Oracle has recommended settings for Internet Explorer (IE7, IE8, IE9, IE10 and IE11) when using Hyperion products. I get this question a lot from my clients, so I thought I would share Oracles suggested settings. Without changing these, there will be intermittent problems, and frustration points.
I was recently testing out the performance of rulesets that were attached to forms, and ran into an issue that had me scratching my head. Certain rulesets were not running or even appearing on forms that they were attached to in the Planning application. Turns out, the rules had been corrupted in the transfer between Calc Manager and the Planning application Read more
This post covers the basics of building a Planning app. Building a Planning application can be a straightforward process; however, there are some pitfalls to watch out for. One or two mistakes can lead to some major headaches in trying to decipher what went wrong. Whether a beginner or a seasoned vet looking for a quick refresher, this guide will outline the steps necessary to successfully create/deploy a Planning application. Read more
If you have recently upgraded your web browser to IE8 and attempted to use Hyperion Workspace, you’ve likely encountered difficulty in navigating the interface. When a user clicks on the wheel in the upper left hand corner, selects “Applications,” they can’t see the menu as it apearrs to be condensed.
This issue can be quickly resolved by making a browser modification to the IE security. It is best to run this settings change past your IT department to ensure it will not open holes in your company’s security profile.
To correct this issue,
1. Open IE8
2. select “Tools”->”Internet Options”
3. Select the “Security” tab and “Custom Level”.
4. You will have 4 zones where security changes can be performed (Internet, Local Internet, Trusted sites, Restricted sites). The change can be made to each of these 4 zones if necessary, but it’s possible only one zone needs modified. Test the combination that works for your environment and fits your companies IT/security profile.
5. Select the “Internet” zone and scroll down the menu of options to find “Allow script-initiated windows without size or position constraints”. This will likely be set to “Disable”… select “Enable” and click “OK”. (If prompted, accept the change just made to the zone security).
6. Select “OK” from the security tab to finalize the modification.
7. Test the modification to verify the change worked as intended. As noted above, you might need to enable this setting on multiple zones in order for the setting to take effect.
When using Workspace to view reports, some users have seen excessively large numbers that don’t belong. If you are having this issue, it could very well be because the default Essbase query engine in 11.1.1.x is the MDX query engine, which can cause documented bug 9062413. Essentially, this bug will cause users to see the same astronomical number in every cell that sits on an intersection to which the user does not have security access. Understandably, this can cause some concern. This issue is expected to be fixed in a future release, but until then, the query engine will need to be manually changed.
The first option is to fix the issue at a report level. This is a relatively quick process and is a good idea if you only have a handful of reports. To change the query engine setting for a particular report, follow the steps below:
1. Open the report.
2. For each grid, select the entire grid.
3. Right-click and select Data Query Optimization Settings.
4. Deselect the option “Essbase Queries Use MDX.”
5. Save the report.
Repeat the above process for each report.
For users that have a larger number of reports, a better option may be to change the query engine in the properties file on the server. The benefit to fixing the issue in the properties file is that changes only need to be made once, and all reports will reflect this change.
The file that needs to be edited is located on the Financial Reporting (app) server, typically on the path D:\<Hyperion Home>\products\biplus\lib where <Hyperion Home> represents the root location of the Hyperion install. The file that needs adjusted is the fr_global.properties file.
Open the properties file and add these lines:
# MDX Query Engine has been set as the default in Essbase 11.1.1.x. This can cause bug 9062413
# which may cause unauthorized users to see a long series of numbers in each cell when running
# reports. To solve this issue, the below line was added, which switches the query engine.
EssbaseUseMDX=false
Any line preceded by “#” is commented out. Therefore, these can say whatever you prefer, but should give anyone that views this file a good indication why this text is in the file.
Once the properties file has been updated, the following services must all be stopped in the following order, then started in the same order for the changes to take effect.
1. Hyperion Financial Reporting – Print Server
2. Hyperion Financial Reporting – Report Server
3. Hyperion Financial Reporting – Scheduler Server
4. Hyperion Financial Reporting – Web Application (Note – This service may be on the FR (Web) server, not the FR(App) server like the other three services.)
Note – This modification will apply to everyone using the server on which they are made, so be careful when making changes to a shared server.
There is, what appears to be, a bug in Hyperion Planning that causes business rules that take longer than 5 minutes to re-launch. The following, published by Oracle, explains the root issue of this problem. It is not a bug, but a setting in the host web server that causes the request post multiple times. This explaination from Oracle clearly states that this is ONLY an issue when accessing Hyperion Planning through Hyperion Workspace. I have seen the same response while accessing Hyperion Planning directly. Regardless of your entry point, it is a good proctice account for either entry method and should be applied.
