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Automatic Backup of Full System using LCM_CLI.bat for SAP Business Intelligence 4.x

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Hi,

 

What is Lcm_cli.bat ?


It is Command line interface for running the  Promotion Management when you wanted to migrate the content more than 100+ objects between SAP Business Intelligence BI 4.x environment.

When using GUI method i.e. Promotion Management it is not possible to migrate/create a lcmbiar file with more than 100+ objects.

 

  • The promotion management command line tool takes a properties file as a parameter. The properties file contains the required parameters to communicate the promotion management tool about the actions to perform, system(s) to connection to, connection methods, objects to promote, and so on.
  • The file must be in the form of <File Name>.properties
  • Please refer to the Administrators guide for a complete list of parameters to use with Lcm_cli.bat

 

Files Included :

  1. .bat script file which is used to run the tool. ( Name : SAPLCMCLI.bat )
  2. 3 Job Properties Files for Users and User's Groups, Dependent Objects, Primary Objects (Job1_userandgroups.properties , Job2_dependencies.properties, Job3_primaryobjects.properties)


Purpose


I have created a script which can be used to backup the full environment (Users, Dependent Objects, Primary Objects) using Lcm_cli.bat file. Either you can run the script manually or you can schedule it which will automatically take the backup according to the Recurrence set in in the Task Scheduler of Operating System i.e. Windows in this case.


This script will create 3 different LCMBIAR files for Users, Dependent Objects, Primary Objects which can be used to import using the lcm_cli.bat tool if needed.



Pre-requisites:

  • SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence platform 4.0\4.1 should be installed on the machine.
  • Ensure to Run the BAT file as “Run as Administrator”
  • For Better Results ensure you make the changes for Resources using KBA - "1969259 - LCM CLI Master Note - How to promote thousands of objects across BI4 environments" For More queries and Sample queries.
  • Changes need to be done in SAPLCMCLI.bat file for “Working Directory" if you are placing the folder in C: Drive then you don't need to do the changes in .bat and .properties files too.
      1. Download the Folder and place the folder in any drive ( For example : E:\BackupBI , D:\BackupBI or try to keep shortest path to avoid naming Character limitation)
      2. Open in SAPLCMCLI.bat in any Text Editor and make the changes below :


changeinbat.jpg

  • Change the Information according to your server in .properties files and also the export location which you have changed :



properties1.jpg

properties2.jpg

properties3.jpg

Steps to RUN the Script :

  • If you wanted to run the script only 1 Time or manually run the script you can simply navigate to the location (Current : C:\BackupBI\SAPLCMCLI.bat )


runlcmcli.jpg

  • Below is the result what you will get after running the script :

result.JPG

  • The Backup Files will be generated in the same location where the script folder is placed (Ex : C:\BackupBI\Backup ) and renamed to the date when it was modified.


Final Biar Backup.JPG

===============================================================================================================

 

Steps to Perform Automatic Backup :


  • You need to follow the same processor before starting this step because it will verify whether all the properties files and bat file is running perfect and giving the results.


  • Open Task Scheduler in the Windows.

task sceduler.JPG

  • Choose Create Basic Task

create Task.JPG

  • It will open the Main Window of Task Organizer and Fill in the Information according to your purpose.

infotask sceduler.JPG

  • Schedule the recurrence in the Trigger i.e. Daily/Weekly/Monthly etc.

scedule.jpg

  • Choose the recurrence Time :

scedule time.JPG

  • In the Action Menu Choose : Start the Program

savetask.JPG

  • Verify the Information and then click on Finish.

verify.JPG

  • It will generate the same results and will take automatic backup as per your need and append the Date with the File Name.Final Biar Backup.JPG

 

 

DOWNLOAD LINK : SAPLCM_CLI Package

 

Hope this will help.

 

 

Regards,

 

Mahak


How to promote all content from SAP BI 4.x to SAP BI 4.x using LCM_CLI.bat (Command Line Tool) using Live to Live method.

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Hi,

 

What is Lcm_cli.bat ?


It is Command line interface for running the  Promotion Management when you wanted to migrate the content more than 1000+ objects between SAP Business Intelligence BI 4.x environment.

When using GUI method i.e. Promotion Management it is not possible to promote/create a lcmbiar file with more than 1000+ objects.


Note : Promotion Management has 200+ objects limit in GUI Mode and its not a hard limit. Simple objects can be had in 1000's. It's not objects that are limitation - its the time the script takes to populate list and calculate dependencies. If it can be done in 20 minutes or less GUI can handle it, otherwise we run up against web session timeouts and ultimately it will give some error and i.e. we use LCM_CLI.bat tool as the alternate method

 

  • The promotion management command line tool takes a properties file as a parameter. The properties file contains the required parameters to communicate the promotion management tool about the actions to perform, system(s) to connection to, connection methods, objects to promote, and so on.
  • The file must be in the form of <File Name>.properties
  • Please refer to the Administrators guide for a complete list of parameters to use with Lcm_cli.bat


Files Included :

  1. 3 Job Properties Files for Users and User's Groups, Dependent Objects, Primary Objects (Job1_userandgroups.properties , Job2_dependencies.properties, Job3_primaryobjects.properties)


Pre-requisites:

  • SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence platform 4.0\4.1 should be installed on the machine and promotion should be done between Same version or From Lower to Higher ( Example. Source (BI 4.0 SP9) to Destination (BI 4.1 SP6) etc.

Note : Use LCM of Higher Version only when promoting the objects from lower version to higher version.

  • Ensure to Run the command prompt as “Run as Administrator”
  • For Better Results ensure you make the changes for Resources using KBA - "1969259 - LCM CLI Master Note - How to promote thousands of objects across BI4 environments" For More queries and Sample queries.
  • If you are using third party authentication then ensure you follow the above article and make the necessary changes.
  • Changes need to be done in .properties files for Source and Destination.



