A Supporting Tasks for DAC and Informatica PowerCenter

This section contains additional tasks relating to the DAC Client and DAC Server, and Informatica PowerCenter Client Tools. It contains the following topics:

• Section A.1, "How to Log into DAC"

• Section A.2, "About DAC User Account Management"

• Section A.3, "How to Set DAC System Properties"

• Section A.4, "How to Start and Stop the DAC Server"

• Section A.5, "Enabling DAC Client Communication with Informatica PowerCenter"

• Section A.6, "Enabling DAC Server Communication with Informatica PowerCenter"

• Section A.7, "About the DAC Server Shell Scripts"

• Section A.8, "How to Log Into Informatica PowerCenter Administration Console"

A.1 How to Log into DAC

Before you can log into the DAC, you first need to have created a DAC connection, which is a set of stored login details. For information about creating a DAC connection, see Section 4.11.1, "Logging into DAC and Creating a Connection to the DAC Repository."

To log into DAC

1. Launch the DAC Client by doing one of the following:

   • Double-clicking the DAC Client icon on your desktop

   • Navigating to the \bifoundation\dac directory and double-clicking the startclient.bat file

   • On the Windows taskbar, click Start, then Programs, then Data Warehouse Administration Console, and then Client.

   The Login... dialog is displayed.

   
   

2. In the Login... dialog, select a connection for the required DAC Repository from the Connection drop-down list.

   For instructions on creating a connection to the DAC Repository, see Section 4.11.1, "Logging into DAC and Creating a Connection to the DAC Repository."

3. In the Table owner name field, enter the database user name for the DAC Repository database.

4. In the Password field, enter the database password for the DAC Repository database.

5. Click Login to launch the DAC.

   The DAC Client launches and connects to the DAC Repository.

For more information about using the DAC Client, see Oracle Business Intelligence Data Warehouse Administration Console User's Guide.

A.2 About DAC User Account Management

The User Management feature includes three roles: Administrator, Developer, and Operator. As shown in Table A-1, each role has a set of permissions that determines what DAC functionality the role can access.

The User Management dialog box enables a user with the Administrator role to create user accounts. A user account includes a unique identifier, password, and one or more roles. The Administrator can also inactivate a user account. For instructions on managing user accounts, see Section A.2.1, "Creating, Deleting and Inactivating User Accounts."

Upon the initial login to a new DAC installation, a user account with the Administrator role is automatically created. This default user account name is Administrator, and the default password is Administrator. It is recommended that after the initial login, the user change the default password.

Note:

A user with the Administrator role must distribute the DAC Repository database authentication file to user accounts that need to access the DAC Repository. For information about the authentication file, see "DAC Repository Database Authentication File".

Table A-1 User Account Roles and Permissions

Role	Permissions
Administrator	Read and write permission on all DAC tabs and dialog boxes.
Developer	Read and write permission on the following: All Design view tabs All Setup view tabs Export dialog box New Source System Container dialog box Rename Source System Container dialog box Delete Source System Container dialog box
Operator	Read and write permission on all Setup view tabs

A.2.1 Creating, Deleting and Inactivating User Accounts

The User Management feature enables a user with the Administrator role to create, delete, and inactivate user accounts.

To create a user account

1. From the toolbar, select File, then User Management.

2. In the User Management dialog box, click New.

3. In the new record field, do the following:

   1. Enter a unique Name and Password.

   2. Click in the Roles field, and then select the roles you want to associate with this user account.

4. Click Save.

5. Click Close to exit the User Management dialog box.

6. Distribute the authentication file for the database where the DAC Repository resides to the user account.

   For more information about authentication files, see "DAC Repository Database Authentication File".

To delete a user account

1. From the toolbar, select File, then User Management.

2. In the User Management dialog box, select the user account you want to delete.

3. Click Delete.

4. Click Close to exit the User Management dialog box.

To inactivate a user account

1. From the toolbar, select File, then User Management.

2. In the User Management dialog box, select the user account you want to inactivate.

3. Click the Inactive check box.

4. Click Save.

5. Click Close to exit the User Management dialog box.

A.3 How to Set DAC System Properties

This section provides instructions for setting the DAC System Properties.

To set DAC System Properties

1. Log in to DAC.

   For more information about logging into DAC, see Section A.1, "How to Log into DAC.").