This applies to Hyperion Planning, Version: 9.3.1.0.00 to 11.1.1.3.00 and is applicable to all operating systems.
When accessing Planning, Business Rules that normally take more than 5 minutes to complete
run for an unlimited period of time. By viewing the running Essbase sessions in the EAS console, you can see that the Business Rules “Calculate” sessions are being re-launched every 5 minutes, so that a new instance of the Rule is launched before the first can complete.
This issue only affects Business Rules that normally take more than 5 minutes to complete.
This issue does not affect Business Rules launched directly from Planning (accessing Planning directly on its own URL, bypassing the Workspace). This issue does not affect Business Rules launched from the EAS console. This issue only affects systems using Weblogic as a web application server.
This issue is caused by a default timeout setting of 5 minutes (300 seconds) in the Weblogic HTTP Server Plugin. This plugin is a set of configuration files in which Weblogic defines how it will interact with the HTTP Server through which Workspace is accessed. More information on Weblogic Plugins is available here: http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E13222_01/wls/docs92/pdf/plugins.pdf
Hyperion System 9 and Oracle EPM 11.1.1.x support the use of either Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) or Apache as an HTTP server. The steps to increase the timeout depend on which you are using. The new timeout value should be set to a value larger than the time the longest-running Business Rule takes to execute. The examples below use a setting of 30 minutes (1800 seconds).
Step 1
Edit %HYPERION_HOME%\common\httpServers\Apache\2.0.52\conf\HYSL-WebLogic.conf
Step 2
Add (or edit, if already present) the following parameters to the two sections for Planning, and also to the two sections for Financial Reporting and Workspace, as the 5 minute timeout issue can cause problems in all three products.Each section begins with an XML tag.
WLIOTimeoutSecs 1800 HungServerRecoverSecs 1800 <LocationMatch /HyperionPlanning> <LocationMatch /HyperionPlanning/*>
Add the new “WLIOTimeoutSecs 1800” and “HungServerRecoverSecs 1800” properties as new lines within the tags. If you are using a version of Weblogic prior to 9.x you need to add the second line “HungServerRecoverSecs 1800” in addition to the “WLIOTimeoutSecs 1800” parameter. This second parameter is not necessary for Weblogic 9.x and later (though it will do no harm).
PathTrim / KeepAliveEnabled ON KeepAliveSecs 20 WLIOTimeoutSecs 1800 HungServerRecoverSecs 1800
Step 1
There are several copies of the iisproxy.ini file. Oracle recommends you modify the files for Planning, Financial Reporting and Workspace, as the 5 minute timeout issue can cause problems in all three products.
Paths (note that “hr” below stands for Financial Reporting):
%HYPERION_HOME%\deployments\WebLogic9\VirtualHost\hr
%HYPERION_HOME%\deployments\WebLogic9\VirtualHost\HyperionPlanning
%HYPERION_HOME%\deployments\WebLogic9\VirtualHost\workspace
Step 2
For each copy of iisproxy.ini, add the following lines at the end of each file. If you are using a version of Weblogic prior to 9.x you need to add the second line “HungServerRecoverSecs=1800” in addition to the “WLIOTimeoutSecs=1800” parameter. This second parameter is not necessary for Weblogic 9.x and later (though it will do no harm).
WLIOTimeoutSecs=1800
HungServerRecoverSecs=1800
Step 3
Restart IIS from the IIS Manager and restart the Workspace web application service
Step 1
Modify the file mod_wl_ohs.conf file under the directory, $EPM_ORACLE_INSTANCE\httpConfig\ohs\config\OHS\ohs_component with the following content:
<LocationMatch ^/HyperionPlanning/> SetHandler weblogic-handler WeblogicCluster PlaningServer:8300 WLIOTimeoutSecs -1 WLSocketTimeoutSecs 600 </LocationMatch>
Step 2
Restart the Oracle HTTP server and the Workspace web application services after the modifications are complete.
As Enterprise Performance Management and Business Intelligence systems become adopted as the core decision support mechanisms within organizations, the need for transparent, fact-based decisions increases. It not enough for these systems to provide the voluminous amount of data to the end user for analysis, but to tie data and decision inputs to the collaborative decisions that these systems support.
Although the organizational adoption of this style of decision making may face challenges, the technological groundwork is already in place. Oracle’s addition of Annotation Service to Financial Reporting 11.1.x allows the capture of shared information against reporting objects and data. This tool allows for threaded discussions and comments within EPM Workspace.
Let’s take a look at how users can utilize this tool against a Financial Report for a Planning application.
In installment #1 of this guide, we reviewed the architecture considerations and defined a simplistic architecture to use as a reference moving forward. I recommend you read the previous post before you pick up this one. I also recommend reading
“Oracle Hyperion Enterprise Performance Management System Installation Start Here Release 11.1.1.2.pdf (128 pages)” from the Oracle Documentation Library.
