Oracle Analytics Server (based on OBIEE) - Import
Bridge Requirements
This bridge:requires Internet access to https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/ and/or other tool sites to download drivers into <TDC_HOME>/data/download/MIMB/.
requires the tool to be installed to access its SDK.
Bridge Specifications
| Vendor | Oracle |
| Tool Name | Oracle Analytics Server (based on OBIEE) |
| Tool Version | 5.x |
| Tool Web Site | https://www.oracle.com/business-analytics/analytics-server.html |
| Supported Methodology | [Business Intelligence] Multi-Model, Metadata Repository, BI Design (RDBMS Source, Dimensional Target, Transformation Lineage, Expression Parsing), BI Report (Dimensional Source, Expression Parsing, Report Structure), Graphical Layout via Java API |
| Data Profiling |  |
| Incremental Harvesting |  |
| Multi-Model Harvesting | |
| Remote Repository Browsing for Model Selection | |
SPECIFICATIONS
Tool: Oracle / Oracle Analytics Server (based on OBIEE) version 5.x via Java API
See https://www.oracle.com/business-analytics/analytics-server.html
Metadata: [Business Intelligence] Multi-Model, Metadata Repository, BI Design (RDBMS Source, Dimensional Target, Transformation Lineage, Expression Parsing), BI Report (Dimensional Source, Expression Parsing, Report Structure), Graphical Layout
Component: OracleBIEEImport.OracleAnalyticsServer version 11.2.0
DISCLAIMER
This import bridge requires internet access to download third-party libraries:
- such as https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/ to download open source third-party libraries,
- and more sites for other third-party software such as database specific JDBC drivers.
The downloaded third-party libraries are stored into $HOME/data/download/MIMB/
- If HTTPS fails, the import bridge then tries with HTTP.
- If a proxy is used to access internet, you must configure that proxy in the JRE (see the -j option in the Miscellaneous parameter).
- If the import bridge does not have full access to internet, that $HOME/data/download/MIMB/ directory can be copied from another server with internet access where the command $HOME/bin/MIMB.sh (or .bat) -d can be used to download all third-party libraries used by all bridges at once.
By running this import bridge, you hereby acknowledge responsibility for the license terms and any potential security vulnerabilities from these downloaded third-party software libraries.
OVERVIEW
This import bridge imports from Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (formerly Siebel Analytics), or from the newer Oracle Analytics Server.
This is a server import bridge that calls:
- Oracle Business Intelligence Answers import bridge to import Analysis(former Requests) and KPI reports,
- Oracle Business Intelligence Server import bridge to import OBIEE repository models
- Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Data Model import bridge to import Publisher Data Models
- Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Report import bridge to import Publisher Reports
REQUIREMENTS
When importing OBIEE metadata from a large OBIA application, it is critical to adjust the import bridge for memory optimization:
- Use a 64 bit JVM with increased memory to 4G
Update the file $MetaIntegration/conf/conf.properties with appropriate -Xmx parameter for a 64 bit JVM, for example:
M_JAVA_HOME=..\jre
M_JAVA_OPTIONS=-Xmx4G
The import bridge Miscellaneous parameter can also be used to specify the amount of Java memory to allocate.
- Set the "Optimize for large models" import bridge parameter to "True"
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
n/a
LIMITATIONS
Refer to the current general known limitations at MIMB Known Limitations or bundled in Documentation/ReadMe/MIMBKnownLimitations.html
SUPPORT
Provide a troubleshooting package with:
- the debug log (can be set in the UI or in conf/conf.properties with MIR_LOG_LEVEL=6)
- the metadata backup if available (can be set in the Miscellaneous parameter with -backup option, although this common option is not implemented on all bridges for technical reasons).
Q: How do I provide metadata to the support team to reproduce an issue?
A: Provide the following files:
There are two backup methods available, the lengthy method described is valid and may be used when specified by your support team.
