Using SQL Anywhere for a CMS/Auditing Database with BI 4.1

This document outlines the high-level steps for installing SQL Anywhere 12.0.1 for use with an SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform 4.1 installation.

These steps were used while we were building out a performance testing environment for an upcoming Performance Testing Pattern Book for BI 4.1.  Once the Pattern Book is public, we will update this document with the link.

Ensure you are installing a supported CMS/Audit Repository Data Source

The first step is to ensure you are installing a Supported Platform for your BI 4.1 environment.

1. First check the Platform Availability Matrix (PAM), aka Supported Platforms Guide, for the BI 4.1 version you are installing.  Supported Platform Guides can be found at this link:http://help.sap.com/bobip
   
   
2. Navigate to Section 12 in the PAM to ensure your database version and Operating System are listed.  In our case, we are using Windows Server 2012 and Sybase SQL Anywhere 12.0.1.
   
   
   
   
3. For our Pattern, we used BI 4.1 Support Package 6.  We can see from the screenshot below that this is supported on Windows Server with using Sybase SQL Anywhere ODBC Driver 12.0.1.

We can now continue on with the Installation of Sybase SQL Anywhere 12.

Installing Sybase SQL Anywhere 12

This doc assumes you already have the install media available for the database you choose.  Below are the steps that we used during our installation:

1. Run Setup from the Install Media directory
   
   
2. Choose Install SQL Anywhere 12
   
3. Follow the Install Wizard prompts and choose your preferred options to kick off the installation
   
   
4. Once the installation is complete, you will have to carry out the steps in section 4.2 of the Installation Guide:
   
   BI 4.1 SP6 Install Guide
   
   
   1. Create a Database/schema and account for the CMS
   2. Create a Database/schema and account for the Auditing
   3. Ensure the database server is configured for Unicode character encoding (UTF-8)
   4. Ensure accounts have create, modify, and delete tables and to create stored procs
   5. Ensure client drivers are available for BI Platform servers
      
      
5. Be sure to check if there are “extra requirements” for the database you are using for the CMS/Auditing databases.  For SQL Anywhere, there are added requirements listed under section 4.2.4 of the install guide.
   1. Install SQL Anywhere client 12.0.1 on the CMS Machines - SAP SQL Anywhere Database Client Download
   2. Create an ODBC DSN connecting to the Primary Node SQL Anywhere CMS database
      
      
6. Create a User for the CMS and Auditing Databases (We used BICMSdba / BIAuditdba)
   
   
7. Create a Database for the CMS and Audit Database (We used BICMSDB / BIAuditDB)
   1. Ensure you use a page size of 8KB
      
      
8. Run these databases as a service on a particular port.  Doc:  http://dcx.sap.com/index.html#1201/en/dbadmin/running-sectb-3454334.html

That's essentially it!