To reiterate our general approach, the Hyperion architecture establishment and installation activities in our organization cover the following five areas.
In this post, I will go through step 2 that the Hyperion architect, should deliver. Steps 3-5 will be available in the coming weeks. For the sake of simplicity I will be using the example of a common installation, primarily Hyperion Planning, Hyperion Financial Management (HFM), and the core BI applications.
As part of any installation, some items need to take place before the Fusion Installer is started. I like to create a checklist of things that need to be done. Often times these things are out of my control and I will rely on Database Administrator, Network Administrators, and other System Administrators. This checklist contains the following elements.
I’ll start with the Web Application Server Specification. Once the web application server platform is chosen from the table below, the installation and configuration often falls on System Administrators. Items such as clustering, system account management, and JVM setting are managed outside of the Hyperion installation. Other times, I’ll get admin access and manage it myself. The first item to do is to validate the application server is certified. This is directly from Oracle Enterprise Performance Management System – Supported Platforms Matrices “Oracle Enterprise Performance Management System, Fusion Edition Release 11.1.1.2)” in the Oracle document library. I recommend reviewing this document. It can change from release to release.
| Server | Notes |
| Oracle Application Server 10g (10.1.3.3.x) a | If Oracle Application Server is used as the Web application server, Oracle HTTP Server is also required. Profitability and Cost Management supports only Oracle Application Server 10.1.3.x. |
| Oracle WebLogic Server 9.2 (MP1 minimum) / 9.2.xb | Shared Services requires WebLogic Server patch CR283953” for all platforms. You can obtain this patch at the BEA web site. |
| IBM WebSphere 6.1.0.17 / 6.1.x C |
|
| Embedded Java container d |
|
| a Supports these editions: Java, Standard One, Standard & Enterprise. Includes support for Oracle Application Server Single Sign-On.
b WebLogic Express is supported for each supported version of WebLogic Server; non-base versions are supported only via manual deployment. c WebSphere Express, ND, and XD Editions are supported for each supported version of WebSphere; ND and XD are supported only via manual deployment. d For this release, Apache Tomcat 5.5.17 is the embedded Java container that is installed automatically on all platforms. Apache Tomcat is supported only in this capacity. If future EPM System releases embed different Java application servers, Apache Tomcat will no longer be supported. For deployments that require high availability or failover, Oracle recommends using a commercially supported Web application server that supports high availability and failover. |
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I request the URL and authentication information since this will be needed during the deployment. If I am doing a manual deployment, I will request contact information from the web application server administrator and work in collaboration on the deployment.
The next item on my checklist is to get the Relational Repositories Information set up. This is mostly straightforward. In general, I like to create a tablespace/database for each component ((Hyperion Foundation, Essbase Admin Services / Business Rules, EPMA, Planning, Financial Management, etc). A distinct tablespace/database for each component makes it easier to manage in my opinion. Although it may not be strictly necessary, the documentation does not seem to be clear on the matter. I say ‘better safe than sorry’. For the installation and deployment, I’ll need credentials for each table. Based upon some Q&A, I’ll make initial size recommendations.
The target installation servers have a General System Administration checklist containing the information that I’ll need to execute the installation. This is made of the following items.
Next, I identify the Network Information necessities for appropriate communication between servers. This includes IP addresses, DNS information, validation of name resolution, trace between servers, subnet configuration, etc. This is vital so the components can communicate via Fully Qualified Domain Name, Short Name, and IP address. Some components use different variations of name resolution probably because the components were developed separately and have not been fully standardized.
In addition to the Hyperion Software, Web Application Servers, and Relational Repositories there are a few Additional Components that need to be installed. A PDF writer is needed for Reports Server to render .pdf reports in Workspace. This can be GhostScript or Acrobat distiller. I suggest referring to the “Start Here” documentation to see what is currently supported but we often go with GhostScript due to its cost.
For the Windows Administration, we provide the DCOM Configuration information needed to support FDM, EPMA, and FDM. This includes the DCOM account information, permissions, and authentication information. Although this is spelled out in detail in the “Start Here” manual, I like to provide step-by-step information with screen shots since DCOM is often confusing…well it is to me at least.
The last thing we review is the IIS and .NET Configuration. IIS is often not installed as part of a standard OS build. We make sure this requirement is specified, ensuring .NET is installed, and validate it is the appropriate version.
As with any installation, I recommend the Installation Architect read, and re-read, the Hyperion Manuals on there own rather than relying on this information or intuition. It can always change and your installation may have some caveats that I have not covered. For our purposes, with all the above activities completed and validated, we should be ready to start laying out the binaries and start the Hyperion Installation. We will review the Fusion Installer and Hyperion Configuration Utility in our next installment.