2. From the Views menu, select Setup, then DAC System Properties tab.

3. Set the appropriate values for the following system properties:

   Property	Value Required
   Analyze Frequency (in days)	For DAC metadata tables, the frequency (in days) the DAC client automatically updates the table and index statistics for the DAC repository. The value must be numerical.
   Auto Restart ETL	Possible values are True and False. When set to True: An ETL that is running when the DAC server abnormally terminates will continue running when the DAC server is restarted. When set to False: An ETL that is running when the DAC server abnormally terminates will not automatically restart when the DAC server restarts. The ETL status will be updated to Failed. An administrator will have to manually restart the ETL.
   DAC Alternate Server Hosts	Host name of the machine where the alternate DAC server resides. The alternate DAC server is used for failover purposes. The DAC client cannot talk to the alternate server unless the main DAC server is not running.
   DAC Server Hosts	Host name of the machine where the DAC server resides. You cannot use an IP address for this property. The DAC server and a given DAC repository have a one-to-one mapping. That is, you can only run one DAC server against any given DAC repository. Thus, in the repository you must specify the network host name of the machine where the DAC sever is to be run. This property also takes the value localhost. However, this value is provided for development and testing purposes and should not be used in a production environment.
   DAC Server OS	Operating system of the machine where the DAC server resides. Possible values are Windows, Solaris, HP, or AIX. If you move the DAC server from another operating system to AIX, you need to do the following: change the DAC server host to the appropriate value; restart the DAC client; reenter all the password fields for the Informatica servers and database connections; and reconfigure the DAC server on the AIX machine by running serverSetupPrompt.sh.
   DAC Server Port	Network port to which the DAC server binds in order to listen to client requests. The default value is 3141. If this port has been assigned to another process, you can enter any numerical port value greater than 1024.
   Drop and Create Change Capture Views	Possible values are True and False. When set to True (the default value), the DAC server drops and creates change capture views every time it performs a change capture process, including for both full and incremental loads. Setting this property to True can create system catalog lock up for DB2-UDB and DB2-390 databases. Therefore, by setting the property to False, the DAC server will drop and create views selectively, using the following rules: In full mode: During the change capture phase, views will be dropped and created as full views. During the change capture sync process, incremental views will be generated. In incremental mode: If the view exists, it will not be dropped and created. If the view does not exist, the incremental view will be created.
   Dryrun	Possible values are True and False. Indicates whether tasks are executed without invoking Informatica workflows. The following processes are executed: change capture, truncation of tables, drop and creation of indexes, and analyze statements. This option should be used for debugging purposes only and not used in a production environment.
   Generic Task Concurrency LImit	Determines how many tasks with execution types other than Informatica can be run concurrently. The value must be numerical. To set this value, you should consider what the external tasks do. For example, if the tasks open connections to a database, you should consider how this would affect the preconfigured tasks.
   HeartBeatInterval	Frequency (in seconds) the DAC server checks on the health of the database connections. The value must be numerical. For example, a value of 300 (the default value) indicates the system will perform subsystem diagnostics and recovery procedures every 300 seconds.
   InformaticaFileParameterLocation	Directory where the Informatica parameter file is stored.
   Output Redirect	Indicates whether logging information and standard output and errors are redirected to files in the log directory (when property is set to True). The file containing standard output starts with out_ and ends with the .log extension. The standard error messages are in the file starting with err_ and ending with the .log extension. If this property is set to False, the logging information is directed to the machine's standard output and error files, which typically defaults to the console from which the DAC server was launched if the server was launched in a visible console mode. If the server is launched as a Windows service, the logging information is directed to the service log. If the server is launched with the command shell not visible, all logging information is deleted
   Repository DB Pool Size	Indicates the maximum number of connections to the DAC repository that the server will maintain.
   Scheduler.Poll.Interval	Frequency (in seconds) the DAC server polls for changes in the schedule configuration.
   Script After Every ETL	The name of the script or executable to be run after every execution plan. For more information, see the description of the property Script Before Every ETL.
   Script Before Every ETL	The name of the script or executable to be run before every execution plan. For example, before running an execution plan, you might want to run a process or perform certain tasks. These can be contained in a script or executable. This file should be placed in the scripts subdirectory of the DAC server. The execution plan runs only after the external process has finished. Therefore, it is important that the script or executable does not fail.
   Server Log Level	Output logging level. Possible values are Finest, Finer, Fine, Config, Info, Warning, and Severe. The Severe value produces minimal log details, and Finest produces the most extensive amount of reporting.
   SQL Trace	Possible values are True and False. Indicates whether the SQL statements to the DAC repository and database connections are added to the log file. Possible values are True and False. The True value sends a hint to the database connectivity layer of the DAC server to enable SQL tracing; thus, every SQL statement that is run by the DAC server is spooled to the appropriate output log file.

