The following document is intended to summarize the various SSO options available to users, from authenticating to the BI platform all the way down to the database.  The document does not cover the 'how to' as various white papers exist.

The first table summarizes the various ways the system can perform single sign-on to the web based appplications.

-OpenDocument refers to the direct link to report functionality.

-BI Portal is the main portal used to access & view reports

-CMC = Central Management Console

-dswsbobje = web services. 

Note that to support Kerberos SSO, your CMS (Central Management Server) must be installed on a windows machine. 

Trusted Authentication can generally be used for any authentication method which is not natively supported by BI4, such as SAML, x509 etc. 

Thick Clients, such as Crystal Reports Designer, Web Intelligence and others can also be configured for SSO to logon to BI4.  

The following table summarizes this:

Note that for the Java based clients, you will need to perform some additional steps to support AD SSO, such and configuring a krb5.ini file.  This applies to clients such as Crystal Reports for Enterprise,  Information Design Tool, and Visual Intelligence.  Please refer to the Authentication chapter of the respective client tool for more information. 

The clients can also be further configured further to perform single sign-on to the database, which is elaborated further in tables below.

Once a user has been authenticated to the BI platform, their SSO ticket can in some cases be passed further down to the database for a seamless end to end SSO story.

SSO to database based on Kerberos can be configured for the following databases, note that the user must logon to the BI platform using Active Directory for the kerberos ticket to be passed down to the database.   Note however that this cannot be used for scheduling, as the kerberos ticket will not be available to the system when the user is not online.  For scheduled tasks, the database credentials must be stored.

Yes, there are plans to expand this list in the future.

For SAP data access, the following methods can be configured.  You will need to configure the correct method depending on the client tool being used.  "SNC" is configured on the "SNC Settings" tab of the SAP authentication configuration area of the Central Management Console.   "STS (Security Token Service)" is configured on the "Options" tab of the SAP authentication configuration area, in the "SAP SSO Service" section. 

SAP Data SSO

In order to gain SSO access to SAP data, a user does NOT have to logon with their SAP credentials.   For an example of how users can authenticate using Active Directory and then single sign-on to SAP systems, please refer to this how to: How to map SAP users and LDAP users in SBO BI4.0 CMC - Business Intelligence (BusinessObjects) - SCN Wiki

The SAP authentication can also be leveraged from thick clients.  A user logging onto Webi Rich Client can leverage STS for example to access BW data. 

HANA SSO summary:

(1) * BI must be running on windows or linux.

SAML to HANA is based on a trust directly between BI4 and HANA.  This does not mean that you can use SAML to signon to BI4 and that same SAML assertion ticket gets passed down to HANA.  BI4 must be configured as a trusted identity provider in HANA. The same users must exist in HANA and BI4.

The Lumira integration into BI Launchpad relies on SAML.  See the Lumira Authentication Options for more details.

What other SSO options do I have?

The BI platform also supports storing database credentials to be used for accessing the database.   In some cases, as with kerberos & offline scheduling, this cannot be avoided.  Also, for database sources which are not currently listed, stored credentials are the best options available at this time.

Can I setup multiple SSO options on a single system?

Yes, with 4.1 SP6 and on, the sso.types.and.order option in your properties allows for setting up fallback SSO options in order.   If some users are configured for AD SSO and others for SAP SSO, you can try AD first and try SAP SSO as fallback.  See note http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/2041379 for details.

Useful Links:

Configuring Active Directory Authentication:   Be sure the follow the excellent whitepaper attached to the note.

http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1631734

Configuring Active Directory SSO on unix:

http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1636349

Configuring SAP Authentication and SSO:

How to setup SSO against SAP BW with SAP BO BI4.0 Common Semantic Layer (UNX) or BICS - Business Intelligence (BusinessO…

Configuring OLAP SSO for MSAAS:

Setting up OLAP Microsoft Analysis Service through an XMLA connection with SSO - Business Intelligence (BusinessObjects)…

Setting up HANA and BI for SAML

Configuring SAML with SAP HANA and SAP BusinessObjects 4.1 - Part 1

Setting up Trusted Authentication:

Using QUERY_STRING: http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1593628

Using HTTP_HEADER: http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1603002

CMC SSO http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/2190831

Lumira Authentication Options Lumira Authentication Options

Please see presentation here: SAP BI Platform Support Tool 2.0 Deep Dive Webinar

Below is the Q&A with most of the responses from SAP's Joshua Kuhn:

Q: How does one enable the BI Platform Tool? Does it only work  with BI 4x?

A: Yes, BI4.x (4.0, 4.1, 4.2) are supported.  no support for XI3.1

Q: do you need to download onto the BI server or can you download to different machine such as a laptop

A: BIPST is a client side tool.  There is no need to 'enable'.  Download, extract/install, run.

the gui is only supported on Windows.  For use on linux/unix, you will need to run the command line version (I believe its planned for v2.0.1, although i'm not sure its 100% completed yet)

A: BIPST can be run from any client pc.  It does not need to run on a BI server host..  Preferrably any client pc that can already to the CMS via another BI client tool.  such as CR designer, universe designer, etc

Q: Is their any specific requirement for running the tool outside your DMZ/firewall?

A: for connecting through firewall, CMS port (usually 6400) would need to be opened to allow logins.  JMX port for connecting to tomcat.  There's a bug which should be fixed in 2.0.1 for adding a listening port for JMX.

Q:  Can you export the data and report using WebI / Lumira

A: pdf export is currently the only export format.  However, due to the nature of how the xml is formatted which holds the extracted data, reporting off of it wouldn't be optimal.  I don't want to say impossible, but the xml is structured more for the BIPST consumption than reporting consumption

Q Just a question; SAP Host agent requires a separate license it isn't?

