EPM 11.1.2.1 compact deployment

The release of EPM 11.1.2 brought many changes across the product set and with the supporting architecture, gone was the ability to deploy web applications using Tomcat and only one option of WebLogic remained. This brought with it a much bigger footprint in terms of memory and pushed many down alternative paths to be able to run the system.

There are many reasons why high memory requirements can be restrictive, for instance if you wanted to run the full system for development, training, demos etc and intended on hosting on a laptop, yes it is possible if you pay for very high end spec machine or look to the cloud for inspiration but surely there were other possibilities.

With the release of 11.1.2.1 an additional option called compact deployment has become available which allows WebLogic based web applications to be deployed to a single managed server instead of a separate server for each product, so in theory reducing the overall memory requirement.

Today I am going to go through the process of deploying using the compact server method, now there are a few things to be aware of first.

• It is aimed at 64bit operating systems.


• Is available for new/upgraded 11.1.2.1 installations.


• Financial Management and Financial Close management are not included; these will still need to be deployed using the standard deployment method, though saying that it is still possible to use a large percentage of FM functionality without the WebLogic piece running.


• If the managed server crashes for any reason then all the web application running within it will be taken down.


• This deployment method should not be considered for anything more than a development environment, it wouldn’t be supported either.

There are two methods of deploying in compact mode, one when products are configured using a single database and the other when configured using multiple databases, today I am going to cover the single database method as it makes perfect sense to only use one database in this sort of deployment.

Now I am not going to go through how to install EPM 11.1.2.1 as I have covered that in the past and it’s not the purpose of this blog, I am starting off with a fresh install of EPM 11.1.2.1 deployed on a windows 2008 R2 64bit machine, the process covered today should be pretty much the same for other operating systems and if it is unix type system then it will just be a matter of running a .sh instead of .bat



Before deploying the web applications the other areas for each product such as database configurations have to be carried out first, so the configurator was started using <MIDDLEWARE_HOME>/EPMSystem11R1common/config/11.1.2.0/config-manual.bat

Usually the configurator is started using configtool.bat but using configtool-manual.bat starts the configurator as if the web applications are to be deployed manually, this means there will be no options available for web application deployment.



As this a fresh install a new EPM Oracle instance has to be created, I stuck with the defaults which creates an instance with the name of epmsystem1, the instance name is required later in the process.



The first-time configuration option is selected and details of the database are entered, this will only have to be entered once as all products are going to be deployed using one database.



All the required options will already be selected notice that there are no options available to deploy to application server.

It is also worth noting that the essbase server configuration option is not available either, now you can leave configuring essbase until later or do what I did and configure all the above first and then run configtool.cmd, deselect all and only select Essbase > “Configure Essbase Server”.

Once all the products have been configured then it is time to move on to the web applications compact deployment.





To start up the compact deployment open a command prompt and go to <MIDDLEWARE_HOME>/user_projects/epmsystem1/bin/compact and execute “runCompactDeploy.bat”

Four pieces of information are required:-

Weblogic Domain name – this should be the same name as the domain name created in the EPM configurator, the default being EPMSystem (though I used epmsystem1 as the domain name in my example as it was a fresh install with no domain created)

Weblogic Domain user name/password – I stuck with the default username used when configuring EPM which is epm_admin and the password is your choice, you will need these account details if you intend on logging into the WebLogic admin console for the domain.

Database user password – this is the password of the account used for configuring the one database in the configurator.

Once entered the compact deployment should spring into life and all should be good…



Unfortunately I hit a bit of an issue and thought I would explain why it happened as I am sure I won’t be the only one that gets hit with it.

The compact deployment ran through and by watching the command window intently I noticed errors appear and in the end was awarded with a pop up message stating startEPMSystem.bat did not exist.

The problem started to manifest when a WebLogic script is executed to create the domain and add the EPM library templates.

The exception was “The following prerequisites were found to be missing: Oracle EPM HPS libraries – 11.1.2.1”

It seems that there are a number of mandatory products that need to be installed before the compact deployment can be carried out.

I found the details of the required libraries in the following file which is used in the compact deployment -
<MIDDLEWARE_HOME>/EPMSystem11R1/common/templates/compact/epm_system_11.1.2.1.jar



Within the jar is a file named template-info.xml which contains the required libraries, the libraries are located at <MIDDLEWARE_HOME>/EPMSystem11R1/common/templates/applications

It looks like the following products may need to installed before running the compact deployment –
Foundation
Disclosure Management
Reporting and Analysis Framework
EAS
ERPi
Planning
Financial Reporting
Web Analysis
HPS (Hyperion Performance Scorecard)

So depending on what products have been installed will determine the exception generated, in my case the only product I had not installed was Performance Scorecard and that is why the error around “Oracle EPM HPS libraries – 11.1.2.1” was being generated.