Steps to Prepare the Files and Execute them:


  • Download the 3 properties files from the link : [DOWNLOAD : LCM_CLI Properties File]
  • Place these files on the server in any directory and ensure the path is small (Example : D:\content , C:\lcmpromote etc )

1.JPG

  • Edit all the .properties files and make the changes according to your environment like : CMS Name , Password , Source and Destination etc.


2.JPG

 

5.JPG

 

4.JPG


  • Open Command Prompt as Administrator and Navigate to the Location of lcm_cli.bat file.

6.JPG

7.JPG

  • Execute the lcm_cli and give the properties files as the parameters. [ lcm_cli.bat -lcmproperty "<pathofpropertiesfile>" ]8.JPG


9.JPG


  • Do the same for all the properties files and ensure the jobs are completed successfully. These Job's will be visible in the CMC >> Promotion Management of the Server which is mentioned in "LCM_CMS" in properties file.


10.JPG

11.JPG

12.JPG

13.JPG

14.JPG

15.JPG

16.JPG


  • Once the promotion is done you can verify the content and also if there would be any error you can navigate to Promotion Management and check the Jobs . Jobs Will be created like "Query_Administrator_Day_Date_Time".


Regards,

Mahak Rathore

 

BI Platform Feature by Version Matrix

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Comparison of Features by Version for the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

 

The components in the SAP® BusinessObjects™ Business Intelligence (BI) platform have evolved and continue to evolve rapidly. This document is a reference to help you understand when key features were introduced in the BI platform. This information should help you plan how to evolve your infrastructure, plan your upgrades, and deploy the right component to the right audience. This document covers the SAP BusinessObjects BI Suite and the Edge edition of SAP BusinessObjects BI software.

 

Although this document is not an exhaustive reference of every feature in the BI platform, we attempted to identify features that are important to most implementations. There may be features not described in this document that are important to your specific deployment.

 

This document does not replace the product availability matrix, which details the specific supported platforms for each release and support pack. These are available at service.sap.com/sap/support/pam. Please note: you need an authorised user ID to access this information.

 

The document presents you the list of features starting with SAP BusinessObjects XI3.1 up to BI4.1 SP05, Analysis Office 2.x, Design Studio 1.5, Lumira 1.24 and Mobile BI

 

 

View the Document Button.jpg

 

For the previous version containing XIR2 up to BI4.0 GA (version 4), please download the report via de link provided in the table below.

 

 

 

Version History

VersionDateUpdatesLink
413 FEB 2013Update with BI4.1 GAlink
512 JAN 2015

Removal of XIR2 Column

BI4.1 Column Updated up to BI4.1 SP3

BI4.1 SP4 Column Added

Design Studio 1.1 Columns updated up to 1.2

Design Studio 1.3 Column Added

link
6 (current)Aug 2015

Consolidation

Update to BI4.1 SP05

Update to Design Studio 1.4

Update to Analysis for Office 2.0

Adding Lumira up to 1.23

 

Enhanced usability with Bookmarks and Clear Topic breaks

link

 

 

Planned Updates


Additions planned for version 7 of the document are:

- Include/Update BI4.1 SP07 Features & BI4.2

- Include/Update Design Studio 1.6 Features

- Include/Update Analysis Office 2.x Features

- Include/Update Lumira 1.28+

SAP BusinessObjects What's New Collection

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This page provides an overview of the available What's New Materials for the SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x Suite

 

 

SAP Lumira

 

 

 

 

 

SAP BusinessObjects BI4.2 What's New Slides

 

 

 

 

SAP BusinessObjects BI4.1 What's New Slides

 

 

Client Specific Content

 

 

SAP BusinessObjects BI4.1 What's New Recorded Presentations

 

 

 

SAP BusinessObjects BI4.0 What's New Slides

 

 

Client Specific Content

 

SAP BusinessObjects BI4.0 What's New Recorded Presentations

 

 

SAP Crystal Solutions 2013

 

SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.1 Supported Platforms (PAM)

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Supported Platforms (PAM) for SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence 4.1 and above. This presentation describes compatibility with external platforms and technologies.

View this Presentation

SAP BI 4.x - Solution Expert Webinars

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Webinars covering all things important for BI projects. Register for upcoming sessions or watch recordings of past events.

OverviewTop Online ResourcesTutorialsEvents

Technical Webinar Series: SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform 4.x

 

Once again will we provide a series of free webinars that are focused on upgrading to the SAP BI Platform 4.1. This webinar series is a supplement to other information assets found on SCN.

 

Webinar title, date, registration and presenter information is given below - all webinars will start at 7am PDT, unless otherwise specified. Webinar dates and times may be subject to change.

 

  • Registration links: will be enabled a few days before the scheduled webinar date.
  • Recordings: will be posted no later than a week after the event.

 

If you 'follow' this page, you will receive notifications of any updates, including new webinar content, dates and registration links - also recordings of all completed webinars will be made available from this page. Stay Tuned !


