OBIEE 11.1.1.7.1 SampleApp V309 R2: Error - Kernel Panic – not syncing: Fatal exception

If you have tried latest OBIEE 11.1.1.7.1 SampleApp V309 R2 (available here) chances are you came across this error as well while turning on the sample VM using Oracle VM VirtualBox. Looks like it is a common error and Oracle failed to document it in their deployment guide. 

OBIEE 11.1.1.7.1 SampleApp V309 R2: Error - Kernel Panic – not syncing: Fatal exception

To fix this go Settings of the VM in VirtualBox, then in System configuration change Chipset to ICH9 from PIIX3. Also, make sure that you have Enable I/O APIC checked in Extended Features. Settings shown below for reference.

Click OK and try starting the VM again. Mine come up fine as seen in below screenshot.

Hope it helps.

Cheers!

Deepak

OBIEE 11g: Presentation Variable initialization in a Multi-Select Prompt

My Environment: 11.1.1.6.2. BP1

We have a multi select prompt which is initializing a presentation variable (it’s a string). We wanted to use this presentation variable in a column formula using a FILTER and IN operator as below.

FILTER("HR Facts"."Headcount" USING "Location"."Region Name" IN ('@{pv_region}{East}'))

When multiple values are selected in the prompt the SQL being generated by BI Server has the following WHERE clause-

"Location"."Region Name" IN ('East, West, Central') 

as opposed to 

"Location"."Region Name" IN ('East', 'West', 'Central')  

This results in ‘No Result View’ as no region like 'East, West, Central' exists in the database. When a Region ID is used instead of the character string it works fine. So, we knew this is related to syntax for strings. A little research help us get it right using the following syntax:

FILTER("HR Facts"."Headcount" USING "Location"."Region Name" IN (@{pv_region}['@']{'East'}))

Quick note: I have prefixed ‘pv_’ to my presentation variable. This is one of the best practice or naming standard which can be used.

Interview Question: Why would you want to use an in-line FILTER in column formula? Wouldn’t using Region Name as ‘is prompted’ filter do the same thing?

Well, it will in a simple report. My report’s requirement is a little complex - in this report I have three Headcounts column, each filtered based on different criteria or filter set. If I use an ‘is prompted’ filter, it will apply to the whole report.

Hope it helps.

Cheers!

Deepak

OBIEE- Merge Repositories: the unconventional way

We all know about 2-way and 3-way repository merge. Here’s the documentation to know details: Merge Repositories. In this post I am showing a different way to manage and merge repositories.

Say you and another developer are working on a project. Both of you are developing different subject areas independent of each other, which end up in two repositories. Now, you want to merge them together in to a single repository. Of course merging them as per the information in the link above is ideal but there is another quick and easy way. This has worked for me very well so far.

-          Open two sessions of BI Admin tool and open both the repositories.

-          Copy objects from one rpd to other by simple right-click copy and paste

-          Below I am showing this for Physical Layer. Do the same for BMM and Presentation Layer.

-          Once done, do a consistency check. It should be consistent if you are using two consistent rpds.

Bingo! You have a merged rpd and can work on new Subject Areas after deploying this rpd.

      

     Cheers,

     Deepak

OBIEE- Maintenance Mode

OBIEE Interview Question: What is Maintenance Mode? When and how it is used? Will users be able to save reports when it is ON?

Maintenance Mode is used for administration of Presentation Services. When Maintenance Mode is turned ON, users will not be able to save changes in Presentation Catalog- it goes in to a read-only mode at this point. This will make sure that webcat is consistent and no one is making changes to reports or saving new ones while you do your maintenance activities.  

When you as an Administrator/Developer are making changes (updating or migrating reports or archiving (taking backups)) in the Presentation Catalog in online mode, you should turn Maintenance Mode ON.

Maintenance Mode can be toggled/changed/switched from Answers/Analyses Administration page. You should be logged in as an Administrator to toggle Maintenance Mode. Click on Administration from Header Menu:

You can also go to http://{server}:{port}/analytics/saw.dll?Admin

Here on bottom left you will find a section for Maintenance and Troubleshooting. This is where you have Toggle Maintenance Mode link. Just click on this link to turn it ON or OFF.

If a user tries to make changes while Maintenance Mode is ON, she will receive the following error:

"Unable to change edit/view mode: System is in Maintenance Mode. Please try again later."

Note: In clustered mode make sure to Toggle Maintenance Mode in Presentation Services of each computer.

Hope it helps!

Cheers!

Deepak

OBIEE11g- Updating GUIDs

OBIEE Interview Question: How do you update GUIDs? 