A: no, sap host agent is free for download from any sap customer that has access to SMP.

should add, download of the host agent would require access to Service MarketPlace.  But it should be available for download for any SAP customer.

For host agent download:  SMP > Downloads > Search for Softawre > "SAP Host Agent 7.2"

Q: Could you show any tools that helps on User Security troubleshoot if there is any?

A: BIPST does include a tool called "Security Analyzer" under the tools menu which will display user/group security similar to the CMC

Q: Is most of the overhead for tool on the server or client? In terms of procession..

A: Client overhead is mostly on the client side.  There are various queries issued to the CMS which it will run against the system db.  but memory is mostly seen on the client once the data is pulled back, analyzed and written to xml

Q: The port number for JMX can be any valid port number that is not used by any other application at the time when we are configuring BIPST2.0 or is it a port number which is pre-specified before while installing BI 4.x  ?

A:  JMX is any port you define for your Tomcat server to use.  It is a setting defined in the Tomcat java params. as well as a value defined in the BIPST

Q: Is there any way the tool can re-run jobs which have failed?

A: currently, no the tool does not have the ability to schedule new or reschedule a report. For the most part, the tool will not make any changes to the environment and only reports off of it.  however this has changed recently with the authentication tools that are being added shortly.  so there might be a use case to do this in the future.  but currently, no it will not reschedule reports

Q: Can the support tool help troubleshoot issues with SSO with Win ADAuth

A: yes.  there is a an "authentication analysis" report which will output all settings for auth (AD, LDAP, SAP, Enterprise). and there are some future tools being

added to help troubleshoot those more common auth issues.

Couldn't locate question, but response is here:

A: regarding the first question.  Were you referring to "LIcense Management" ?  if so, i don't believe that is currently in the plans, but if there is a business need,

please add a feature request on the wiki.  http://scn.sap.com/community/bi-platform/remote-supportability/post!input.jspa?containerType=14&container=2086&subject=BI%20Platform%20Support%20Tool%20Enhancement%20Request%3A%20%3CSUMMARY%20OF%20REQUEST%3E

Platform BOE 4.1 on Windows

There is a limit of 90 characters for the SI_Name of an object to be translated using Translation Manager.

When an object is first published to BOE, the name of the object in the input filestore is set to a combination of the internal ids of object in the CMS database.  When the object is exported from translation manager back to the CMS, the name of the object in the filestore becomes the si_name of the object and the guid.

If the si_name exceeds the 90 character limit, the filename in the CMS will not match the name of the file in the input FRS.  When a user tries to run the report, the report can not be accessed and the object appears to be corrupt.

If this happens,

• go to the filepath shown under the object properties and get the file
  You may need another resource to get the file if you do not have access to the server
• Open the object in the design tool
• Republish the object to the CMS. 
• Before using Translation Manager, shorten the name to be less than 90 characters.
• DO NOT DELETE the un-accessible object until it has been republished.

Introduction :

This document will tell briefly about what all things we need to know to upgrade BO environment from BOXI 3.1 to BO 4.1 and migrate Crystal reports from 2008 to 2013.This BO upgradation involves migrating the contents like Web Intelligence Reports, Desktop Intelligence Reports and Crystal Reports.

Installation Configuration for BO BI 4.1 platform

• Only 64-bit Operating systems are supported
• RAM should be minimum 8GB or more
• Minimum Server Cores are 4
• Disk Space should be 15 GB and above.
• Java version is 6 and above
• Windows Installer is 3.5 and above.
• Microsoft .NET Framework is 3.5 SP1 and above.

Benefits of BO BI 4.1 platform

Unified and Highly Personalized

• Improved usability for all the BI suite applications.
• Deliver information to users when and where they need it.
• Involved with all analytic extensions which creates custom experiences.

Powerful Visualizations

• Organize your business with specialized charting
• Empower end users with visualizations
• Discover areas to optimize business

Faster more Accurate Decisions

• Create BI contents from any mobile device
• Teams  can now  deliver efficient decisions
• Simplified deployment to utilize time

Scale & Power

• Less response time irrespective of data volume
• Improved usability to build any BI applications
• Integrate with lifecycle management of SAP.

Speed to Deliver

• Enhanced design experience with latest creation wizard
• Automated universe deployment
• Improved WebI report design

Migration Plan

• Migrated Reports from BOXI 3.1 Prod to BO 4.1 Dev
• Planning Done By Testing Team

          Generation of Test Cases on the basis of which reports were run. Reports were tested and issues were logged. Estimated the efforts required

• Issue Analysis & Remediation

               Remediation team analyze and fix the issues in BO 4.1 Dev

• Testing/Remediation team

              Proper knowledge transfer and learning are shared with admin team

• Admin team

               They migrates the reports from BO 4.1 Dev to QA

• Application teams

         They perform UAT  and consults remediation team

• Go Live: Migrated reports from BO 4.1 QA to Prod   

Upgrade

Phased Approach

This approach enables User/Administrator to select the BI Content to be migrated from Source deployment to new BO 4.1 deployment. Only selected Objects will be copied to the new deployment.

This approach is effective in case of big migration.

Pros

• Upgrade content in stages
• Issues affect only the LOB upgraded
• Short downtime

Cons

• 2 systems to maintain
• Requires lockdown of Particular LOB folder

Some Useful Tools in BO landscape

Repository Diagnostic Tool (RDT)

It helps to scan for Object to file inconsistencies.

