4 Configuring Oracle Business Intelligence

This chapter walks you through a step by step process to configure Oracle BI standard topology using Oracle Business Intelligence 12c Configuration Assistant.

4.1 Overview: Oracle Business Intelligence 12c Configuration Assistant

Oracle Business Intelligence 12c Configuration Assistant is a multi-functional utility that helps you to create database schemas, specify port range, and create system components, and start the application servers in addition to configuring the BI standard topology. Oracle strongly recommends you to use the Configuration Assistant to configure the BI domain.

4.2 Before Starting the Configuration Assistant

It is important to make sure that you meet the criteria listed in this topic for a smooth, error-free domain configuration using the Configuration Assistant.

Use the following checklist to verify whether the required conditions are met:

You have correctly installed the BI product binary files
You have the latest supported JDK installed on your system
You have access to the any one of the Oracle certified database: Oracle, DB2, SQLServer, or RAC
(Optional) You have connection details of existing RCU schema prefix (STB) and you have already created BIPLATFORM, OPSS, MDS, and WLS schemas in a single session

Note:
You can, alternatively, generate a schema prefix (STB) and create the BIPLATFORM, OPSS, MDS, and WLS schemas while running the BI Configuration Assistant, provided you have the DBA credentials.

Using RCU in advance gives you an additional option to choose and manage tablespaces. The RCU is available in the following directory:

ORACLE_HOME/oracle_common/bin

See Creating Schemas with the Repository Creation Utility for the procedure to create database schema using the RCU.

Note:

The database schemas are required to store internal housekeeping information. These schemas are different from any data sources which you plan to analyze using Oracle BI.

4.3 Running the Oracle Business Intelligence 12c Configuration Assistant

The Oracle BI 12c Configuration Assistant is a .sh (Unix) or .bat (Windows) file. Start the Configuration Assistant by launching the config executable from the bi/bin directory inside the Oracle home. Follow the procedure in this topic to complete the configuration step-by-step.

Important:

Oracle recommends you to use the Oracle BI 12c Configuration Assistant to configure your 12c system.

To configure the BI standard topology:

Note:

Context-sensitive help is available on each screen as you navigate through the Configuration Assistant. Click Help to seek more information about the elements on that screen.

Go to the bin directory using the following commands based on your operating system:
Unix command:

cd ORACLE_HOME/bi/bin

Windows command:

cd ORACLE_HOME\bi\bin
Start the Configuration Assistant using the following commands based on your operating system:
Unix command:

./config.sh

Windows command:

config.bat

The Configuration Assistant starts and the Welcome screen is displayed.
Select the components to install and click Next.

Note:
The Configuration Assistant automatically adjusts your selection to ensure that consistent set of suites are deployed.
- Essbase: Includes components such as Essbase Server, Cube Deployment Server, and Analytic Provider Services.
- Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition: Includes components such as Presentation Services, Visual Analyser, BI Composer, web services, proactive intelligence (Delivers and Actions), Web Services for SOA (WS4SOA), and Mobile Application Designer.
- Business Intelligence Publisher: Includes Oracle BI Publisher.
The Prerequisite Checks screen is displayed.
On the Prerequisite Checks screen, after the prerequisite checks conclude with no errors, click Next.
If any of the prerequisite checks fail, then a short error message appears at the bottom of the screen. Fix the error and click Rerun to try again. If you want to ignore the error or warning messages and continue with the installation, then you click Skip, although this approach is not recommended.

Note:
The configuration might not function normally if you continue without resolving the issue that caused an error or warning message during the prerequisite checks.

The Define New Domain screen is displayed.

On the Define New Domain screen, specify the following, and click Next:

Field	Description
Domains Directory	Specify the path where you want to setup the domain directory.
Domain Name	Specify domain.
Domain Home	It is self derived from the Domains Directory and cannot be edited.
Username	Specify a username for the System Administrator. Note: This user is created in the embedded LDAP and is granted WebLogic Administrator permissions.
Password	Specify a password for the System Administrator.
Confirm Password	Confirm the password by reentering it.

The Database Schema screen is displayed.

On the Database Schema screen, choose either to create a new schema or use an existing schema by clicking the appropriate option.

If you choose to create a new schema, the Configuration Assistant creates a schema for you. Specify the following and click Next:

Field	Description
Schema prefix	Specify a unique schema prefix.
Schema password	Specify a password for your schema.
Confirm password	Confirm the password by reentering it.
Database type	Choose the database you are using from the dropdown menu.
Username	Enter the privileged username to create the schema.
Password	Enter the password for the above username.
Simple connect string	Specify the connect string in the form of hostname:port:servicename for the database. For example: host1.example.com:1521:pdborcl.example.com

If you choose to use an existing schema, you must create STB, BIPLATFORM, MDS, OPSS, and WLS schemas using the RCU. Specify the following and click Next:

Field	Description
Database type	Choose the database you are using from the dropdown menu.
Simple connect string	Specify the connect string in the form of hostname:port:servicename for the database. For example: host1.example.com:1521:pdborcl.example.com
Prefix	Specify the prefix for the STB schema you created using the RCU.
Password	Enter the password you specified while creating the STB schema using the RCU.

The Port Range screen is displayed.

On the Port Range screen, specify the port range and click Next.

Note:
The default, allocated port range is from 9500 to 9999, both inclusive. You may choose to keep the default values or specify different values within this range.

The Initial Application screen is displayed.
On the Initial Application screen, choose one of the following options as per your requirement, and click Next:
- Oracle sample application (SampleAppLite)
- Your own existing BI Application from export bundle (.jar)
  
  Note:
  This option is applicable if you are migrating from Oracle BI 11g to 12c. For more information on migrating from 11g to 12c, see Migration Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence.
- Clean Slate (no predefined application)
The Summary screen is displayed.
On the Summary screen, verify the values you specified on each screen.
Click Save to generate a response file used for silent installation (optional).

Click Configure.

The configuration process starts and the Configuration Progress screen is displayed.
After the configuration concludes without any errors, click Next to go to the Configuration Complete screen.
On the Configuration Complete screen, review the configuration summary.
Click Save to save the information on this screen in a file.

Click Finish to exit the Configuration Assistant.

The BI Application opens in the browser. Use the login credentials you specified while configuring to log in to the BI application home.

The standard BI topology is configured.

4.4 Verifying the Configuration

To verify that the domain is configured properly, see Performing Basic Administrative Tasks. You should familiarize yourself with the tasks this section describes and perform them to verify that your domain is properly configured.