Oracle Cloud EPM Narrative Reporting

 Oracle Cloud EPM Narrative Reporting

Access source data directly

Access systems of record directly

Work with data that is always current by accessing data directly from Oracle and non-Oracle sources. This includes spreadsheets, Hyperion EPM applications, Oracle Cloud EPM applications, Oracle Cloud Financials, Oracle Analytics content, and native databases.

Use existing reports

No need to recreate existing reports. You can bring in your current Microsoft Word and PowerPoint or PDF-based narrative reports, as well as Excel-based reports through a consistent and controlled process.

Combine data and narrative content

Help provide context to the numbers by combining financial statements and data with textual narrative in a single report.

Leverage built-in report writing

Speed up the reporting process. Narrative Reporting comes equipped with a report writer that lets you bring in charts and grids sourced from Oracle Cloud EPM, Oracle Cloud Financials, and Oracle Essbase.

YouTube link: Overview: Report Packages in Narrative Reporting Part I – YouTube

EPM 11.1.2.1 Hyperion Migration Features

New Oracle Hyperion Migration Features

EPM 11.1.2.1 release has  a new utility called hssmigrate. In previous releases, a utility called CSSImportExport did the Shared Services security migration. Using this tool, you had to export security from Shared Services, create an XML or CSV file, update the file manually and then use the file to import security into the target environment. It sounds easy enough, but that the utility is Java-based, which means it is case-sensitive.

Using development and production environments as an example, users had to export security from development, create the XML or CSV file, transfer it to production, modify the file manually to reflect the products and server names and then import security from the file. It was a manually intensive process.

Additionally, the case-sensitive aspect of the utility had the potential to cause headaches. Since there are no restrictions on naming conventions for external providers, people tend to name each one differently. There are no constraints in place to make sure that the external provider name in the source environment (development) matches the target environment (production). For a successful migration, the external provider names had to match.

Oracle recognized this problem and eliminated it with the hssmigrate utility. The utility creates an hssmigratedata.zip file on the source environment’s Shared Services machine. It can be copied\ transferred to  the  target environment’s Shared Services machine, launch the configurator, select Import Data from Earlier Release and you’re done. The new utility doesn’t care what the provider name is. It imports security to the existing External Provider regardless. This saves a lot of time and energy and eliminates the previous issues with server names and product suffixes, among other things.

Another nice new feature is the Planning application migration wizard. The preliminary steps to migrate a Planning application are still the same. However, the interface to do the migration has changed. What used to be a button on the Planning login page is now a nicer and more intuitive wizard on the Planning Administration page. The difference is that you go through Workspace to navigate to the Planning Administration page. Once on the Planning Administration page, you select the Migration Wizard tab, where you can select the application you want to migrate.

Everyone logs in through Workspace these days, so to go through the Planning Web interface to find the Migrate button was not very intuitive. There is no new functionality with this process; in 11.1.2.1, you click the Migration Wizard tab and then select the application, and the wizard will upgrade it. The new process is much more intuitive.

Oracle Hyperion migration drawbacks

What didn’t work so well in 11.1.2.1 is the Essbase Studio migration. The installation guide provided a step-by-step process, but it didn’t work, and my first attempt at the migration was unsuccessful.

The migration of the Essbase applications also had a versioning issue. The traditional way to migrate Essbase applications is through Essbase Administration Services (EAS). It is as simple as logging in, connecting to the source Essbase server and connecting to the target Essbase server. You then launch the migration wizard, point to the source Essbase application, create the Essbase application on the target Essbase server, follow a few steps, and the application is migrated.

With 11.1.2.1, the process still works the same way for Block Storage Option (BSO) cubes, but it throws an error message for Aggregate Storage Option (ASO) cubes. Behind the scenes, though, it appears that the migration does bring the metadata over, and the ASO cube migrated successfully. This was confirmed by doing a post-migration high-level test. . The other thing about the Essbase application migration is that the documented process is long and drawn out. After going through all the steps, you still end up with files that need to be transferred from the source Essbase server to the target Essbase server.

Hyperion Reporting and Analysis environment

Oracle Hyperion Reporting and Analysis environment is organized into three layers as shown below.

Reporting and Analysis Architecture

Client Layer

The client layer refers to local interfaces used to author, model, analyze, present, report, and distribute diverse content, and third-party clients, such as Microsoft Office.

• Oracle Hyperion Enterprise Performance Management Workspace—Web-based DHTML zero-footprint client that provides the user interface for viewing and interacting with content created by the authoring studios, and enables users to create queries against relational and multidimensional data sources:Oracle Essbase—High performance multidimensional modeling, analysis, and reporting
  • Oracle Hyperion Financial Reporting—Highly formatted financial reporting
  • Oracle Hyperion Interactive Reporting—Ad hoc query, analysis, and reporting including dashboards
  • Oracle Hyperion SQR Production Reporting—High volume enterprise production reporting
  • Oracle Hyperion Web Analysis—Advanced interactive ad hoc analysis, presentation, and reporting against multidimensional data sources
• Authoring Studios
  • Oracle Hyperion Interactive Reporting Studio—Highly intuitive and easy-to-navigate environment for data exploration and decision making. A consistent design paradigm and robust formatting tools enable users to easily build free-form, presentation-quality reports for broad-scale publishing across their organization.
  • Oracle Hyperion Interactive Reporting Web Client—Web plug-in for viewing Interactive Reporting documents.
  • Oracle Hyperion Financial Reporting Studio—Windows client for authoring highly formatted financial reports from multidimensional data sources, which features easy, drag and drop, reusable components to build and distribute HTML, PDF, and hardcopy output.
  • Oracle Hyperion Web Analysis Studio—Java applet that enables you to create, analyze, present, and report multidimensional content. The studio offers the complete Web Analysis feature set to designers creating content, including dashboards for information consumers.
  • Oracle Hyperion SQR Production Reporting Studio—Windows client that provides the design environment for creating reports from a wide variety of data sources. Reports can be processed in one pass to produce a diverse array of pixel-perfect output. Processing can be scheduled and independently automated, or designed to use form templates that prompt dynamic user input.
  • Oracle Hyperion Dashboard Development Services—Enables creation of dashboards:
    • Dashboard Studio—Windows client that utilizes extensible and customizable templates to create interactive, analytical dashboards without the need to code programming logic.
    • Dashboard Architect—Windows-based integrated development environment that enables programmers to swiftly code, test, and debug components utilized by Dashboard Studio.
    • Oracle Hyperion Performance Scorecard—Web-based solution for setting goals and monitoring business performance using recognized scorecarding methodologies. Provides tools that enable users to formulate and communicate organizational strategy and accountability structures:
      • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)—Create tasks and achievements that indicate progress toward key goals
      • Performance indicators—Indicate good, acceptable, or poor performance of accountability teams and employees
      • Strategy maps—Relate high-level mission and vision statements to lower-level actionable strategy elements
      • Accountability maps—Identify those responsible for actionable objectives
      • Cause and Effect maps—Depict interrelationships of strategy elements and measure the impact of changing strategies and performance

Oracle Hyperion Smart View for Office—Oracle-specific Microsoft add-in and toolbar from which users can query Oracle data sources including Essbase, Oracle Hyperion Financial Management, and Oracle Hyperion Planning. Users can use this environment to interact with Financial Management and Planning forms for data input, and can browse the Reporting and Analysis repository and embed documents in the office environment. Documents are updated by user request.



Application Layer

The application layer—a middle tier that retrieves requested information and manages security, communication, and integration—contains two components:

• Application Layer Web Tier:The application layer relies upon a J2EE application server and Web server to send and receive content from Web clients. An HTTP connector is required to link the Web server and the application server.The Web tier hosts the following Web applications:
  • Foundation Services
  • Reporting and Analysis Framework
  • Financial Reporting
  • Web Analysis
•  Application Layer Services Tier:The application layer services tier contains services and servers that control functionality of various Web applications and clients:
•   Reporting and Analysis Framework Services
• Interactive Reporting Services
• SQR Production Reporting Engine
• Financial Reporting Services
• Shared Services.Most of these services are replicable, you may encounter multiple instances of a service in a system.

Because the business intelligence platform is modular, it may consist of various combinations of components, configured in numerous ways. The end result is a comprehensive, flexible architecture that accommodates implementation and business needs.