RDT provides diagnosis and repair functionalities.

Life-Cycle manager(LCM)

Migrate the content of a BI repository to another repository within the same version.

Provides Version control.

Allows to use the scripting to automate the import of objects.

Roll back to a previous stable version incase of failure.

Server Monitoring Tool

Ability to capture the runtime and historical metrics of Business Objects servers and applications.

Ensures the reporting environment is functioning normally.

Help in identifying potential problems before they occur.

Upgrade Management Tool(UMT)

Upgrade the content of BI repository from a previous version (BO XI 3.1) of SAP BO.

Can perform Complete or incremental upgrade.

Compete Upgrade upgrades all content at once

Incremental Upgrade upgrades the content in stages

Report Conversion Tool(RCT)

Migrates Desktop Intelligence reports  to  Web Intelligence (WID) format.

It publishes the converted reports to the CMS.

Auditing Tool

Helps in better understanding of the users accessing the system and the documents they are interacting with.

Estimation (Complete Migration)

The project effort that was estimated initially was different from that was actually required. During the project, it was brought to knowledge that more effort

would be needed. Therefore, effort was increased and we were able to resolve issues on time meeting the required timelines. Effort is calculated based on the

below formula.

Total Effort Calculation per report = (No of persons* No of working days in a month*Overall Duration in months)/No of reports

Not all the reports were converted successfully while migration. Therefore we calculated conversion success rate for the reports as per below formula.

Conversion Success Rate =(Total No of reports-Reports in which defects encountered)/Total No of reports.

Issues faced and Remediation applied are listed below

Learnings and Best Practices for Upgrade

•Choose autofit width to cell contents wherever possible (WebI).

•Do not create variables with same name as that of the dataprovider (WebI).

•Alerters with default values does not seem to work properly in Webi 4.1

•Cascading LOV’s in Webi does not work, have to be created manually in the universe.

•Crystal Reports is a very stable platform. Very less no. of defects

•Crystal reports font issues due to resolution difference.

•Deski converted to Webi have rendering issue with Avenir Next Font after upgarde.

Please do share your comments and feedback.

Regards,

Saurabh

This document helps the user to migrate CMS DB from SQLAnywhere to HANA Database where BOE is installed in Linux/Unix environment.

To make it simple I have divided the migration into two phases where Phase 1(Configuration Phase) deals with the configuring the required settings for migration and Phase 2(Migration Phase) deals with the actual migration.

Phase 1: Configuration Phase                     

                       In this phase we install the HANA client, configure the DSN, which is explained in detail below.

                            Step 1: Install HDB Client in the machine where BOE is installed.

                            Step 2: Using the below command copy libodbcHDB.so file from HDB Client directory to linux_x* directory.

                                  cp <HDB_Client_Install_Directory>/libodbcHDB.so<BOE_Install_Dir>/sap_bobj/enterprise_xi40/linux_x64/

                              cp <HDB_Client_Install_Directory>/libodbcHDB.so<BOE_Install_Dir>/sap_bobj/enterprise_xi40/linux_x86/

                             Step 3: Add the details of HANA server in odbc.ini which is present in <BOE_Install_Dir>/sap_bobj/enterprise_xi40/

                                  Below is the screenshot, which has details of HANA driver

                                                                                               echo $ODBCINI

                                          Note: Output should be: <BOE_Install_Dir>/sap_bobj/enterprise_xi40/linux_x64/

Phase 2: Migration Phase

                            In this phase, we perform the actual migration using cmsdbsetup.sh script.

                                 Step 1: Run cmsdbsetup.sh script present in <BOE_Install_Dir>/sap_bobj/

                                                                   ./ cmsdbsetup.sh

                                 Step 2: Specify the name of the node and press enter. In this example "lnxsuse11x64" is the name of the node.

                                 Step 3: You need to stop the node before migration so select option 3 to stop the node.

                                 Step 4: Select option 4 "copy" for Database Copy(by default it will be "update").

                 Step 5: It will show a warning message that this operation will deleted BIP tables in destination DB. Select option 3 "Yes"(by default it will be "No")

                         Step 6: It will prompt whether you need current DB(SQLAnywhere) as destination database. You need to select option 2 "No"(by default it                                            will be "Yes")

                                        Note: If you choose yes it will delete all BIP tables from current DB. In this our destination DB is HANA so select option 2.

                        Step 7: Select option 8 “SAP HANA” as destination database.

                        Step 8: Enter the ODBC DSN for connecting HANA DB(This values should be same as values entered in odbc.ini file). In this                                                             example “Hana_Migration” is DSN name for HANA DB.

                        Step 9: Enter User Name for connecting HANA DB.

                                                                           Step 10: Enter Password for connecting HANA DB.

                        Step 11: Enter CMS Cluster Key.

                        Step 12: Now you need to specify Source CMS database. In this case you need to select option 2 “SQLAnywhere”.

                        Step 13: Enter the ODBC DSN for connecting SQLAnywhere DB(This values should be same as values entered in odbc.ini file).

                                      In this example “BI4_CMS_DSN_1452244015” is DSN name for SQLAnywhere DB.

                        Step 14: Enter User Name for connecting SQLAnywhere DB.

                        Step 15: Enter Password for connecting SQLAnywhere DB.

                        Step 16: Enter CMS Cluster Key.

                                Step 17: Data successfully migrated to HANA DB.

                                Step 18:  You can see CMS tables in HANA DB using HANA Studio.

As we know that BEx query condition is not working in dashboard report, then how condition can put on keyfigure to get Top-N or Bottom-N values, for this webi report can be created for Top-N and Bottom-N No of values with rank formula and same can access in dashboard using web service. Below is the step by step process.