This bridge saves reports and models under the local MIMB cache, which provides sufficient amount of metadata for support purposes. Invoke -backup under the Miscellaneous parameter and provide a directory to where the bridge will save all pertinent metadata.
- The Oracle BI Administration tool natively stores metadata in a Repository RPD file:
Therefore you must supply a copy of that file. By default this file is located in \OracleBI\server\Repository.
Provide this file along with the userID and password necessary to open it.
Alternative method: using Oracle BI Administration tool, connect to a live online repository.
From the File menu, select Copy As... and specify the name of the local RPD file where the repository copy will be stored.
Save the RPD file to XML or UDML format.
Please refer to parameter 'File' for details.
- For reports (in Oracle version 10.x they are called Requests, in Oracle version 11.x they are called Analyses), the metadata is contained inside OBIEE catalog:
You may use OBIEE Catalog Manager tool as follows:
1. Go to File -> Open Catalog (either online or offline)
2. Offline mode, Oracle 10.x: point to OracleBIData/web/catalog/<MyCatalog> as the path.
Offline mode, Oracle 11.x: point to <instance>/bifoundation/OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent/coreapplication_obips1/catalog/<MyCatalog> as the path.
Check Read Only box for safety.
3. For online mode: type in OBI server URL.
For Oracle versions 10.x, it may be http://OBIServer:9704/analytics/saw.dll
For Oracle versions 11.x and 12.x, it may be http://OBIServer:9704/analytics-ws/saw.dll
Check Read Only box for safety.
4. Click OK
5. Select the root '/' folder in the tree
6. Go To File -> Archive to create the archive file
7. Provide the resulting archive file.
- For Publisher DataModels and Reports, please provide a copy of the 'datasources.xml' file which describes DataSources:
Please refer to parameter 'Data Sources file' for details.
Bridge Parameters
| Parameter Name | Description | Type | Values | Default | Scope | |||
| Version | Select the version of OBIEE server you want to import from. In Auto Detect mode, the import bridge will attempt to read the version using the following URLs: For Oracle version 10.x: http://hostname:port/analytics/res/version.xml or http://hostname:port/analytics-ws/res/version.xml if an OBIEE server is configured and protected by OAM For Oracle version 11.x and 12.x: http://hostname:port/analytics/saw.dll?aboutPage or http://hostname:port/analytics-ws/saw.dll?aboutPage if an OBIEE server is configured and protected by OAM |
ENUMERATED |
|
Auto Detect | ||||
| Server URL | Enter the Presentation Server URL here For OBIEE deployed on Oracle Containers for Java (OC4J), the default port is 9704. (http://host:9704/analytics/saw.dll) For OBIEE deployed on Oracle WebLogic, the default port is 7001. (http://host:7001/analytics/saw.dll) For OBIEE deployed on Oracle HTTP Server (OHS), the default port is 7777. (http://host:7777/analytics/saw.dll) For OBIEE deployed on Microsoft's Internet Information Services (IIS), the default port is 80. (http://host:80/analytics/saw.dll) Accessing OBIEE via Oracle Access Manager (OAM): For an OBIEE server that is configured and protected by OAM, the Server URL may need to be entered as: http://host:port/analytics-ws/saw.dll The WebService WSDL descriptor file may be accessed like so: version 10g: http://host:port/analytics/saw.dll?WSDL version 11g: http://host:port/analytics/saw.dll/wsdl/v6 version 12c: http://host:port/analytics-ws/saw.dll/wsdl/v12 Accessing OBIEE via SSL/HTTPS: In order to connect to OBIEE presentation server over SSL link, the import bridge needs to trust the server certificate. The best way to achieve this is to extract the root certificate used by the Oracle WebLogic Managed Servers (that are hosting the web services) into the local keystore of the machine that runs MIMB. The procedure below outlines the necessary steps. 1. Confirm the location of the root certificate for OBIEE server. - Open the WebLogic console in a browser. By default, the location of the WebLogic console is: http://hostname:7001/console - From the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console, select SSL tab and go to the Identity area. By default, the Certificate location is from the Demo Identity Keystore. If this is the case, navigate to the Keystores tab and review the location of the Demo Identity Keystore. Note that the Demo Identity Keystore's default location is: <middleware_home>/wlserver_10.3_server/lib/DemoIdentity.jks Use Oracle Java keytool utility on the server to view and export the root certificate. 