 

 

Upcoming Webinars - Registrations

DatePresenter
registration 2.pngGain insight into your BI Platform with a new Auditing Universe and ReportsDec 08MS
registration 2.pngSAP BI Platform Support Tool 2.0 - Improved administration and SupportabilityJan 19TJ
registration 2.pngData Federation Admin Tool – Tuning Execution of Multi-Source UniversesFeb 16SP
h

Recordings of Past Webinars

DatePresenter
thumbnail.pngSAP Analytics - Integration of SAP BI Platform with SAP Design Studio (recording coming soon)Nov 24HJ
thumbnail.pngWhat's new in SAP BI 4.2 (recording | pdf)Oct 27ME
thumbnail.pngUNX Adoption - Planning & Execution (by APOS Systems) (recording | pdf)Sep 29FW,HJ
thumbnail.pngCreating Relational Connections for SAP BI 4.1 for Reporting on SAP BW (recording)Aug 04JR
thumbnail.pngUser Authentication and Single Sign-On with BI 4.1 (recording)Jul 21GDL
thumbnail.pngSizing your BI Platform, using the SAP Sizing Tool (recording)Jul 07HJ
thumbnail.pngWhat's new in BI 4.1 SP6 (recording | presentation)Jun 23ME
thumbnail.pngBest Practices for WebI (recording)Jun 23JB
thumbnail.pngA guided Tour: How to best make use of Online Resources (recording)May 18HB
thumbnail.pngBI 4.1 Monitoring - (Recording)Nov 13TJ
thumbnail.pngTroubleshooting - (Recording)Nov 06GS
thumbnail.pngPromotion Management & Version Management - (Recording)Oct 23MS
thumbnail.pngWebI Calculation Engine Changes - (Recording)Oct 16PG
thumbnail.pngDeskI to WebI Conversion & Desktop Compatibility Pack - (Recording)Oct 09ME
thumbnail.pngUpgrading from XI Release 2/3.1 to 4.1 and updating From BI 4.0 to 4.1 - (Recording)Sep 25ME
thumbnail.pngUser Authentication & Single Sign-On - (Recording)Sep 11TZ
thumbnail.pngBusinessObjects BI Strategy & Roadmap - (Recording)Sep 09JL
thumbnail.pngInstallation & Patching - (Recording)Sep 04HJ
thumbnail.pngDeployment Best Practices - (Recording)Aug 29HJ
thumbnail.pngSizing & Virtualization - (Recording)Aug 14CL
thumbnail.pngUpdate Best Practices - (Recording)Jul 30SR
thumbnail.pngValue Prop & Tools - (Recording)Jul 17HB

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Webinars: SAP Lumira | SAP Predictive | EPM | SAP Design Studio | Web IDE

BI4.2 Migration Question & Answer ASUG Webcast

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Below is the Question & Answer from last week's ASUG BI Platform SIG webcast regarding migration/upgrade to BI4.2

 

Question                                                                                              Answer


Could you share the link for the slides again?https://www.asug.com/discussions/docs/DOC-42966
Link for the book drawing?http://bit.ly/1k7boZb
Will any of these tools allow for us to move all of our WEBI reports from UNV to UNX universe when we decide to convert all of our universes to IDTGood question; internal discussion; debating on having this; in UMT, if do migration, could introduce option - make sure unx of existing unv then re-link WebI docs - looking at best way to do that
we are doing migration of reports from BO 3 . to BI 4.1, is it advisable to upgradeBI 4.1 to 4.2 ? willit impact any miration ativtites ? can we move migrated objects from 4.2 Dev to 4.1 Q system ?4.2 is an update - in place; 4.2 to 4.1 is not possible
Do we have to use promotion manager to migrate crystal reports 2013 from non-prod to production ?Yes
It lookslike Promotion Manager is still designed to only work with one origin and one destinaion. How do you use overrides if you use the same instace of Promotion Manager to migrate from Dev to Test, from Test to Qual and from Qual to Prod?Have a wiki to explain this; a simple case to have both dev QA - identify as origin systems (refer to wiki) http://wiki.scn.sap.com/wiki/display/BOBJ/Promotion+Management+Features+Support
Is Flash gone from BI4.2?Unfortunately no, gone from Promotion Manager, but monitoring is still Flash-based. BI Workspace use some
does UMT show migration results ? Current t does not show summary objects migratedHaven't changed that process; good input; log at Idea place - ideas.sap.com
Do I need to use name license to use these tools?Promotion Manager - delegated admins, or power users use it - it is not restricted by license type - more in terms of rights on the object
Will UMT support same-version promotion?no
Does 4.2 remove flash requirement from promotion manager?from promotion manager yes - replaced by HTML5 where possible
What kind of report verfication we need to do afer migration ?depend on the content and report type - WebI has micro cubes, so if calc change, validation is required
Is upgrading from BOBJ 4.1 to 4.2 a straight forawrd system upgrade unlike BOBJ3.1 to bobj 4.1. Pls advise.It is an in-place update, not an upgrade
is there any SAP note which lists common issues of reports after migration ?Web Intelligence does update article on calculation engine changes on SCN
Will we ever be able to validate data of reports or metadata after migrating (to see any possible issues where calc engine modifies data) ?SAP is looking into this - a possible report validation tool. Not conclude discussions
What is the link to the overrides Wiki mentioned?http://wiki.scn.sap.com/wiki/display/BOBJ/Promotion+Management+Features+Support
Does UMT support migrating dashboad, Qaaws ?Not sure; thinks so
Any plans to replace the CMS as the backbone of the BI platform or move it to HANA? It seems to be getting old and a roadblock in larger deployments due to performanceCMS on HANA is an option considering; did some benchmarking on HANA vs relational DBs and see HANA performing better
When is 4.2 officially available (not Ramp-up) for users?Planned for end of Q1 next year
Great Q&A - thank you Maheshwar and ASUG!Thank you all for attending!
We can't use admin account supplied by sap in bi, we created admin like ad account and for that user, when we run these client tools what license do we need for the newly created account?Can give admin CSB license


bp.jpg

Source: SAP

 

Best practices for migration was provided by SAP as shown above.