   
   

A.4 How to Start and Stop the DAC Server

This section explains how to start and stop the DAC Server.

To start or stop the DAC Server on Windows

1. If you installed the DAC Server with the DAC installer, choose the Windows Start menu, then Programs, then Oracle Business Intelligence, then Oracle DAC, and then Start Server or Stop Server.

   Alternatively, navigate to the \bifoundation\dac folder and double-click the startserver.bat or stopserver.bat file, depending on which action you want to perform.

2. If you installed the DAC Server by copying the \DAC\ directory to a machine, run the \DAC\startserver.bat script or \DAC\stopserver.bat script.

To start the DAC Server on UNIX and Linux

1. In bash-related shells, issue the following command:

   ./startserver.sh
   

2. On AIX, use startserver_aix.sh.

To run the DAC Server in the background

• In bash-related shells, issue the following command:

  nohup startserver.sh 2>&1 &
  

  The nohup command allows the DAC Server to run in the background on UNIX even if the DAC Client is disconnected. Note: To stop DAC Server running as a background process, use stopserver.sh or stopserver.csh.

To stop the DAC Server on UNIX and Linux

• In bash-related shells, issue the following command:

  ./stopserver.sh
  

  Note: When you execute ./stopserver.csh or ./stopserver.sh, the server will issue a warning about the shutdown request. When the server receives the request, it will shut down even if there is an ETL in progress. The statuses for the ETL run will not be set correctly. The next time the DAC Server starts, it will set the status to Failed for any uncompleted run.

Tip:

When you start the DAC Server, look at the DAC Server status icon in the DAC console to make sure that the DAC Server has started. The DAC Server status icon should either be orange (idle) or green (active). The screen shot below shows the DAC Server status icon highlighted.

A.5 Enabling DAC Client Communication with Informatica PowerCenter

The DAC Client uses the Informatica pmrep and pmcmd command line programs when communicating with Informatica PowerCenter. The DAC Client uses pmrep to synchronize DAC tasks with Informatica workflows and to keep the DAC task source and target tables information up to date.

In order for the DAC Client to be able to use the pmrep and pmcmd programs, the path of the Informatica Domain file 'domains.infa' must be defined in the environment variables on the DAC Client machine.

When you install DAC using the DAC installer, the Informatica Domain file is defined in the environment variables on the DAC Client machine. Therefore, if you installed DAC using the DAC installer, you do not need to perform the procedures in this section.

You should only perform the procedures in this section if you installed the DAC Client by copying the \DAC folder from one machine to another.

This section includes the following topics:

• Section A.5.1, "How to Define the Informatica Domains File Path in the DAC Client Environment Variables"

• Section A.5.2, "How to Verify the DAC Client Is Able to Use pmrep and pmcmd"

A.5.1 How to Define the Informatica Domains File Path in the DAC Client Environment Variables

In order for the DAC Client to be able to use the pmrep and pmcmd programs, the path of the Informatica Domain file 'domains.infa' must be defined in the environment variables on the DAC Client machine.

Note: When you use the DAC installer to install the DAC Client, this configuration is done automatically.

To define the Informatica Domains File path in the DAC Client environment variables

1. Locate the file domains.infa in the root Informatica PowerCenter installation directory and note down the directory path of this file.

   For example, <drive>:\Informatica\PowerCenter8.6.1.

2. Create an environment variable called INFA_DOMAINS_FILE with the value set to the directory path to the domans.infa file, as follows:

   • On Windows, display the Windows Environment Variables dialog box (that is, from the Windows Control Panel, select System, then Advanced, then Environment Variables), and create a System variable with the following values:

     • Variable name: INFA_DOMAINS_FILE

     • Variable value: <directory path of domains file>\domains.infa

       The path should include the name of the file. For example, '<drive>:\Informatica\PowerCenter8.6.1\domains.infa'.

3. Add the directory path to Informatica PowerCenter binaries to the PATH environment variable as follows:

   In the Windows System Properties > Environment Variables dialog box, add the path of the Informatica \Client\bin directory to the PATH environment variable. For example: <drive>:\Informatica\PowerCenter8.6.1\client\bin.

A.5.2 How to Verify the DAC Client Is Able to Use pmrep and pmcmd

From a Windows command prompt, execute pmrep and then pmcmd. The test is successful if you see the programs are invoked and the pmrep and pmcmd prompts appear.

If pmrep and pmcmd are not recognized, then:

• Ensure Hotfix 6 has been applied to Informatica PowerCenter 8.6.1.

• Verify that the INFA_DOMAINS_FILE variable points to the domains.infa file located in the Informatica directory.

