Learning Life Cycle Management

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Learning Life Cycle Management (LCM): Command LineSecurity Synchronization

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This purpose of this article is to introduce the command line Life Cycle Management(LCM)utility in Oracle EPM. The LCM tool can be used to export and import objects that can be foundwithin the Oracle EPM Environment. This includes Security, Essbase, Hyperion Planning,Financial Management etc. As once gets more familiar with LCM, one comes to realize howpowerful the tool is and how empty life without LCM was. Without LCM some of the moredetailed artifacts within an application were difficult to move between environments. LCMprovides a centralized mechanism for exporting and importing nearly all of the objects within anOracle EPM application or module. The table below is listed to get an idea of all the facets of LCM.

Application Artifacts by Module

Module Artifacts

Shared Services User and Group ProvisioningProjects/Application Metadata

Essbase

Files (.csc, .rpt, .otl, .rul)DataFilters

PartitionsIndex and Page files (drive letters)Application and Database propertiesSecurity

EAS/Business Rules

RulesLocationsSequencesProjectsSecurity

Hyperion Planning

FormsDimensionsApplication PropertiesSecurity

Hyperion Financial Management

MetadataDataJournalsForms/GridsRules
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ListsSecurity

Financial Data Quality Management

MapsSecurityDataMetadataScriptsSecurity

Reporting and Analysis (Workspace)

ReportsFilesDatabase ConnectionsSecurity

The LCM tool is integrated into the Shared Services Web Interface. If can be found under theApplication Groups tab. Within the application groups there are three main areas of interest:

1. Foundation includes Shared Services security such as Users/Groups and Provisioning.2. File System - This is where the exported files will go by default. The default location is to

be stored server side, on the Shared Services server in the location:E:\Hyperion\common\import_exportUnder this main folder, the contents are broken out by the user account that performedthe export. Within the export folder, there is an info folder and a resource folder. Theinfo folder provides an xml listing of the artifacts contained within the export. Theresource folder contains the actual objects that were exported.

The LCM Command line tool provides more flexibility because it can be installed on anymachine and the results can be directed to output to any local folder. Sometimes this isvery useful if the Shared Services node is a Unix machine, and the LCM users areunfamiliar with Unix. Simply install the LCM Command Line Utility on the Windowsmachine and redirect its output to a local Windows folder using the local command lineoption.

3. Products and Applications Each registered product will be listed and provide amechanism to export and import the respective objects for the associated applications,Essbase, Plan ningetc.

Going Command Line

The Shared Services LCM GUI is a great way to become familiar with the LCM tool. However,when it is time to start automating LCM tasks and debugging issues, the Command Line LCMutility is very helpful. To get started, the LCM Command Line tool requires a single commandline argument, an xml file that contains the migration definition. The quickest way to obtain the


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Step 1 Export Users/Groups/Provisioning from Source Environment

Note: By default the results will be sent to the source Shared Services server in theimport_export directory. You can use LCM to redirect the output to keep the results all in thesame environment (the target system) by using the command line option [-local/-l] (run

utility.bat without any command line options to see help for your version of LCM). Simplyredirect the results into the local folder, \Hyperion\common\import_export, in the Target system.

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Step 2 - Export Users / Groups from Target Environment

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url="http://targetSvr:58080/interop" user="" password=""/>

Step 3 Delete Users/Groups in Target Environment

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Step 4 Import Users and Groups into Clean Target Environment

This step assumes that Step 1 was redirected onto the target environment within theimport_export directory. The respective folder, Step1UsersGroupsSource, can also be manuallycopied from the source to the target environment without using the redirection to a local foldertechnique.

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Troubleshooting with Command Line LCM

LCM can be a great tool when it works flawlessly. However, it can quickly become part of mission critical activities like promoting artifacts from development to production.Consequently, it is necessary to learn some troubleshooting skills to maintain business continuityusing LCM.


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1. Review the output of the LCM operation. Usually it will provide some detail about theerror that was received.

2. Review the server side Shared_services_LCM.log inORACLE_HOME\logs\SharedServices\SharedServices_LCM.log

3. Turn on debugging for the command line LCM tool. Change the line info to debug in

the filesE:\Hyperion\common\utilities\LCM\9.5.0.0\conf in log.xml and hss-log.xml

4. Use Google, the Oracle Knowledgebase to search for more information.5. Try only a subset of the initial objects. For instance, Essbase can export a number of

objects, Outline, Calc Scripts, Rule Files, Report Scripts, Substation Variables, LocationAliases, and Security. Try one at a time to determine which part of the whole is failing.