During migration of Oracle BI artifacts it is optional to refresh Global Unique Identifiers (GUIDs), but it become necessary in case you have a different and not fan-out replica of LDAP identity stores in DEV/TEST and PROD. If not this may lead to authentication failures. If the same user name exists in DEV/TEST and PROD LDAP directory servers user GUID will have a mis-match with GUID in new directory server. 

Here’s the error I received when I moved around my BI components to a newer system.

I followed Oracle's Documentation but it did not work for me. I had to do a little different configuration to make it work on my environment. 

To resolve this issue changes in NQSConfig and instanceconfig.xml files are done when all Oracle BI Services are online. To refresh GUIDS Edit NQSConfig.INI file 

(location:\instances\instance1\config\OracleBIServerComponent\coreapplication_obis1) 

and set FMW_UPDATE_ROLE_AND_USER_REF_GUIDS to YES as shown below. Save and Close NQSConfig.INI file. 

Edit instanceconfig.xml file 

(location:\instances\instance1\config\OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent\coreapplication_obips1) 

and modify or add the following:  <Catalog>
<UpgradeAndExit>false</UpgradeAndExit>
<UpdateAccountGUIDs>UpdateAndStartNormally</UpdateAccountGUIDs>
</Catalog>

Save and Close instanceconfig.xml file. 

Now to refresh GUIDs we have to restart the BI Services using Oracle Process Manager (opmnctl command) as below.

Now, revert back your changes to NQSConfig and instanceconfig.xml and restart services again. After this the GUIDs got refreshed and I was able to log in to OBI Presentation Services/Analyses. 

Hope this helps! 

Cheers! 

Deepak

References:

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E21764_01/core.1111/e10105/testprod.htm#BABCFDGB

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E21764_01/bi.1111/e10541/configfileref.htm#sthref1056

OBIEE 11g: table does not exist- nQSError: 43119

OBIEE 11g: ORA-00942: table or view does not exist at OCI call OCIStmtExecute Error

I am working on OBIEE 11g - 11.1.1.3. Database is Oracle 10g- 10.2.0.3

Set up: I have a presentation hierarchy Region>Country>State>City build from a single Geography Dimension. I have three fact columns coming from three materialized views. 

Now, when this Presentation Hierarchy and three fact columns are used to create a request, and I try to drill down, BI query is throwing a "table does not exist" error. I get the following error.

Error Codes: OPR4ONWY:U9IM8TAC:OI2DL65P 

State: HY000. Code: 10058. [NQODBC] [SQL_STATE: HY000] [nQSError: 10058] A general error has occurred. [nQSError: 43113] Message returned from OBIS. [nQSError: 43119] Query Failed: [nQSError: 17001] Oracle Error code: 942, message: ORA-00942: table or view does not exist at OCI call OCIStmtExecute. [nQSError: 17010] SQL statement preparation failed. (HY000)

Instead of the presentation hierarchy if I use high level column (Region), I am able to drill down and get correct numbers. I am able to create a report with Region, Country, State, City, Fact1, Fact2, and Fact3 without getting an error. 

With the error, I also saw the query log with too long query and many SAWITHn, SACOMMONnnnn clauses. 

I enabled PERF_PREFER_INTERNAL_STITCH_JOIN in DB Features in repository and now the hierarchy and reports work fine. You will get a warning that DB Features do not match default values during consistency check, you can ignore that.

Hope it helps someone. 

Cheers!

Deepak

OBIEE 11g- Deploy RPD - Create New Catalog

Steps to deploy repository and create a new web catalog in OBIEE 11g

• Go to http://{localhost}:7001/em and login
• From left pane, expand Business Intelligence and click on coreapplication
• Go to Deployment tab then Repository sub-tab
• In the Change Center: click Lock and Edit Configuration
• Click Close when you receive the confirmation message Lock and Edit Configuration - Completed Successfully.
• In the Upload BI Repository section: Click Browse and navigate to the directory with the yourrepository.rpd repository. Select the yourrepository.rpd and click Open
• Enter your-repository-password as password and click Apply.
• (Optional: If you want to create a separate catalog; In the Presentation Service Repository section, you will have a  string like this one: $ORACLE_INSTANCE/bifoundation/OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent/$COMPONENT_NAME/catalog/SampleApp
• Delete the default catalog- SampleApp in this case and enter a name that you want to give to your catalog e.g. MyNewCatalog you should have something like this $ORACLE_INSTANCE/bifoundation/OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent/$COMPONENT_NAME/catalog/MyNewCatalog)
• In the Change Center: click Activate Changes
• Click Close when message Activate Changes - Completed Successfully message appears.
• Go to Overview tab and click Restart. Click Yes to confirm restart.
• Click Close when you receive the message Restart All - Completed Successfully.
• Go to http://{localhost}:9704/analytics login to create reports in new rpd with Your-New-SA subject area.