1) Create BEx query report as per requirement.

2) Create webi report on Bex query for Top 15 Customer by using Rank function.

    a) Create webi report on Bex query(in my example it consist of Customer id, name and there turnover of the month)

    b) Right click on turnover column and Add Ranking.

     c) Now desire output of Top Ten Customer will get as below, saved the webi report on BI platform.

3) Create web service on webi report.

    a) Select report table properly and right click then ‘Publish as Web Service’ then Next

       b) Click on next and check for Filter prompt which we use for Filter in dashboard.

        c) Define Publish content(Name and description) for web service

        d) Create or select existing web service to publish new content to as web service.

         e) Now web service has been created successfully, you can see it in ‘Web Service Publisher’ Panel at the left side. The content of web service would access through WSDL URL Link refer below screen shot.

4) Open dashboard report and Add connection (Query web service) to web service.(Click on Data  and then Add Connection in menu bar or Click on manage connection in tool bar and then select Web service query(Query as web service). In the WSDL URL box, Paste WSDL URL and click on import button.

5) As per below screen shot, two block Input Values and Output Values are shown we need to provide values in ‘Input values block’ and take output values from ‘output value block’, refer below screen shots and bind input block with excel cell in which required value is given like login id, password, required prompt value, resetState (resetState and refresh are used for refresh data on selection prompt values) and Also bind output block with Excel cell to taking web service values like Header, footer and Table values.

6) Please check ‘Refresh Before Component are Loaded’ check box and check when value changes option button and bind Trigger cell with Excel, so whenever the value is changed new data is refresh from Web service.

7) Drag and Drop Dashboard components and bind it with Excel cell as per requirement and execute.

Thanks,

Kashif Ali Khan

My client wanted to display a live chart on customer facing SharePoint site which should display the current performance metrics. The requirement was to display only chart from a webi report and not the entire report contents. Here is the simple solution I did to get this done, does not require IOMS installation or configuration and involvement of SharePoint person. The solution is not just related to SharePoint site but can be used with any web pages. Utilized the IFrame feature of HTML to display part of the webpage.

I don't know whether this solution was already discussed but as I could not find I am posting it.

The solution comprises of following three major steps

1. BI Workspace.
2. HTML Code.
3. Deploy on SharePoint or any other webpage.

Assumption: SSO is configured.

1. Creating BI Workspace

   To get more details about BI Workspace please Click Here. We would be using BI Workspace as a container to hold only the chart area from any report.

• Logon to BI Launchpad and open BI Workspace application.

• Set the layout to "Freeform" and from Public modules drag the report on canvas which contains the desired chart. As shown below.

• Right Click on chart within report and click on "Select this report part".
• Adjust the height and width of the chart container.
• Click on Edit button.

• From "Report Content" section select "Latest Instance" and click Ok.
• Save BI Workspace in public folder.
• Create a recurring schedule (Daily/Hourly as per your requirements) of the report which we used. (Note that we are using this approach to improve the performance of chart display)
• Right click on BI workspace which you have just created, go to Document link and make a note of opendoc URL.

2. HTML Code

• Following is the HTML code (Also available in the attachment) which I used, copy it in a notepad window and just replace the opendocument URL of BI workspace captured above. Later I will show how to adjust the pixels.

<div style="overflow: hidden; max-width: 838px; boarder-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; margin: -14px auto; border-left: 0px; max-height:970px"><ifrmae class="myiframe" src=http://myserver/BOE/OpenDocument/opendoc/openDocument.jsp?sIDType=CUID&amp;iDocID=Abusdf9mjkllasdfk88909070" scrolling="no" style="border-top: 0px; height: 970px; border-right: 0px; width: 874px; border-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 19px; border-left: 0px; margin-top: -55px"></iframe>

• Save the notepad document as .html on your local desktop.
• Double click to open the html page in Internet Explorer.
• The next step is to adjust the pixels so that only the complete chart is displayed and exclude the unnecessary portion.
• Right click on the webpage and click on "Inspect Element"
• Adjust width, margin, height etc using arrow keys of the keyboard for <div> and <iframe> sections as shown below.

• Once done note down the pixel changes and update your .html file.

3. Deploy on SharePoint or any other webpage

• Open the SharePoint site, make sure you have full control on the page where you want to show the chart.
• Edit webpage

• Add new web part or modify existing, click on HTML and Edit HTML

• Copy the HTML code from .html file created on your desktop and paste here.
• The same HTML code can be used in any other webpages.

I hope you find it useful.

We are currently working on moving our BO system from one data center to another data center. We initially planned for installing BO on NAS storage. We started the installation and almost at the last step it gave us an error. But the error message seemed to be more generic one.

So We worked with SAP Support and came to know that "BusinessObjects installation on a SAN/NAS drive is not supported."  For more information please read SAP Note# 1686440 - Support for BusinessObjects installation on Network location

We successfully installed SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform 4.1 SP6 on Windows Server 2012. But when I try to open Promotion Management it was giving me below error

Resolution

We stopped the existing InputFileRepository services from CMC and disabled it.

We created a new <Hostname>.InputFileRepository , enabled and started it.

After that it was working fine. Upon confirmation we deleted the old InputFIleRepository Services.

The following document is intended to summarize the various SSO options available to users, from authenticating to the BI platform all the way down to the database.  The document does not cover the 'how to' as various white papers exist.

The first table summarizes the various ways the system can perform single sign-on to the web based appplications.

-OpenDocument refers to the direct link to report functionality.

