OBIEE 11G RPD Migrate

Migrating an old rpd-fiel to the new format is a simple and straitforward process. When OBIEE 11G is installed a small utility is for this proces.
thsi utility can be found in

C:\oracle\obiee11g\Oracle_BI1\bifoundation\server\bin\obieemigrateutil.exe

It is a DOS(!) utility and must be executed at the dos-prompt!

Be aware that before this can be done, there is a previous step has to be taken.
To get all the path settinge right, an other script has to be executed.

ORACLE_INSTANCE/bifoundation/OracleBIApplication/coreapplication/setup/bi-init.cmd

(this set's your path right for the conversion)

when these stap's are done, it's a small step to perform a upgrade



The resulting rpd has all teh features of the old rpd excluding the security! because obiee is working on the weblogic server all the security is done by the weblogic server. In OBIEE there is something like a viewer but that's all.

OBIEE 11G installation issues (part 1)

Finaly Oracle has released OBIEE 11G to be downloaded. Last Saturday we collected the software to have a go at the installation.

The first major difference was the mandatory installation of a database, the database is needed for the repository’s that were created during this installation. Because OBIEE 11G is a integrated part of the Fusion Software it only works with the weblogic server and a few repositoy’s (schema’s ) in database. You can say that Oracle has now integrated OBIEE more into all the other Oracle software.

A full installation now includes:
1) A database
2) Creation of the repository’s with the RCU, repository Creation Utility
3) installation van OBIEE11G

Starting on a laptop with Windows XP (SP3) the full installment went well, the only real issue was the time, is installing OBIEE 10G done in say 1 hour, OBIEE 11G took about 3 hour, this is very depending on the machine you are using.

An other major difference from OBIEE 10 is that instead of a choice of webserver, the weblogic server seems to be mandatory. At the end is make no difference besides the more and more resources that are necessary

All services started and on this laptop we started using OBIEE11G.

On the same moment colleague was trying to install the same software on a Windows 7 machine, but sofar this hasn’t ben the success we hope. First the installation gave some problems and halted several times. And when the installation was finally completed, there was no way to login to the BI- server. Surprisingly the weblogic server was up and running and approachable. When using an Virtual PC environment on this pc everything went fine. For now Windows 7 isn’t the best choice.

Windows 7 & Oracle DB 11

Now that the Windows 7 machine is running I'm busy installing Oracle DB11.
Default out of the box it doesn't work! Oracle is complaining about the kernel of windows, Windows 7 kernel version is 6.x and Oracle want 5.x.
The workaround for this problem is starting the Oracle installer in compatibility mode, you can choose between various previous windows version.

When using Windows XP sp2 as the correct windows version i had no problem installing oracle db11.
After installing all the Oracle goodies appear in the program list and using sql plus (in a dos box!) work as expected.

Next step is installing OBIEE, the major issue here is probably the version of Windows 7 I have installed; Home Premium. As far as I know this version doesn't support IIS. When this is true I have to install a different application server.

Phone issues, Nokia 6700

Last week we received our new phone, the sleek and handy Nokia 6700. It has all the usual goodies and a GPS receiver.
And I have an annoying problem with it. I can't connect my Jabra PT5050 to this phone. All the other blue tooth devices I can find connect in no time. It's frustrating!

I tried to upgrade the phone from OS version 7.6 to 7.9, but so far no luck: every try ends in a warning.
Oh, and when the phone is in screen save mode, you can tap on the backside and a wonderful analog clock pops up on the screen (and disappears after a few seconds).

Windows 7

Last weekend I finally installed Windows 7 on a pc, not the most advanced one, a Pentium IV with 3.5 Gb ram (a Dell GX270). As it turned out, the only real problem was with the video adapter, an internal little Intel thing. A good look at the bios showed that er was only one Mb ram allocated for the video after changing that to 8 Mb all went well. It now runs like never before.

The next step was installing some essentials; Firefox, no worries, Thunderbird, idem. Installing Open Office also went without any problems

The next challenge will be installing an Oracle Database and the OBIEE suite. When Windows 7 gives a problem, a solution can be using Sun Virtual Box (also installed on Windows 7). With this software you can install any other operating system and than install the software in there. I have now a Virtual box with Ubuntu and I will make a second one with Windows XP (just for trying).

Keep you posted!

Discoverer Admin Visual C++ error

last week we had a major problem with Oracle Discoverer Admin. After exporting the EUL, it wasn't possible to import the file in the target database, we got a visual C++ runtime library error, no number nothing, just the error, and NO import. I repeat the process 2 or 3 times with the same result. Tried an other pc, a fresh install of Discoverer Admin, the result was the same. No import. For good measure I imported the fiel in a test database and that went effortless. After discussing this problem with a senior DBA he suggested to stop and start the intended database. And this work. We still don't know where the probem came from but we have a solution. And that is all that maters.

Datawarehousing with scripting

The Datawarehouse is filled not with the aid of a datawarehouse tool but with scripting. The reasons for this solutions are made in the past and we have to stay with them. It is and can be a little troublesome to get all the scripting working in a proper way but at the end solution works fast and reliable. As a bonus we know what is happening. (somewhere in the future there will be a transition to a datawarehouse tool but for now that is no option.)