 

Join us this week for another BI4.2 ASUG webcast  - Improvements in Managing the BI Platform - register here

 

Related links:

 

Upgrade microsite: www.sapbusinessobjectsbi.com now SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Solutions | The tools you need for high-performing implementations

BI Innovation Value Calculator: www.sap.com/BIcalculator

BI Upgrade Value Calculator : www.sap.com/BIupgradecalc

Web Intelligence calculation engine changes:  BI 4 How To: Identifying Necessary Changes for Web Intelligence Upgrade

BI Platform Features by version matrix:  BI Platform Feature by Version Matrix

2016 ASUG Annual Conference: Call for Speakers ... | ASUG

SAP Crystal Reports Server 2013, OEM Edition Product Availability Matrix (PAM)

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This presentation lists specific platforms and configurations for the SAP Crystal Reports Server 2013, OEM Edition and plus.

View this Presentation


How to force a Webintelligence report file to be processed by a specific server group (isolation)

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In this quick document i am focusing a smaller piece of a bigger topic: How to troubleshoot intermittent issues in BI Platform where sharing some experiences from first steps of troubleshooting intermittently appearing issues on such BI platform 4.x where having more than one processing servers or nodes configured.



To isolate the report perform the following steps:

  1. Launch the CMC and go to Servers
  2. Click Manage -> New -> Create Server Group
  3. Type a name for the group as "Isolation Group"
  4. Go to the ServiceCategories -> Web Intelligence Services
  5. Select the webintelligence server you would like to isolate
  6. Open Properties -> Turn on Disable Cache Sharing option in the Web Intelligence Common Service block to prevent webi processing server to interact with other servers. Restart the WebintelligenceProcessingServer is required

    Step 4 1.png


  7. Select the WebIntelligenceProcessingServer you would like to isolate
  8. Right click-> Select Add to Server Group and select "Isolation Group"

    webi step 2.png

  9. In CMC go to Folders and locate and select the report file needs to be isolated in the environment
  10. In Properties click Default Settings-> Web Intelligence Process Settings

    webi step 4.png

  11. In section Default servers to use for viewing and modification: select option Only use servers in the selected group and select "Isolation Group" from the list of group

 

NOTE: If the servers in the Server group are either not enabled or not running, the report will be not processed  You can also include Adaptive Processing Servers, Central Management Server into the "Isolation Group" if required

How to force a Crystal Reports file to be processed by a specific Crystal Reports Server group (isolation)

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In this quick document i am focusing a smaller piece of a bigger topic: How to troubleshoot intermittent issues in BI Platform where sharing some experiences from first steps of troubleshooting intermittently appearing issues on such BI platform 4.x where having more than one processing servers or nodes configured.

 

To isolate the report perform the following steps:

 

In Bi 4.x there are several Crystal Report servers available, separated by Crystal application type: Crystal Reports 20xx and Crystal Reports for Enterprise

 

Crystal Reports 2011/2013/2016

 

  • CrystalReports20xxProcessingServer: this handles the requests (on-demand) for processing of reports that have been written in any version of Crystal Reports (not CR Enterprise)
  • CrystalReports20xxReportApplicationServer: used for processing of the data for dynamic parameters in reports written in any version of Crystal. Also can be used through one of the SDK's for custom Crystal processing in other applications. (not CR Enterprise)
  • CrystalReportsCacheServer: used for report page rendering and caching for all types of Crystal reports.

 

Crystal Repors for Enterprise

  • CrystalReportsCacheServer: used for report page rendering and caching for all types of Crystal reports.
  • CrystalReportsProcessingServer: Handles the on-demand processing of reports that have been written in Crystal for Enterprise only


To isolate the report, do the following steps:

  1. Launch the CMC and go to Servers
  2. Click Manage -> New -> Create Server Group
  3. Type a name for the group as "Isolation Group"
  4. Go to the Service Categories -> Crystal Reports Services
  5. Select the following servers
    Crystal Reports 20xx
    Crystal Reports for Enterprise
    • CrystalReports20xxProcessingServer
    • CrystalReports20xxReportApplicationServer
    • CrystalReportsCacheServer
    • CrystalReportsProcessingServer
    • CrystalReportsCacheServer

      step 2.png

  6. Right click-> Select Add to Server Group and select "Isolation Group" and complete the workflow
  7. In CMC go to Folders and locate and select the report file needs to be isolated in the environment
  8. In Properties click Default Settings-> Viewing server group

    Setp 4.png

  9. In section Default servers to use for processing: select option Only use servers in the selected group and select "Isolation Group" from the list of groups
  10. In section Default servers to use for caching: select option Only use servers in the selected group and select "Isolation Group" from the list of groups


NOTE: If the servers in the Server group are either not enabled or not running, the report will be not processed.




How to force a Dashboard file to be processed by specific Dashboard servers (isolation)

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In this quick document i am focusing a smaller piece of a bigger topic: How to troubleshoot intermittent issues in BI Platform where sharing some experiences from first steps of troubleshooting intermittently appearing issues on such BI platform 4.x where having more than one processing servers or nodes configured.

 

 

To isolate the report perform the following steps:

 

  1. Launch the CMC and go to Servers
  2. Click Manage -> New -> Create Server Group
  3. Type a name for the group as "Isolation Group"
  4. Go to the Service Categories -> Dasboard Services
  5. Select the the DashboardProcessingServer and DashboardCacheserver you would like to isolate
  6. Right click-> Select Add to Server Group and select "Isolation Group" and complete the workflow

    xc step 2.png

  7. In CMC go to Folders and locate and select the report file needs to be isolated in the environment
  8. In Properties click on Server Properties

    xc step 4.png

  9. In section Default server to use for Dashboard Data Processing select option Only use servers in the selected group and select "Isolation Group" from the list of group
  10. In section Default server to use for Dashboard Data Caching select option Only use servers in the selected group and select "Isolation Group" from the list of group


NOTE: If the servers in the Server group are either not enabled or not running, the report will be not processed. You can also include more servers into the group such as Central Management Server into the "Isolation Group" if required.