6. Restart the environment. LCM is an emerging technology and can sometimes just be in abad state. Ive seen countless LCM issu es where bouncing the environment clears theissue up.

7. Look for special characters that might be present in your data. LCM is a java tool and

uses xml and text files to transmit data. There are instances where special characters canmess up the parsing.8. Look for patches as mentioned previously, LCM is an emerging technology and is still

somewhat buggy (especially older versions). Check release notes in patches forenhancements/bug fixes in LCM.

Hyperion Release 11 Architecture and Installation, Part 3 of 5

Nov 6 2009 Posted by C.T. Brinkman | In: Hyperion Enterprise Performance Management Hyperion Essbase Hyperion Financial Reporting Hyperion Planning Hyperion Workforce Planning Hyperion Workspace BestPractices Upgrades and Migrations

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"Installation and Configuration"

In installment #1 and #2 of this guide, we reviewed the architecture considerations and pre-installation requirements. If you havent read the two previous post or havent read the HyperionInstallation Start Here guide, youll want to be sure to do that.

With this installment Ill review the Installation and Configuration activities necessary for aHyperion 11.x environment. The installation and configuration are separate items. Theinstallation can takes place first and it only lays out the files to run the system. Theconfiguration ties everything together, creates repositories, deploys applications, and createsservices. This will cover both including the following items:

Hyperion Fusion Installer and How it Works
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Preparing the Fusion Installer Using the Fusion Installer Hyperion Configuration Utility

The companion Hyperion Documentation for this post is either of the following documents

found in the Oracle Documentation Library:Oracle Hyperion Enterprise Performance Management System Installation and ConfigurationGuide Release 11.1.1.xOracle Hyperion Enterprise Performance Management System Manual Deployment GuideRelease 11.1.1.x

You probably are not going to read them in their entirety since they are rather lengthy but theyare very useful in fully understanding what is going on and priceless for complex environment orwhen things dont go well.

Hyperion Fusion Installer and How it works.

So lets get started on this installation already. One of the great features of Release 11.x FusionEdition is the Fusion Installer. It is a nice application for guiding you through theinstallation. The first thing to do is download the Fusion Installer and copy it to each server inyour architecture. The Fusion Installer is only the shell for the rest of the installation. Under theFusion Installer create a folder called assemblies.

Preparing the Fusion Installer

Youll next need to download the remaining Foundation Services as well as any other applications you are using. For our example we are going to assume the client is using

Foundation, Planning, and HFM. You are probably looking at something in the neighborhood of 4GB to download. Each download, when unzipped contains a group of folders lookingsomething like this:


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Each server will need the appropriate assemblies copied to its own \\assmbliesdirectory. This way, whenthe Fusion Installer starts, it knows what is available to install. Someof the common components are needed on each server. If you are missing something, the FusionInstaller will let you know in the status window at the bottom application. For details on whichassemblies are required for each application, refer to the Installation and Configuration Guide.

Using the Fusion Installer

As you start the Fusion Installer you will see something like this:


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The first thing to do is configure Shared Services. This needs to be done by itself and before anyother components are configured. As soon as this is complete, launch Shared Services and verifythat it is working appropriately. If it isnt, its will be a long day. If you are able to log in toShared Services, it is also probably best to go ahead and configure any external authenticationprovider at this time.

When Shared Services is complete and verified, you can move from server to server configuringall the components. The documentation says that you can configure all the components at oncebut this will attempt to configure all the selected products in the same relation schema/table. Thedocumentation also says that some of the repositories need to be separate. I prefer to do it one ata time to be certain I can keep all the relational repositories separate and I can validate eachcomponent as it is competed. I usually start with all the Foundation Services and then make sureWorkspace functions before moving on to the EPM application like Planning and FinancialManagement. The last thing to do is to redeploy Workspace so it is configured to proxy all theremaining Web Applications.

You will want to be careful with each screen to make certain every component is configured asyou planned. It is easy to keep hitting NEXT only to find out you mixed your CalculationManager Repository in with your Shared Services repository.

As with the installation, I like to review all the configuration logs on each server verycarefully. Better to catch an error now than later. When Im comfortable with the configuration,I shut everything down and bring it back up. The start order is quite finicky. The Oracle


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Upgrade to Essbase 11 and enjoy a host of new features

There are a host of new features in version 11. As with most product releases, there are thetypical improvements related to memory, scripting, and stability. But, there are some other, verynotable, functional additions that might peak your interest.