• Verify that the PATH variable includes the path to the Informatica binaries (\Informatica\PowerCenter\client\bin), and that pmrep.exe and pmcmd.exe exist in the \bin folder.

A.6 Enabling DAC Server Communication with Informatica PowerCenter

The DAC Server uses the following command line programs to communicate with Informatica PowerCenter:

• pmrep is used to communicate with PowerCenter Repository Services.

• pmcmd is used to communicate with PowerCenter Integration Services to run the Informatica workflows.

The pmrep and pmcmd programs are installed during the PowerCenter Services installation in the bin folder of the server directory.

For the DAC Server to be able to communicate with PowerCenter Services using the pmrep and pmcmd, the path of the Informatica Domain file 'domains.infa' must be defined and certain environment variables must be set. When you install the DAC Server on Windows or Linux using the DAC installer, this configuration is done automatically. Therefore, if you installed the DAC Server using the DAC installer, you do not need to perform the procedures in this section.

If you installed the DAC Server on UNIX, you need to perform the procedure in Section A.6.2, "How to Set Environment Variables for DAC Server Communication on UNIX."

This section includes the following topics:

• Section A.6.1, "How to Set Environment Variables for DAC Server Communication on Windows"

• Section A.6.2, "How to Set Environment Variables for DAC Server Communication on UNIX"

• Section A.6.3, "How to Verify Java JDK Availability and Version"

A.6.1 How to Set Environment Variables for DAC Server Communication on Windows

Follow this procedure to set environment variables on Windows.

Note: When you use the DAC installer to install the DAC Server, this configuration is done automatically.

To set the environment variables on Windows

1. Locate the file domains.infa in the root Informatica PowerCenter installation directory and note down the directory path of this file.

   For example, D:\Informatica\PowerCenter8.6.1.

2. Create an environment variable called INFA_DOMAINS_FILE with the value set to the directory path to the domans.infa file, as follows:

   • On Windows, display the Windows Environment Variables dialog box (that is, from the Windows Control Panel, select System, then Advanced, then Environment Variables), and create a System variable with the following values:

     • Variable name: INFA_DOMAINS_FILE

     • Variable value: <<directory path of domain file>\domains.infa>

       The Variable value should include the domains.infa file name. For example, D:\Informatica\PowerCenter8.6.1\domains.infa.

3. Add the directory path to Informatica PowerCenter binaries to the PATH environment variable as follows:

   In the Windows System Properties > Environment Variables dialog box, add the path of the Informatica \server\bin directory to the PATH environment variable. For example: <drive>:\Informatica\PowerCenter8.6.1\server\bin.

How to Verify the DAC Server Is Able to Use pmrep and pmcmd

From a Windows command prompt, execute pmrep and then pmcmd. The test is successful if the pmrep and pmcmd prompts appear.

If pmrep and pmcmd are not recognized, then:

• Ensure Hotfix 6 has been applied to Informatica PowerCenter 8.6.1.

• Verify that the INFA_DOMAINS_FILE variable points to the domains.infa file located in the Informatica directory.

• Verify that the PATH variable includes the path to the Informatica binaries (\Informatica\PowerCenter\server\bin).

A.6.2 How to Set Environment Variables for DAC Server Communication on UNIX

This procedure is required for DAC Server deployments on UNIX.

Use the dac_env.sh file to set the appropriate environment variables on UNIX. For more information on the DAC Server scripts, see Section A.7, "About the DAC Server Shell Scripts."

Note: When you use the DAC installer to install the DAC Server on Linux, this configuration is done automatically.

To set environment variables for DAC Server Communication on UNIX

1. Navigate to the /DAC directory.

2. Open the dac_env.sh file for editing.

   Note: The files dac_env_714.sh and dac_env_811.sh are backup files used for Information PowerCenter deployments prior to version 8.6.1.

3. Set the value for each instance of the variable %INFORMATICA_SERVER_LOCATION% to the directory that contains the Informatica server directory. (Do not include the server directory.)

   For example, change the following line from:

   DAC_PMCMD_PATH=%INFORMATICA_SERVER_LOCATION%/server/bin
   

   to

   DAC_PMCMD_PATH=Informatica/PowerCenter8.6.1/server/bin
   

4. Set the value for each instance of the variable %DOMAINS.INFA_FILE_LOCATION% to the directory that contains the domains.infa file. (Include the file name in the value.)