How to troubleshoot intermittent issues with reports in BI Platform 4.x

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In this document I would like to share some experiences and basic steps of troubleshooting intermittently appearing issues on such BI platforms which are having more than one processing servers or nodes configured. I will focus on the most often used report types such as WebIntelligence, Crystal Reports and Dashboards and only for on demand refresh errors.

 

Introduction – the scalability

 

SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform services can be vertically scaled – using the advantage of the multi core CPU-s on the same machine - to take full advantage of the hardware they are running on, and can be horizontally scaled to take advantage of multiple server machines over a network environment.

 

For example, you can run several processing on the same machine (vertical scaling) or you can also run several processing servers on separate machines (horizontal scaling).

 

In these well sized or properly scaled environments are commonly used as production environments, where restarting or stopping BI Platform services cannot be restarted based on ad-hoc requests, can be done in the maintenance time slots. Troubleshooting of intermittent errors is difficult, since one of the most common used settings for reports to use the first available server on demand requested for report processing.

 

The 3i steps for troubleshooting

  1. Identification
  2. Isolation
  3. Investigation

 

1. Identification – the environment details and proper processing workflow

 

As a best practice to execute or generate a System Inspection (SI) Report from the Platform Support Tool. The SI report gives a high level overview of the BI Platform and collects information about the BI landscape such as server settings, command line arguments, memory settings, and performance metrics. (The tool and more information can be found here: http://wiki.scn.sap.com/wiki/display/BOBJ/SAP+BI+Platform+Support+Tool)

 

 

The proper workflow is mandatory and needs to be identified, which will be executed on the BI Platform while viewing or refreshing the report. In the following section I have collected the available workflows by reporting application types (the complete list of workflows can be found at http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-8292)

 

Web Intelligence

 

  • View a Web Intelligence document on demand      process flow
  • Refresh a document based on a multi-source universe      process flow
  • Refresh a document based on a dimensional universe      process flow
  • Refresh a document in Web Intelligence Desktop in one-tier mode      process flow
  • Refresh a document in Web Intelligence Desktop in two-tier mode      process flow
  • Refresh a document in Web Intelligence Desktop in three-tier mode      process flow
  • Refresh a document based on an SAP NetWeaver BW BEx Query using BICS connectivity      process flow
  • Refresh a document based on an SAP Netweaver BW data using a relational UNX universe      process flow
  • Refresh a document based on a multi-source datasource using a relational UNX universe      process flow
  • Refresh a document based on OLAP data using a multidimensional UNV universe    process flow
  • Refresh a document based on OLAP data using a multidimensional UNX universe    process flow

 

Crystal Reports 20xx

 

  • View a report instance when the page is in the cache      process flow
  • View a report instance when the page is not in the cache      process flow
  • View a report on demand      process flow

 

Crystal Reports for Enterprise

 

  • View a report instance when the page is in the cache      process flow
  • View a report instance when the page is not in the cache      process flow
  • View a report on demand      process flow


Dashboards (aka XCelsius)

 

  • View a dashboard when the query result is in the cache      process flow
  • View a dashboard when the query result is not in the cache      process flow

 

 

2. Isolation

 

Since the proper workflow identified, the next step is try to find which node or processing services and servers failing. When the landscape contains several nodes, and there are several processing servers working to complete the on-demand requests raised by the business users it is hard to find the server which failing in the processing or having the incorrect / inconsistent configuration.

 

In the Business Intelligence Platform, for a report a dedicated resource group can be assigned for on-demand and scheduled processing.  Out of the box setting is, when a report is executed on the platform the system is turns to the first available resource (server) for processing the report.

 

When a report execution is dedicated to a specific server group, which contains a set of processing servers, than we speak about report execution is isolated, since we are exactly know which server is takes in place at processing on which node.

 

 

Please follow one of these articles for find the settings and steps for report isolation:

 

Webintelligence: How to force a Webintelligence report file to be processed by a specific server group (isolation)

 

Crystal Reports: How to force a Crystal Reports file to be processed by a specific Crystal Reports Server group (isolation)

 

Dashboards: How to force a Dashboard file to be processed by specific Dashboard servers (isolation)

 

3. Investigation

 

To do the investigation the best bet is to change the servers in the isolation group until the error occurs constantly. When the specific node or processing services and servers has been found where the issue or observed behavoiur can be always reproduced, than the services can be traced by individually by setting the trace level to high in the properties or may using the End-to-End (E2E) trace process of the SAP BI Support tool.

 

To do the E2E trace, please follow the instructions of SAP KBA 1861180 - Customer instructions and best practice for collecting a BI Platform 4.x end to end trace.

 

Summary

 

For closure, i think to create server groups is a good and easy way to start troubleshooting intermittently appearing issues with reports in BI platforms 4.x. With the these 3 steps the report can quickly isolated in production environments, and the issues can be localized.

BI4.2 Managing Platform Improvements ASUG Webcast Q&A

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NOTICE: All forward looking statements made by SAP are subject to change

 

Thanks to SAP's Maheshwar Singh, we had an active question and answer on yesterday's ASUG webcast

 

 

Question & Answer

 

Q: How often are the Developer teams using SAP Idea Place to look at Customer Requests and Votes..?

A: Maheshwar does that quite frequently

 

 

 

Q: Support for MS-OFFICE 2016 will be available soon..?

A: Evaluate that - PAM document will be updated when certified.

 

 

 

Q: Design Studio Audit data is not like the data captured for Webi and Crystal, will that be enhanced?

A: Yes, that is true, idea is to improve all auditing going forward including Design Studio

 

 

 

Q: Writing alerts using the expression language in CMC Monitoring is extremely cumbersome just to check if a system is online/offline ; and the interface is complex; any change this will be simplified?