Reporting and Analysis Framework Services

Oracle Hyperion Reporting and Analysis Framework Services are mandatory for authorization, session management, and document publication:

• Global Service Manager (GSM)—Tracks system configuration information and monitors registered services in the system. A system can have several GSMs. A GSM can be replicated so that all GSMs have the same comprehensive information about the services registered in the system.
• Local Service Manager (LSM)—Created for every instance of a Reporting and Analysis service, including GSM. When system servers start, they register their services and configuration information with GSM, which supplies and maintains references to all other registered services.
• Service Broker—Supports GSM and LSM by routing client requests and managing load balancing for services. A system can have multiple Service Brokers.
• Job Service—Executes scripts that create reports, which can be prompted by users with permissions or by Event Service. Report output is returned to initiating users or published to the repository. Job Services can be created and configured for every executable.
• Event Service—Manages subscriptions to system resources. Tracks user subscriptions, job parameters, events and exceptions, and prompts Job Service to execute scheduled jobs. Event Service is configured to distribute content through email and FTP sites, and to notify users with subscriptions about changing resources. Event Service can be replicated allowing systems to have more than one.
• Repository Service—Stores Oracle system data in supported relational database tables, known collectively as the repository. Repository Service is replicable. If replicated, it must be co-located with Publisher Service.
• Usage Service—Records the number and nature of processes addressed by entire system. It can track execution of generic files in repository, Production Reporting jobs, database log ins, and modifications of events. Administrators can review usage statistics such as the number of log ins, what the most used files are, what the most selected MIME types are, and what happens to system output. Systems can have multiple Usage Services.
• Logging Service—Centralized service for recording system messages to log files. A system can have only one Logging Service.
• Session Manager Service—Monitors and maintains the number of simultaneous system users. Monitors all current sessions and terminates sessions that are idle for more than a specified time period. While Session Manager is replicable, each instance independently manages a set of sessions.
• Publisher Service—Handles repository communication for other Reporting and Analysis services and some Web application requests; forwards repository requests to Repository Service and passes replies back to initiating services. Publisher Service is replicable. If replicated, it must be co-located with Repository Service.
• Authentication Service—Checks user credentials at log in time and determines whether they can connect; determines group memberships, which, along with roles, affects what content and other system artifacts (resources) users can view and modify. Authentication Service is replicable and does not need to be co-located with other services.
• Authorization Service—Provides security at the level of resources and actions; manages roles and their associations with operations, users, groups, and other roles. A system must have at least one Authorization Service.
• Analytic Bridge Service (also known as Extended Access for Hyperion Interactive Reporting)—Enables users to jointly analyze multidimensional and relational sources in one document. It retrieves flattened OLAP results from Web Analysis documents, Production Reporting job output, or Financial Reporting batch reports in the Reporting and Analysis repository and imports data into Interactive Reporting (BQY) documents as Results sections.
• Oracle Hyperion Impact Management Services—Reporting and Analysis Framework services that harvest, update, and publish new Interactive Reporting content from old Interactive Reporting repository resources. These services must be used in conjunction with Interactive Reporting services. These services perform automatic load balancing and fault tolerance when multiple instances are running:
  • Harvester Service—Harvests metadata from published Interactive Reporting repository documents
  • Transformer Service—Updates published and harvested Interactive Reporting documents or publishes new versions to the repository
• Search Services—Reporting and Analysis Framework services that enable users to search for and retrieve documents, reports, and dashboards from any repository in EPM Workspace.
  • Search Indexing—Indexing and query service at the core of the search framework. It contains the searchable index and provides an API for adding keywords or submitting search queries. Search Indexing is responsible for index optimization and fail-over provisions.
  • Search Keyword Provider—A library of specialized parsers for all supported document types (IR, FR, PDF, HTML). These parsers scan documents and extract relevant search keywords. This service is highly configurable and can support additional document types by registering new parsers.
  • Search Monitor—An event layer monitoring EPM Workspace and Scorecard repositories for changes. This service provides real-time updates to the searchable index. Any document added, modified, or deleted from these repositories is promptly indexed, re-indexed, or removed from the searchable index.

Interactive Reporting Services

Interactive Reporting services support Interactive Reporting functionality by communicating with data sources and distributing Interactive Reporting client content:

• Interactive Reporting Log Service—Acts as the helper service to all instances of Interactive Reporting Services. Each instance of Interactive Reporting Services posts the log messages to Interactive Reporting Log Services. Interactive Reporting Log Service collects these messages and forwards them to the Logging Service in the Reporting and Analysis Framework Services tier with appropriates loggers created for each instance of Interactive Reporting Services.
• Interactive Reporting Intelligence Service—Opens Interactive Reporting documents and delivers interactive HTML content. When actions involving Interactive Reporting documents are requested, this service fulfills the requests by opening and query processing the documents and delivering HTML for display.
• Interactive Reporting Job Service—Similar to Interactive Reporting Intelligence Service, which handles only the requests for Interactive Reporting jobs. When a job is scheduled to run, this service receives the job request with job scripts. Then, the Interactive Reporting document associated with the job is opened and the scripts are executed. Finally, the job results are stored in the target directory.
• Interactive Reporting Data Access Service—Provides access to relational and multidimensional databases, and carries out database queries for the Interactive Reporting Intelligence Service and Interactive Reporting jobs. Each Interactive Reporting Data Access Service supports connectivity to multiple data sources, using the connection information in one or moreInteractive Reporting database connection files, so that one Interactive Reporting Data Access Service can process a document whose sections require multiple data sources. Interactive Reporting Data Access Service maintains a connection pool for database connections.

SQR Production Reporting Engine

SQR Production Reporting Engine responds to scheduled and on-demand requests by Job Service to run jobs, process data, and generate reports. SQR Production Reporting Engine is optimized for high volume reporting through the use of native drivers, array processing for large data sets, and cursor management. It processes time-saving data manipulation operations in one pass of the data source and produces large quantities of reports in online and printed formats.

Financial Reporting Services

Financial Reporting services support Financial Reporting functionality by processing batch requests, generating output, and distributing Financial Reporting client content.

• Oracle Financial Reporting Service—Generates and formats dynamic report or book results, including specified calculations. Oracle Financial Reporting Services can handle numerous simultaneous requests for report execution from multiple clients because each request is run on its own execution thread. Oracle Financial Reporting Services caches data source connections, so multiple requests by the same user do not require a reconnection. Financial Reporting servers are replicable—the number necessary depends on the number of concurrent users who want to simultaneously execute reports through the clients. Multiple Financial Reporting servers can be configured to report against one repository.
• Oracle Financial Reporting Communication Service—Provides a Java RMI Registry to which other Financial Reporting services are bound.
• Oracle Financial Reporting Print Service—Enables Financial Reporting content to be compiled as PDF output. Runs only on supported Windows platforms, but is replicable to provide scalability for PDF generation.
• Oracle Financial Reporting Scheduler Service—Responds to Financial Reporting scheduled batch requests. At the specified time, Oracle Financial Reporting Scheduler Service prompts the other Financial Reporting services to fulfill the request.

Shared Services

Oracle Hyperion Shared Services support authentication and user provisioning for all Oracle products. See the Shared Services documentation set.

Services Tier Summary

Service	Name	Instances
Reporting and Analysis Framework
	Global Service Manager (GSM)	Multiple
	Local Service Manager (LSM)	Multiple
	Service Broker	Multiple
	Job Service	Multiple
	Event Service	Multiple
	Repository Service	Multiple
	Usage Service	Multiple
	Logging Service	One per system
	Session Manager	Multiple
	Publisher Service	Multiple
	Authentication Service	Multiple
	Authorization Service	Multiple
	Analytic Bridge (Also known as Extended Access for Hyperion Interactive Reporting Service)	Multiple
	Harvester	Multiple
	Transformer	Multiple
	Search Indexing	One per system
	Search Keyword Provider	One per system
	Search Monitor	One per system
Interactive Reporting
	Interactive Reporting Log Service	One per system
	Interactive Reporting Intelligence Service	Multiple
	Interactive Reporting Job Service	Multiple
	Interactive Reporting Data Access Service	Multiple
Production Reporting
	Production Reporting Engine	N/A
Financial Reporting
	Financial Reporting Service	Multiple
	Financial Reporting Communication Service	Multiple
	Financial Reporting Print Service	Multiple
	Financial Reporting Scheduler Service	Multiple
Shared Services
	Shared Services	One per system

Database Layer

Architecturally, databases fall into two fundamental groups: repositories that store Oracle system data; and data sources that are the subject of analysis, presentation, and reporting.
There are two important repositories for information storage:

• Common repository—Oracle system data in supported relational database tables
• Shared Services—User, security, and project data that can be used across Oracle products

Data Sources:

• Relational data sources, for example, Oracle, IBM DB2, and Microsoft SQL Server
• Multidimensional data sources, for example, Essbase
• Oracle’s Oracle applications, for example, Oracle Hyperion Financial Management and Oracle Hyperion Planning
• Data warehouses
• ODBC data sources

Reporting and Analysis Framework and EPM Workspace

You can use EPM Workspace to perform administration tasks for Reporting and Analysis Framework. Content that relates to Reporting and Analysis Framework includes Reporting and Analysis Framework Services, Interactive Reporting Services, Production Reporting Services, Impact Management Services, Search Services, Shared Services, and EPM Workspace pages.

