Configure Essbase on Linux

You must configure Essbase on Linux using the Configuration Tool, either at the end of the Essbase installation, or by launching the Configuration Tool later, after installation.

Prerequisites and Notes

  • Fusion Middleware must already be installed, and Oracle Essbase must be installed in the same Oracle Home directory. See Install Fusion Middleware.
  • Supported relational database must be installed, as mentioned in the installation prerequisites. See Install a Relational Database.
  • If you are using EPM Shared Services authentication, you must already have a supported version of EPM installed, with EPM Shared Services users created and configured, and Know Your Oracle Home and EPM Instance Details.
    • If using EPM Shared Services authentication, it should be running during Essbase 26ai configuration. If EPM Shared Services is not running, some port numbers must be manually configured to avoid port conflicts. When you configure Essbase, you must be cautious and aware of ports that are already in use by any EPM services on this host, and to only choose and use valid ports that are not used by a service or application on this host. You must also set these unused port numbers accordingly in the user interface or in the response file.
  • If you are using Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) as the database for Essbase repository (RCU) schemas, you must run the process to alter database and apply the correct collate, and address schema considerations, before running the Essbase configuration tool. For more information, see Configure Microsoft SQL Server as Repository Database for Essbase Schemas.
  • Pre-create RCU Schemas for Essbase explains the process if you choose to pre-create RCU schemas before configuration rather then have Essbase configuration tool create them for you. One use case to pre-create schemas is if you're employing a secure HTTPS connection using a wallet.
  • All ports should not be within the ephemeral ports range, nor in use by other running software. See Avoid Port Conflicts.
  • Each managed server must be assigned to a machine, the logical representation of the computer that hosts one or more server instances. The machine name must be unique in relation to other configurable resources in the domain.
  • If you plan to install and configure more than one Essbase On-Premise instance, to support failover, you need a front-end load balancer. See Configure a Load Balancer to Support Failover.
  • If you're connecting through Smart View, using the URL /aps/SmartView, you need to change the URL. See Redirect to New Essbase Smart View Connection URL. Alternatively, you can configure redirection to the new URL on the web server. If you're using Oracle HTTP Server (OHS) or HTTPD Server, redirect the URL while modifying the Oracle HTTP Server configuration, as noted in the previous item.

Run Configuration Tool

  1. If you didn't continue with configuration at the end of installation, launch the Configuration Tool.
    1. In the Oracle Home directory, where Essbase and Fusion Middleware are installed, open a terminal in ./essbase/bin. For example, open a terminal in <Oracle_Home>/essbase/bin.
    2. Launch the Configuration Tool using the config.sh script. 
      $ ./config.sh
      The script can be run with parameters (such as -mode, -log, -log priority, -responseFile). If you use the responseFile parameter, all fields are filled with previous configuration entries, except for passwords. To learn about configuration script options, run: ./config.sh -help.
  2. On the Welcome page, click Next.
  3. On the Domain Details page, do the following:
    1. For Domain Name, accept the default (if correct) or enter your domain name; for example, essbase_domain
    2. For Domain Root, accept the default (if correct), or enter your domain root path; for example,
      /scratch/user/oracle_home/domains
      If you're installing additional Essbase instances, use a different domain root for each.
    3. For Application Directory, accept the default or enter your application directory; for example,
      /scratch/user/oracle_home/applications/essbase
      It's recommended that the applications directory be separate from the configuration files.
    4. For WebLogic Administrator Account, enter the name and password of a WebLogic administrator account that you'll use for managing Essbase and middleware servers.
      • If you use WebLogic Embedded LDAP, this administrator is also given an Essbase service administrator role.
      • If you use EPM Shared Services, this administrator is only for the Essbase domain WebLogic instance. The EPM Shared Services admin user will be provisioned with Essbase user role: Service Administrator.
    5. Click Next.
  4. On the Database Connection page, do the following:
    1. For Database Type, accept the default, or enter the database type. This is the supported relational database; for example, Oracle Database.
    2. For Connection String, enter the connection string to the database; for example,
      myhost.example.com:1521/orcl
      See Connection String Formats.
    3. For Essbase Repository, choose whether to create new schemas now, or use pre-created schemas that you built using the Fusion Middleware RCU utility in Pre-create RCU Schemas for Essbase, as a pre-configuration workflow task. If using Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) in configuration, see related prerequisite above.
    4. For Schema Prefix, enter a unique and meaningful prefix; for example, ESS26AI. This must be a new, unique string, containing 1-12 alphanumeric characters, and starting with a letter.
    5. For Schema Password, enter a schema password that will be shared for all of the new schemas.
    6. For the Administrator username and password, enter the credentials of any user granted a sysdba role for your Oracle Database. This can be the default sys user or Microsoft database administrator. Username must start with a letter and contain between 5 and 128 alphanumeric characters long. The password must start with a letter, contain between 8 and 30 characters, with at least one number, and optionally, any number of the special characters ($ # _).
    7. Click Next.
  5. On the Node Manager Configuration page, do the following:
    1. For the Machine Name, accept the defaults, or enter the string for the Node Manager machine name, which handles clusters. All ports should not be within the ephemeral ports range, nor in use by other running software. See Avoid Port Conflicts.
    2. For the Node Manager Port, accept the default, unless you know that your organization chose a different value during Fusion Middleware configuration. For reference, see Managing Ports.
    3. For Node Manager Listen Address, you can enter your fully qualified Linux host name (where WebLogic is installed along with your Fusion Middleware installation). It can also be an operating system address. For reference, see Changing the Port Numbers Used by Oracle Fusion Middleware.
    4. Click Next.
  6. On the WebLogic Server Ports Configuration page, configure according to the choices you made during installation.
    Specify clear and secure ports for each of the servers. See Managing Ports. All ports should not be within the ephemeral ports range, nor in use by other running software. See Avoid Port Conflicts.
    1. To secure connections using Transport Layer Security (TLS Everywhere), select the Secure Connection Mode check box; your self-signed certificate is then recognized. If you didn't already, review this topic: About Securing Your Communication and Network. If TLS security is deployed, the default port is the Managed Server Secure Port. Default port value is 9000 for non-secured, and 9001 for secured. It is recommended to use secured (9001).