2. On the MIMB machine, using Java keytool, create a private keystore by importing the root certificate exported above. Let's say the certificate file name is CertGenCA.der, so the command would look like this: keytool -importcert -file CertGenCA.der -alias obiee11_certificate -keystore "${MODEL_BRIDGE_HOME}\jre\lib\security\obiee" -storepass "obieeobiee" When asked if you want to trust this certificate, confirm with 'yes'. A new keystore will be created under "${MODEL_BRIDGE_HOME}\jre\lib\security" and named obiee if it does not exist. You can import multiple certificates from different OBIEE servers into the same single keystore, just give each new certificate a unique alias. 3. Now the import bridge should be able to connect to OBIEE server via SSL. |
STRING | http://localhost:9704/analytics/saw.dll | Mandatory | ||||
| Login User | Enter the username which the import bridge will use to log in. Be sure this user name has necessary permissions to access the objects you wish to import. | STRING | Administrator | Mandatory | ||||
| Login password | Enter the password associated with the username which the import bridge will use to log in. | PASSWORD | ||||||
| File | The Oracle BI Administration tool natively stores metadata in a Repository RPD file. For version 12.2.1.4 (OAS 6.4), convert the RPD file to XML format by performing the following steps: 1. Start a command line console (CMD on Windows) 2. navigate to the bitools\bin folder of your WebLogic server domain, for example: cd Oracle_Home\user_projects\domains\bi\bitools\bin 3. You may use the download repository command 'downloadrpd' to download the live RPD repository used by your instance as a local copy. The data model launcher script (datamodel.cmd on Windows or datamodel.sh on Linux) allows running the downloadrpd command, for example: datamodel.cmd downloadrpd -O repository.rpd -SI ssi -U weblogic -P weblogicpsw You will be prompted to choose a password for this local rpd file. Please consult Oracle documentation for details: https://docs.oracle.com/en/middleware/bi/analytics-server/metadata-oas/download-repository-command.html For other 12.x versions, please consult Oracle documentation for your corresponding version. 4. Use the 'biserverxmlgen' command line utility (biserverxmlgen.cmd on Windows or biserverxmlgen.sh on Linux) to generate XML: biserverxmlgen.cmd -R repository.rpd -P Admin123 -O repository.xml -N -Q -8 The import bridge uses the generated XML file as input. For version 11.x, convert the RPD file to XML format by performing the following steps: 1. Run the initialization script to configure a command prompt (or shell) window that is initialized to your Oracle instance: For recent 11.x versions it may be bi-init.cmd (or bi-init.sh on UNIX) ORACLE_INSTANCE\bifoundation\OracleBIApplication\coreapplication\setup\bi-init For older 11.x versions it may be nqinit.bat (or nqinit.sh on UNIX) /u01/wls/oracle/j2ee/bi/bifoundation/server/bin/nqinit.sh You may have to configure environment variables such as: export ORACLE_HOME=/u01/wls/oracle/j2ee export DOMAIN_HOME=/u01/wls/oracle/j2ee/user_projects/domains/mod Please consult Oracle documentation for your corresponding version. 2. Use the 'biserverxmlgen' command line utility to generate XML: biserverxmlgen -R paint.rpd -P Admin123 -O paint.xml -N -Q -8 The import bridge uses the generated XML file as input. Note: for version 11.x, the UDML file format is not supported by the import bridge. For version 10.x, convert the RPD file to UDML format by performing the following: Use the nQUDMLGen command line utility to generate a UDML file: $OracleBIHome$\server\Bin QUDMLGen.exe -U Administrator -P Administrator -R paint.rpd -O paint.udml -N -Q -8 The import bridge uses the generated UDML file as input. |
FILE | *.* | Mandatory | ||||