A: Need to rethink; find it complex; rather do administrative type monitoring that easy to use - evaluating a proposal; perhaps include in the influence council

 

 

 

Q: Will Audit data be enhanced to capture meaningful data for duration_ms (to capture more of the components duration) and for Design Studio and other addins?

A: For Design Studio, yes begin capturing - next version of Analysis Office will be audited. Lumira, no, but next version of Lumira should support auditing.

 

 

 

Q: Will you be providing any standard content (universes, canned reports etc) for BusinessObjects auditing? Similar to BW Statistics

A:  See this: Unlock the Auditing database with a new Universe and Web Intelligence Documents for BI4.1

 

 

Q: Can you share a link where we can participate in influence council for this aspect? (admin cockpit, etc.)

A: CEI is now closed; please consider joining -  POST data or see https://influence.sap.com/BusinessObjectsBIPlatform2016

 

 

Q: We currently have BI41 with Design Studio 1.6, after the upgrade to BI4.2 do we need to reinstall DS1.6 for 4.2?

A: Looking at introducing new license key for 4.2 if you go with that route may need to reinstall otherwise no impact - depends on proposal

 

 

Q: Has a release date for 4.2 been announced yet?

A: Looking at tentative timeline of end of Q1 or early Q2 - need to meet KPI's for rampup

 

 

Q: Admin cockpit has longest running reports or jobs? If either...can you drill down to details to where it is taking the most time?

A: Not at this time. Trying to see if case log files - seeing if feasible.

 

 

Q: Is Administrators Cockpit configurable? - Where are RunTime stats coming from - auditdb ? cmsdb?

A: Not in 4.2; doing some ideation with customers to find out what would like to configuration

 

 

Q: Although the recycle bin is in the CMC does it catch documents that are deleted by Launchpad users?

A: Yes, any content that is part of the public folder is caught by recycle bin - plan to include recycle bin for launchpad users

 

 

Q: Will there be any enhancements for Design Studio on BI platform, especially in the area of bookmark administration & folders?

A: BI platform is choice for Design Studio going forward. Commentary in future coming. Bookmark admin - some discussions happening; not closed

 

 

Q: Will the new BI platform customer connection program influence BI4.3? Will there be a 4.3? https://influence.sap.com/BusinessObjectsBIPlatform2016

A: Good question - Customer Connection - not 4.3 really, could influence SP for 4.2. First SP's may include customer connect request or SP after. There will likely be a 4.3 but still don't have 4.2 out the door. Under discussion

 

 

Q: Does Lumira for BI platform work with BI4.2 or is it dependent on a certain platform?

A: The current version 1.29 w/ SP3 now supports BI 4.2

 

 

Q: When will all the "hidden" FLASH Browser Dependencies in CMC and Launchpad be REMOVED from those interfaces..?

A: 4.2 remove flash dependencies from Promotion Manager; now HTML5. Flash today continues to exist in CMC for monitoring. BI Workspace has 1 component for Flash. Crystal Reports has flash in the prompts page. Need to remove.

 

 

Related:

The SAP User Group in France shared this with ASUG yesterday:


A new focus topic (Customer Connection) BI Platform will begin the January 8.

 

https://influence.sap.com/BusinessObjectsBIPlatform2016

Getting Started with SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x on AWS

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SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x is being certified and supported for deployments an Amazon Web Services (AWS), via this document we provide you with all the steps to deploy SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x on a Amazon Web Services hosted system.

 

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

AWS is currently available in various geographic locations:

  • US
    • East (North Virginia)
    • West (Oregon)
    • West (N. California)
  • EU
    • Ireland
    • Frankfurt - Germany)
  • Asia Pacific
    • Singapore
    • Tokyo
    • Sydney
  • South America
    • São Paulo

for the latest list of locations, please check Global Infrastructure

 

It is strongly recommended to select a AWS location nearby your (organizations) datacenter / datasource to reduce a potential performance impact due to network latency.


 

 

BISizing.jpg

STEP 1: Sizing

  • Sizing requirements
  • Sizing for AWS
  • Sizing Recourses
273959_l_srgb_s_gl.jpg

STEP 2 : Provisioning

  • Log into your Amazon Web Services (AWS) Account
  • Select Instance Type
  • Create EC2 Instance
  • Launch and Configure Instance
273804_l_srgb_s_gl.jpg

 

STEP 3 : Connect and Roll-Out

  • Assign an Elastic IP Address
  • Connect to Instance
272429_l_srgb_s_gl.jpg

 

 

STEP 4: Deployment and configuration of SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x

  • Download SAP BusinessObjects BI4.1 Installer
  • Run Installer
  • Configure SAP BusinessObjects BI4.1
  • Connect SAP BusinessObjects BI4.1 Client Tools

 

STEP 5: Connect to SAP HANA One (AWS)

Sizing you SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x system for AWS Deployments

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Sizing you SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x system for AWS Deployments

 

This document is part of the series Getting Started with SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x on AWS


SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x is being certified and supported for deployments on various Cloud Solutions, via this document we provide you the required sizing recommendations before you start deploying SAP BusinessObjects BI4.1 on Amazon Web Services.



 

Supported Cloud Offerings for SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x

Current SAP BusinessObjects BI4.1 is being certified and supported on the following Cloud Solutions:

  1. SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud (HEC)
  2. Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  3. Microsoft Azure

 

This document will focus on deploying SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x on an AWS Instance and refer to relevant pre-read documentation to ensure your AWS instance is well prepared for deploying SAP Software.