      If you configure Essbase to use a non-Oracle relational database as the RCU repository database, you may need to take additional steps, after Essbase deployment is completed, to configure your system’s ODBC drivers to support secure/TLS encryption. Consult your database driver configuration instructions.

    2. [Optional] To limit access to specific hosts, (for multi-home environment), specify a domain, for example, localhost, in the listen address fields. If you don't specify/enter listen addresses values, the listen addresses apply to all interfaces and addresses, and all mapped hosts are accessible.
    3. Click Next.
  7. On the Essbase Ports Configuration page, do the following:
    1. Accept the defaults or enter values for the Agent Port, Agent Secure Port (used for secure communication using TLS), and min and max ports for Essbase application servers.
      • Agent Port specifies the port for the Essbase Agent - default is 1423.
      • Agent Secure Port specifies the port that the Essbase Agent uses for secure communication when in secure connection mode with Transport Layer Security (TLS) - default is 6423.
      • When multiple instances of Essbase Server are installed on one host, you must specify a unique port number for each instance.
      • All ports should not be within the ephemeral ports range, nor in use by another running software. See Avoid Port Conflicts.
      • The range between Essbase Server Min and Max ports must be at least 1000, depending on the amount used.
    2. Click Next.
  8. On the Identity Provider configuration page, do the following:
    1. If you didn't already, review Select Authentication Provider topic.
    2. WebLogic is the default identity provider, but is not recommended for production environments. If you currently use EPM Shared Services, and want to continue, select the Enable EPM Shared Services Identity Provider check box. The window example shows EPM provider selected. When enabled, EPM fields are available for you to confirm or specify EPM Oracle Home and Oracle Instance locations. For details on these, see About Middleware Home, EPM Oracle Home, and EPM Oracle Instance.
    3. [Optional] You can optionally enter a name to register the Essbase instance with Shared services. If a name is not provided, EPM generates the name for the registered instance.
    4. Click Next.
  9. Review the Configuration Summary page. Note the log file location and response file location.You can use the response file (.rsp) to save your configuration choices and fill in the same field values (excluding passwords) in a future UI-based or Silent mode configuration. If you want to run a future configuration using an .rsp file, you can also run configuration until the summary page, and click Cancel instead of Configure, and reuse the response file later. The .rsp file is saved at the temp location listed in the summary as Response File Location. If you plan to use it for automating a future configuration, be sure to save it somewhere more permanent, as tmp directories may be routinely cleaned out. See Sample Response File and Parameters.
  10. Click Configure. On the Configuration Progress page, near the end of Configuration Tool processing, Essbase platform components are started. When progress reaches 100%, click Next.
  11. On the Configuration Complete page, review the details, and click Finish. You can now log into Essbase. See Essbase, REST, and Smart View Client URLs.
Review the advanced and post-configuration options and tasks in Advanced Configuration Topics. These include topics on deleting RCU schemas, configuring Essbase and Oracle HTTP server, and more.