The number of ports available for an instance of Essbase represents the number of licensed concurrent connections. Essbase provides one reserve port for the system administrator. A system administrator uses the reserve port to log off one or more users when all other ports are in use. For more information about Essbase ports, see the Oracle Essbase Database Administrator's Guide.
For information about changing and connecting to nondefault Essbase Agent ports, see Connecting to Nondefault Agent Ports.
In Administration Services, a port is in use only when an Essbase Server connection is established. Connections are established when you:
Expand an Essbase Server node in Enterprise View.
Select an Essbase Server node in Enterprise View, right-click, and select Connect.
Use the User Setup Wizard or the User Properties window to add an Essbase Server to Enterprise View.
Perform an operation that implicitly requires an Essbase Server connection, such as opening a script that is saved on an Essbase Server.
Send MaxL statements to Essbase via MaxL Script Editor.
Essbase connections are handled by the middle-tier Essbase Administration Server.
Connections to Essbase Servers are not established by simply logging on to Administration Services Console or by performing tasks specific to Essbase Administration Server or Administration Services Console. In addition, connections are not established when you edit objects that are saved locally. For example, you can open the console and edit a local calculation script without connecting to Essbase or using a port.
After an Essbase connection is established and a port is in use, the port remains in use until you manually disconnect from Essbase in Enterprise View or close the console, or until you exceed the timeout limit set for Essbase. If a process is running when you disconnect or close, the port is released, but the process continues until completion.
“Running Essbase Servers, Applications, and Databases” in the Oracle Essbase Database Administrator's Guide