| Variable values file | File defining list of RPD variable values in format: variable1_name=variable1_value variable3_name=variable2_value ... variableN_name=variableN_value RPD models may use variables to parameterize SQL statements. In many cases, the values which must be assigned to these variables are defined at runtime. In such cases, the import bridge will report warning in the log that it could not determine the value of a variable and will simply leave that variable name without any substitution in the resulting model. In order to determine the correct substitution values for these variables, the import bridge reads a variable value file with the variable names and the correct value to substitute. Place the pathname of a variable value file in this parameter. Variable names are case insensitive and trimmed of all leading and trailing spaces. |
FILE | *.* | |||||
| Data Sources file | Specify the datasources.xml file which defines Oracle BI Publisher data source connections. This file is stored in your Oracle BI Publisher installation directory at: /Admin/DataSource/datasources.xml The exact location of the file depends on your version and configuration, see examples below. For versions 10.x, it may be at: Oracle_Home/xmlpserver/Admin/DataSource/datasources.xml Oracle_Home/xmlp/XMLP/Admin/DataSource/datasources.xml For versions 11.x, it may be at: Oracle_Home/user_projects/domains/bifoundation_domain/config/bipublisher/repository/Admin/DataSource/datasources.xml For versions 12.x, it may be at: Oracle_Home/user_projects/domains/bi/bidata/components/bipublisher/repository/Admin/DataSource/datasources.xml Oracle_Home/user_projects/domains/bi/config/fmwconfig/biconfig/bipublisher/Admin/DataSource/datasources.xml |
FILE | *.xml | |||||
| Repository subset | This option is used to subset the amount of reports retrieved from the OBI Presentation Server. Specify here a semicolon separated list of objects path, the import bridge will import the selected folders and reports. - the root folder path is: / - the shared folder path is: /shared - the administrator user folder is: /users/administrator |
REPOSITORY_SUBSET | / | Mandatory | ||||
| Optimize for large models | Specify whether or not to optimize the import for large OBI repository models. 'True' Ignore foreign keys, joins, relationships, logical foreign keys during import. Also, do not store expression tree objects along with lineage links. Ignoring such objects will result in a smaller model, and require less memory at runtime. This mode is recommended for large UDML or XML input files. This is the default value. 'False' The entire repository model will be imported. In this mode, more memory is required at runtime. This mode is recommended for small to medium UDML or XML input files. |
BOOLEAN |
|
True | ||||
| Multiple threads | Number of worker threads to harvest metadata asynchronously. - Leave the parameter blank to have the import bridge compute the value, between 1 and 6, based on JVM architecture and number of available CPU cores. - Specify a numeric value greater or equal to 1 to provide the actual number of threads. If the value specified is invalid, a warning will be issued and 1 will be used instead. If you experience out of memory conditions when harvesting metadata asynchronously, experiment with smaller numbers. If your machine has a lot of available memory (e.g. 10 GB or more), you can try larger numbers when harvesting many documents at once. Note that setting the number too high can actually decrease the performance due to resource contention. |
NUMERIC | ||||||
| Miscellaneous | INTRODUCTION Specify miscellaneous options starting with a dash and optionally followed by parameters, e.g. -connection.cast MyDatabase1="MICROSOFT SQL SERVER" Some options can be used multiple times if applicable, e.g. -connection.rename NewConnection1=OldConnection1 -connection.rename NewConnection2=OldConnection2; As the list of options can become a long string, it is possible to load it from a file which must be located in ${MODEL_BRIDGE_HOME}\data\MIMB\parameters and have the extension .txt. In such case, all options must be defined within that file as the only value of this parameter, e.g. ETL/Miscellaneous.txt JAVA ENVIRONMENT OPTIONS -java.memory <Java Memory's maximum size> (previously -m) 1G by default on 64bits JRE or as set in conf/conf.properties, e.g. -java.memory 8G -java.memory 8000M -java.parameters <Java Runtime Environment command line options> (previously -j) This option must be the last one in the Miscellaneous parameter as all the text after -java.parameters is passed "as is" to the