1 Introduction to Oracle BI Publisher Administration

This chapter describes tasks required to administer BI Publisher.

It includes the following topics:

• Introduction

• Configurations Performed by the BI Platform Installer

• Flow of Tasks for First Time Setup of BI Publisher

• Starting and Stopping BI Publisher

• About the Administration Page

• About Integration with Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition

• About the Security Model Options

• About the Data Source Connections

• About Report Delivery Destinations

• About Setting Runtime Configuration Properties

• About the Server Configuration Settings

Introduction

Oracle BI Publisher is an enterprise reporting solution for authoring, managing, and delivering all your highly formatted documents, such as operational reports, electronic funds transfer documents, government PDF forms, shipping labels, checks, sales and marketing letters, and much more.

Administering BI Publisher requires setting up and maintaining the following system components:

• BI Publisher security

• Data source connections

• Report delivery destinations

• BI Publisher Scheduler configurations

• Runtime configuration settings

• Server configuration settings

See the guides that are outlined in the table below for more information about using the product for other business roles.

Role	Sample Tasks	Guide
Data Model developer	Fetching and structuring the data to use in reports	Data Modeling Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher
Application developer or integrator	Integrating BI Publisher into existing applications using the application programming interfaces	Developer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher
Report consumer	Viewing reports Scheduling report jobs Managing report jobs	User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher
Report designer	Creating report definitions Designing layouts	Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher

Configurations Performed by the BI Platform Installer

After installation is complete, the BI Platform Installer performs certain configurations.

Post-installation configurations include:

• The security model is configured to use Oracle Fusion Middleware Security

• The scheduler is configured to use Oracle WebLogic JMS. The schema tables are installed and configured in the database

• The BI Publisher catalog and repository are configured to ${xdo.server.config.dir}/repository

Flow of Tasks for First Time Setup of BI Publisher

If you are setting up BI Publisher for the first time, then consult the following table for the recommended flow of tasks to get the system up and running.

Task	Where to Get Information
Define a Local Superuser Set up this Superuser to ensure access to all administrative functions in case of problems with the current security setup.	Enabling a Local Superuser
Set up the chosen security model and test	Configuring Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Model Alternative Security Options Integrating with Other Oracle Security Models
Set up the data sources and test	Setting Up Data Sources
Set up the delivery servers and test	Setting Up Delivery Destinations
Configure server properties	Configuring System Maintenance Properties
Configure system runtime properties	Defining Runtime Configurations

Starting and Stopping BI Publisher

Use the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console to centrally manage Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.

For detailed information about Oracle WebLogic Server, see Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

Display Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console, using one of the following methods:

• Using the Start menu in Windows

• Clicking a link on the Overview page in Fusion Middleware Control

• Entering a URL into a Web browser window

The Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console is available only if the Administration Server for WebLogic Server is running.

To display Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console:

1. If the Administration Server for WebLogic Server is not running, start it.

2. Display the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console using one of the following methods:

   Using the Windows Start menu:

   1. From the Start menu, select All Programs, Oracle WebLogic, User Projects, bifoundation_domain, and Admin Server Console.

      The Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console login page is displayed.

   Clicking a link on the Overview page in Fusion Middleware Control:

   1. Display Oracle Fusion Middleware Control.

   2. Expand the WebLogic Domain node and select the bifoundation_domain.

   3. Click the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console link in the Summary region.

      The Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console login page is displayed.

   Using a URL in a Web browser window:

   1. Enter the following URL into the browser:

      http://<host>:<port>/console/.

      For example, http://mycomputer:7001/console/

      where host is the DNS name or IP address of the Administration Server and port is the listen port on which the Administration Server is listening for requests (port 7001 by default).

      If you have configured a domain-wide Administration port, then use that port number. If you configured the Administration Server to use Secure Socket Layer (SSL), then you must add the letter 's' after http as follows:

      https://<host>:7001/console/

Using Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console

Use the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console to start and stop BI Publisher.

1. Start the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console.
2. Under the Domain Structure, click Deployments.
3. Click Control.
4. In the Deployments table, select the bipublisher application.
5. Click the appropriate action, as shown below.

Description of the illustration GUID-48E97BCC-F16A-4F92-9782-94166E5EF229-default.gif

When you Start an application, pick one of the following options:

• Servicing all requests: Specifies that WebLogic Server make the application immediately available to all clients.

• Servicing only administration requests: Specifies that WebLogic Server make the application available in Administration Mode only.

