Category: BI Administration

BI Administration, Business Intelligence Platform October 6, 2013October 10, 2019

Changing the maximum number of values in a drop down list in OBIEE 11g – MaxDropDownValues

When you create a prompt that uses a drop down list in OBIEE, the drop down list is limited to 256 values by default. If your list contains more values and you would like to see more values without having to click the “More” button, or if you would like to show less values, there is a configuration parameter that you can change to increase the number of values shown up to 1000. You can set it to any value up to 1000, including values less than the default of 256.

To do this, edit the instanceconfig.xml file. This file is located at …
[$FMW_HOME]/instances/instance1/config/OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent/coreapplication_obips1

Add the MaxDropDownValues parameter to the file. If you do not already have a Prompts section, add it, and then add MaxDropDownValues between the Prompts tags. And make sure that all this is between the ServerInstance tags which will already be there in the file.

Your config file will look something like this …

<ServerInstance>
…
…
    <Prompts>
        <MaxDropDownValues>1000</MaxDropDownValues>
    </Prompts>
…
</ServerInstance>

After making these changes, you will need to restart BI Presentation Services for them to take effect. Then your drop down list will show up to 1000 (or less) values by default…

Note: The numbers shown in the screenshot have no meaning whatsoever; they are just randomly generated sample data for example purposes. So, any similarity that they may have to any other number is strictly coincidental.

BI Administration, Business Intelligence Platform June 8, 2013October 10, 2019

Direct Links to various OBIEE User and Administration Presentation functions

These are some direct links to various OBIEE User and Administration functions. These can be useful to know for efficiency and at times can also be useful for debugging security.

To go directly to “Home Page”
http://servername:9704/analytics/saw.dll?bieehome

To go directly to “Dashboard”
http://servername:9704/analytics/saw.dll?Dashboard

To go directly to “Manage Privileges”
http://servername:9704/analytics/saw.dll?PrivilegeAdmin

To go directly to “Manage Catalog Groups”
http://servername:9704/analytics/saw.dll?ManageGroups

To go directly to “Manage Sessions”
http://servername:9704/analytics/saw.dll?Sessions

To go directly to “Manage Agent Sessions”
http://servername:9704/analytics/saw.dll?ManageIBotSessions

To go directly to “Issue SQL”
http://servername:9704/analytics/saw.dll?IssueRawSQL&Done=%2fanalytics%2fsaw.dll%3fAdmin

To go directly to “Manage Map Data”
http://servername:9704/analytics/saw.dll?ManageMapData

To go directly to “Manage BI Publisher”
http://servername:9704/analytics/saw.dll?bipublisherEntry&Done=%2fanalytics%2fsaw.dll%3fAdmin&Action=admin

BI Administration, Business Intelligence (BI) Development, Business Intelligence Platform June 7, 2013October 10, 2019

How to run Catalog Manager in GUI mode from the Linux Server

OBIEE Catalog Manager can be accessed from a client tool on Windows or from a server side process. There are times when it is required that you run the Catalog Manager in offline mode, and at those times you will be required to run it on the server.

Although there is a command line option for Catalog Manager, it is easier to work with it in a Graphical User Interface (GUI) mode and at times its necessary to use that mode.

Start Xming (or another X-Windows type tool) on your local PC or laptop. [This will allow the Linux screens to show up on your desktop when you run the shell script on the Linux server]

For more on Xming, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xming

Connect to your Linux server from your desktop/laptop using Putty (or other tool). Then go to the catalog manager directory:

cd [$FMW_HOME]/instances/instance1/bifoundation/OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent/coreapplication_obips1/catalogmanager

Start up Catalog Manager by running: ./runcat.sh

This will start Catalog Manager, and it will be running on the Linux server, but the screens will be showing on your desktop/laptop.

From the main Catalog Manager window, you can then click on File –>Open Catalog

And then select the Type based on how you want to connect – Online or Offline mode. Accessing Catalog Manager in this way is most likely needed when you need to connect in Online mode.