JRE, e.g. -java.parameters -Dname=value -Xms1G The following option must be set when a proxy is used to access internet (this is critical to access https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/ and exceptionally a few other tool sites) in order to download the necessary third-party software libraries. Note: The majority of proxies are concerned with encrypting (HTTPS) the outside (of the company) traffic and trust the inside traffic that can access proxy over HTTP. In this case, an HTTPS request reaches the proxy over HTTP where the proxy HTTPS-encrypts it. -java.parameters -java.parameters -Dhttp.proxyHost=127.0.0.1 -Dhttp.proxyPort=3128 -Dhttp.proxyUser=user -Dhttp.proxyPassword=pass MODEL IMPORT OPTIONS -model.name <model name> Override the model name, e.g. -model.name "My Model Name" -prescript <script name> This option allows running a script before the bridge execution. The script must be located in the bin directory (or as specified with M_SCRIPT_PATH in conf/conf.properties), and have .bat or .sh extension. The script path must not include any parent directory symbol (..). The script should return exit code 0 to indicate success, or another value to indicate failure. For example: -prescript "script.bat arg1 arg2" -postscript <script name> This option allows running a script after successful execution of the bridge. The script must be located in the bin directory (or as specified with M_SCRIPT_PATH in conf/conf.properties), and have .bat or .sh extension. The script path must not include any parent directory symbol (..). The script should return exit code 0 to indicate success, or another value to indicate failure. For example: -postscript "script.bat arg1 arg2" -cache.clear Clears the cache before the import, and therefore will run a full import without incremental harvesting. If the model was not changed and the -cache.clear parameter is not used (incremental harvesting), then a new version will not be created. If the model was not changed and the -cache.clear parameter is set (full source import instead of incremental), then a new version will be created. -backup <directory> This option allows to save the bridge input metadata for further troubleshooting. The provided <directory> must be empty. The primary use of this option is for data store import bridges, in particular JDBC based database import bridges. Note that this option is not operational on some bridges including: - File based import bridges (as such input files can be used instead) - DI/BI repository import bridges (as the tool's repository native backup can be used instead) - Some API based import bridges (e.g. COM based) for technical reasons. DATA CONNECTION OPTIONS Data Connections are produced by the import bridges typically from ETL/DI and BI tools to refer to the source and target data stores they use. These data connections are then used by metadata management tools to connect them (metadata stitching) to their actual data stores (e.g. databases, file system, etc.) in order to produce the full end to end data flow lineage and impact analysis. The name of each data connection is unique by import model. The data connection names used within DI/BI design tools are used when possible, otherwise connection names are generated to be short but meaningful such as the database / schema name, the file system path, or Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). The following option allows to manipulate connections. These options replaces the legacy options -c, -cd, and -cs. -connection.cast ConnectionName=ConnectionType Casts a generic database connection (e.g. ODBC/JDBC) to a precise database type (e.g. ORACLE) for SQL Parsing, e.g. -connection.cast "My Database"="MICROSOFT SQL SERVER". The list of supported data store connection types includes: ACCESS APACHE CASSANDRA DB2/UDB DENODO GOOGLE BIGQUERY HIVE MYSQL NETEZZA ORACLE POSTGRESQL PRESTO REDSHIFT SALESFORCE SAP HANA SNOWFLAKE MICROSOFT SQL AZURE MICROSOFT SQL SERVER SYBASE SQL SERVER SYBASE AS ENTERPRISE TERADATA VECTORWISE HP VERTICA -connection.rename OldConnection=NewConnection Renames an existing connection to a new name, e.g. -connection.rename OldConnectionName=NewConnectionName Multiple existing database connections can be renamed and merged into one new database connection, e.g. -connection.rename MySchema1=MyDatabase -connection.rename