   For example, change the following line from:

   export INFA_DOMAINS_FILE=%DOMAINS.INFA_FILE_LOCATION%
   

   to

   export INFA_DOMAINS_FILE=Informatica/PowerCenter8.6.1/domains.infa
   

5. If necessary, uncomment the locale settings.

How to Verify the DAC Server on UNIX or Linux Is Able to Use pmrep and pmcmd

Invoke config.sh to set environment. For example, . ./config.sh. Then, invoke pmcmd.

Make sure that invoking pmcmd starts the pmcmd shell. If you get a 'command not found' error, then the location of the PowerCenter Services is not properly added to PATH in dac_env.sh. Review all environment variable settings to ensure they are correctly set.

Then, invoke pmrep, and make sure that invoking pmrep starts the pmrep shell. If you get a 'command not found' error, then the location of the PowerCenter Services is not properly added to PATH in dac_env.sh. Review all environment variable settings to ensure they are correctly set.

On some shells, export commands in dac_env.sh and config.sh might not work correctly. In this case, try breaking the commands in two. For example, from:

export JAVA_HOME=/opt/java1.6

To:

JAVA_HOME=/opt/java1.6
export JAVA_HOME

A.6.3 How to Verify Java JDK Availability and Version

To verify that the DAC Server uses the correct Java JDK:

1. Invoke config.sh to set environment.

   For example:

   . ./config.sh
   

2. Verify Java availability and version by typing the following command:

   $JAVA –version
   

   The Java version is returned.

   If you receive a 'command not found' error message, or the Java version is lower than 1.6, then the JAVA_HOME parameter in config.sh is pointing to a non-existent or incorrect Java JDK location.

A.7 About the DAC Server Shell Scripts

Shell scripts are provided in the *.sh format. Table A-2 lists the available shell scripts and their usage. These files contain comments that provide information about how to configure the scripts.

Table A-2 Oracle Business Analytics Warehouse Scripts for Bash and C Shells

Script	Purpose
config.sh	Configures the environment variables for DAC_HOME and JAVA_HOME.
dacCmdLine.sh	Invokes DAC commands on the DAC Server. See the file for usage information.
dac_env.sh	Configures environment variables for the DAC Server.
serverSetupPrompt.sh	Configures DAC metadata repository connection information.
serverinfo.sh	Displays the DAC Server version.
startserver.sh	Starts the DAC Server on machines running Solaris or Linux, and HP.
startserver_aix.sh	Starts the DAC Server on AIX machines.
stopserver.sh	Shuts down the DAC Server.

Note:

The files listed in Table A-2 need to have read, write, and execute permissions. If the files do not have these permissions, modify them using the chmod command.

When you copy across these files, use a MS-DOS to UNIX conversion tool, convert the script files to UNIX format (that is, remove the carriage return and line feed characters). There are many MS-DOS to UNIX conversion tools that are freely available for download on the Internet. Alternatively, you can manually remove the carriage return and line feed characters from the script files.

On some shells, export commands in dac_env.sh and config.sh might not work correctly. In this case, try breaking the commands in two. For example, change the command from:

export JAVA_HOME=/opt/java1.6

To:

JAVA_HOME=/opt/java1.6
export JAVA_HOME

Follow these procedures to start and stop the DAC Server on UNIX. Before you can start the DAC Server, you must have already configured the config.sh and dac_env.sh files.

To start the DAC Server

1. In bash-related shells, issue the following command:

   ./startserver.sh

To run the DAC Server in the background

1. In bash-related shells, issue the following command:

   nohup startserver.sh 2>&1 &

The nohup command allows the DAC Server to run in the background on UNIX even if the DAC Client is disconnected.

To stop the DAC Server

1. In bash-related shells, issue the following command:

   ./stopserver.sh

   Note:

   When you execute ./stopserver.sh, the server will issue a warning about the shutdown request. When the server receives the request, it will shut down even if there is an ETL in progress. The statuses for the ETL run will not be set correctly. The next time the DAC Server starts, it will set the status to Failed for any uncompleted run.

A.8 How to Log Into Informatica PowerCenter Administration Console

Informatica PowerCenter Administration Console is installed on the machine that hosts the gateway node for the PowerCenter domain. For a single machine install of PowerCenter Services as described in this chapter, PowerCenter Administration Console is installed along with PowerCenter Services.

To log into PowerCenter Administration Console

1. In Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, access the following URL:

   http://<gateway host>:<domain port>

   Where:

   • <gateway host> is the name of the machine on which the gateway node has been configured; for a single-machine installation of PowerCenter Services it is the name of the machine on which PowerCenter Services has been installed.

   • <domain port> is the port number for the gateway. The default port number is 6001.

2. In the login page, enter the domain username and password that was specified when you created the domain during installation of PowerCenter Services.