Oracle® Fusion Middleware Configuration Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer 11g Release 1 (11.1.1) B40107-01 |
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This chapter applies only to Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer. For information about Discoverer Plus OLAP, see Chapter 5, "Configuring the Discoverer Catalog and Discoverer Plus OLAP".
This chapter explains how to start Oracle BI Discoverer on a client browser machine, to install and configure any required plug-ins (for example, a Java runtime environment) or security certificates, and contains the following topics:
Section 2.1, "General information about starting Discoverer"
Section 2.3, "About restricting how users can start Discoverer"
Section 2.6, "About running Discoverer Plus over HTTP for the first time on a client machine"
Section 2.12, "How to modify the URL that starts Discoverer"
Notes
The instructions in this chapter assume that the Discoverer installation is associated with an Oracle Internet Directory and with the two database schemas that Discoverer requires (the PStore and Portlet Provider schemas). If the Discoverer installation is not associated with the Oracle Internet Directory (and the PStore and Portlet Provider schemas), end users do not see the Discoverer connections page, and must enter login details directly using the Connect to Oracle BI Discoverer - Connect Directly page.
Before users can use Discoverer to analyze relational data, the database must contain a Discoverer EUL Version 5.1.x.
You can use the checkdiscoverer utility to verify a Discoverer configuration and report on failures or anomalies (for more information about the checkdiscoverer utility, see Section 11.2, "What is the checkdiscoverer utility?").
In some circumstances (for example, to provide a clean environment in which to run Discoverer Plus), you might want to remove the Discoverer Plus applet from a client machine. To remove the Discoverer Plus applet from a client machine, do the following:
Display the JVM control panel (for example, on a Windows machine, display the Control Panel, and double-click the Java icon).
Click Settings in the General tab to display the Temporary Files Settings dialog.
Click Delete Files.
Alternatively, manually remove all files from the Sun Java Deployment Cache directory. For example, on Windows, remove all files from the C:\Documents and Settings\<Windows user name>\Application Data\Sun\Java\Deployment\Cache directory
.
You might also have to clear the browser's temporary files.
In some circumstances you might want to remove the Java run-time environment plug-in from a client machine. To do this, remove all versions of the Java 2 Runtime Environment SE from the client machine.
You can upgrade the Java Plug-in on a browser machine without affecting the certified Java Plug-in version installed with Discoverer. For example, when you log in to Windows you might see a Sun Java Plug-in pop-up that informs you that a new version of the Java Plug-in is available for download. If you download and install the new version, Discoverer continues to use the Java Plug-in version installed when you first started Discoverer on that machine.
To start Discoverer Viewer, you just need an Internet browser, as follows:
To start Discoverer Viewer over HTTP, start an Internet browser and enter the Discoverer Viewer HTTP URL (for example, http://<host.domain>:<HTTP port>/discoverer/viewer).
For more information, see Section 2.11, "How to start Discoverer Viewer over HTTP."
To start Discoverer Viewer over HTTPS, start an Internet browser and enter the Discoverer Viewer HTTPS URL (for example, https://<host.domain>:<HTTPS port>/discoverer/viewer).
For more information, see Section 2.5, "About running Discoverer over HTTPS."
Depending on what software you have installed on your machine, you might also need the following:
If the client browser machine does not have a JVM installed, you must install a JVM and initialize the Discoverer Plus applet for that machine. For more information, see Section 2.6, "About running Discoverer Plus over HTTP for the first time on a client machine."
To start Discoverer Plus over HTTPS, you must have installed a security certificate from a Certificate Authority. For more information, see Section 2.5, "About running Discoverer over HTTPS."
Notes
For information on finding out the default Discoverer port number, see Section 4.8, "How to view ports used by Fusion Middleware."
Discoverer is certified to support the following Internet browsers:
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7
Mozilla Firefox 2
Mozilla Firefox 3
For the latest information on browser support, see the Oracle Fusion Middleware Release Notes.
In a secure Discoverer environment you want to enable only authorized end users to access Discoverer. For example, you might want to limit users to read-only access to Discoverer workbooks using Discoverer Plus.