Lifecycle Management

Shared Services now provides a consistent way to manage environments. This console givesadministrators the ability to compare applications, search for artifacts, and perform artifactmigrations. It comes with a command line tool to automate tasks, as well as a full API for thosewho want to customize the process even further.

Typed Measures

Essbase now stores text! Well, somewhat. Text measures give administrators a way of storing avalue other than a number in a data intersection. Technically, it still stores numbers, but itrepresents a string. A member in the measures dimension can have a text attribute. Thismember is associated with an enumerated list. Each member in that list has an index number,which is what is in the database. When reporting is done, that number is converted to theassociated text value in the enumerated list. Members can also be tagged as Date, which changesthe formatting to; you guessed it, a date.

Varying Attributes

Attributes have been around for a while now in Essbase. Some people hate them and some lovethem. They definitely have their place in the design of a database. One limitation has been theinability to walk forward attributes over time. For example, assume we have an attribute thatidentifies our customers into tiers based on their credit score. If a customers score changes suchthat they move to a higher or lower tier, the history is lost because their attribute is the same forall time periods. Not anymore. Varying attributes adds the capability of Essbase to store, andcalculate measures for attributes that vary over multiple dimensions.

Backup and Recovery

I have seen many methods to making sure Essbase applications are secured. In version 11, thereare some new options for BSO databases. First, an option in EAS exists to backup the entiredatabase, including its data and all of its objects, to one file. When changing things rapidlythrough the day, this is a nice feature to ensure you dont lose valuable work. The entiredatabase can easily be restored. This is much quicker than manually archiving all the objects(calc scripts, load rules, outlines, and reports) and keeping data exports.

Secondly, Essbase now includes the option to log transactions and replay them. With this optionturned on, Essbase applications can be restored with the option to replay all transactions thatoccurred after the backup occurred. Now, a database can be restored to a specific point in time.
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ASO Data Management

ASO now includes Maxl scripting to enable administrators to clear data from regions of adatabase in two ways. The first and most obvious is to remove the values from thedatabase. The second is the ability to copy the data into another member as the inverse, resulting

in a total of zero.

The use of Environment Variables

If your process management uses variables to decrease maintenance tasks from, this might besomething that will intrigue you. Version 11 has access to not only Essbase variables, butoperating system environment variables as well.

Monitoring Environment Reponses

Many environments take advantage of partitioning. Now, there is a way to evaluate the cost of

using partitions. Using the ENABLE_DIAG_TRANSPARENT_PARTITION configurationsetting in the essbase.cfg file, administrators can log transaction response times.

Common Log Locations

Version 11 organizes all log files in one location. This is a very nice improvement. Rather thansearching through each products directory tree for the area logs are stored, they are now locatedin one common folder, with a folder for each of the Hyperion products.

Override Implied Shares

Essbase now includes an option in the outline management section to ignore the default settingfor implied shares. This can be very helpful when using partitions, as well as a host of othersituations.

Notable Calculations Additions

Now that members can carry a text or date value, there are a host of functions that open up awhole new realm of possibilities. DATEROLL will increase a value based on a specific timeinterval. DATEDIFF will take the difference between two dates at the intervaldesignated. DATEPART will pull the time period (week, month, day, etc) from any date. Theseoperations were difficult at best, in previous releases of Essbase.


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Hyperion Release 11 Architecture and Installation, Part 2 of 5

Pre -Installation Requirements

In installment #1 of this guide, we reviewed the architecture considerations and defined asimplistic architecture to use as a reference moving forward. I recommend you read the previouspost before you pick up this one. I also recommend reading

Oracle Hyperion Enterprise Performance Management System Installation Start Here Release11.1.1.2.pdf (128 pages) from the Oracle Documentation Library.

To reiterate our general approach, the Hyperion architecture establishment and installationactivities in our organization cover the following five areas.

1. Defining an Architecture Work with the client to define the hardware, software, and thedistribution of Hyperion components

2. Provide Pre-Installation Requirements Provide the client with a detailed list of activitiesprior to the installation

3. Installation Running the installation and configuration utilities4. Validation Perform all functional activities necessary to validate the environment

readiness5. Documentation Provide the client with all the details of the environment as it is

configured.

In this post, I will go through step 2 that the Hyperion architect, should deliver. Steps 3-5 will beavailable in the coming weeks. For the sake of simplicity I will be using the example of acommon installation, primarily Hyperion Planning, Hyperion Financial Management (HFM), andthe core BI applications.