And then of course, you need to enter the URL – which is the full path to the catalog, for example:[$FMW_HOME]/instances/instance1/bifoundation/OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent/coreapplication_obips1/catalog/default

And enter the User and Password.

Assuming everything was entered correctly, you will be connected to the catalog. You can then use the interface to browse the catalog and perform other tasks on catalog objects.

Good luck!

BI Administration, Business Intelligence (BI) Development, Business Intelligence Platform April 5, 2013October 10, 2019

Windows command to find equivalent directory name without space

You may occasionally run into an issue with OBIEE where it cannot locate the Java directories or files. This is usually because Java has been installed in its default location under “C:Program Files…”. This post may be helpful in resolving this issue.

At times, some OBIEE processes or programs do not like the spaces in directory or file names. So, for example, you may get an error because the program does not locate the files under the “C:Program Files…” directory (due to the space in the name).

To resolve this, you will need to update the necessary Environment Variables to use the no-space equivalent of the windows directory. To find the equivalent no-space name, from your windows command prompt, go to the relevant directory (for example … cd C:) and enter … dir /X (as shown below).

Notice to the left of the regular directory name, there is another no-space name. For example, “Program Files” has a no-space equivalent of PROGRA~1.

Now update all the relevant OBIEE related Environment Variables to use this no-space name instead of the regular name (see example below).

BI Administration, Business Intelligence Platform March 11, 2013October 10, 2019

Forgot weblogic user password – How to reset the weblogic user

If you have forgotten your weblogic user password, and would like to reset the user, this post might help…

One of my colleagues could not remember the password for his weblogic user in his local OBIEE installation, and asked for my assistance. I did not know how to go about resetting the password, and so I had to search for a solution.

After trying the steps from a few different posts related to this issue, the steps in the post found here worked.

I made a few minor modifications and copied the steps here for your convenience.

—————–

Note: This process will remove all users created in WebLogic’s embedded LDAP server and there will only be one user (which will act as superuser) after doing below steps.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Steps to recreate weblogic superuser (when password of existing user is forgotten)

1. Shutdown WebLogic Server (If Running) – Optional Step

2. Login to WebLogic Server and set environment variable

cd $DOMAIN_HOME/bin (where DOMAIN_HOME is the directory in which your domain exists, default value is $MW_HOME/user_projects/domain/base_domain), and execute the following …

. ./setDomainEnv.sh (Linux/Unix) -or- setDomainEnv.cmd (Windows)

3. Create an initialization file using the following command. (Note the DOT at end of this command)

java weblogic.security.utils.AdminAccount <weblogic_username> <weblogic_user_password> .

For Example – (Note the DOT at end of this command):

java weblogic.security.utils.AdminAccount weblogic welcome1 .

This will create file DefaultAuthenticatorInit.ldift in directory from which you executed this command .

4. Rename the original file DefaultAuthenticatormyrealmInit.ldift in the $DOMAIN_HOME/security/ (for example, rename to ORIG_DefaultAuthenticatormyrealmInit.ldift) and replace it with the new DefaultAuthenticatorInit.ldift generated in step 3

5. Rename the data directory under $DOMAIN_HOME/servers/<serverName>/data (for example, rename it to another directory like data.bak – the data directory contains files related to embedded LDAP and role mapping file).

Perform the above for the Admin Server, that is, where <serverName> is AdminServer; and then repeat the step for the managed server(s).

Repeat this step for all managed servers which are part of this domain.

Note: This step will remove all existing users/groups from WebLogic’s embedded LDAP server (recreate these users/groups in setp8)

6. Recreate the boot.properites file under $DOMAIN_HOME/servers/<serverName>/security with username and password created in step 3 above. The contents of the file will be like this …
USERNAME=weblogic
PASSWORD=welcome1

As before, perform the above for the Admin Server, that is, where <serverName> is AdminServer; and then repeat the step for the managed server(s).

Repeat this step for all managed servers which are part of this domain.

