10 Configuring Repositories

This chapter describes how to upload the metadata repository for Oracle Business Intelligence and to set the location of the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog.

This chapter includes the following sections:

Section 10.1, "Why Upload a Repository and Set the Catalog Location?"
Section 10.2, "Using Fusion Middleware Control to Upload a Repository and Set the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog Location"
Section 10.3, "Using the System MBeans to Upload the Metadata Repository"

10.1 Why Upload a Repository and Set the Catalog Location?

As the administrator, you must ensure that users can access the metadata repositories and Oracle BI Presentation Catalogs that contain the information that they require. The following list describes the importance of uploading the repository and setting the catalog location:

Upload Repository — Uploading a repository enables the Oracle BI Server to load the repository into memory upon startup and makes the repository available for queries.

When you upload a repository file, you provide the name and location of the repository file and the current repository password. The uploaded repository is available to clients of Oracle BI Server, including to Oracle BI Presentation Services.

You can only upload a repository in binary (RPD) format. You cannot upload an MDS XML repository.
Set Catalog Location — Setting the location of the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog ensures that its objects are available to users of Oracle Business Intelligence. The catalog is never uploaded. Instead, you copy the catalog files manually to either a local or shared location, then you set the location in Fusion Middleware Control.

10.1.1 Understanding Modes

You can upload the repository in either shared mode, which is recommended, or in distributed mode, as described in the following list:

In shared mode, you specify an RPD publishing directory using Fusion Middleware Control so that online repository changes are propagated in a cluster. The master BI Server copies its local repository to this directory when online changes are made. When slave BI Servers start up, if the version in the publishing directory is newer, then each slave server copies the version in the shared directory to its local disk.

You typically upload the repository in the recommended mode of shared when you have multiple Oracle BI Server components in the deployment.
In distributed mode, each Oracle BI Server instance loads the repository from its default local directory. Repositories uploaded through Fusion Middleware Control are uploaded to each default local directory. Any changes made to the repository using the Administration Tool in online mode affect only the Oracle BI Server component that is associated with the changed repository file.

Similarly to the metadata repository, the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog can be accessed in shared mode (which is recommended), or in distributed mode. Each Presentation Services component loads the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog from the catalog location that is specified in Fusion Middleware Control. In shared mode, changes to the catalog are propagated to all Presentation Services components. In distributed mode, if you make changes to a local catalog, then you must propagate the changes to all components.

10.1.2 Understanding Repository Version Numbers

When you upload a repository, it is copied to the local repository directory for each Oracle BI Server component, located at:

ORACLE_INSTANCE\bifoundation\OracleBIServerComponent\coreapplication_obisn\repository

After the repository is uploaded, it is given a version number suffix (for example, SampleApp_bi001.rpd). This version number is incremented each time that the repository is uploaded. This numbering ensures that the previous version is not overwritten. To revert to a previous version, you must re-upload the specific version of the repository to use.

Note that you can delete older versions from the repository directory or shared network directory to reclaim disk space.

10.2 Using Fusion Middleware Control to Upload a Repository and Set the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog Location

You can use Fusion Middleware Control to upload the metadata repository and to provide a shared location for the repository and a local or shared location for the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog.

Before you begin this procedure, ensure that you are familiar with the information in Section 3.2, "Using Fusion Middleware Control to Update Oracle Business Intelligence Configuration Settings."

To use Fusion Middleware Control to upload a repository and set the location of the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog:

Go to the Business Intelligence Overview page, as described in Section 2.2.3, "Using Fusion Middleware Control to Manage Oracle Business Intelligence System Components."
Display the Repository tab of the Deployment page.

On the Repository tab, you can view the name of the current uploaded repository (called the Default RPD). Note that the Data Source Name (DSN) visible to Oracle BI Server clients for the repository that is uploaded through Fusion Middleware Control is always Star.
Click Lock and Edit Configuration to allow changes to be made.
To upload the repository in shared mode, select Share Repository and provide an RPD Publishing Directory. If you do not select this option, then the repository that you upload on this page uses distributed mode by default.
To upload a repository and to set the location for the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog, complete the elements using the descriptions in the help topic for the page. Click the Help button on the page to access the page-level help for the following options:
- Repository File option
- Repository Password option
- Catalog Location option
Click Apply, then click Activate Changes.
Return to the Business Intelligence Overview page and click Restart.

By default, Oracle Business Intelligence is configured with a sample default repository called SampleAppLite.rpd. See Section 1.5, "Working with the Sample Application" for more information.

See Appendix A, "NQSConfig.INI File Configuration Settings" for information about advanced configuring settings for repositories. Note that hosting multiple repositories on a single Oracle BI Server is not recommended for production systems.

For information about using methods in the Oracle BI Systems Management API to change configuration settings, see Chapter 22, "Introducing the Oracle BI Systems Management API."

10.3 Using the System MBeans to Upload the Metadata Repository

The recommended approach for uploading the metadata repository is to use the Repository tab of the Deployment page, as described in Section 10.2, "Using Fusion Middleware Control to Upload a Repository and Set the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog Location." You might encounter specific situations in which you must upload the repository using a different approach. For example, the size of the repository file can be too large for Fusion Middleware Control to handle, or you might be working in a development environment and have unique needs.

In such exception cases, you can use the System MBeans to manage repositories programmatically or from scripts, as described in Chapter 22, "Introducing the Oracle BI Systems Management API." You can also use the Fusion Middleware Control System MBean Browser to upload the default metadata repository, as described in the following procedure.

To use the System MBean Browser to upload the metadata repository:

Manually copy the repository file to upload to the local repository directory for each Oracle BI Server component in the deployment, at:

ORACLE_INSTANCE\bifoundation\OracleBIServerComponent\coreapplication_obisn\repository
If the name or password of the repository has changed, then complete the following steps:
1. Use the System MBean Browser to specify the new name for the repository. See Section 3.5, "Using the Fusion Middleware Control MBean Browser to Update Configuration Settings" for more information.
2. Commit your changes.
3. You must change the password for the repository file in the oracle.bi.enterprise credential map. Otherwise you cannot restart the BI Server, which requires this password to decrypt the file.
  
  In Fusion Middleware Control, navigate to the bifoundation_domain node and from the menu, select Security, then select Credentials.
4. Drill the oracle.bi.enterprise map, select the appropriate repository, and click Create Key to display the Create Key dialog in which you create a new credential.
5. Create the key for the repository by completing the fields as follows:
  - Key = Set the key for the repository to repository.name, where name is the name of the repository, without the .rpd suffix.
  - User Name = Set the value to any name.
  - Password = Enter the password for the repository file, then retype it in the Confirm Password field.
6. Click OK.
Restart Oracle Business Intelligence.

Note that if you perform this procedure and then later scale out the deployment to include additional Oracle BI Server components, then you must manually copy the repository file to the local repository directory for the new Oracle BI Server component. Perform this copy step after the Oracle BI Server component has been created, but before restarting the system.