-BI Portal is the main portal used to access & view reports

-CMC = Central Management Console

-dswsbobje = web services. 

Note that to support Kerberos SSO, your CMS (Central Management Server) must be installed on a windows machine. 

Trusted Authentication can generally be used for any authentication method which is not natively supported by BI4, such as SAML, x509 etc. 

Thick Clients, such as Crystal Reports Designer, Web Intelligence and others can also be configured for SSO to logon to BI4.  

The following table summarizes this:

Note that for the Java based clients, you will need to perform some additional steps to support AD SSO, such and configuring a krb5.ini file.  This applies to clients such as Crystal Reports for Enterprise,  Information Design Tool, and Visual Intelligence.  Please refer to the Authentication chapter of the respective client tool for more information. 

The clients can also be further configured further to perform single sign-on to the database, which is elaborated further in tables below.

Once a user has been authenticated to the BI platform, their SSO ticket can in some cases be passed further down to the database for a seamless end to end SSO story.

SSO to database based on Kerberos can be configured for the following databases, note that the user must logon to the BI platform using Active Directory for the kerberos ticket to be passed down to the database.   Note however that this cannot be used for scheduling, as the kerberos ticket will not be available to the system when the user is not online.  For scheduled tasks, the database credentials must be stored.

Yes, there are plans to expand this list in the future.

For SAP data access, the following methods can be configured.  You will need to configure the correct method depending on the client tool being used.  "SNC" is configured on the "SNC Settings" tab of the SAP authentication configuration area of the Central Management Console.   "STS (Security Token Service)" is configured on the "Options" tab of the SAP authentication configuration area, in the "SAP SSO Service" section. 

SAP Data SSO

In order to gain SSO access to SAP data, a user does NOT have to logon with their SAP credentials.   For an example of how users can authenticate using Active Directory and then single sign-on to SAP systems, please refer to this how to: How to map SAP users and LDAP users in SBO BI4.0 CMC - Business Intelligence (BusinessObjects) - SCN Wiki

The SAP authentication can also be leveraged from thick clients.  A user logging onto Webi Rich Client can leverage STS for example to access BW data. 

HANA SSO summary:

(1) * BI must be running on windows or linux.

SAML to HANA is based on a trust directly between BI4 and HANA.  This does not mean that you can use SAML to signon to BI4 and that same SAML assertion ticket gets passed down to HANA.  BI4 must be configured as a trusted identity provider in HANA. The same users must exist in HANA and BI4.

The Lumira integration into BI Launchpad relies on SAML.  See the Lumira Authentication Options for more details.

What other SSO options do I have?

The BI platform also supports storing database credentials to be used for accessing the database.   In some cases, as with kerberos & offline scheduling, this cannot be avoided.  Also, for database sources which are not currently listed, stored credentials are the best options available at this time.

Can I setup multiple SSO options on a single system?

Yes, with 4.1 SP6 and on, the sso.types.and.order option in your properties allows for setting up fallback SSO options in order.   If some users are configured for AD SSO and others for SAP SSO, you can try AD first and try SAP SSO as fallback.  See note http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/2041379 for details.

Useful Links:

Configuring Active Directory Authentication:   Be sure the follow the excellent whitepaper attached to the note.

http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1631734

Configuring Active Directory SSO on unix:

http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1636349

Configuring SAP Authentication and SSO:

How to setup SSO against SAP BW with SAP BO BI4.0 Common Semantic Layer (UNX) or BICS - Business Intelligence (BusinessO…

Configuring OLAP SSO for MSAAS:

Setting up OLAP Microsoft Analysis Service through an XMLA connection with SSO - Business Intelligence (BusinessObjects)…

Setting up HANA and BI for SAML

Configuring SAML with SAP HANA and SAP BusinessObjects 4.1 - Part 1

Setting up Trusted Authentication:

Using QUERY_STRING: http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1593628

Using HTTP_HEADER: http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1603002

CMC SSO http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/2190831

Lumira Authentication Options Lumira Authentication Options

Introduction

Whether your deployment is big or small, upgrading to BI 4 should be treated as a project. Planning is the most important element of your upgrade project.

Things to consider

When you plan your upgrade, consider the following items and include them in the upgrade process.

Skills and Enablement	Although BI platform 4 is compatible with most existing BI content and its design is similar to XI 3.1, there are some fundamental differences in user and administrator roles:   For IT departments and administrators, differences exist in platform design. For instance the grouping of processes in the APS, the mobile server, or the built-in SAP integration means that existing installation, deployment and tuning processes need to be revised. Training, hands-on discovery, and update of existing procedures is also necessary.   Business Intelligence developers should review existing BI clients and note any changes in their typical workflows. While most changes are intuitive improvements over previous releases, an adaptation period should be expected. Going forward, BI developers must evaluate new BI clients and their capabilities in order to take advantage of the full value of the platform.   The end-user experience has been revamped across the entire suite, modernizing it and improving productivity of most common workflows. However, these changes will require an adjustment period. It is recommended that these changes are evaluated directly (with business users who may need help) and then included in a roll-out plan.
Scope and Methodology	BI 4 offers various upgrade options, from a full system copy to incremental upgrades. Your strategy will depend on your organization's technical and business requirements. Your upgrade assessment must account for factors such as the size of your existing deployment, the time zones it serves, how many users and BI applications run on it, or how much downtime the business can cope with.   Smaller environments that serve a few hundred users are more likely to be candidates for a full system upgrade. However, some smaller organizations still prefer to use a staged upgrade due to the business-critical nature of BI.   Important: In terms of scope, it is not necessary to simultaneously perform a platform upgrade (sometimes called a technical upgrade) and modify your existing BI applications (for example, to implement new features) in the same project. The two tasks should be performed as different projects in order to manage scope and risk.
Architecture and Sizing	Because of changes in the BI platform, such as the adoption of 64-bit support and new capabilities such as monitoring or analysis, you must plan a revised sizing and architecture blueprint. Planning and executing this task early in the upgrade process will allow for proper provisioning of new infrastructure to support BI 4.   Note: Some degree of server tuning will be necessary even for your sandbox or development environments, in order to process some of your existing large reports.
Testing and Validation	Additional investment in testing reduces risk. Your upgrade plan should include multiple stages of testing:   Sandbox BI 4 platform and clients discovery with a number of BI artifacts Iterations of dry-run upgrades for security and BI applications Functional test of the dry-run applications First-pass IT test of security and content after an application is upgraded to the test environment Second-pass user acceptance test by the business in the test environment Final user validation after the application is moved from a test system to a production system   User acceptance should cover all business-critical analytics (typically, executive dashboards and operational reports) and a good sample of BI applications across the different report structures that are used typically.