More information in OBIEE 11g Documentation Libraray: http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E21764_01/bi.htm

Cheers!

Deepak

OBIEE 11g Installation

OBIEE 11g Installation

This article is in continuation from my previous post, and a reference for the installation and configuration of OBIEE 11g R1. 

OBIEE 11g R1 Installation Files

The installation files were downloaded from Oracle Technology Network.

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/bi-enterprise-edition/downloads/bus-intelligence-11g-165436.html

To reiterate, my Machine has the following configuration:

Intel Core Duo 2.2 GHz / 3GB / Windows 2003 R2 EE

System Requirements and Specifications are available here.

This article is a run-book that provides guidelines for installing and configuring OBIEE 11g on a single computer using the Simple Installation option.

We can install the following components:

·         Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Answers, Dashboards, Delivers, Repository Administration Tool, Office, and Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher)

·         Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher

·         Oracle Real-Time Decisions

Starting OBIEE 11g Installation

1.     Extract the downloaded .zip files in a directory called OBIEE_INSTALL_FILES.

2.     Go to \OBIEE_INSTALL_FILES\Disk1 and run setup.exe

3.     Welcome Screen comes up

4.     Click Next. This will check if the pre requisites are met.

Rectify errors if any before continuing. Click Next.

5.     Select Installation Type

Select Simple Install type and click Next.

6.     Specify Installation Location

OBIEE 11g Installer designates this directory as the Middleware home. OBIEE 11g Installer also creates the Oracle home, Instance home, WebLogic home, and Domain home within this location.

Specify the directory, click Next.

7.     Administrator Details

Specify the user name and password for the system administrator. Click Next. I selected weblogic as username and weblogic as password.

  

8.     Configure Components

Check the required components and click Next. I selected all components.

  

9.     Oracle Database Details

Enter the required database details. Connect string is defined as hostname:port:servicename

Use the prefix as defined during installation of bi schemas using RCU.

10.  Specify Security Updates

This step is optional. Click Next. If you do not provide the information you will be presented with the following window.

Click Yes and continue.

11.  Installation Summary

This screen describe your settings as selected for the installation.

Click Install to start the installation.

  

12.  Installation Progress Screen 

This screen shows the progress of installation

Click Next when the installation is complete.

13.  Configuration Progress Screen

Click Next when configuration finishes.

14.  Installation Completed Screen

You can save the summary details by clicking Save File. Once done Click Finish completes the installation process. This opens a web browser to display your Oracle Business Intelligence instance.

Once the installation completes check the following URLs.

Oracle Business Intelligence-> http://localhost:9704/analytics

WebLogic Console-> http://localhost:7001/console

Enterprise Manager-> http://localhost:7001/em

After installing OBIEE I used the guidelines provided here to deploy SampleApp.

References:

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E14571_01/bi.1111/e16518/bieqi.htm

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E14571_01/bi.1111/e10539/toc.htm

Cheers!

Deepak

OBIEE 11g error EM-02694

OBIEE 11g FAILED_TO_SAVE_CREDENTIALS Error: em-02694

Recently while changing he default repository in Oracle Enterprise Manager I received this error EM-02694. I was not able to save screenshots and was not able to replicate this error so I will describe the scenario below:

1.     I logged on http://localhost:7001/em

2.     In the domain;  Business Intelligence>coreapplication

3.     Repository tab under Deployment tab.

4.     Clicked Lock and Edit Changes - successful

5.     In the Upload BI Server Repository section I browsed to the new repository I want to bring online and gave password information.

6.     Gave the required Catalog location under Presentation Service Repository section.

7.     Clicked Apply. Successful.

8.     Clicked Activate Changes at the Change Center.

At this point I received the following error.

Message ID: EM-02694

Message Level: 1

Argument 1: DOMAIN;FAILED_TO_SAVE_CREDENTIALS

Component: AdminServer

Module: oracle.sysman.emai.view.bi.impl.ProgressDialogHelper

Message: Supplementary information regarding operation: DOMAIN;FAILED_TO_SAVE_CREDENTIALS

I tried several times to change the repository without any success. I tried going back SampleApp repository even that failed with the same error. I was not able to find any documentation and help online. At the end restarting Weblogic and all other BI services did the trick and I was able to successfully upload new rpd.

Cheers,

Deepak