To see Reporting and Analysis Framework content in EPM Workspace, you must first install Reporting and Analysis Framework Services and the Reporting and Analysis Framework Web Application.

The following menu options are specific to Reporting and Analysis Framework:

• Navigate, Workspace Pages
• Navigate, Administer, Reporting and Analysis
• Navigate, Schedule
• Navigate, Impact Manager
• File, Preferences
• Favorites

Note:

For information on logs, see the Oracle Enterprise Performance Management System Installation and Configuration Troubleshooting Guide.

Administration Tools for Reporting and Analysis

Subtopics

• Administer Module
• Interactive Reporting Services Manager
• Impact Manager Module
• Job Utilities Calendar Manager

Topics that describe Reporting and Analysis administration tools are described in this section. For EPM Workspace, see the Oracle Hyperion Enterprise Performance Management Workspace Administrator’s Guide:

Administer Module

The Administer module is accessed from EPM Workspace by selecting Navigate, then Administer, and then Reporting and Analysis. Properties managed using the Administer module include:

• General properties
• Services
• Web Applications
• Agents
• Production Reporting Engines
• Production Reporting Database Servers
• Generic Job Applications
• Pass-through Configuration
• Physical Resources (printers and output directories)
• MIME types
• Notifications
• Change Ownership
• Usage tracking
• Event tracking
• Row Level Security

For detailed information on managing these items, see Using the Administer Module.

Reference source:http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E17236_01/epm.1112/raf_webadmin/frameset.htm?launch_raf_admin.html

FR Ports
                                                                                                                    Listen Port   SSL port

EPM Standard Deployment

Standard Deployment Topology

The standard deployment topology is depicted in the following illustration. This deployment consists of different components that can be scaled out separately.

Oracle recommends that you set up a base deployment with one server for each component, validate that it is working, and then scale out each component, depending on your high-availability and system-load requirements.

Deployment Directory Structure and Location Reference

The following illustration shows the enterprise deployment directory structure on each server. Binaries and configuration files for each EPM System component are located only on the server on which the component is installed. For example, Oracle Essbase binaries and configuration files, along with Essbase data directory (not shown in the illustration), are located on the Essbase host machine (ESSHOST1 in the deployment diagram).

Data directories of EPM System products other than Essbase are located on a shared disk that must be accessible from all the servers in the deployment. Because EPM System components are not installed on the shared disk, the shared disk does not have the directory structure depicted in the illustration. The shared disk hosts data directories for:

• Oracle Hyperion Reporting and Analysis Repository directory
• Exported or imported artifacts using Oracle Hyperion Enterprise Performance Management System Lifecycle Management

This document refers to the following installation and deployment locations:

• MIDDLEWARE_HOME refers to the location of middleware components such as Oracle WebLogic Server, Oracle HTTP Server, Java, and, optionally, oneEPM_ORACLE_HOME or more. The MIDDLEWARE_HOME is defined during EPM System product installation. The default MIDDLEWARE_HOME directory isOracle/Middleware.
• EPM_ORACLE_HOME refers to the installation directory containing the files required to support EPM System products. EPM_ORACLE_HOME resides withinMIDDLEWARE_HOME. The default EPM_ORACLE_HOME is MIDDLEWARE_HOME/EPMSystem11R1; for example, Oracle/Middleware/EPMSystem11R1.
• EPM_ORACLE_INSTANCE denotes a location that is defined during the configuration process where some products deploy components. The default location isEPM_ORACLE_INSTANCE is MIDDLEWARE_HOME/user_projects/empsystem1; for example, Oracle/Middleware/user_projects/empsystem1.
• WEBLOGIC_DOMAIN_HOME refers to the directory that contains the WebLogic Server domain configuration for EPM System.
  
  Deployment Approach
  
  
  Oracle recommends a modular deployment approach, depicted in the following illustration, to facilitate the verification of each EPM System component.
  
  
  
  This approach simplifies troubleshooting during the setup process and facilitates configuration.
  The tasks that must be performed to complete each module in this deployment process are discussed in this document.
  Deployment Scenarios
  
  

  Before starting the EPM System setup process, you must complete the required server, database, and network setup process appropriate for your deployment strategy.

  EPM System Deployment Scenarios

  Scenario	Deployment Instructions to Use
  Set up base working environments
  Set Up Oracle Hyperion Planning	Installing and Configuring Foundation Services on FNDHOST1 Installing and Configuring Planning on PLANHOST1 Installing and Configuring Essbase Server on ESSHOST1
  Set Up Consolidation	Installing and Configuring Foundation Services on FNDHOST1 Installing and Configuring Financial Management Server on HFMHOST1 Installing and Configuring Financial Management Web Application on HFMWEBHOST1 Installing and Configuring FDM on FDMHOST1
  Add products to an existing environment
  Add Consolidation to Planning	Installing and Configuring Financial Management Server on HFMHOST1 Installing and Configuring Financial Management Web Application on HFMWEBHOST1 Installing and Configuring FDM on FDMHOST1
  Add Planning to Consolidation	Installing and Configuring Planning on PLANHOST1 Installing and Configuring Essbase Server on ESSHOST1

  Minimum Server Specifications

  The Standard Deployment Topology uses these servers, which have the Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 operating system installed. The server names indicated in this table are used throughout this document to identify specific servers involved in the deployment.

  Minimum Server Specifications for Standard Deployment

  EPM System Component	Machine	Processor	Memory
  Oracle Hyperion Foundation Services	FNDHOST1	4 core 2 CPU	16 GB
  Planning	PLANHOST1	4 core 2 CPU	12 GB
  Essbase	ESSHOST1	4 core 2 CPU	16 GB
  Oracle Hyperion Financial Management Server	HFMHOST1	4 core 2 CPU	16 GB
  Financial Management Web	HFMWEBHOST1	4 core 2 CPU	12 GB
  Oracle Hyperion Financial Data Quality Management Server	FDMHOST1	4 core 2 CPU	16 GB

Server Requirements

User Access Control

Disable User Access Control (UAC) on each deployment server.  To disable UAC:

1. Select Start, then Control Panel, then User Accounts, then User Accounts, and then Change User Account Control settings.
2. In User Account Control Settings, ensure that the slider is set to Never Notify.
   
   
   
   Deployment User Requirements
   
   
   All EPM System components should be installed from a generic Windows user account (an account that does not belong to a specific user). All patches for this deployment must be run using the user account that was used to install EPM System.
   The deployment user account is referred to as the deployment account in this document. This user account should satisfy the following requirements:

   • The deployment account is a member of the Administrators group on the server.
   • User account control is disabled for the deployment account.

   1. Act as part of the operating system
   2. The following local security policies are assigned to the deployment account:
   3. Bypass traverse checking
   4. Log on as a batch job
   5. Log on as a service
3. To view local security policy assignments on a server, select Start, then Administrative Tools, then Local Security Policy, then Local Policies, and then User Rights Assignment.
   
   
   
   Shared File System Requirements
   
   
   A shared file system that is accessible from all the servers in the deployment is required to host these components:

   • Installation files
   • Reporting and Analysis Repository data
   • Artifacts for Lifecycle Management in Oracle Hyperion Shared Services
   • Data directory for FDM applications
     
     The shared file system could be a share on a NAS/SAN or on one of the Windows servers. The deployment account must have read-write access to the shared file system. In the rest of this document, this shared location is referred to as \\SharedHost\SharedLocation.
     
     
   Host Name Resolution Requirements

   
   

   The canonical host name of each server must be the same when accessed from within the server and from other servers in the deployment.You may want to create a local hosts file on each server to resolve host name issues.

   
   

   EPM System uses Java’s canonical host name resolution for resolving host names. To validate host names as resolved by Java, EPM System provides a utility (epmsys_hostname.bat. An archive of the utility (epmsys_hostname.zip) is available in the directory where you unzip the part numbers to install EPM System. See Downloading and Extracting EPM System Software for instructions.
   