Depending on your security requirements, you might do any of the following to provide a secure Discoverer environment:
You might run Discoverer Plus in read-only mode for specified Discoverer end users by removing the Create/Edit Query privilege in Oracle BI Discoverer Administrator. For more information, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer.
You might enable Oracle Advanced Security (formerly Advanced Security Option) encryption between the middle tier and the database.
For more information about other Discoverer security features, see Chapter 13, "Maintaining Security with Oracle BI Discoverer."
To start Oracle BI Discoverer Plus, you require the following on the Discoverer Plus client machine (that is, the browser machine):
Administrative privileges on the client machine, because you need to be able to install a Java Virtual Machine
At least 50 MB of Users Personal Profile Space for the Oracle Jar Cache
A minimum of between 100 - 150 MB of available disk space to install a JVM
To start Oracle BI Discoverer Viewer, you need only to be able to run a standard Web browser (for example, Microsoft Internet Explorer) that has JavaScript and cookies enabled.
Before you can run Discoverer over HTTPS (that is, in Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) mode), you must have installed a security certificate from a Certificate Authority (for example, Verisign) on the Oracle HTTP Server on the Oracle Fusion Middleware instance. For more information about installing security certificates, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide and Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Guide.
An Oracle installation includes a dummy certificate on the Oracle Fusion Middleware instance that you can use to confirm that HTTPS is deployed. You must install a valid security certificate to ensure that communication with the Oracle Fusion Middleware instance is secure.
A security certificate confirms to the Discoverer client machine that the holder of the security certificate is who they say they are.
How to start Discoverer over HTTPS is different for Discoverer Viewer and Discoverer Plus, as follows:
To run Discoverer Viewer over HTTPS, simply specify HTTPS on the Discoverer Viewer URL, and specify the HTTPS port number.
For example:
https://<host.domain>:<HTTPS port>/discoverer/viewer
When the Security Alert dialog is displayed, click Yes to accept the security certificate issued by the certificate authority you are using. Discoverer Viewer then starts in HTTPS mode. For more information about starting Discoverer Viewer, see Section 2.11, "How to start Discoverer Viewer over HTTP".
To run Discoverer Plus over HTTPS, you install the Web server's security certificate into the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) certificate store in all client machines that run Discoverer Plus. For more information, see Section 2.5.1, "How to install a security certificate on a Discoverer Plus client machine".
Note: To deploy Discoverer Plus over HTTPS, you must select the Secure Tunneling security protocol in Oracle Fusion Middleware Control (for more information, see Section 13.6.3.5, "How to set up Discoverer Plus to use the Secure Tunneling communication protocol").
You install a security certificate on a Discoverer client machine when you start Discoverer Plus for the first time over HTTPS (that is, in Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) mode).
Tip: If you do not have a JVM installed on the client machine, before you try to start Discoverer for the first time in Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) mode, do one of the following:
Run Discoverer Plus in HTTP mode, which installs a JVM on the client machine for you. For more information, see Section 2.6, "About running Discoverer Plus over HTTP for the first time on a client machine."
Install a JVM on the client machine manually.
To install a Discoverer Plus security certificate:
Start a Web browser and enter the Discoverer Plus HTTPS URL containing the fully qualified host name (including port number if required) used by your own Oracle installation.
For example:
https://<host.domain>:<port>/discoverer/plus
where:
<host.domain> is the server name and domain on which the Oracle HTTP Server is installed
<port> is the HTTPS port number (default 4443) on which Discoverer is installed
/discoverer/plus is the URL command that starts Discoverer Plus
The Security Alert dialog is displayed.
Click View Certificate.
Go to the Details tab.
Click Copy to File to start the Certificate Export Wizard.
Click Next to display the Export File Format page in the Certificate Export Wizard.
Select the Base-64 encoded X.509 (.CER) option.
Click Next to display the File to Export page in the Certificate Export Wizard.
You now choose a temporary name and location for the exported certificate file.
