Before you Begin

This 10-minute tutorial shows you how to set up usage tracking of user queries in Oracle Analytics.

Background

Usage tracking helps to determine which user queries are creating performance bottlenecks based on query frequency and response time. You must have administrator privileges to set up the criteria to track user queries and generate usage reports. You can use the usage report information to assist with database optimization, aggregation strategies, or billing users and departments based on the resources consumed.

Before you can track usage of reports, dashboards, and data visualization workbooks, you must specify the database where you want to store the usage tracking statistics. The database must have a schema defined with permissions to create tables. Usage tracking creates tables in the schema with a name that matches the user name you provided when specifying the connection pool details. For example, if schema name in the usage tracking database is Analytics_Usage, then when specifying the connection pool details, you must enter Analytics_Usage in the User Name field. Usage tracking creates the usage tracking-related tables in the schema named Analytics_Usage.

This is the first tutorial in Track Usage in Oracle Analytics series. Read the tutorials in the order listed.

What Do You Need?

  • Install Oracle Analytics Developer Client Tool
  • Access to Oracle Analytics
  • Access to an Oracle Database Cloud Service instance with the connection details

Connect to Cloud Instance

In this section, you specify the database and connection pool details in the physical layer of your data model file. 

  1. From Start select Oracle Analytics Client Tools, select the Model Administration Tool to open the Oracle BI Administration Tool.
  2. In Oracle BI Administration, select the File menu, select Open, and then select In the Cloud.
  3. In the Open In the Cloud dialog, enter the User and Password credentials for the BI Service Administrator user.
  4. In Cloud, enter bootstrap.
  5. In Host, enter the Oracle Analytics URL without the https:// and  /dv/ui portion of URL, for example, demo.example.com.
  6. In Port, enter the port number of your Oracle Analytics instance.
  7. With SSL checked (enabled), in the Trust Store use the default OAC Client Home\oracle_common\jdk\jre\lib\Security\cacerts or click Browse to select the location of your trusted certificate authority certificates (cacerts). Enter the Password.
  8. Click Open.

Create a Usage Tracking Database

  1. In the Physical layer without anything selected, right-click and select New Database.
  2. In Database, enter UsageTracking in Name, select Oracle 12c in Database type, and then click OK.
  3. In the Physical layer, right-click UsageTracking, select New Object, and then select Connection Pool.
  4. In Connection Pool, enter UTConnectionPool as the Name.
  5. In Call interface, select Default (Oracle Call Interface (OCI)).
  6. In Data Source Name, enter the host, port, and service name for the database connection in the following format: 
    (DESCRIPTION =(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = <Your DB Host>)(PORT = <Your DB port>))(CONNECT_DATA =(SERVER = DEDICATED)(SERVICE_NAME = <Your DB Service name>)))
  7. Enter the User name and Password that matches instance you are tracking.
  8. In Confirm Password, re-enter the password, and then click OK.
    Description of connectionpool.png follows
    Description of the illustration connectionpool.png
  9. From the File menu, select Save. Click Yes to check global consistency. In the Consistency Checker Manager, click Close.
  10. From the File menu, select Cloud, and then select Publish to upload the data model file to your Oracle Analytics instance.
  11. Click OK when you see the message after a few minutes that the repository was published successfully to the cloud.

Set Usage Tracking Parameters

In this section, you specify connection details for the usage tracking database and database table names that include the schema name that matches the user name of your connection pool. Use the database and connection pool names that you specified in the physical layer.

After you set the parameters and apply the changes, Oracle Analytics creates the usage tracking tables in the specified schema with the table names that you provided and starts to log user queries in these tables.

  1. Sign in to Oracle Analytics with your administrator credentials.
  2. On the Home page, click Navigator Navigator icon, and then click Console.
  3. In Console, click System Settings, and then click Usage Tracking.
  4. In Usage Tracking Maximum Rows, enter 10000.
  5. In Usage Tracking Connection Pool, enter UsageTracking.UTConnectionPool.
  6. In Usage Tracking Physical Query Logging Table, enter UsageTracking.Analytics_Usage.PhysicalQueries. Replace "Analytics_Usage" with your usage tracking database schema name.
  7. In Usage Tracking Logical Query Logging Table, enter UsageTracking.Analytics_Usage.LogicalQueries. Replace "Analytics_Usage" with your usage tracking database schema name.
  8. Click Apply and then click OK.

Next Steps

Analyze Usage Tracking Data in Oracle Analytics

Learn More