   Clock Synchronization
   
   
   The clock on each server must be synchronized to within one second difference. To synchronize clocks, point each server to the same network time server.
   Environment Details
   
   
   Use this section to record the details for your environment.

   Deployment Environment Checklist

   Item	Value for Your Deployment
   Deployment Account Checklist
   Deployment account to log in to server machines
   Password of the deployment user
   Shared Disk Checklist
   Location of shared disk

   Environment Checklist

   Host For	Host Name	Server Roles Set?	User Roles Set?	Host Names Resolved?
   Foundation Services
   Planning
   Essbase
   Financial Management Server
   Financial Management Web
   EPM System Clients

   

   
   Database Settings
   
   
   Create an Oracle 11g database with AL32UTF8 character set encoding, and set the following database parameters:
   
   

   • Number of process 600
   • Number of Sessions 750
     
     Database Accounts for EPM System Deployment
     
     
     Create the following database accounts to support new EPM System deployments:
     
     
     • One account for EPM System Repository
     • One account for Financial Management
     • One account for FDM application
       Each FDM application requires a separate database account. Before creating an FDM application, you must create a new database account for it.
     • One account for a Planning application
       Each Planning application requires a separate database account. Before creating a Planning application, you must create a database account for it.
       
       Database Roles and Privileges for EPM System Accounts
       
       
       • CREATE SESSION
       • CREATE VIEW
       • CREATE TYPE
       • CREATE TABLE
       • CREATE CLUSTER
       • CREATE TRIGGER
       • CREATE SEQUENCE
       • CREATE INDEXTYPE
       • CREATE PROCEDURE
       • CREATE ANY SYNONYM
       • DROP ANY SYNONYM
       • UNLIMITED TABLESPACE
         
         
         
         

         
         

   
   
   
   EPM System Software Dependencies
   
   This section describes the required EPM System software for EPM System components. Use it to understand what selections to make in EPM System Installer based on the products purchased by the client.In some cases, EPM System Installer preselects products for you when there is a dependency.
   
   For example, when you are installing Planning, Essbase Server is preselected. When you are installing Web Analysis, Reporting and Analysis Framework Services and Common Libraries is preselected.
   
   Essbase 
   
   

   

   
   Reporting& Analysis
   
   

   

   
   EPMA
   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   Data Management
   
   

   

   
   

Connectivity of HFM Application via Financial Reporting Studio

Connectivity of HFM Application  via Financial Reporting Studio

Issue:Error:Failed To Connect To HFM Application When Using Financial Reporting Studio : “Error connecting to database  connection : Server/Cluster is incorrectly configured.

In Financial Reporting Studio, users are trying to run reports that use a HFM datasource are getting an error.
“Error connecting to database connection [name]: Server/Cluster is incorrectly configured.  Please reconfigure your  Cluster or Server connection.”

RootCause:Financial Reporting Studio is not able to locate the HFM cluster.
Testing also determined that the HFM client could not connect to the HFM cluster.

The HFM cluster was not correctly configured.

Solution:Set up the HFM cluster on the FR Studio machine.

1. Go to Start > All Programs > Hyperion >Financial Management >Server and Web Configuration

2. Go to the Server/Cluster Registration tab.

3. Enter the computer name of the HFM server used to get cluster information or the name of the single server if using a 

non-clustered environment.  The HFM server needs to be referenced exactly as it is on the HFM server 

(hostname/IP/FQDN/clustername, as well as case-sensitivity for any letters).

4. Apply and OK.

5. Restart FR Studio.


Note: if HFM client is not on the FR Studio box, it will need to be installed prior to set up of the HFM cluster as listed 

above.

Limitations On Batch Bursting With Multiple Grids In Financial Reporting

Limitations On Batch Bursting With Multiple Grids In Financial Reporting

This article is to intended to provide some information on what can and cannot currently be done with the bursting feature of batch generation in Financial Reporting. One of the POV dimensions on a Financial Reporting report contained within the batch can be “burst”.  In other words, a member list can be defined for the chosen dimension, and the batch will generate individual reports, one for each member in the list.

Bursting does create some flexibility with batch output but there are certain limitations to the feature.  When Financial Reporting reports which contain more than one grid are added to a batch, bursting can be applied.  However, depending on certain factors, the bursting may or may not apply to all the grids.

An external file, called a Bursting Destination File, can be used to store the bursting selections externally. This is usually a file of type .csv (comma-separated values). Storing the member selections separately allows for easy editing and re-use. Any text editor (including Excel) can be used to modify the list. Additional information on this file can be found in the Hyperion Workspace User’s Guide.  The bursting information provided in this article is applicable whether or not a Destination File is used with the batch.

Troubleshooting

Multiple Grids, Different Data Sources

Bursting cannot be distributed across data sources.  If bursting is applied to a multiple-data-source setup, bursting will only apply to one of the grids as specified in the batch setup, and the user will decide upon which data source to burst.  The image below illustrates such an example.  The two grids point to different applications with no dimensions in common.  

Multiple Grids, Same Data Source, Same POV Dimension

In this setup, bursting will carry across the grids.  Bursting can only be applied to a single dimension in a batch.  For each grid in the report that contains the selected dimension in the POV, the bursting will apply.  Any grids pointing to this data source which do not include that dimension in the POV will not be included in the bursting.

In the example below, the data sources are identical, and although the dimension layout is not identical, two dimensions (Measures and Scenario) both appear in the POV.  So if a user adds this report to a batch, they can define bursting on either of those dimensions, and the bursting will apply to both grids.

Multiple Grids, Same Data Source, Different POV Dimension

Bursting will only affect one grid in this situation.  If the selected POV dimension only appears in one of the grids, then that grid will burst and the rest will not.

In the provided example, the data source is the same for both grids, but no dimensions are common to both POVs.  So bursting will only apply to one of the grids, whichever one has the specified dimension within the POV.



As of 11.1.2, by design, only one dimension can be burst in a batch.  An enhancement is presently under consideration to broaden this ability.  But as of the current plan, this extended functionality would only apply if the burst dimension had the same name and hierarchy in each referenced application.

For example, let’s say a report contains two grids.  Each report points to a different Essbase application.  Each application contains a dimension named Year, and each report grid has Year in the POV.  As long as the outline structure for Year is identical between applications, bursting can be distributed across the grids.

Verifying Data in a Financial Reporting (FR) Report

Verifying Data in a Financial Reporting (FR) Report

Financial Reporting (FR) does not actually validate data, but is a retrieval tool used with Essbase, Planning or Financial Mangement (HFM).

You are running a Financial Reporting report in Workspace or the FRStudio and you are not retrieving the data as you expect.  There are are steps you can use to compare the report retrieval to the data source to assist in determining where the issue is.

For example:
The data is not the same in your report as in your datasource application retrieval.You are not getting any data in the report, but you know there is data in your datasource.When you run your report, you receive the following error:”Error Invalid Report Object”

Note: this error is seen when there is no grid returned so the text function does not have a reference.

You need to create a form in the datasource and then compare to the Financial Reporting report.It is important to select the same members in the datasource form as you have selected in the FR report grid.  

It is also important to test in both places with the same userid so access/provisioning is the same.

Note: If a fully provisioned userid (like an admin) can see the data correctly in both the datasource form and the FR report, but an end user does not, you will need to review the data access of the user in the datasource.

If you are using Essbase as your datasource, you will create an Excel spreadsheet for comparison.

If you are using Planning as your datasource, create a data form for comparison.

If you are using HFM as your datasource, open the HFM application, select the members, then do data exploration.

EPM 11.1.2.2.New Features

EPM 11.1.2.2.New Features

1)Oracle Hyperion Calculation Manager has replaced Oracle Hyperion Business Rules as the mechanism for designing and managing business rules, therefore, Business Rules is no longer released with EPM System Release 11.1.2.2. If you are applying 11.1.2.2 as a maintenance release, or upgrading to Release 11.1.2.2, and have been using Business Rules in an earlier release, you must migrate to Calculation Manager rules in Release 11.1.2.2. See Oracle Enterprise Performance Management System Installation and Configuration Guide.

The EPM System Media pack on Oracle Software Delivery Cloud has been simplified.  Software downloads have been merged together. See the Media Pack Readme for a list of downloads needed for your domain/product.