Enter a file location and file name (with a '.cer' extension) for the exported certificate file in the File name field (for example, c:\tmp\mycertificate.cer
).
Click Next to display the final page of the Certificate Export Wizard dialog.
Click Finish to complete the certificate installation.
A confirmation dialog is displayed.
Click OK to close the confirmation dialog and the Certificate Export Wizard and return to the Details tab of the Certificate dialog.
Click OK in the Details tab of the Certificate dialog to return to the Security Alert dialog.
Leave the Security Alert dialog displayed.
Import the security certificate file that you saved earlier into the certificate store of the JVM you are using, as follows:
if you are using Sun Java Plug-in, see Section 2.5.2, "How to import certificate details into the Java Plug-in certificate store"
(optional) Delete the certificate file that you saved earlier (for example, c:\tmp\mycertificate.cer).
At the Security Alert dialog, click Yes to accept the security certificate and start Discoverer Plus.
Discoverer Plus starts in HTTPS mode and displays the Connect to Oracle BI Discoverer page.
Note: In HTTPS mode, Discoverer Plus displays a padlock symbol on the status bar of the browser, which indicates that the Web session is secure.
Notes
For information about installing security certificates with a JVM other than Java Plug-in, consult the proprietary documentation for that JVM.
If you install a new JVM when you start Discoverer Plus, you must reinstall the Web server's security certificate into the JVM certificate store on all client machines that run Discoverer Plus.
When configuring Discoverer Plus to run over HTTPS using Java Plug-in, you import the certificate details into the Java Plug-in certificate store after you have used the Certificate Export Wizard to export a certificate file.
Display the Java Control Panel.
For example, on Windows display the Windows Control Panel, then select the Java icon.
Display the Security tab and click Certificates.
Display Trusted Certificates from the Certificate type drop down list (if it is not selected).
Click Import and import the certificate file that you saved in Section 2.5.1, "How to install a security certificate on a Discoverer Plus client machine" (for example, c:\tmp\mycertificate.cer).
The security certificate is displayed in the list of certificates in the Java Plug-in certificate store.
Click Apply.
When you start Discoverer Plus for the first time on a client machine, you perform a one-time setup process to install a Java Virtual Machine and initialize the Discoverer Plus software. This process is typically performed when:
you want to test that Discoverer is working
a Discoverer end user wants to start Discoverer Plus for the first time on a client machine
If you upgrade Discoverer, you might have to repeat the setup process. For example, you might install a new version of Discoverer Plus that requires a new version of the Java runtime environment.
Oracle BI Discoverer installs the Sun Java Plug-in on client browser machines. For more information about changing the Java plug-in that Discoverer uses, see Section 4.10, "About running Discoverer Plus with different Java Virtual Machines".
The Discoverer Plus initialization procedure is different for different browsers. Refer to the appropriate task below:
For Microsoft Internet Explorer on a Windows client, see Section 2.8, "How to start Discoverer Plus over HTTP in Microsoft Internet Explorer for the first time on a Windows client machine".
For Netscape Navigator on a Windows client, see Section 2.9, "How to start Discoverer Plus over HTTP in Netscape Navigator for the first time on a Windows client machine".
For Netscape Navigator on a UNIX client, see Section 2.10, "How to start Discoverer Plus over HTTP in Netscape Navigator for the first time on a UNIX client machine".
For Firefox on an Apple Mac client, the minimum certified version of Java Plug-In required by Discoverer Plus must be installed. The Safari browser does not support the minimum certified version of the Java plug-in required for this release. For more information about the minimum versions required by Discoverer Plus, see the Release Notes.
To check that the browser has the required Java Plug-in, type about:plugins
into the browser. You should see an entry for the installed Java plug-in in the Installed plug-ins page.
For more information about starting Discoverer Plus, see Section 2.7, "How to start Discoverer Plus".
Notes
If Single Sign-On is enabled, you are first asked to authenticate as a Single Sign-On user before a Discoverer connections page is displayed.
If Single Sign-On is not enabled, Discoverer end users are asked to enter a database password when they select a private connection.