As part of any installation, some items need to take place before the Fusion Installer is started. Ilike to create a checklist of things that need to be done. Often times these things are out of mycontrol and I will rely on Database Administrator, Network Administrators, and other SystemAdministrators. This checklist contains the following elements.

Web Application Server Specifications Relational Repository Information General System Administration Network Information Additional Components DCOM Configuration IIS and .NET Configuration

Ill start with the Web Application Server Specification . Once the web application serverplatform is chosen from the table below, the installation and configuration often falls on System
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Administrators. Items such as clustering, system account management, and JVM setting aremanaged outside of the Hyperion installation. Other times, Ill ge t admin access and manage itmyself. The first item to do is to validate the application server is certified. This is directly fromOracle Enterprise Performance Management System - Supported Platforms Matrices OracleEnterprise Performance Management S ystem, Fusion Edition Release 11.1.1.2) in the Oracle

document library. I recommend reviewing this document. It can change from release to release.

Server Notes Oracle Application Server 10g(10.1.3.3.x) a

If Oracle Application Server is used as the Webapplication server, Oracle HTTP Server is also

required. Profitability and Cost Managementsupports only Oracle Application Server 10.1.3.x.

Oracle WebLogic Server 9.2 (MP1minimum) / 9.2.x b

Shared Services requires WebLogic Server patchCR283953 for all platforms. You can obtain thispatch at the BEA web site.

IBM WebSphere 6.1.0.17 / 6.1.x C

Embedded Java container d

a Supports these editions: Java, Standard One, Standard & Enterprise. Includes support forOracle Application Server Single Sign-On.

b WebLogic Express is supported for each supported version of WebLogic Server; non-base versions are supported only via manual deployment.

c WebSphere Express, ND, and XD Editions are supported for each supported version of WebSphere; ND and XD are supported only via manual deployment.

d For this release, Apache Tomcat 5.5.17 is the embedded Java container that is installedautomatically on all platforms. Apache Tomcat is supported only in this capacity. If futureEPM System releases embed different Java application servers, Apache Tomcat will nolonger be supported. For deployments that require high availability or failover, Oraclerecommends using a commercially supported Web application server that supports highavailability and failover.

I request the URL and authentication information since this will be needed during thedeployment. If I am doing a manual deployment, I will request contact information from theweb application server administrator and work in collaboration on the deployment.


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The next item on my checklist is to get the Relational Repositories Information set up. This ismostly straightforward. In general, I like to create a tablespace/database for each component((Hyperion Foundation, Essbase Admin Services / Business Rules, EPMA, Planning, FinancialManagement, etc). A distinct tablespace/database for each component makes it easier to managein my opinion. Although it may not be strictly necessary, the documentation does not seem to be

clear on the matter. I say better safe than sorry. For the installation and deployment, Ill needcredentials for each table. Based upon some Q&A, Ill make initial size recommendations.

The target installation servers have a General System Administration checklist containing theinformation that Ill need to execute the installation. This is made of the following items.

Operating Systems version/build Account on each server to run the Hyperion services and account requirements External Authentication information (MSAD, LDAP, or OID if applicable) Drive/Volume information identified for installation of the Hyperion software. DCOM and .NET account information if HFM or FDM are to be installed

Next, I identify the Network Information necessities for appropriate communication betweenservers. This includes IP addresses, DNS information, validation of name resolution, tracebetween servers, subnet configuration, etc. This is vital so the components can communicate viaFully Qualified Domain Name, Short Name, and IP address. Some components use differentvariations of name resolution probably because the components were developed separately andhave not been fully standardized.

In addition to the Hyperion Software, Web Application Servers, and Relational Repositoriesthere are a few Additional Components that need to be installed. A PDF writer is needed forReports Server to render .pdf reports in Workspace. This can be GhostScript or Acrobat

distiller. I suggest referring to the Start Here documentation to see what is currently supportedbut we often go with GhostScript due to its cost.

For the Windows Administration, we provide the DCOM Configuration information needed tosupport FDM, EPMA, and FDM. This includes the DCOM account information, permissions,and authentication information. Although this is spelled out in detail in the Start Here manual,I like to provide step-by-step information with screen shots since DCOM is oftenconfusingwell it is to me at least.

The last thing we review is the IIS and .NET Configuration . IIS is often not installed as part of a standard OS build. We make sure this requirement is specified, ensuring .NET is installed, andvalidate it is the appropriate version.