It may be possible to update the xml file to alter the dependencies but it is not something I have attempted. (Update: it is possible and I have wrote a post on how to do it, have a read here)

This left me the only option to install Performance scorecard and then configured the non web app elements.

Once complete “runCompactDeploy.bat” was executed again.



This time everything ran smoothly and no errors were generated in the compactDeploy window, once completed another command window opens and starts up the WebLogic admin server for epmsystem1, a final command window opened starting up all the EPM web applications in one managed WebLogic server by executing <MIDDLEWARE_HOME>/user_projects/domains/epmsystem1/bin/startEPMSystem.bat



If you log into the WebLogic admin console for the epmsystem1 domain you will notice a server has been created called “EPMServer0” running on port 9000, this means all the EPM web application will be running against that port.

To log in to the admin console go to http://localhost:7001/console and enter the username/password that was entered earlier when running the compact deployment batch script



To view all the web applications deployed in the managed server click on “EPMServer0” and go to deployments tab.

The admin server can be stopped to save memory as it is not required and the "EPMServer0" managed server can be run indepently.



It is possible to test logging into some of the products using port 9000 but for all the products to communicate correctly through workspace the final step was to configure the http web server element.



Once the web server was successfully configured using OHS the web applications were all accessible via port 19000

To start the managed server execute - <MIDDLEWARE_HOME>/user_projects/domains/epmsystem1/bin/startEPMSystem.bat

To stop the managed server execute - <MIDDLEWARE_HOME>/user_projects/domains/epmsystem1/bin/stopEPMSystem.bat

No windows service is created by default to start/stop the managed server, I am sure it is possible to create one and maybe it is something I will have a look at if I ever get the chance.
(Update: the steps to create a windows service can be found here)



A quick look at the Java process running the WebLogic managed server indicated the minimum memory being consumed was 1.3GB, so if you compared that to starting the entire set of EPM web applications in a standard deployment then there is a considerable difference, starting up just “Foundation” and “R&A Framework” web applications can consume around 1GB.



Depending on the available memory on the machine being deployed on the JVM maximum memory can be increased and with it being 64bit then there is less of a constraint on an upper limit like with 32bit.

To increase the JVM edit <MIDDLEWARE_HOME>/user_projects/domains/epmsystem1/bin/setManagedParamsEPMServer.bat and update the value for -Xmx then restart the managed server.

I have not had a chance to really put the system through its paces but the performance seems reasonable considering what it will be used for, I recommend you try it out and make up your own opinion but at least it opens the door for deployments on machines with a lower memory capacity.

Planning 11.1.2.1 – Upgrade Wizard

The recent release of planning 11.1.2.1 brings new application administration features which are worth a quick mention.



These can be accessed from workspace under Administer > Classic Application Administration > Planning Administration.
Even though it is being accessed through Classic Administration it also applies to EPMA enabled applications.



The Upgrade Wizard is a new addition.




Previously if any data source elements had changed you would have to edit each data source individually, now it is possible to mass update this information.

So for instance if say the essbase server was rehosted or account information had changed then all the data sources can be updated at once.



Select the data sources that require updates, enter the new information, apply then save.



In previous versions if you wanted to upgrade a planning application to the latest release you would have to log into the planning application and select migrate, it is now possible to upgrade multiple applications at once which saves time if you have just upgraded planning.



In case of upgrade failure the upgrade process for each planning application is logged in <MIDDLEWARE_HOME>/user_projects/epmsystem1/Planning/planning1

and in the format of

PlanningAppUpgradeLog_<APPLICATION_NAME>.txt

If you have never understood what happens when a planning application is upgraded it is worth having a look at the log as it will give you a good idea of the steps taken.

The last option is “Update Reporting Essbase Servers”



If you are using the Reporting Application functionality essbase server connection information changes then it is possible update this for single or multiple applications.

I did notice a security flaw with the new functionality as if you go directly to http://<planning_server>:8300/HyperionPlanning/UpgradeWizard.jsp then anybody can access the Upgrade Wizard pages without the need for authentication, I am sure this will get fixed in subsequent patches but something to be aware of at the moment.

Planning 11.1.2.1 – Automate pushing of Reporting Application data

One of the new features in planning 11.1.2 was the ability to map and push data to a reporting application, I covered the reporting functionality in an earlier blog which you can read here, one of the drawbacks was if you wanted to push the data to an essbase database it had to be done manually, depending on the size of the data the export/import could take a while and it would be something you would want to schedule out of hours.