Note: A Discoverer connection stores login information.
To start Discoverer Plus in Microsoft Internet Explorer, you must have the Security level set no higher than 'Medium' or custom equivalent (that is, using the Security dialog in Microsoft Internet Explorer).
If a Security Warning dialog is displayed when you start Discoverer, click Yes to install and start the JVM. If you have previously configured the machine to always trust content from Oracle Corporation, this dialog is not displayed.
Note: Discoverer Viewer requires no additional software to be installed on the client machine.
If the Discoverer initialization takes longer than the session timeout (for example, you might be accessing Discoverer over a slower network), increase the Timeout value in the pref.txt file on the middle tier and apply the preferences. For more information, see Section 9.6, "List of Discoverer user preferences".
You start Discoverer Plus to enable you to manage and edit Discoverer worksheets.
To start Discoverer Plus:
Start a Web browser and enter the Discoverer Plus URL containing the fully qualified host name (including port number if required) used by your own Oracle installation.
For example:
http://<host.domain>:<port>/discoverer/plus
where:
<host.domain> is the server name and domain on which the Oracle HTTP Server is installed
<port> is the port number (typically 7777) on which Discoverer is installed
For information on finding out the default Discoverer port number, see Section 4.8, "How to view ports used by Fusion Middleware".
/discoverer/plus is the URL command that starts Discoverer Plus
The Connect to Oracle BI Discoverer page is displayed.
Note: Connections are only displayed if the Oracle Business Intelligence installation is associated with an Oracle Internet Directory and with the two database schemas that Discoverer requires (the PStore and Portlet Provider schemas). If Single Sign-On is enabled, you are first asked to authenticate as a Single Sign-On user.
Do one of the following:
Select a connection in the Connection column.
Tip: If no connections are displayed in the Connection column, you must create a connection before continuing. For more information about creating private connections, see Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer Plus. You can also use public connections that have been created by the Discoverer manager (for more information, see Section 3.6, "How to create public connections").
Enter login details directly using the Connect Directly area, and click Go.
Discoverer Plus starts (after first installing any required plug-ins).
To start Discoverer Plus in Microsoft Internet Explorer for the first time on a Windows client machine:
Start Discoverer Plus (for more information, see Section 2.7, "How to start Discoverer Plus").
Depending on the software installed on the client machine, you might have to download and install a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) (for example, Java Plug-in). If you are not prompted to download and install a JVM, go straight to step 7.
Tip: If the JVM installation process fails, close down extraneous processes on the client machine, then re-try.
If you must download and install a JVM, the Security Warning dialog is displayed.
Click Yes to start the plug-in download and display the License Agreement page.
Select the Typical setup option and click Accept to start the installation.
When the installation is complete, the Java Runtime Environment - Complete page is displayed.
Click Finish to close the installation wizard.
The Security Warning dialog is displayed.
Click Yes to accept the security certificate and start Discoverer Plus.
Note: If you do not want to display the Warning - Security dialog every time a new Discoverer Plus applet is installed on the client machine, click Always.
The Workbook Wizard dialog is displayed.
Follow the instructions on the Workbook Wizard dialog.
You are now running Discoverer Plus.
To start Discoverer Plus in Netscape Navigator for the first time on a Windows client machine:
Start Discoverer Plus (for more information, see Section 2.7, "How to start Discoverer Plus").
Depending on the software installed on the client machine, you might have to download and install a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) (for example, Java Plug-in). If you are not prompted to download and install a JVM, go straight to step 12.
If the client browser machine does not have a JVM installed and you need to install a JVM, Discoverer launches an empty applet browser window.
Click anywhere in the empty applet browser window to display the Sun Developer Network download page for JVMs in a separate browser window.
In the browser window containing the Sun Developer Network download page for JVMs, select the Download JRE link to display the Download page.
Select the Accept License Agreement option.
In the Windows Platform area, select the Windows Installation, Multi-language link to display the Opening <JVM file> dialog.
Select the Save it to disk option and click OK.