• Parts 1-4 contains the common components and WebLogic, OPMN, Installer plus the core products, 
• Parts  5-7 contains the rest of the product assemblies.
• OHS Comes as a seperate Installer .
• DRM & ODI Sepearate Installers

“Installation of Oracle HTTP Server is now optional. If you choose not to install Oracle HTTP Server, for example in a development environment, Oracle Hyperion Enterprise Performance Management System Installer installs an embedded WebLogic HTTP Server as part of Oracle Hyperion Foundation Services that acts as a proxy server. In a production environment, Oracle recommends that you install Oracle HTTP Server for use with Oracle WebLogic Server or IBM HTTP Server for use with WebSphere. You can also install and manually configure Apache HTTP Server with WebLogic Server.” – Interesting to see that there are number of additional options available instead of just OHS and IIS

2)IBM WebSphere 7.0.0.19+ (AS, ND) is now supported as an application server.  Documentation about deploying to WebSphere is in the chapter titled “Deploying EPM System Products to WebSphere Application Server” in the Oracle Enterprise Performance Management System Installation and Configuration Guide.

3)FireFox 10.x+ and Internet Explorer 9 are now supported Web browsers.

4)Microsoft Office 2010 64 bit is now supported.

5)Microsoft Windows Installer (MSI) Client Installers are now provided for Oracle Essbase Client, Oracle Essbase Administration Services Console, Oracle Essbase Studio Console, and Oracle Hyperion Financial Management Client-It was possible to get EAS and Studio installers in a 11.1.2.1 patch but it looks like all the clients are finally available as standalone installers.

6)Online Help content for EPM System products is served from a central Oracle download location, which reduces the download and installation time for EPM System. You can also install and configure online Help to run locally. For more information, see the Oracle Enterprise Performance Management System Installation and Configuration Guide.
 For more information on , please see the “Oracle Enterprise Performance Management System, Release 11.1.2.2.000 Readme (http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E17236_01/epm.1112/epm_1112200_readme.pdf).

7)The Oracle Enterprise Manager “Fusion Middleware Control” is now installed and deployed with EPM System. You can use this tool to manage the WebLogic domain and all Java Web applications in EPM System out of the box.”  – This was available in previous releases by extending the WebLogic domain which I blogged about here and now you don’t even have to worry as it is all configured automatically.

8)Three new “rapid deployment” documents provide step-by-step instructions for building a typical Oracle Hyperion Planning, Financial Management, or Essbase development environment on a single server running Microsoft Windows.” – These documents were actually available in 11.1.2.1 but have now been updated for 11.1.2.2 and merged into the EPM documentation.

9)A new Oracle Enterprise Performance Management System Standard Deployment Guide outlines the best-practice approach for deploying EPM System products. This approach is based on creating a base deployment of the products and then scaling out the services to handle the needed capacity.” – This was also available for 11.1.2.1 and has been brought up to date and merged into the standard documentation. Is there such thing as a standard deployment?

10)A new “ADF” Web application has been added for Financial Management. – Is this the start of FM moving away from being forced down the windows IIS route, once again I think the new ADF interface has been optimised for IE9 and Firefox 10 but I believe you are not forced to use it and can use the existing one.

11)Financial Management FM Clusters are now managed centrally through the SS Registry  – “You can now manage Financial Management clusters from one machine. Cluster information is now stored in Oracle Hyperion Shared Services Registry rather than in the Windows registry.” 

12)The Oracle Hyperion Financial Reporting Print Server is now part of the Financial Reporting Web application. You no longer have to install the Print Server as part of the Financial Reporting Studio installation, and you no longer need Microsoft Office on the Print Server.” – All change again in this release but I believe it is a milestone as at last it looks like the print server is not windows only and there is no need to install a PDF renderer such as GhostScript.

13)You can now deploy EPM System Web applications to a single managed server (compact server) in Development, Test, and Production environments. This reduces the overall memory requirement of EPM System and reduces startup time.” – Compact deployment was available in 11.1.2.1 and I blogged about it here but it was only supported for development and was a manual configuration.

14)There are additional important considerations if you are upgrading to 11.1.2.2 and using planning.

15)Oracle Hyperion Calculation Manager has replaced Oracle Hyperion Business Rules as the mechanism for designing and managing business rules, therefore, Business Rules is no longer released with EPM System Release 11.1.2.2” – Business Rules have finally bit the dust so if you are currently using them and planning to upgrade then it is worth investing time getting up to speed with Calc Manager.  

16)The documentation also states that the server hosting planning must have at least 16GB ram, I am interested to understand if this new release of planning really does require that amount of memory and how does that fit into the world of compact deployment.

There is also reference to having to upgrade your client browser to use the new version of Planning – 

“The new, improved Planning user interface requires efficient browsers to handle interactivity provided through Web 2.0 like functionality. In our testing, Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8, and Firefox 3.x are not sufficient to handle such interactivity, and the responsiveness in these versions of browsers is not as fast as the user interface in the previous releases of Planning. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you upgrade your browser to Internet Explorer 9 or Firefox 10 to get responsiveness similar to what you experienced in previous releases.”

It looks like it still possible to use the existing 11.1.2.1 user interface by setting the property ORACLE_ADF_UI in planning to false.

17)There have been a number of enhancements with Shared Services –
•Allows you to rename the default admin account during the deployment process. 
•After deploying Foundation Services, you can deactivate the default EPM System Administrator account after provisioning another user with the Shared Services Administrator role.

I know the ability to change or rename the admin account has been raised a number of times in the past and it is good to see that Oracle have taken note.

18)LCM has been given an overhaul with many new features and changes –
•Simplified User Interface
•Simplified Migration Definition File
•Simplified Migration Status Report
•Automatic Application Shell Creation for Classic Applications
•Shared Disk Location defined in the configurator
•Support for ERPi
•Additional FR artifacts – Annotations, User POV, Batch jobs
•New replace option for Reporting and Analysis where only artifacts that have a newer last modified timestamp will be imported.

Oracle Exalytics

Oracle Exalytics

 The below is my understanding on Oracle Exalytics,I happen to learn about it when I directly worked with Oracle’s Product Assurance Group (PAG) while they visited one   of my  prior client for Oracle Exalytics POC.

 An Overview of the Oracle Exalytics.

  Oracle Exalytics is a new “BI machine” designed specifically for Business Intelligence and Enterprise Performance Management. With a massive 1TB RAM and 40 CPU     cores, this machine can and will take performance to a level never seen before. Adaptive in  memory cache in memory analytics  with built in s/w &h/w.The reason why   performance is to extreme is that the Exalytics architecture is designed to store your business intelligence data in main memory, this means response time is   dramatically faster with no network latency or disk I/O.

  The term “speed of thought” has already been used a lot with Exalytics – this is referring to the fact that your reports run so quickly that they refresh with new      data   even whilst you are typing in the filter criteria.

  Steps Performed for Exalytics POC  are outlined ,other steps would be  updated here soon

•    Make the  changes on Weblogic  em
•    bidomain operations lock
•    Invoke operations commit
•    BI Admin Tools-utilities from rpd then stopped opmnctl services
•   setup Timesten db in physical layer
•   set the connection pool
•   Import the metadata  provide db source name
•   Enable usage tracking .
• Final step is to   Run the aggregates for testing open the Income statement under the reports Folder

Exalytics Components  

  Exalytics is a pre-installed / pre-configured machine running on Linux 64-bit. It comes with 3 main software components:

•   Oracle BI Foundation 11g (OBIEE release 11.1.1.6)
•   Oracle TimesTen (in-memory database)
•   Oracle Essbase 11g (memory optimized)

1) Is there a demonstration of Exalytics anywhere?

    Yes, see this recorded demonstration on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLLic4ytFsw

2) What is the difference between Exalytics, Exadata and Exalogic?

Fundamentally, the three “Exa” machines built by Oracle are designed to overcome bottlenecks in either one of 3 areas: Memory, Disk, CPU

Memory:Exalytics is designed to massively boost performance of Business Intelligence queries by processing vast amounts of data in memory
Disk:Exadata is designed to optimise the performance of large databases where most of the query overhead is experienced whilst reading or writing from disk
CPU:Exalogic is designed for large application servers (e.g. server farms, data centres, virtualization) with massively parallel and scalable CPU performance

3) I already have Oracle BI 11g, does Exalytics replace my existing hardware?

Yes. Your existing Oracle BI 11g application would be migrated in its entirety to the new Exalytics machine. 

4) What is TimesTen?

TimesTen is Oracle’s “in-memory” database – this means it stores all its data in memory so there is no disk overhead. Historically TimesTen has been used for 

applications which require lightning fast real-time data management. For example: Banks would use TimesTen to do fraud checks in a fraction of a second. 

With the introduction of Exalytics, TimesTen has been enhanced to support analytical processing for business intelligence queries. For Exalytics, your Oracle BI 11g 

queries will be directed against the TimesTen in-memory database cache rather than your underlying data sources.