MySchema2=MyDatabase -connection.split oldConnection.Schema1=newConnection Splits a database connection into one or multiple database connections. A single database connection can be split into one connection per schema, e.g. -connection.split MyDatabase All database connections can be split into one connection per schema, e.g. -connection.split * A database connection can be explicitly split creating a new database connection by appending a schema name to a database, e.g. -connection.split MyDatabase.schema1=MySchema1 -connection.map SourcePath=DestinationPath Maps a source path to destination path. This is useful for file system connections when different paths points to the same object (directory or file). On Hadoop, a process can write into a CSV file specified with the HDFS full path, but another process reads from a Hive table implemented (external) by the same file specified using a relative path with default file name and extension, e.g. -connection.map /user1/folder=hdfs://host:8020/users/user1/folder/file.csv On Linux, a given directory (or file) like /data can be referred to by multiple symbolic links like /users/john and /users/paul, e.g. -connection.map /data=/users/John -connection.map /data=/users/paul On Windows, a given directory like C:\data can be referred to by multiple network drives like M: and N:, e.g. -connection.map C:\data=M:\ -connection.map C:\data=N:\ -connection.casesensitive ConnectionName Overrides the default case insensitive matching rules for the object identifiers inside the specified connection, provided the detected type of the data store by itself supports this configuration (e.g. Microsoft SQL Server, MySql etc.), e.g. -connection.casesensitive "My Database" -connection.level AggregationLevel Specifies the aggregation level for the external connections, e.g.-connection.level catalog The list of the supported values: server catalog schema (default) ORACLE BI SERVER OPTIONS -r Remove the report pages and their graphical structure. -truststore.file Location of the TrustStore file. -truststore.password Password of the TrustStore. |
STRING |
Bridge Mapping
| Meta Integration Repository (MIR) Metamodel (based on the OMG CWM standard) |
"Oracle Analytics Server (based on OBIEE)" Metamodel Oracle Business Intelligence (Web Catalog) |
Mapping Comments |
| DirectoryStructureModel | Catalog | contents of the OBIEE catalog |
| CreationTime | Creation Time | |
| Description | Description | |
| ImportDate | Import Date | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| NativeType | Native Type | |
| Folder | Dashboard, Folder, Dashboard Page | |
| Author | Author | |
| CreationTime | Creation Time | |
| Description | Description | |
| LastModificationTime | Last Modification Time | |
| Modifier | Modifier | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| NativeType | Native Type | |
| StoreContent | Publisher DataModel, Publisher Report, Dashboard Prompt, Answers Report, KPI, Connection, RPD Content, XSA Connection | Represents objects in OBIEE catalog |
| Author | Author | |
| CreationTime | Creation Time | |
| Description | Description | |
| LastModificationTime | Last Modification Time | |
| Modifier | Modifier | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| NativeType | Native Type |
| Meta Integration Repository (MIR) Metamodel (based on the OMG CWM standard) |
"Oracle Analytics Server (based on OBIEE)" Metamodel Oracle Business Intelligence (Connection) |
Mapping Comments |
| Attribute | Column | |
| Comment | Comment | |
| Description | Definition | |
| DesignLevel | Design Level | |
| ExtraConstraint | Constraint | |
| InitialValue | Initial Value | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| Optional | Nullable | |
| PhysicalName | Physical Name | |
| Position | Position | |
| Class | Table | physical table in the database |
| Description | Description | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| NativeType | Native Type | |
| DatabaseSchema | Database Schema | |
| Description | Description | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| NativeType | Native Type | |
| StoreModel | Connection Model | |
| Name | Name | |
| StoreType | Store Type | |
| SystemMajorVersion | System Major Version | |
| SystemMinorVersion | System Minor Version | |
| SystemReleaseVersion | System Release Version | |
| SystemType | System Type |