7. Start (or restart) Admin Server and test if you can login to WebLogic Console using the new username and password. Access the WebLogic Console from a URL similar to this: http://<server>:7001/console

8. Recreate any users/groups (which were part of default authenticator prior to new super user creation) or import existing users (from WebLogic’s servers embedded LDAP server backup)

BI Administration, Business Intelligence Platform, Data Security February 15, 2013October 10, 2019

“Create” button Inactive in the Application Roles page in OBIEE 11g

There is a bug in OBIEE 11g that makes the “Create” button Inactive in the Application Roles page in OBIEE 11g. The good news is the solution is very simple.

In case you have not yet seen this issue, but would like to know what this is referring to, then … login to the Enterprise Manager – http://yourserver:7001/em and expand Business Intelligence and click on coreapplication. Then navigate to the Application Roles page using one of the methods below …

Either from:
(1) the ‘Security’ -> ‘Single Sign On’ tab, select “Configure and Manage Application Roles”

(2) or from the coreapplication drop down menu, select Security -> Application Roles

When you get to the Application Roles page, you will notice that the Create button is INACTIVE.

To activate the button, simply select the drop down for Application Stripe and select <No application stripe selected>, then reselect the appropriate Application Stripe such as obi.

The Create button will now be ACTIVE. Of course, click the play button to generate the list of Application Roles if necessary.

BI Administration, Business Intelligence Platform February 3, 2013October 11, 2019

Setting up Putty to display screens on your desktop for installing or upgrading OBIEE 11g on Linux

When you attempt to run the RCU (Repository Creation Utility) or UA (Upgrade Assistant) scripts from your desktop/laptop using Putty for an OBIEE install or upgrade on a Linux server, you may get the following error …

UPGAST-00107: The DISPLAY environment variable is not set. The graphical user interface (GUI) requires that this environment variable be set on UNIX.

If you get this error, this post may help you to solve it. You need to do some configuration in Putty.

Open Putty.

Select the server that you want to configure from your list of servers. You will notice that the values get populated into the fields.

Expand SSH, the select X11. Then Check “Enable X11 forwarding” checkbox, and enter “localhost:0.0” in the X display location box.

Do not click open at this point.

Go back up and click on Session in the left menu.

And then Save.

However, before you connect using Putty, you should run Xming.

Start -> All Programs -> Xming -> Xming

[If you do not have Xming, you can download it for free, then install it.]

Now when you open Putty and connect to your server, you should be able to run the install or upgrade processes and see the wizard screens for each step, for example …

> ./ua (run the UA script, then the wizard screen will appear)

BI Administration, Business Intelligence Platform January 19, 2013October 11, 2019

UPGAST-00014 error when upgrading OBIEE 10g RPD and Catalog to OBIEE 11g

If you get this error during Step 4 of the Upgrade Assistant for upgrading OBIEE 10g RPD and/or Catalog to 11g, then this post might be helpful.

UPGAST-00014: unable to connect to WebLogic Server at localhost:7001
t3://localhost:7001: Destination unreachable; nested exception is: java.net.ConnectException: Connection refused; No available router to destination

Perform the following steps that may resolve your problem:

– Log in to Administration Console. http://yourserver:7001/console
– Click the ‘Servers’ link.

Then in the Summary of Servers page / Configuration tab, click ‘AdminServer(admin)’.

– From the Settings for AdminServer page, select the ‘Protocols’ tab, then the ‘Channels’ subtab.
– And then Click ‘Lock & Edit’ button in the upper left Change Center.

– Click the New button to begin creating a new Network Channel.
– Enter the following information…
Name: Loopback (or whatever name you like)
Protocol: t3

– The click Next

– The enter …
Listen Address: localhost
Listen port: 7001
Click Finish

The new Network Channel (Loopback) is added. Activate the changes by clicking on the “Activate Changes” button.

Now, retry running the Upgrade Assistant. There is no need to restart any of the services.
You should now get past Step 4 (the point at which you were getting the error before).

BI Administration, Business Intelligence Platform January 16, 2013October 11, 2019

Unable to see Administration link or dashboards with Administrator ID in OBIEE 11g

If you are unable to see Dashboards or the Administration link after logging in with the administrator ID in OBIEE 11g after upgrading from 10g, this post may help.