TimesTen also comes with “columnar compression” which means that columns of data (e.g. Customer Name) are compressed at ratios of upto 5x to help expand the amount of data that can be stored in memory.

5) How does the TimesTen in-memory database get populated?

The TimesTen in-memory database actually gets populated dynamically by the Oracle BI 11g server – so you don’t have to manually write any scripts. The mechanism is actually an enhanced form of the “Aggregate Persistence Wizard” which has been a feature of Oracle BI since version 10g. With Exalytics, a “storage advisor” can be used to automatically analyse the usage of your BI deployment (i.e. the queries initiated by your end users) and make recommendations as to what data should be cached in TimesTen. You can then accept these recommendations (if you wish to do so) or you can make your own decisions.The cache structures within the TimesTen database will reflect the structure of the “Business Model” within your BI Repository (RPD). 

So if you have a logical dimension table “Dim – Account” with three columns “Account ID”, “Account Name”, “Account Type” then a table will exist on the TimesTen in-memory database with a similar structure. Note that if you choose to cache your data at the higher “Account Type” level then obviously the in-memory database will not  contain any data for “Account Id” or “Account Name”. For your fact logical tables, the TimesTen in-memory database will also contain tables to cache your logical facts. So there will be columns to store “$ Revenue” and  then surrogate keys to join to the related dimension structures on the in-memory database (e.g. for Dim – Account). 

The actual physical tables created automatically on TimesTen will have system generated names.

6) Can we cache further data into the in-memory database whilst the system is running?

The answer from Oracle Product Development is “yes”. So if a new BI Dashboard is published during the week then you can dynamically start caching the underlying data  into the TimesTen in-memory database without any downtime.

7) The in-memory database seems to be similar to BI Server “caching”, is this true?

No, not really! BI Server caching is for caching the end results of “Logical SQL” queries. With Exalytics, the TimesTen in-memory database caches data in structures that resemble the Business Model in your RPD.

BI Server caching is optimized for lots of small results sets whereas TimesTen in-memory database can handle upto 5TB of cached data (making use of compression). BI  Server caching is also a file-based cache, whereas TimesTen data will reside totally in RAM.

There is no reason however why you should not also use BI Server caching Exalytics – as it will cache the results of any ad hoc or other queries which were previously  not sourced directly from the TimesTen in-memory database. The BI Server cache on an Exalytics machine can be tuned to reside on a “RAM disk” so it also benefits from  in-memory capability.

8) My data is not stored in an Oracle database, can I still use Exalytics?

Yes, definitely. Because the TimesTen in-memory database is populated through the Oracle BI 11g Server, the underlying data can be stored in just about any type of  database.

9) It sounds fantastic, but does Exalytics have any limitations?

So far the signs are extremely positive and Oracle have conducted several successful pilots with “beta” customers. However, there are a few limitations which are worth  highlighting, the first of which is common to all “aggregate layers” within a BI architecture:

• To make use of the TimesTen in-memory database, your calculations must be “additive” i.e. you must be able to accurately derive the calculation results from the  data stored in the TimesTen cache. So you will need to take care when performing averages, for example. COUNT DISTINCT operations are also non-additive.

• In order to make use of the TimesTen in-memory database, you need to bulk load data into it. So this means there will be an extra task at the end of your ETL cycles to repopulate the entire TimesTen cache. Exalytics comes with extremely fast network cards so data transfer can be rapid, and there is even an Infiniband (40GB/s) connection to connect to an Exadata machine. There is a “double buffering” technique with high-availability architectures which could potentially simulate incremental  and trickle-feed loading.UPDATED: Incremental loading for Exalytics is now possible ,incrementally loading TimesTen in-memory aggregates and in parallel.
• We have seen that Ragged, Skipped-Level and Parent-Child hierarchies are not supported. So this means only level-based hierarchies are supported, for the time being  at least.

10) I don’t currently use Essbase, so how would I use the Essbase component on Exalytics?

The memory-optimised Essbase that ships with Exalytics is designed to replace your existing Essbase cubes and boost the performance of your EPM applications. If you  don’t currently use Essbase then your initial focus should be on the Oracle BI 11g Foundation and TimesTen components of Exalytics. However there is nothing to stop  you from using the Essbase functionality whenver it suits you!

11) I have more than 1TB of data, can I still use Exalytics?

First of all, it is worth pointing out that although the Exalytics machine comes with 1TB of RAM, the reality is that around 400GB will be available for your “in-memory” data. The reason is that the TimesTen has two main memory configuration parameters:

•    PermSize: The permanent memory region – this is where your data is stored 
•  TempSize: The temporary memory region (used for sorts etc)

The recommended setting for both of these memory regions will be 400GB, consuming a total of 800GB RAM. This will leave approximately 200GB for OBIEE and any other  overheads.However, despite the 400GB recommended limit, TimesTen also has a compression feature so that you could potentially fit 5x more in to your in-memory cache. You should also remember that Exalytics is designed to be an “aggregate” layer, so you shouldn’t really be thinking about loading ALL you data into the TimesTen in-
memory cache. Instead, you should aim to load in as much summarised data as possible.

So if you have >1TB of data then you can still use Exalytics!

NOTE: The memory-optimised Essbase component does not have a compression feature. 

12) Does Exalytics support real-time Business Intelligence?

Yes and no. Your Exalytics queries do not all have to come from the TimesTen in-memory database, so you could report directly off your live transactional database and 

perform real-time BI.

However, as things currently stand, the Exalytics TimesTen in-memory database is not configured for “trickle-feed” incremental loading to support near-real-time BI. So  if you need to boost the performance of your real-time database queries then Exalytics may not be the answer for you.As stated above, there is a “double buffering” technique with high-availability architectures which could potentially simulate incremental and trickle-feed loading.

13) Does this mean I no longer need a Data Warehouse?

Absolutely not! Data Warehouses are fundamental when it comes to data consolodation, cleansing and scalability (for storing enormous quantites of data in a format  suitable for reporting purposes). 

You should view Exalytics as an “aggregate” or “performance” layer in your architecture – sitting on top of your Data Warehouse (such as Exadata).

14) With Exalytics can I still use Maps, Mobile Analytics (iPad), and Balance Scorecards?

Yes, the entire range of features available with the Oracle BI 11g Foundation suite is supported.

15) How is Exalytics licensed?

As always, you should contact your Oracle Sales Rep to gain full clairity on the license situation. But just as a guidance, licensing will typically be done on a per 

User basis:Minimum 100 named users for both Times Ten & BI Foundation Suite
                Existing customers of OBIEE or BI Foundation Suite can migrate licenses to Exalytics

Exalytics supports clustered solutions for disaster recovery and high availability:

• Requires a minimum of 2 hardware machines
• Requires Weblogic Server Enterprise Edition full license

The accurate pricing is available on Oracle’s price list it varies from client to client based on their allocated bundle discounts\ discounts

16) I am already licensed for Oracle BI 11g, can I migrate my existing licenses?

   Yes, refer the above section

17) How has Essbase changed for Exalytics?

Essbase on Exalytics has a number of optimizations for in-memory operation including improvements to overall storage layer performance, enhancements to parallel  operations, enhanced MDX syntax and a high performance MDX query engine. Essbase on Exalytics provides up to 16X faster query execution as well as up to 6X reduction  in write-back and calculation operations, including batch processes. These enhancements are particularly important for advanced use cases such as planning and  forecasting.

18) Once the box arrives, do I have to install Exalytics or is it all pre-installed?
Once you have the box plugged in you will then need to download and install the Exalytics software components: OBIEE, TimesTen and Essbase (Optional).
There are two main reasons for this:

1) You are always downloading and installing the latest software version
2) You are not tied down to a specific hostname or network configuration

  A utility is provided to fully install and configure OBIEE and TimesTen together. 

19) What happens if I load in more data than TimesTen’s memory capacity? 

The short answer to this is that you can’t! TimesTen is designed to work with all data in memory. So if TimesTen has 400GB allocated to your data, then you will not be  able to load in more than this. If you try then you’ll get an error!

20) What happens if I reboot the machine, do I lose my in-memory cache?

Although TimesTen is an in-memory database, the data is actually also stored on disk. So if you reboot the Exalytics machine then you won’t lose your data! When you  start up the TimesTen services after the reboot it will load all the data from disk into main memory.

NOTE: to avoid data loss/inconsistency you should always shut down TimesTen services gracefully before you reboot the machine.

Migrating EPM Applications from prior versions 6.5 \11.1.2.1 to the current versions 11.1.2.2

Essbase(EPM) Upgradation-Migration

  

 Essbase 6.5 –EPM 11.1.2 Upgradation.