When you Stop an application, pick one of the following options:

• When work completes: Specifies that WebLogic Server wait for the application to finish its work and for all currently connected users to disconnect.

• Force stop now: Specifies that WebLogic Server stop the application immediately, regardless of the work that is being performed and the users that are connected.

• Stop, but continue servicing administration requests: Specifies that WebLogic Server stop the application once all its work has finished, but to then put the application in Administration Mode so it can be accessed for administrative purposes.

About the Administration Page

Many of the tasks described in the Administration section of this guide are performed from the BI Publisher Administration page.

You must be granted Administrator privileges to access the Administration page. The Administration page is accessed from the Administration link in the global header.

About Integration with Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition

If you installed Oracle BI Publisher with the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, then you must perform the Administration tasks in the BI Publisher Administration page.

Administration tasks are described in the following table. Navigate to the BI Publisher Administration page as follows:

In the global header, click Administration, on the Administration page, click Manage BI Publisher.

Task	Where to Get Information
Set up data source connections for reporting	Setting Up Data Sources
Grant access to data sources for user roles defined in Oracle Business Intelligence	Granting Data Access
Configure the connections to delivery servers (for example, printers, e-mail servers, FTP servers, and so on)	Setting Up Delivery Destinations
Configure the scheduler processors	Configuring the Scheduler
Configure system runtime properties such as PDF security properties, properties specific to each output format, template type properties, font mappings, and currency formats.	Setting Runtime Properties
Configure server properties such as caching specifications, database failover properties, and database fetch size.	Configuring System Maintenance Properties

About the Security Model Options

BI Publisher offers a variety of security options.

• Oracle Fusion Middleware Security

  After installation, BI Publisher is configured to use Oracle Fusion Middleware Security. See Configuring Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Model. If you prefer to use another security model, then choose from the alternative options.

• BI Publisher Security

  Use BI Publisher's Users and Roles paradigm to control access to reports and data sources. See Alternative Security Options.

• Integration with an LDAP server

  Set up the BI Publisher roles in your LDAP server then configure BI Publisher to integrate with it. See Alternative Security Options.

• Oracle E-Business Suite

  Upload a DBC file to recognize your Oracle E-Business Suite users. See Integrating with Other Oracle Security Models

• Oracle BI Server

  You can still leverage the 10g legacy BI Server authentication method if you choose not to upgrade to Oracle Fusion Middleware Security. See Integrating with Other Oracle Security Models.

• Oracle Database

  Set up the BI Publisher roles in your Oracle Database and then configure BI Publisher to integrate with it. See Integrating with Other Oracle Security Models.

• Oracle Siebel CRM Security Model

  See Integrating with Other Oracle Security Models.

About the Data Source Connections

BI Publisher reports rely on XML data. BI Publisher supports retrieving data from a variety of data sources.

The following data sources must be first set up in BI Publisher through the Administration page:

• Database connections

  BI Publisher supports direct JDBC connections and connections through a JNDI pool (recommended)

• LDAP connections

• OLAP connections

• File directory connections - you can use existing XML files, Microsoft Excel files, or CSV files stored in a directory that BI Publisher can access

• Web Service connections

• HTTP XML connections

For more information on setting up these data source connections, see Setting Up Data Sources.

If you have integrated your system with Oracle Business Intelligence you can also take advantage of the following data sources:

• Oracle BI Analysis

• Oracle BI Server subject area

You can also upload some file types stored locally.

About Report Delivery Destinations

The BI Publisher delivery manager supports multiple delivery channels.

Supported delivery channels include:

• Printer

• Fax

• E-mail

• HTTP notification

• FTP

• Web Folder (or WebDAV)

• Content Server

• Document Cloud Services

For more information on setting up the delivery options, see Setting Up Delivery Destinations.

About Setting Runtime Configuration Properties

Use the Runtime Configuration page to enable configuration settings for your system.

The properties include settings that do the following:

• Control the processing for different output types

• Enable digital signature

• Tune for scalability and performance

• Define font mappings

For more information on setting configuration properties and font mappings, see Setting Runtime Properties.

About the Server Configuration Settings

BI Publisher administration also includes a set of system maintenance settings and tasks.

Settings and tasks include:

• Configuring the catalog

• Setting caching properties

• Setting retry properties for failover

• Enabling Auditing and Monitoring

For more information on these tasks and settings, see Configuring System Maintenance Properties.