With the release of 11.1.2.1 a new command line utility called PushData has been created, the utility provides the functionality to automate the pushing of data for any Reporting Applications that have been set up in a planning application.



The utility is available with the other planning utilities in the directory <MIDDLEWARE_HOME>/user_projects/epmsystem1/Planning/planning1

The parameters to use the utility are -

PushData [-f:passwordFile] /U:username /A:sourceApplication / M:applicationMapping [/C]

Most of the parameters are self-explanatory, if optional /C is used then the data on the target is cleared first.
If you want to understand how to create a password file have a read here

PushData.cmd /U:admin /A:PlanSamp /M:PLANASO /C

The utility also produces a log available at -
<MIDDLEWARE_HOME/user_projects/epmsystem1/diagnostics/diagnostics/logs/planning/PushData.log



The log will capture whether the pushing of data was successful or not and any members that are skipped due to not existing in the target.

It is also possible to check the status through the Job Console within the planning application.

I did notice some strange anomalies in the log as shown above.

After successfully running the command line utility it can be batched up and scheduled using your chosen scheduler to run at required intervals.

Planning 11.1.2.1 - Exporting metadata

I have lost count of the amount times the question has been asked “how can I extract a planning applications outline”, until now the options have been pretty limited, one of the possible methods is to use LCM but it has its limitations and is not in the format that suits everybody.

Since the arrival of version 11 the planning Outline Load utility has done wonders and has been improving with each release, it should have been around well before 11 but at least it did arrive.

Now the utility is mainly aimed at classic planning applications, yes there are still many clients holding out with classic and why not.

With the recent release of 11.1.2.1 the utility brings in the option to export dimension metadata which I didn't see mentioned in the planning new features document, so the utility has evolved as not just a loader but an extractor as well.

The utility is available on the machine where planning has been deployed in the folder <MIDDLEWARE_HOME>\user_projects\epmsystem1\Planning\planning1\

I am not going to go through all the parameters of the utility as I have already covered the utility when it was first released

To extract a dimensions metadata it is as simple as executing:-

Outlineload /A:application /U:username /D:DimensionToExtract /E:outputFilename

For example OutlineLoad /A:PlanSamp /U:admin /D:Account /E:F:/PlanExports/acc_export.csv

If you want to include logging then you can use the parameters /L:LogFilename /X:exceptionFileName, if you don’t want to enter a password you can you the –F:passwordFile, how to set up a password file is available read here



The generated output CSV file is exactly the same easy manageable format that is required to load a dimension using the utility.

It is also possible to extract attribute dimension metadata.



To extract an attribute dimension all that is required is to provide the attribute name using the /D: parameter.



Output format is MemberName/Parent/Alias.



It is possible to export all the Smart List metadata within an application.



The parameter required for exporting Smart Lists is /DS:HSP_SMARTLISTS





Once again the output format matches the one for importing.

To export exchange rates tables the parameter used would be /DX:HSP_RATES



All the exchange rates tables available within the application are exported to the output CSV file.



The utility supports the exporting of planning unit hierarchies (which was available in 11.1.2) and the defining parameter is /D:PlanningUnitHierName

Enjoy!

Applying EPM 11.1.2.1 maintenance release

I am not here today to announce the release of 11.1.2.1 as I think the news has definitely has been posted enough times now, I’d be extremely shocked if you didn’t know, maybe you have been living in a cave and decided to visit my blog when you first ventured out.

Now with this new release there are more options to move to it, you can upgrade/migrate from previous versions, fresh install or apply the maintenance patch to upgrade 11.1.2 to 11.1.2.1, some of this options I will be covering in future blogs.

This release is also about bug fixes as masses have been addressed, there are a number enhancements and new features in a selection of the products but nothing ground breaking (you may disagree), it looks like planning has a larg share of them.

As in past blogs I have gone through the installation and maintenance patches for previous releases so I thought I might as well share my experience of apply the maintenance release today. The release has only been around for a few days so I apologise if I provide any incorrect information.

The OS the maintenance release is being applied to is windows 2008 x64 SP2.

If you are intending of applying the maintenance release I recommend having a read of the “Installation and Configuration Guide” as it covers important detailed information

Next step is download all the required files, I usually obtain them from Oracle edelivery, the files that are required are covered in the install and config guide, note this release there are seven foundation files and not four, also don’t forget the additional content file.