         Use the Migration Wizard to Migrate the cubes from Essbase 6.5 to EPM 11.1.2.1       version

Take  Full Data back

Take a back up of App folder to the below path

XXXX/hyp/Oracle/Middleware/user_projects/epmsystem1/EssbaseServer/essbaseserver1/app

• Copy/create Empty shells of the cubes that needs to be migrated.
• Level 0 Data backup .
• Start the application .
•  Copy the otl and refresh the cube
• Then move the other files .Rul .csc
•  Import Partition then load data  
• Aggregate/ the data

Steps

1) Take Source system Essbase complete backup (Complete folder

Structure backup)

2) Take Level zero data extracts from the source and keep the file

3) Create the shell with same naming and properties in target system

4) Then copy all the files from backup to newly created Shell (first

do it for .OTL and refresh the cube)

5) Then move other files .csc, .rul and any other files

6) Load extracted level zero file into target and perform  aggregation

7) Verify the meta data and data from Target to Source to compare everything  is correct

Migrating from one Environment to other Environment.

•     Copy/create Empty shells of the cubes that needs to be migrated.
•      Right Click on the App click on Copy->Choose the Target Environment where it needs to be Migrated

Take a Backup of the below files

Components	Task
.otl	Backup
.rul	Backup
.csc	Backup
level 0 data	Export
Partition	Export

Migration Order
Start the newly copied/related Empty Shells with Same Naming Convention as in Source Environment
Import the Partitions  that were Exported
Load the Data and aggregate

Migrating  Essbase Server 9.3.x to a new server

Step 1: Create a backup of the current Essbase / EPM installation !
(including the application folders and security files – the Essbase Server must be stopped for this)

Step2:Using the CSSImportExportUtility, export the security information like user provisioning information either to a .CSV or .XML file.

Tip:CSSImportExportUtility can be accessed at the location “\Hyperion\common\utilities\CSSImportExportUtility”. 
Once you unzip the utility, go through the .pdf document and perform import/export.

Step 3:On new server, please install the desired Hyperion components like Essbase Server, Essbase Administration Services, Hyperion Shared Services etc. Configure them by order.

Step 4:Externalize the Essbase with the Shared Services and import the security information using the CSSImportExportUtility. 

Step5:Migrate all the applications from the existing Essbase Server to new Essbase Server using the Migration Wizard.

Essbase Maintenance Release Installation Prerequisites for Essbase Release 11.1.2.0 or Release 11.1.2.1 to Release 11.1.2.2

If you are applying the maintenance release to move from Essbase Release 11.1.2.0 or Release 11.1.2.1 to Release 11.1.2.2, you must first export linked reporting object (LRO) information from the 11.1.2.0 or Release 11.1.2.1 database, and then delete the linked reporting objects. After installing and configuring, you import the exported linked reporting objects.

  To export linked reporting objects from Essbase Release 11.1.2.0 or Release 11.1.2.1:

1. On the machine hosting the Release 11.1.2.0 or Release 11.1.2.1 installation, back up the application linked reporting object data to a specified directory by using the following MAXL command:

   EXPORT database DBS-NAME LRO to server directory ‘directoryName’;

   For example:

   MAXL> EXPORT database Sample.Basic LRO to server directory ‘V1’;

   In this example, Sample.Basic LRO data is exported to Sample-Basic-V1 in ARBORPATH/app.

2. Remove the application linked reporting object data with the following MAXL command:

   ALTER database DBS-NAME delete LRO all

   For example:

   MAXL> ALTER database sample.basic delete LRO all;

3. Shut down the Essbase Release 11.1.2.0 or Release 11.1.2.1 server.
4. Install and configure Essbase Release 11.1.2.2.
5. Import the linked reporting objects to Essbase Release 11.1.2.2.
   For details on this step, see Importing Linked Reporting Objects.

When moving from Release 11.1.2.0.x or 11.1.2.1.x to Release 11.1.2.2, you can only use the Apply Maintenance Release option in Oracle Hyperion Enterprise Performance Management System Installer, instead of following the documented upgrade procedures.

Release Upgrade Path From	To
11.1.2.x	11.1.2.2 Note: When moving from Release 11.1.2.0.x or 11.1.2.1.x to Release 11.1.2.2, you can only use the Apply Maintenance Release option in Oracle Hyperion Enterprise Performance Management System Installer, instead of following the documented upgrade procedures.
11.1.1.3.x	11.1.2.2
11.1.1.4.x	11.1.2.2
9.3.3.x Note: If you have Performance Management Architect Release 9.3.1, you can download Oracle Hyperion Shared Services 9.3.3 from My Oracle Support.	11.1.2.2
A release earlier than Release 9.3.3.x	If you are upgrading from a release earlier than 9.3.3.x, you must first upgrade to a supported release and then upgrade to release 11.1.2.2. For upgrade procedures for the earlier release, see the product installation guides for the interim release that you are upgrading to.
An environment that includes multiple releases, such as one or two instances of Shared Services	See “Upgrading from an Environment with Multiple Releases” in the “Upgrading EPM System Products” chapter in the Oracle Enterprise Performance Management System Installation and Configuration Guide.

Notes:

• If you are starting from Release 9.2.0.3+, 9.3.0.x, 9.3.1.x (except for Oracle Essbase 9.3.1.4.1, 9.3.1.5, 9.3.1.6, and 9.3.1.7), or 11.1.1.x, upgrade to Release 11.1.1.3 as your interim release.
• If you are starting from an earlier release, Oracle recommends that you upgrade to the highest level release that directly supports upgrade from your starting release.
• Security Synchronization between Essbase and Oracle Hyperion Shared Services was removed in Essbase 9.3, starting with Release 9.3.1.4.1. Consequently, if you use Essbase Release 9.3.1.4.1, 9.3.1.5, 9.3.1.6, or 9.3.1.7, upgrade all products to Release 9.3.3, not 11.1.1.3.

Maintenance Release Prerequisites checklist

• You must apply the maintenance release to all EPM System products in the deployment. You cannot apply the maintenance release to only some products.
• All EPM services must be stopped.
• If you have any of the clients installed in the environment these must be removed as the clients are now standalone and the installer will not upgrade them.
• If linked objects (LROs) in essbase are being used they must be exported and deleted first.
• If you are using Business rules you must migrate to Calculation Manager. There are few options available and the documentation seems to differ between the configuration and the Calculation Manager documentation.
• If using Web Services manager with PCM then MDS schema will need upgrading.
• If you are using Financial Close then there are quite a few prerequisites so go through the documentation.

Maintenance Release Configuration Sequence

When you are applying the maintenance release to move from Release 11.1.2.0 or Release 11.1.2.1 to Release 11.1.2.2, when you launch EPM System Configurator, note the following:

  •On the Task Selection page, all required configuration tasks are preselected.

  •You must complete all Pending tasks in EPM System Configurator.

  •Do not start services for a product until the product’s configuration tasks are complete.

Upgrading Checklist

The following table identifies the high-level tasks that you perform to upgrade EPM System products. You must perform tasks in this order and you must complete the entire checklist.

The process described in this chapter assumes that you upgrade one product at a time and indicates where a sequence is required.

Note:

If you are upgrading from an environment with multiple releases, see Upgrading from an Environment with Multiple Releases.