Impacted IT processes

The following table summarizes the IT processes that may be impacted by the upgrade process. Actual impact will depend on the degree to which these processes rely on the BI Platform infrastructure in own business.

Secure your success

It is important to engage SAP or a Partner because of the scale of changes and innovations introduced by the upgrade. You should engage the following four parties in the early stages of the process, before you determine your scope and draft a plan:

Updating SAP BusinessObjects BI4.0 or SAP BusinessObjects BI4.1 into SAP BusinessObjects BI4.2 requires a new License Key

As of SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.2 SP2, you will need a new license key to finish up the upgrade of any earlier version of BI4.x. The new update installer will inform you with this during the initial steps of the installer as well at finalization of this installation. This document provides you the background of the new license key requirement, the process to request a new license key and the process to implement the new key.

IMPORTANT INFO !

We regret to inform that a minor issue has been sneaked into the BI4.2 Platform SP2 build (build 1975). If you plan to use the Web Intelligence Applet for the languages:

• fi (Finnish)
• ro (Romanian)
• sv (Swedish)
• sk (Slovak)
• zh_TW (Traditional Chinese)

please read http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/2294665

Why is a new License Key required?

After the release of BI4.1 we learned that support messages often have been address to the wrong versions of BI4.x, leading to additional lead time before a support message reached the correct team. As the available components for selection at the creation of a support message is depending on the recorded version in the system (by the customer/partner), we can better streamline our support teams in supporting your messages slightly faster.

The new license key requires to update the system information as recorded in SAP support system, enabling both SAP and customers to gain from a improved support model.

When is a new License Key required

As not all products from the SAP BusinessObjects portfolio are impacted with the license key change, it may be confusing when a new license key is required. The following products from the SAP BusinessObjects portfolio do need a new license key when updating into BI4.2 SP02 or higher.

• SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform 4.0
• SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform 4.1
• SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform 4.2 -> SP00 (RTM release) and SP1 (only applicable for customers that have been joining the Early Adopters Program)
• SAP BusinessObjects Information Platform Services 4.0
• SAP BusinessObjects Information Platform Services 4.1
• SAP Crystal Server 2011
• SAP Crystal Server 2013
• SAP Crystal Server 2016 -> SP00 (RTM release) and SP01 (only applicable for customers that have been joining the Early Adopters Program)
• SAP BusinessObjects BI, EDGE Edition 4.0
• SAP BusinessObjects BI, EDGE Edition 4.1
• SAP BusinessObjects BI, EDGE Edition 4.2
• SAP Data Services 4.0
• SAP Data Services 4.1
• SAP Data Services 4.2
• SAP Information Steward 4.0
• SAP Information Steward 4.1
• SAP Information Steward 4.2
• SAP BusinessObjects Live Office 4.0 (Client Install)
• SAP BusinessObjects Live Office 4.1 (Client Install)
• SAP BusinessObjects Live Office 4.2 (Client Install) -> SP00 (RTM release) and SP01 (only applicable for customers that have been joining the Early Adopters Program)
• Lumira Server for Teams 1.29 or earlier
  

The new license key requirement will only be needed the first time that you install any version of BI4.2 SP2 or higher against a version listed above. If you plan to update a BI4.2 SP2+ deployment with a higher Support Pack in the future, you will not need to update your license key anymore.

If you are running a greenfield installation, you will have the normal installation screen requesting a license key during the install. If you had any BI4.x version before, this also would require the request of a new license key.

Is there a new license/contract required?

NO, there is no new license or contract required to request the new BI4.2 License Key. Any customer/partner with a valid (maintenance) contract has the ability to request a new key. You can request the exact same license key as you have been using in your existing BI4.0 / BI4.1 deployment without the need to renegotiate your existing contract.

How to request a new License Key

You can request your new BI4.2 License Key via the normal process available on the SAP Support Portal. A step by step guide on how to request a new license key is documented in https://support.sap.com/content/dam/library/SAP%20Support%20Portal/keys-systems-installations/keys/new-request-license-k…

SAP strongly recommend to record all of your SAP products as deployed accordingly. If you have multiple systems like Development, Test, Quality and Prod it would be recommended to record each system. By this you would enable SAP to better support you in case of an issue.

BI4.2 SP2+ Update Install Process

The installation of the BI4.2 SP2 Update is no different from any previous patch, with the the only difference of an additional screen.

During the initial phase of the update installer you will be prompted with the following screen

You have to select the tick box before you are able to continue to the next step of the update installer.