Manually change URL by attaching “saw.dll?Managegroups” to the end after analytics, so it looks like this … http://yourserver:9704/analytics/saw.dll?Managegroups

Select the “Presentation Server Administrators” catalog group and Edit

Add the “BI Administrator Role” Application Role by selecting it in the left and using the arrows to move it to the right.

Log out and log back in with the Administrator ID.

You should now be able to see the “Administration” link at the top right, and also be able to see the dashboards that you had access to by clicking or mousing-over the Dashboards link/dropdown.

BI Administration, Business Intelligence Platform, Data News December 5, 2012October 11, 2019

OBIEE Recent Releases & Support Information

12/5/2012: Picked up this information from the Business Analytics newsletter from Oracle. It’s good to see that a cumulative patch is now available for all the 11.1.1.6.x releases. Also, note that it seems the support for OBIEE 10.1.3.x will expire in July 2013 – that time will be here before you know it.

—————————————————————————————

10.1.3.x

The Premier Support for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition 10.1.3.x ended in July 2013. For additional information on the de-support status and for details for moving towards recent release refer to:

OBIEE 11g: Required and Recommended Patches and Patch Sets [Doc ID 1488475.1]

ALERT: Required and Recommended Patch Levels For OBIEE 10g (10.1.3.x) Versions (Doc ID 1082987.1)

11.1.1.5.4

Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) 11.1.1.5.4 Bundle Patch was released Oct-12.

This is available for download from the My Oracle Support | Patches and Updates:

OBIEE Bundle Patch 11.1.1.5.4 [Patch 14517379]

Additional information is available from:

OBIEE 11g: Required and Recommended Patches and Patch Sets [Doc ID 1488475.1]

OBIEE 11g: Bugs Fixed in 11.1.1.5.4 Patch Set [Doc ID 1501046.1]

Refer to “Retiring Product” section for important information pertaining to OBIEE 11.1.1.5.x

11.1.1.6.x – Patch Set Updates

The OBIEE Patch Set Update (PSU) that were recently released are as follows:

OBIEE 11.1.1.6.4 PSU – Sept 2012

OBIEE 11.1.1.6.5 PSU – Oct 2012

OBIEE 11.1.1.6.6 PSU – Nov 2012

11.1.1.6.6

Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) 11.1.1.6.6 Bundle Patch was released Nov-12.

Bundle patches are a collection of controlled, well tested critical bug fixes for a specific product which may include security contents and occasionally minor enhancements. These are cumulative in nature meaning the latest bundle patch in a particular series would include the contents of the previous bundle patches released. A suite bundle patch is an aggregation of multiple product bundle patches that are part of a product suite.

For OBIEE on 11.1.1.6.0, it is planned for monthly run of bundle patch cadence. For the 11.1.1.6.6 bundle patch:

is now for download from My Oracle Support | Patches & Updates

includes 67 bug fixes.

is cumulative, so it includes everything in 11.1.1.6.1, 11.1.1.6.2, 11.1.1.6.2BP1, 11.1.1.6.4 and 11.1.1.6.5

Bundled Patch Details

1 of 7 – Oracle Business Intelligence Installer [Patch 15844023]

2 of 7 – Oracle Real Time Decisions [Patch 15844066]

3 of 7 – Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher [Patch 14800665]

4 of 7 – Oracle Business Intelligence ADF Components [Patch 15843961]

5 of 7 – Enterprise Performance Management Components Installed from BI Installer 11.1.1.6.x [Patch 15844096]

6 of 7 – Oracle Business Intelligence [Patch 14791926]

7 of 7 – Oracle Business Intelligence Platform Client Installers and MapViewer [Patch 15839347]

Additional information may be found in the following Knowledge Articles:

OBIEE 11g: Required and Recommended Patches and Patch Sets [Doc ID 1488475.1]
OBIEE 11g 11.1.1.6.6 is Available For BI Enterprise and Exalytics [Doc ID 1508519.1]
OBIEE 11g: Bugs Fixed in 11.1.1.6.6 Patch Set [Doc ID 1508812.1]

The Data Community