Navigate to a temporary directory on the client browser machine (for example, d:\temp\) then click Save.
When the file download is complete the Netscape Download Manager dialog is displayed, containing the status of the download.
Close the Netscape Download Manager dialog.
Using a Windows Explorer dialog, navigate to the temporary directory that you selected in step 7, and double click the downloaded file (for example, d:\temp\jre-1_5_0_06-windows-i586-p-iftw.exe) to start the JVM installation wizard and display the License Agreement page.
Select the Typical setup option and click Accept to start the installation.
When the installation is complete, the Java Runtime Environment - Complete page is displayed.
Click anywhere in the empty applet browser window to start Discoverer Plus.
When the Discoverer Plus applet is initialized and cached, the Workbook Wizard dialog is displayed.
Follow the instructions on the Workbook Wizard dialog.
You are now running Discoverer Plus.
To start Discoverer Plus in Netscape Navigator for the first time on a UNIX client machine:
Install a JVM on the client browser machine, as follows:
Start a Web browser and go to the following URL:
Select the DOWNLOAD link in the JRE column for the Download J2SE v 1.5.0_06 option for Windows/Linux/Solaris to display the Download page.
Select the Accept License Agreement option.
Select the appropriate Solaris or Linux link to display the Opening <JVM file> dialog.
For example, for a Solaris client browser machine, you might select the 64-bit self-extracting file (jre-1_5_0_06-solaris-sparcv9.sh) link.
Select the Save it to disk option and click OK.
Navigate to a temporary directory on the client browser machine (for example, tmp\) then click Save.
When the file download is complete the Netscape Download Manager dialog is displayed, containing the status of the download.
Close the Netscape Download Manager dialog.
Using a file manager tool, navigate to the temporary directory that you selected in step f and execute the downloaded file (for example, tmp\j2re-1_5_0_06-solaris-sparcv9.sh) to start the JVM installation wizard and display the License Agreement page.
Follow the instructions in the JVM installation wizard to install the JVM on the client machine.
Start Discoverer Plus (for more information, see Section 2.7, "How to start Discoverer Plus").
Wait for the Discoverer Plus applet to initialize.
While the Discoverer Plus applet initializes, the Starting product: Discoverer Plus page is displayed.
The Discoverer Plus applet is initialized and cached, then the Workbook Wizard dialog is displayed.
You are now running Discoverer Plus.
You might start Discoverer Viewer if you have installed Oracle and want to test that Discoverer is working.
To start Discoverer Viewer over HTTP:
Start a Web browser and enter the Discoverer Viewer URL containing the fully qualified host name (including port number) used by your own Oracle installation.
For example:
http://<host.domain>:<port>/discoverer/viewer
where:
<host.domain> is the server name and domain on which the Oracle HTTP Server is installed
<HTTP port> is the port number (typically 7777) on which Discoverer is installed.
For information on finding out the default Discoverer port number, see Section 4.8, "How to view ports used by Fusion Middleware".
/discoverer/viewer is the URL command that starts Discoverer Viewer
The Connect to Discoverer Viewer page is displayed.
Note: If Single Sign-On is enabled, you are first asked to authenticate as a Single Sign-On user.
Do one of the following:
Select a connection in the Connection column.
Tip: If no connections are displayed in the Connection column, you must create a connection before continuing. For more information about creating private connections, see Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer Viewer. You can also use public connections that have been created by the Discoverer manager (for more information, see Section 3.6, "How to create public connections").
Enter login details directly using the Connect Directly area, and click Go.
The Worksheet list page is displayed.
Select a worksheet in the Name column to display the workbook in Discoverer Viewer.
You are now running Discoverer Viewer.
Notes
To start Discoverer Viewer over HTTPS, enter the Discoverer Viewer HTTPS URL (for example, https://<host.domain>:<HTTPS port>/discoverer/viewer). For more information about running Discoverer Viewer over HTTPS, see Section 2.5, "About running Discoverer over HTTPS".