As with any installation, I recommend the Installation Architect read, and re-read, the HyperionManuals on there own rather than relying on this information or intuition. It can always changeand your installation may have some caveats that I have not covered. For our purposes, with allthe above activities completed and validated, we should be ready to start laying out the binariesand start the Hyperion Installation. We will review the Fusion Installer and HyperionConfiguration Utility in our next installment.


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Migrating/Upgrading Essbase to a New Server

There are many considerations that must be carefully planned when addressing an upgrade toversion 9 or 11, or creating a backup strategy. Manually moving all the components involvedcan take days and is extremely error prone. There is more to it than moving Essbasedatabases. Essbase calc scripts, reports, and load rules have to be considered. Server variablesneed to be moved. All the Maxl and EssCmd scripts need to be copied and changed to reflect thenew server and security model. Security filters need to be copied and altered slightly if movingto a new version of Essbase. All the security users and groups need to be created. As with anyendeavor of this capacity, it can be time consuming. The benefits of the improved stability andfeatures far outweigh the efforts.

Completing this for one server is tough enough. Imagine if corporate policy dictates thateverything has to be done in a QA and/or test environment before it is moved to the newproduction area. Now factor in the number of Essbase servers and the fact that the securitymodel might have to be consolidated to one (this occurs when upgrading from anything before 9,to version 9 or 11). Dont forget that there is only a very small window for the currentproduction servers to be down. If 4 Essbase servers exist, this effort might have to occur 12times!

Doing the same work 3 times for every server is obviously redundant. I developed a small .NETapplication that significantly reduces the work involved. It virtually eliminates the need for anymanual or redundant effort. .NET was selected because it was the quickest for me to develop theapplication, but JAVA, Perl, or any other similar development language could be used. The.NET application accepted the results of the following Maxl display commands.

display application all;

display database all;display filter row all;display variable all;display privilege group all;alter system load application all;display partition all advanced;

Maxl scripts were created from the process to

1. create all the applications and databases2. assign all relevant application and database settings3. rebuild and update security filters4. replicate all server variables

This Maxl can be executed on the destination server to setup the new environment. Examples of the scripts generated from the .NET application below.

/* Create Application: BUDGET */
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create or replace application 'BUDGET' type nonunicode_mode;alter application 'BUDGET' set lock_timeout after 300;alter application 'BUDGET' set max_lro_file_size unlimited;alter application 'BUDGET' set minimum permission no_access;alter application 'BUDGET' enable startup;

alter application 'BUDGET' disable autostartup;alter application 'BUDGET' enable commands;alter application 'BUDGET' enable updates;alter application 'BUDGET' enable connects;alter application 'BUDGET' enable security;

/* Create Database: BUDGET */ create database 'BUDGET'.'Budget';alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' set data_file_cache_size 1024000000;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' set index_cache_size 76800000;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' enable startup;

alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' enable autostartup;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' set minimum permission no_access;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' set retrieve_buffer_size 102400;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' enable two_pass_calc;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' enable aggregate_missing;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' enable compression;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' disable create_blocks;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' disable committed_mode;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' set implicit_commit after 10000 blocks;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' disable cache_pinning;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' set retrieve_buffer_size 102400;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' set compression bitmap;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' set retrieve_buffer_size 102400;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' set retrieve_sort_buffer_size 102400;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' set data_cache_size 512000000;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' set io_access_mode buffered;alter database 'BUDGET'.'Budget' set note '';alter system unload application 'BUDGET';

/* Create Filter: MRP100206310000 */ create or replace filter 'BUDGET'.'Budget'.'Audit' write on'@DESCENDANTS("Time"),@DESCENDANTS("Year"),"Input","WorkingBudget",@DESCENDANTS("Product"),@DESCENDANTS("TotalAudit"),@DESCENDANTS("Expenses")';

DOS and UNIX scripts were generated to copy all of the database objects, data files, and Maxland EssCmd scripts from the source server to the destination server. The program also createdall the files to import into Version 9 and System 11 to add users, groups, and replicate thesecurity model.


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All the Maxl and EssCmd scripts (username, password, server names, file paths, etc.) wereupdated so they could be executed on the new servers.

This process makes it extremely simple to migrate, or move, any Essbase application from oneserver to another. The entire process could be completed in hours, rather than days, and

eliminates the possibility of human error. What would be budgeted to take weeks with severalresources can take less than a day.

Learning Life Cycle Management

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Transcript of Learning Life Cycle Management