Once the update installer is completed and showing the final screen it will provide the following post installation instruction:

Note: the post installation instruction screen is dynamic and can contain multiple instructions.

After finishing the update you need to update your license key within the Central Management Console. If you have a clustered system, you need to install the BI4.2 SP2 Update on all systems before proceeding with the next step.

Example screenshot when upgrading a BI4.1 into BI4.2 SP2 (or higher), containing multiple post installation instructions:

Entering your new BI4.2 License Key

Once all the servers in your BI Deployment have been updated to BI4.2 SP2, you have to enter the Central Management Console of your deployment.

after entering the Central Management Console of your updated BI4.2 deployment and navigate to -> Servers -> All Servers, you will notice that multiple servers are disabled and cannot be enabled. This is due to an invalid license key.

To enable your servers, you will have to enter your new 4.2 License Key. For this, navigate to the "License Key" tab of the Central Management Console.

You will be informed that the existing License Key(s) are invalid

It is important that you delete your old License Key(s) before entering your new License Key(s). If you enter your 4.2 License Key while the old keys are still in the system you will get an error while adding your license key.

In case you have multiple license keys recorded in your system, you can remove the license keys using a script. The process to remove License Keys by script can be found in http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/2276413

In case if you are using Web Application Container Server(WACS) as the only Web Application Server to access CMC or in case of multiple license keys need to be recorded in your system you can add your License Key(s) by script as well. The process to add License Keys by script can be found in http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/2281830

After you have entered you 4.2 License Key it is recommended to restart you Server Intelligent Agent (SIA) before enabling you servers. For restarting your SIA, please refer the the administrator guide available via http://help.sap.com/bobip42#section4. After the restart of you Server Intelligent Agent (SIA) you can logon to the Central Management Console (CMC) again and navigate back to "Servers -> All Servers" and enable all servers required for your deployment.

References

Where and How to request License Key

• Link to access the New License Key application : https://support.sap.com/keys-systems-installations/keys.html
• Step by step guide to New License Key application: https://support.sap.com/content/dam/library/SAP%20Support%20Portal/keys-systems-installations/keys/new-request-license-keys-bobj.pdf

Command Line License Key solutions

• Adding License Keys : http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/2281830
• Deleting License Keys : http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/2276413

What's New in BI4.2

• SAP BusinessObjects BI4.2 What's New L0
• SAP BusinessObjects BI4.2 What's New L1
• SAP BusinessObjects BI4.2 What's New L2

Features by version matrix (update to BI4.2 planned for Q2)

• BI Platform Feature by Version Matrix

Best Practices for updating any BI4.0 or BI4.1 system into BI4.2

• SBOP BI 4.x Cluster Patching Guide
• SAP Business Intelligence Platform Pattern Books - Business Intelligence (BusinessObjects) - SCN Wiki

Where can I find my version number?

You can find the version number (also referred to as the build number) for your software in several locations, including:

• On Windows, in the Add or Remove Programs dialog. The update indicates the current level.

• In the Help > About menu of most BI platform client tools, such as the universe design tool.

What does my version number mean?

The version number of your software appears as 14.x.y.abc. This number corresponds to a particular Support Package (or Feature Pack) and Patch level as follows:

• 14 = Major release 4.0/2011.
• x = Minor release number.
• y = Support Package level.
• abc = Build number corresponding to your Patch level.

For example, 14.0.2.481 corresponds to 4.0 Support Package 2 Patch 6, or Patch 2.6.

The following table lists the version numbers for SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence platform 4.0, and what Feature Pack (FP), Support Package (SP), and Patch level the version number corresponds to. These levels are the same for both the client and server installation programs and also apply to SAP Crystal Server 2011.

Where can I find version information for BI platform 4.1 and Crystal Server 2013?

Starting in 4.1, the installation program creates and updates a version.txt file where you can check the current version of your BI platform server installation. The file is located at:

• <BIP_INSTALL_DIR>/sap_bobj/enterprise_xi40/linux_x64/version/ (Unix)
• <BIP_INSTALL_DIR>\SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 4.0\win64_x64\version\ (Windows)

This file contains the build number and version name for the last update applied to your installation. For example:

14.1.0.981

4.1 Patch 2

See "Checking the installed version" in the following installation guides:

• Installation Guide for Unix
• Installation Guide for Windows
• Minor Release Update Guide

Where can I find version information for previous SAP BusinessObjects releases?

Version information for previous software releases can be found in the following articles:

• SAP Note 1287906: How to determine the version number of BusinessObjects XI 3.x in Windows
• Crystal Reports 2008 (and 9.1, XI R1, XI R2) - Version and Download information for Service Packs

Why can't I find my version in the tables below?

Also check out KBA 1602088.

Table 1: SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence platform 4.0

Table 2: SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence platform 4.1

Migrating SAP BI4 Sample Database & Universe to Microsoft SQL Server 2012

Introduction

Two sample Microsoft Access databases and Universe come with SAP BI 4.1.x eFashion and Club. This document describes the step-by-step instruction to migration the eFashion database from Access to Microsoft SQL Server 2012, as well updating the eFashion Universe. The Club database and Universe can be migrated and updated in a similar manner.

Overview

To migrate the database we will use SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), a tool that creates NEW tables in a SQL Server 2012 schema and imports data from an Access database. Once the database has been migrated we then need to make a several updates to the eFashion universe to use SQL Server 2012 rather than Access syntax.