Upgrading Checklist

Task	Reference	Check When Completed
Go through the tasks in the following section once for all EPM System products at one time.
Preparing to Upgrade
1. Review release compatibility, system requirements, and other prerequisites for this release. If your database environment needs to be upgraded, perform the database upgrade before you proceed. See the database documentation for details.	Oracle Enterprise Performance Management System Certification Matrix(http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/ias/downloads/fusion-certification-100350.html) Oracle Enterprise Performance Management System Installation Start Here
2. Prepare the new environment for the new Release 11.1.2.2 installation. Note: Create a new database to store Shared Services data. (However, if you are upgrading from Release 11.1.1.3 or 11.1.1.4 and you used one database repository for all products, you do not need to create a new database for Shared Services. The Shared Services tables will be dropped during configuration.) Tip: In preparation for a new installation, you can use a worksheet to note the machines on which earlier release products are installed, and the machines on which you plan to install the new release products. You can refer to this information in subsequent procedures.	Oracle Enterprise Performance Management System Installation Start Here
3. Perform upgrade-specific prerequisite tasks.	Upgrade Installation Prerequisites
4. Download and prepare the installation files.	Downloading and Preparing Files for Installation
5. Prepare data for upgrading.	Preparing Data for Upgrading
6. Stop EPM System services if you are upgrading on the same machine.	Stopping EPM System Services
7. Uninstall the earlier release of EPM System products. Oracle recommends that you uninstall if you are upgrading to the same machine.	Uninstalling the Earlier Release of EPM System Products
Iterate through the following checklist items for each product, one product at a time, in the following order: Foundation Services. Essbase Server and all other Essbase products. Note that after configuring other Essbase products, you must also configure the Web server. After configuration, restart the Web Server and EPM Workspace. You can configure all Essbase products at one time if the products that use a database are configured to use the same database. Otherwise, you can perform the configure database task separately for each Essbase product. All other EPM System products, in any order. Note that after configuring each product, you must also configure the Web server. After configuration, restart the Web Server and EPM Workspace. Tip: Oracle recommends that after completing each step, you return to this checklist so that you perform the upgrade steps in the correct order.
Installing and Configuring
8. Install EPM System products (choosing the New installation option) in a new installation location. Tip: After installation, use the EPM System Defects Fixed Finder on My Oracle Support (https://support.oracle.com/oip/faces/secure/km/DocumentDisplay.jspx?id=1292603.1) to determine whether any patches are required for your environment. If required, apply the patches after installation.	Installing EPM System Products for an Upgrade for information specific to installation when you are upgrading Installing EPM System Products for general information about installation
9. Configure Release 11.1.2.2 products. Note that you must configure Foundation Services first. Foundation Services must be installed and configured for other products to configure successfully. Caution! If you have already configured the Web server and you configure any additional products, you must run EPM System Configurator again and select the Foundation Services Configure Web Server task. Then, restart the Web server and EPM Workspace.	Configuring EPM System Products in an Upgrade for information specific to configuration when you are upgrading
10. Start EPM System services.	Starting and Stopping EPM System Products
Validating the Installation
11 Using EPM System Diagnostics, validate the installation.	Validating the Installation and Verifying Deployment
Performing Post-Configuration Tasks
12. Complete product-specific postconfiguration tasks.	Performing Postconfiguration Tasks
13. If products have been rehosted on a new server, make updates, such as updating data source connections.	Updating References to a Rehosted Environment
14. Upgrade applications for the following products from the earlier release to the current release: FDM Note that Planning applications are upgraded using the Upgrade Wizard, which also includes steps for rehosting. Other applications are upgraded during configuration.	Upgrading Applications from the Earlier Release to the Current Release
15. Perform product-specific upgrade tasks for products that you upgraded.	Performing Additional Product-Specific Upgrade Tasks
16. FDM only: If your previous deployment did not use Shared Services security, transfer users and groups to Shared Services. If you used Shared Services security in the earlier release, you can skip this procedure.	Transferring Existing FDM Users to Shared Services

Migrating Application from Planning 11.1.2.1 to 11.1.2.2 

Steps:

1. Create a shell Planning app in 11.1.2.2
2. Backup the database for the application created above
3. Synchronize HSS between the source and destination environments 
4. Take a copy of the database for the source application
5. Stop the Hyperion Planning service 
6. Restore the database of the source application on top of the database for the destination application.
7. Confirm that owner SID for the app is still the same in the destination
8. Clear the version of the application in the planning database
9. Start Hyperion services in the destination application.
10. log into planning and it will ask you to upgrade the application.
11. Once thats done remember your substitution variables (in Planning), location aliases and the data (exported & imported as text files through EAS).

Migrating Financial Reporting from  11.1.2.1 to 11.1.2.2 

Caution!

Review, understand, and satisfy the following requirements. If you do not meet the requirements, applications may malfunction, and you may experience service interruptions and data loss.

1. Before running the Upgrade Wizard during installation, perform these tasks:
   • Create a Release 11.1.2.1 test environment that is identical to your 11.1.2.1 production environment.
   • Ensure that you can log on to Oracle Hyperion Shared Services Console using an account enabling Oracle Hyperion Enterprise Performance Management System Lifecycle Management tasks.
   • Ensure that you can log on to Oracle Hyperion Enterprise Performance Management Workspace as a Oracle Hyperion Financial Reporting administrator.
2. On the 11.1.2.1 test environment you created in Step 1, upgrade Planning to Release 11.1.2.2 as described in the Oracle Enterprise Performance Management System Installation and Configuration Guide and Managing Upgrades in the Oracle Hyperion Planning Administrator’s Guide.
3. Update references to rehosted data sources (relational databases and Essbase servers).
   See “Managing Upgrades” in the Oracle Hyperion Planning Administrator’s Guide.
4. On the upgraded environment, create a Release 11.1.2.2 Public Sector Planning and Budgeting application.
   You will copy 11.1.2.2 artifacts from this 11.1.2.2 application to the existing 11.1.2.1 application, which this document will subsequently refer to as the 11.1.2.1 test application. Create the 11.1.2.2 application to be identical to the 11.1.2.1 test application, as follows:

   Note:

   When you create the 11.1.2.2 application, do not enable the Decision Package and Commitment Control options.

   • Uses the same budget detail
   • Uses the same currency options
   • Has the same calendar definition (application start year and number of years, for example)

   Note:

   If your 11.1.2.1 application uses Business Rules as the calculation module, before proceeding with the following steps, you must migrate all your applications from Business Rules to Calculation Manager by following the steps in the Oracle Enterprise Performance Management System Installation and Configuration Guide.

5. Launch Planning Release 11.1.2.2, open the 11.1.2.1 test application, and then click Upgrade.
   This step performs the required schema upgrade to make the application valid for Release 11.1.2.2. However, in the subsequent steps, this application is still referred to as the 11.1.2.1 test application to distinguish it from 11.1.2.2 application that you created in Step 4.

Financial Reporting Maintenance Release Installation Prerequisites

It is no longer necessary to install Financial Reporting Print Server separately as it is included by default with the Financial Reporting Web Application on all platforms. No separate Financial Reporting Print Server service is created. However, before installing Financial Reporting, meet the following prerequisites:

If you were working in Release 11.1.2.0:

• Uninstall Financial Reporting Studio using uninstall.cmd in EPM_ORACLE_HOME/uninstall.
• Delete the HRPrinter drivers from the Printers list using the Windows Control Panel.
• Disable “Hyperion Financial Reporting – Print Service” in Windows Services Microsoft Management Console, Console and then delete the following Windows registry entries (back up the registry before you proceed):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_FRPRINTSERVICE
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EventLog\Application\FRPrintService
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\FRPrintService
If you were working in Release 11.1.2.1:

• Remove “Hyperion Financial Reporting – Print Service” using FRRemovePrintServer.cmd in /Program Files [(x86)]/Oracle/FinancialReportingStudio/products/financialreporting/install/bin. This removes both the Windows service and the HRPrinter drivers.
• Uninstall Financial Reporting Studio using Windows Control Panel Add\Remove Programs (Windows XP or Windows 2003) or Programs and Features (Windows 7 or Windows 2008).
• Delete the folder /Program Files/Oracle/FinancialReportingStudio.

2.Backup repository & relational database 
3.Intiate the Maintenance Release wizard.


Migrating or upgrading the EPM Products can be achieved in multiple ways.
Inplace upgrade:Use the existing environment to perform upgradation it’s a tideos process with lot of manual configurations if proper backup is not taken the chances of identifying the failover are very less  and it could lead to a full system crash.

Clean Install\Out of Place:Oracle recommends most of its products to set with clean install and improvised migration utilities likethe HSSMigrate and EPM 11.1.2.X releases are set as Maintenance release instead of the standard upgrade approach however there are still a few prerequisites for  respective EPM Components once they are met there are noticeable  results when compared with prior upgrade techiques.

About Migrating Data and Artifacts

Following is an overview of the tasks required to migrate data and artifacts from the 11.1.2.2 application to the 11.1.2.1 test application:

1. Meet the requirements as described in Prerequisites.
2. Migrate dimension metadata using Planning or Oracle Hyperion EPM Architect as described in Migrating Dimensional Metadata.
3. Migrate business rules using Calculation Manager as described in Migrating Business Rules.
4. Migrate forms, menus, reports, and task lists using Lifecycle Management in Shared Services Console as described in Migrating Forms, Menus, Reports, and Task Lists.
5. Migrate Smart Lists using Lifecycle Management in Shared Services Console or Performance Management Architect as described in Migrating Smart List Metadata.
6. Perform post migration tasks such as refreshing the application (see Post Migration Tasks).
7. Verify the migrated data, and then use the same procedure to migrate the 11.1.2.1 production environm