does the following:
- Converts the .csv file from binary to unix via dos2unix
- Reads each row in Catalog_Deployment.csv and passes A(N) and B(N) for each row to the $file and $path parameters
A good option for automatic deployment would be to have this script run every Friday after hours as part of the deployment process. You would have one script in each environment for deployment. Ideally the script would be able to read directly from the file server of your version control software.
In summary, we've accomplished the following:
- Implemented a mechanism to manage web catalog modifications
- Automated the web catalog deployment process
- Minimized human error
Notes
How often should I back up the entire web catalog?
Notice that the only component of the web catalog being uploaded to version control are the actual changes to the web catalog objects. It is a good idea to take a back up of the entire web catalog prior to the 'go live' of deployment of each 'new release'
What about object level security?
The runcat.sh and archive/unarchive functionality will automatically migrate object level security of each object, but if the object level security is using new application roles that do not exist in the assembly/system/pre-production/production environments - the application roles must first be created in each environment's Enterprise Manager.
Don't forget about the GUIDs!
If you are migrating to a production environment that has different authentication providers than the non-production environment(s) - you must refresh the GUIDs first. You can read how to refresh the GUIDs in this Oracle note - How to refresh GUIDs for OBIEE 11g ? (Doc ID 1564006.1)
keywords: OBIEE 11g, deployment, archive, unarchive, migration, answers, runcat.sh web catalog, webcat
How to Add Comments in Oracle BI (OBIEE)
Currently there are only a few approaches to adding comments in Oracle BI (OBIEE) dashboards the Oracle BI System: Custom Build, Action Framework, APEX, and BITeamwork. This post will look at each one of these ways to create dashboard comment in OBIEE. This is a common request in all business intelligence systems but currently OBIEE is the only Business Intelligence tool that has a complete end-to-end comment management system that even integrates with Salesforce Chatter and Yammer; it's called BITeamwork. Let's look at all of the options in a bit more details below.
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