The sample Access databases, Universes and Web Intelligence documents

D:\SAP BusinessObjects\SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 4.0\Samples\webi

Prerequisites

First we need to download SQL Server Express 2012 and SQL Server Management Studio tools (FREE). If you already have a licensed site for SQL Server 2012 no download is required. The great thing with using SQL Server Express 2012, it will support 64bit ODBC Drives now required by BI4 Platform.  The SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) does not need to be installed on BI4 Platform Server as long as the SSMS tool can read the eFashion Access Database.  You can even copy the efashion.mdb file to SQL Server2012 Server.

Link to download SQL Server Express 2012 + Tools [FREE]

http://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/download/details.aspx?id=29062

Second we need to installed SQL Server 2012 64bit Native Clients ver11 on all BI4 Platform Server and create 64bit System DSN called eFashion [ http://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/download/details.aspx?id=36434 ].

Make sure you have proper permissions to MS SQL Server Express 2012 / SQL Server 2012 to create tables and insert data.  You will need a BLANK SQL Server 2012 database called “eFashion”.

Migrate eFashion Database

Migrate / Update eFashion Universe

Now that we have successfully migrated the eFashion database to SQL Server2012 we need to update the eFashion universe to utilize the SQL Server2012 datasource.

We need update SQL for several Objects and Predefined Condition, see below

Step 01: Launch Designer and go to <Tools>, <Connections> to make sure proper connection exist using SQL Server 2012 driver, called “eFashion_SQL”.  If you already have another connection, you can utilize that one instead.

Step 02: After validating connection, <import> universe from BI4. Import the eFashion universe found under “webi universes”. Optional take back-up of eFashion using Access DB

Step 03: Next go to <File>, <Parameters>, Definition Tab <Connection> and update to use “eFashion_SQL”.

Step 04: Update Description so that we can identify our updated universe, for example:

• Add comment about using MS SQL Server 2012 Database
• Update when last updated

Step 05: Next we need to <View>, <Refresh Structure> to confirm all the Tables are valid. You may need to update the table owner depending on UserID being used to connect to SQL Server. Select all tables, right click and select rename table with owner, if needed.

Step 06: Click <Ok> to save changes

Step 07: Run an Integrity Check to view error’s prior to making changes

Step 08: Update the SQL Select &/or Where clause for list of objects as shown below.

Update Invalid Objects and Conditions

Step 09: After update then <Save> and check <Integrity> to make sure all is working properly.

Step 10: Last <Export> to CMS to test updated eFashion Universe.

Step 11: FINISHED

If you have any documents that are created against this universe then check that these are OK by editing the query and executing. Remember to save updated report.  You are also provided with list of samples located at D:\SAP BusinessObjects\SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 4.0\Samples\web

NOTE: See attached FIXED UNIVERSE & Excel showing SQL changes

Download attached file containing UNV & Excel table.  You may need to change extension from TXT to ZIP for ZIPPED file. !!!

Hi............................,

I would like to share my own experience on Upgrade management tool...

Before going to discuss about Upgrade management Tool, you need to know about Business Intelligence Content.

What is BI Content...??

BI content is nothing but Collection of Users,groups,folders,reports,universes,security,other objects, which is available with Central Management

Server..

that is called BI Content or CMS Content.

Suppose you are working with BOXI 3.1,whatever the BO version you are using the CMS Stores the above data(Users, Groups, Universes,

Documents, Folders etc.)

Now consider you are working with BOXi 3.1,If you want upgrade your version from BOXI 3.1 to BO 4.X

Here you need to upgrade your CMS content to higher version, to do that we use Upgrade Management Tool.

**User has a choice to select method of Upgrade as per his requirement.**

If I talk about the above two methods..

Complete Upgrade: This is Best and Fastest Method to Upgrade, Because it take all the CMS content at a time from source and it will deploy it to destination.

                                If you use it you can save time also.

Incremental Upgrade: it allows user to select required content to upgrade.

Once you start with upgradation by selecting complete upgrade technique, you will see three options...

Defends upon selection you need to provide some credentials on next to this selection. Credentials are User name, Password.

Live to Live: to do this you need to authenticate with Source  CMS to Destination CMS.

Live to BIAR: To do this you need to Authenticate with source CMS and you have to provide a path to save BIAR file along with a name.

Defending upon your requirements and complexity of content you can create more than one BIAR file, but condition is all BIAR files should be in Same

Directory.

while creating BIAR file you can encrypt that by giving password to it, But it is Good to avoid encryption, if you do it will take more time while processing.

finally it perhaps an performance issue.

generally we use BIAR files while transporting content from one environment to another environment (Development to Test to Production etc.)

Note:: If you want to Transport CMS content from one environment another with in the same version like BO 4.X to BO 4.x

          It is NOT possible with Upgrade management tool,  to do that You need to go with PROMOTION MANGAMENT.

Note:: Before Start Upgrade, you need to stop all services except 1.CMS 2.File Repository Server

BIAR format will bebiarengine.jar

will update soon.....

Thanks & Regards

Brahma Reddy

Connection Server is the Business Objects software component that manages connections between Business Objects applications and data sources. Connection Server uses data access drivers to connect to database middleware. The data access driver that Connection Server uses depends on the middleware. Business Objects applications are delivered with data access drivers for a wide range of database middleware types. In addition to the supplied data access drivers, you can use the Driver Development Kit (DDK) to develop, using Java, data access drivers for data sources for which there are no drivers available. You can develop two types of data access drivers. * Develop an Open driver to connect to a data source for which there is no data access driver available. * Develop a JavaBeans driver to connect to any source that can return data.  This sample highlights the following Deski SDK features: 1. Creating data provider using an existing DataProvider 2. Inserting a new report tab

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