Once you have all the files then extract them all to the same location (if you have the install files in a folder from the previous release 11.1.2 make sure you extract to a different folder), if you are installing on a distributed environment make sure you extract the necessary files on each machine and take note of information provided in the config guide, for instance

• On the machine on which you plan to administer the WebLogic Server, you must install all Web applications for all applications you plan to deploy on any machine in the environment. (The WebLogic Administration Server is installed and deployed on the Foundation Services machine.)

There are a number of extra folders at root level in this release.

Now there is a list of prerequisites to be met before installing the Maintenance Release to move from 11.1.2 to 11.1.2.1, here is a summary of the main points.

• You must apply the maintenance release on top of your existing EPM System installation.

• You must apply the maintenance release to all EPM System products in the deployment. You cannot apply the maintenance release to only some products.

• If you are applying the maintenance release to move from EPM System release 11.1.2.0 to EPM System Release 11.1.2.1, or if you are reinstalling EPM System products, you must first stop all the services for EPM System products.

• If you are applying the maintenance release to move from Essbase Release 11.1.2 to Release 11.1.2.1, you must first export linked reporting object information from the 11.1.2 database, and then delete the linked reporting objects. After applying the maintenance release, import the exported linked reporting objects. More information available here

One more point before starting the installation is to be sure you have more than 5GB spare on the drive where EPM is currently installed, if there is not you will not be able to complete the installation steps.

Once all the prerequisites have been met then start up the installation by executing InstallTool.cmd/sh



A new addition to the start up of the installer is the check whether UAC is enabled, I know this could cause problem with 11.1.2 if it was enabled, if it is enabled in this release a warning will be displayed and the installer will not start up.



There are also a few more prerequisite checks, good news all have been passed.



Nothing new on this screen, displays the current Middleware Home.



Three main options to choose from and this time it is “Apply maintenance release”.



Check that there is a tick in each of the products with “11.1.2.0.0” against them, if there is not then you have not downloaded and extracted all the required files.

Once you click next a list of products to patched will be shown, click next again and the maintenance patching will start up, this is a good point to go and spend time doing something that is actually meaningful in life and then on your return hope the status is all green.



All green, see it wasn’t worth hanging around staring at the screen.

Click the Configure button, when I first installed 11.1.2 the configure button never worked but in this release it actually opened up the configurator.



You have the choice whether to stick with the original instance or create a new one, I have no reason to change this so I kept with the default.



The configurator should have checked all the pending tasks for each product that need configuring, I unchecked everything except foundation as I want to be sure there are no issues with the maintenance release, if there is a problem with foundation there wouldn’t be any point configuring the other products.

Another reason for doing this is I have used a separate Oracle schema for each product database configuration, if you leave everything selected then it wouldn’t give the option to apply to separate schemas.

This is just a personal preference Oracle no doubt recommends to leave all products checked and the choice is yours.

If you choose to only configure foundation then you would have “Configure Web Server” again when you configure the other products, this step should always be done last.

I do notice there is a new option “Setup connection to Oracle BI and Publisher”, it is not checked by default and I am not intending on changing that today.

Keep “connect to a previously configured Shared Services database” selected.



Once again there should be no need to change anything when applying the maintenance patch.



Guess what, kept the defaults, can’t beat just clicking next.



Next one more time for me and then it will configure as I am only configuring foundation



All green again, nice smooth ride up to now.



Right that’s me satisfied, back to the configurator to run through the rest of the pending tasks product by product, remembering to check “Configure Web Server” in foundation as the last step, this may not be necessary as I have already configured the web server but I am not taking any chances.
Instead of selecting uncheck all, I unchecked the products I was not configuring for, this way I knew the product I was configuring had the required tasks checked.

I am not going to paste all the screens because as this is a maintenance release there were no new surprises and the process I followed was to stick with the defaults for each product, it was basically reconfiguring the database and redeploying the web application servers.

What I did notice after installing is the number of services being used by EPMA has now been cut down, originally this is how it looked in 11.1.2



The five non web app related services have been combined into one service called “Hyperion EPMA Server”.

I also noticed after the deployment of the web applications the issue I posted about here has been resolved; the installer’s temporary directory is no longer used.

I went through each product and quickly tested I could access them without problems, understandably this is not a rigourous test but it didn't show up any major issues, I will update this post if I do come across any.

For each planning application I had to log in and upgrade from 11.1.2 to 11.1.2.1

If you are using EPMA then this is taken from the installation readme -
"After the installation and configuration of Enterprise Performance Management Architect 11.1.2.1.000, you must install Enterprise Performance Management Architect patch 11804477"