 


Sizing your AWS deployment for BI4.x

For a deployment of SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x there is no difference in sizing an on-premise solution, it is strongly recommended to execute a full sizing of your planned deployment by leveraging the content provided in Sizing and Deploying SAP BI 4 and SAP Lumira

 

As the sizing definition for your SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x system will be provided in a number of SAPS, you do have to validate the instance configuration of the EC2 systems with the number of SAPS provisioned by the AWS instance. An nice overview over translating the ECU's of AWS into SAPS can be found here : BI in the cloud: sizing SAPS and ECUs on AWS servers

 

 

Additional interesting food for your brains before starting you SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x deployment on AWS

 




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Provisioning a AWS instance for SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x

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Provisioning a Amazon Web Services instance for SAP BusinessObject BI4.x

 

This document is part of the series Getting Started with SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x on AWS

 

You can provision an Amazon Web Services (AWS) instance by selecting a system meeting your sizing requirements as defined in an earlier steps. If you have not yet defined a sizing for your SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x deployment on AWS, please start reading the sizing guidelines available on : Sizing you SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x system for AWS Deployments

 

 

 

Prerequisites:

 

Provisioning an AWS Instance

 

  1. Create your VPC (AWS VPC setup) or reuse one you already have in place
  2. Ensure you selected the correct region to where you want to deploy your image
    AWS01.jpg
  3. Within the homescreen of AWS, select EC2 for the creation of a new instance

    AWS02.jpg
  4. Select "Launch Instance" to startup a new instance
    AWS03.jpg
  5. Select the operating system of your choice which is supported by the SAP BusinessObjects BI version of your choice. To validate supported Operated Systems, please check the Product Availability Report via : https://apps.support.sap.com/sap/support/pam
    AWS04.jpg

    For the example, a Windows 2012 R2 Base system will be deployed

  6. Select the required instance size. the instance size is key for running a well performing BI4.x deployment and is recommended to be memory optimized. For understanding the translation of Instance Types, please ensure you have executed a correct sizing and translation of ECU into SAPS as described in Sizing you SAP BusinessObjects BI4.1 system for AWS Deployments
    AWS05.jpg
    For this example I'll deploy the BI4.x system against the memory optimized r3.2xlarge model.
  7. Select "Next: Configure Instance Details" as the next step (not "Review and Launch") as we have a few more configurations to take care of during initialization

    Within the Configure Instance Details ensure you select the following items correclty
    - Network : Select the VPC as created for step 1
    - Subnet : if you have instances within AWS, ensure you select the same subnet if you want to connect into these AWS instances as well
    - Auto-Assign Public IP : Recommendation is to disable the auto-assign mode as it is recommended to work with a Elastic IP (default auto assigned IP's can changed after restarting your Instance).. We will later assign a Elastic IP to the system
    - Shutdown Behavior : Leave this to Stop, unless you want to have the instance terminated at shutdown (all data will be lost)
    - Optional : Enable Termination Protection
    - Optional : Enable Monitoring (note: additional costs are involved)
    - Optional : Enable EBS-optimized instance (note: additional costs are involved)
    - Optional : Select you instance to be Dedicated (note: additional costs are involved)
    - Optional : Enable the request for Spot Instances

    AWS06.jpg

  8. Select "Next: Add Storage" as the next step (not "Review and Launch") as we have a few more configurations to take care of during initialization

    By default a new image is create with a 30Gb Disk. To ensure enough diskspace is available for the deployment of SAP BusinessObjects, we need to add additional capacity.
    AWS09.jpg
    In the example setup, we'll create / enhance the following disks:
    - Increase capacity in the default disk to 80Gb
    - Add new disk with a capacity of 128Gb (for installing SAP BusinessObjects and future updates)
    - Add new disk with a capacity of 64 Gb (for storing the Windows Page File)
    Note : adding disk capacity influences the costs of your AWS Instance
    AWS10.jpg
  9. Select "Next: Tag Instance" as the next step (not "Review and Launch") as we have a few more configurations to take care of during initialization

    In this example setup, We'll not going to add Tags. for details on how to use tags, please read : Tagging Your Amazon EC2 Resources - Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud
    AWS11.jpg
  10. Select "Next: Configure Security Group" as the next step (not "Review and Launch") to enter the final detail for your initial Instance Creation

    Security Groups will configure the firewall settings for your Instance. for details on Security Groups, please read : Amazon EC2 Security Groups for Linux Instances - Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud. To enable access into the BI Launchpad and Central Management Console of the BI Platform, we have to enable access to the port for the Web Application Server. For enabling communication by the BI Platform into other server hosted within AWS we potentially need to configure the ports for BIP communications.

    In this example setup, we create a new security group "BI42" and enable the port 8080 (as we will use the default Tomcat) as well as a port range (6400-6599) for future inter-AWS communication.
    AWS12.jpg
    Enabling port 8080 or 3389 (RDP) for "Anywhere" is not recommended, but for the sake of the example deployment currently used. Typically you want to have your organizations External or Internal IP ranges being enable for these ports, which can be set via "Custom IP"

    The BIP Port Range is being assigned to the IP Range as used by the VPC as being defined in step 1

  11. We are now ready with the initial setup of the Instance and van hit the "Review and Launch" button. This will provide us the overview of settings applied during the previous steps. Review your settings and when OK, "Launch" your image to become created.