In general, you start Discoverer by entering a URL in a browser, as described in this chapter. That URL has a format similar to the following:
http://<host.domain>:<port>/discoverer/<component-name>
The /discoverer/part of that URL is called the "context root." If your organization requires that all users enter URLs that have specific formats (that is, have a certain context root), then you can modify the default URL that starts Discoverer to match those requirements. After you modify the default URL, share that URL with the Discoverer users in your organization.
The following procedure describes how to modify the default URL for Discoverer by changing the context root. As part of the modification, you stop and restart all OPMN processes and WLS_DISCO Managed Server. WLS_DISCO Managed Server has a complete set of Java EE containers written entirely in Java that execute on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) of the standard Java Development Kit (JDK). Discoverer has a Java EE application that is deployed to WLS_DISCO. The Discoverer application is accessed through the port for the Oracle HTTP Server.
The following procedure uses an example of modifying the URL to include the /myBI/BI11 directory in the context root.
Note: The variable <EXTERNAL_STAGE_LOCATION> in the procedure below represents the path BEA_HOME (MW_HOME)\user_projects\domains\ClassicDomain\servers\WLS_DISCO\stage.
Stop the OPMN using the following opmnctl command:
$ORACLE_INSTANCE/bin/opmnctl stopall
Edit the application.xml file by following these steps:
Open the application.xml file from the <EXTERNAL_STAGE_LOCATION>\discoverer\<discoverer_version>\discoverer\META-INF\ directory in an XML editor.
Navigate to the following line:
<context-root>/discoverer</context-root>
Edit the line to read like:
<context-root>/myBI/BI11/discoverer</context-root>
Save your changes and close the file.
Edit the web.xml file by following these steps:
Open the web.xml file from the <EXTERNAL_STAGE_LOCATION>\discoverer\<discoverer_version>\discoverer\discoverer.war\WEB-INF\ directory in an XML editor.
Navigate to the following line:
<display-name>discoverer</display-name>
Edit the line to read like:
<display-name>/myBI/BI11/discoverer</display-name>
Navigate to the following line:
<param-value> discoverer</param-value>
Edit the line to read like:
<param-value> /myBI/BI11/discoverer</param-value>
Save your changes and close the file.
Edit the module_disco.conf file by following these steps:
Open the module_disco.conf file from the <ORACLE_INSTANCE>\config\OHS\<ohs-component-name>\moduleconf directory in a text editor.
Navigate to the following line:
<Location /discoverer/portletprovider/viewer>
Edit the line to read like:
<Location /myBI/BI11/discoverer/portletprovider/viewer>
Navigate to the following line:
<Location /discoverer>
Edit the line to read like:
<Location /myBI/BI11/discoverer>
Save your changes and close the file.
Restart the following services:
Restart OPMN using the following command:
$ORACLE_INSTANCE/bin/opmnctl startall
Restart WLS_DISCO using the WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST). For more information about using WLST commands, see the Oracle Fusion Middleware WebLogic Scripting Tool Command Reference.
Alternatively, you can restart WLS_DISCO from the WebLogic Administration Console, http://<host.domain>:<adminserverport>/console. For more information about restarting WebLogic Managed Server, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Managing Server Startup and Shutdown for Oracle WebLogic Server.
After you modify the files and restart the service as described in the previous procedure, users can start Discoverer components using the following URLs:
Discoverer Plus:
http://<host.domain>:<port>/myBI/BI11/discoverer/plus
Discoverer Viewer:
http://<host.domain>:<port>/myBI/BI11/discoverer/viewer
Discoverer Portlet Provider:
http://<host.domain>:<port>/myBI/BI11/discoverer/portletprovider
Note: If Single Sign-On is enabled for Discoverer, to modify the URL you must change the <Location> tag for each Discoverer component in the mod_osso.conf file. For example, to change the URL for Discoverer Plus, change <Location /discoverer/plus> to <Location /myBI/BI11/discoverer/plus> in the mod_osso.conf file.
For more information about editing mod_osso.conf, see Section 13.7.2.2, "How to enable and disable Single Sign-On for Discoverer."