    AWS13.jpg
  12. During the launch, you will be requested to select an existing key pair of create a new one. The Key Pair is required to connect into your system. for details around the AWS Key Pair, please read : Amazon EC2 Key Pairs - Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud

    In this example setup, we'll create a new Key Pair "BI42@AWS" and download the file to the local machine for later use.
    AWS14.jpg

  13. After creating / reusing a Key Pair, You'll be able to launch you instance.
    You are informed about the Launch Status and by selecting View Instance, you will be directed to the EC2 Instances listing to validate the progress

    AWS15.jpg
  14. Check if the instance is initializing

    AWS16.jpg

  15. Once Initialized, a public IP has to be assigned to enable the remote access.
    As we selected not to assign a public IP, the instance cannot yet be reached from outside AWS.
    AWS17.jpg

    for deploying the instance against a Public IP and connecting with remote desktop (windows OS), please continue with step 3 in the process available via : Connecting to an AWS instance for SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x

 

 

 

 

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Connecting to an AWS instance for SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x

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Connecting to an AWS instance for SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x

 

This document is part of the series Getting Started with SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x on AWS


You can connect to an Amazon Web Services (AWS) instance by selecting a system meeting your sizing requirements as defined in an earlier steps. If you have not yet provisioned an AWS Instance for your SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x deployment , please start reading the provisioning guidelines available on : Provisioning a AWS instance for SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x

 

 

 

Prerequisites:

 

 

 

Assign Elastic IP:

 

  1. Have your AWS Image up and running in your preferred region
  2. Note the fact that no Public IP has been assigned in the sample setup. If you have a public IP assigned, please validate if this has been defined as a Elastic IP. In case you have no Elastic IP assigned, your Public IP may change after restarting your Image, driving potential issues while connecting into your SAP BusinessObjects environment. Additionally it is not recommended to have the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform (BIP) being deployed against a dynamic IP, as BIP has bindings with the IP.

    AWS18.jpg
  3. To assign a static public IP, we have to create a Elastic IP.
    for information about the Elastic IP, please check : Elastic IP Addresses - Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud

    Creating an Elastic IP can be done via the menu bar on the left under -> Network & Security -> Elastic IPsAWS19.jpg

  4. Navigate to "Elastic IPs" and select "Allocate New Address" to start the creation of an Elastic IP

    AWS20.jpg
  5. You will get a confirmation IF you want to allocate a new IP. Select "Yes, Allocate" to generate a new Elastic IP
    Note: Creating Elastic IP's without using them will result in an additional charge

    AWS21.jpg
  6. Your Elastic IP is generated and can be assigned to your Instance
    AWS22.jpg
    The IP created will be listed under your Elastic IP's
    AWS23.jpg
  7. Now having the Elastic IP created, we can assign this to our Instance, enabling a fixed IP for usage outside AWS. To assign the IP to you Instance, select Action -> Associate Address
    AWS24.jpg
  8. Select the Instance ID from your system and confirm via "Associate"
    AWS25.jpg
  9. If we move back to the EC2 screens, we will see that the Elastic IP has been assigned to the Instance
    AWS26.jpg

 

Connecting to AWS Instance running Windows

 

Now that we have assigned a public IP to the AWS Instance, we can connect to the AWS instance using Microsoft Remote Desktop

 

  1. Before connecting to the Windows Instance, we need to set an Administrator password to enable a logon. To decode the Administrators password from the key file generated during instance a few steps are required. If you have already set your Windows Password, please continue with step 5

    - Select the instance you want to retrieve the Windows Password
    - Navigate to Actions -> Get Windows Password
    AWS27.jpg
  2. Choose the key pair file as stored while creating the instance
    AWS28.jpg
  3. Once the Key Pair is loaded, the value will be visible, select "Decrypt Password" to get the Windows PasswordAWS29.jpg
  4. The Windows Password is shown, note down to password or copy this for later use
    AWS30.jpg
  5. Start your Remote Desktop via your preferred path :
    - Start -> Run -> mstcs.exe
    - Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Remote Desktop Connection
    - Start -> Run -> Remote Desktop

    Enter the IP Number as recorded for the Public IP of you Instance
    AWS31.jpg
  6. On the Credentials Screen, enter you credentials to connect to the AWS Windows Instance. Please note to connect with .\Administrator to force the use of the local authentication model within the AWS Instance
    AWS33.jpg
  7. Depending on your security settings, a security popup may appear
    AWS34.jpg
    Accept the warning (and if preferred select the tickbox "Don't ask me again for connections to this computer")
  8. You can now work on your AWS Instance and start the installation of SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x. Please continue with : Deployment and Configuration of BI4x on AWS

 

 

Connecting to AWS Instance running Linux

 

To be added

 

 



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Deployment and Configuration of BI4.x on AWS

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Deployment and Configuration of BI4.x on AWS

 

This document is part of the series Getting Started with SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x on AWS

 

 

Prerequisites:

 

Installing SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x

 

Installing SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x on an AWS instance is not different from deploying the software on any OnPrem machine.

 

If you are not familiar with SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x, please start reading the (depending on the version you plan to deploy)

 

Become familiar with the release restriction of the planned version to be installed:

 

Once you have the full understanding in the deployment process for SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x you can follow the Installation Guide:



Configuring SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x

 

Configuring SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x on an AWS is not different from deploying the software on any On Premise machine.

for reference on configuring your BI4.x system, please go through the following documents:

 

 

Maintaining SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x

After a successful deployment, it is key to keep you BI4x system maintained.. Below you'll find a listing of content that may help you in maintaining your BI4.x deployment

 

 

 

Updating SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x

 

Updating SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x on AWS on not different from updating an On Premise deployment..

for reference on updating an existing BI4.x system, please go through the following documents:

 

 

Support for SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x running on AWS

 

As Amazon Web Services has been certified for deployment of SAP BusinessObjects BI4.x, you can leverage the normal support procedure for issues you encounter with your system. SAP Support however will have the rights to request a reproduction of the issue using an normal (non virtualized) (on premise) system is there are strong indications the issue has relation to the virtualization layer of Amazon Web Services or the Specific deployment settings required to connect into Amazon Web Services.

 

for requesting support via the SAP Support please connect to the Incident Wizard available on the SAP Support Page via Report an Incident | SAP Support Portal



SAP Crystal Reports 2016 Product Availability Matrix (PAM)

SAP Crystal Reports Server 2016, OEM Edition Product Availability Matrix (PAM)

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