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Using BI Platform Universes in SAP BusinessObjects Cloud

This blog looks at how you can use BI Platform Universes in Cloud for Analytics. The ability to leverage existing Universes means the reuse of the existing semantics, data models and connections that exist within the BI Platform – something which is key to allow business users to acquire data from a variety of sources, including such existing connections. Added to this is the ability to be able to perform planning on the model/data acquired from the Universe – which is particularly unique (it terms of being bale to do it so easily).

 

You can use SAP BusinessObjects BI platform system 4.1 SP5 or above to connect into C4A.

The starting point is the the need to get HANA Cloud Connector and the Cloud for Analytics Agent setup correctly (as per the help guides here). This are effectively the agents that allow the BI Platform to reach out to the C4A tenant which run on HANA Cloud Platform.

 

I installed both components on the BI Platform itself with the Cloud for Analytics Agent web application running on the same Tomcat instance as the BI Platform services. Thanks for SAP Support’s help in getting the HANA Cloud Connector issues resolved which I has, this resulted in the creation of note http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/2305230

 

 

Once the setup of HANA Cloud Connector and the C4A Agent is done the details of the C4A Agent can be entered into the Administration area of C4A.

Pic 1 - C4A Agent Settings.png

 

In the Connection area of C4A I was then able to create a connection for Universe, enter my system details and the connection was created.

Pic 2 - Create Connection.png

Pic 3 - System Connection.png

 

 

Navigating to the Modeller area I then choose to create a new model by importing it from a Universe. After selecting my new connection, I then needed to create a query.

Pic 4 - Create Model.png

 

The list of Universes (UNX format) were displayed. I did notice that a UNX I created on top of a BW BEx query (new feature in BI4.2) wasn’t available. I was hoping this would be a way around connecting BW Bex queries into C4A if a BW system is less than 7.4 SP13.

Pic 5 - Universe list.png

 

 

The next step allows the selection of Universe fields and filters (like in Lumira, Webi and Design Studio). I selected some dimensions and measures.

Pic 6 - Fields and Filters.png

 

The model can then be adjusted. This will also import the data at that moment in time.

Pic 7 - Model.png

 

I was then able to create a story on the model.

Pic 8 - Story.png

 

To update the data in the model you need to select the model in the Modeller area and the select the Import Data From Universe option, this will then take you back through the data mapping process as described here.

Pic 9 - Importing data.png

 

Currently it’s not possible to schedule the import of data from a Universe, this would obviously be a big benefit in the future.

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      Author's profile photo Juan Carlos Lazaro
      Juan Carlos Lazaro

      Hi Matt,

      great post. I am in the middle of my configuration and I am finding problems when deploying the war app in the bundled tomcat. I did it with tomcat manager web app, and when testing with the following url: http://[Host]:[Port]/C4A_AGENT/service/api/epm/bw, I get an error.

      Could you please share your steps in that specific part of the process?

      Thank you

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Juan,

      Thanks for the feedback.

      What error message did you get?

      When I ran that test URL I got a blank screen. Using http Fiddler I was able to see the response of 200 (OK) as described on SAP Help.

      Regards,

      Matt

      Author's profile photo Juan Carlos Lazaro
      Juan Carlos Lazaro

      Matt,

      thanks for the prompt response.

      The error is:

      HTTP Status 404 - /C4A_AGENT/service/api/epm/bw

      type Status report

      message /C4A_AGENT/service/api/epm/bw

      description The requested resource is not available.


      Apache Tomcat/8.0.21

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member
      Blog Post Author

      Does the URL host:port/C4A_AGENT/configure work?

      Possible the WAR file didn't deploy correctly, is it running ok in the list of Tomcat services in the Manager App.

      I deployed it in the manager by uploading the file via "WAR file to deploy" option.

      Author's profile photo Juan Carlos Lazaro
      Juan Carlos Lazaro

      Cannot test right now. I deployed it in the same way, but for any reason it is not doing it correctly.

      not sure what I can do to solve it.

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member
      Blog Post Author

      SAP Support were very helpful in getting some of the issues I had resolved (HANA Cloud Connector path)

      Author's profile photo Juan Carlos Lazaro
      Juan Carlos Lazaro

      Matt,

      I have deployed the last .war available at SMP (support packages and patches) and now it asks for user credentials, so it seems something different happened. Now the question is: what are the credentials?

      I added a user in tomcat-users.xml, but i am not sure if I assigned the right role. Which role did you assign to the user in tomcat?

      Thank you

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member
      Blog Post Author

      Here are my Tomcat users, hope it helps.

      2016-04-18 10_30_45-AWBO4 Demo System - 54.217.241.3 - Remote Desktop Connection.png

      Author's profile photo Juan Carlos Lazaro
      Juan Carlos Lazaro

      Thanks for that,

      I was missing one thing... Now it is working. I also configured the Cloud Connector and it seems everything is ok.

      I am in the last step now, creating connection in C4A, and this is not working. Just one question, did you install the SAP Java Connector? I think that is not needed, but I am not completely sure.

      Any idea?

      Thanks

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member
      Blog Post Author

      I did put the JCo files in the relevant Tomcat directory but this was for the BW connection. I don't believe it's needed for Universe connections.

      Regards,

      Matt

      Author's profile photo Juan Carlos Lazaro
      Juan Carlos Lazaro

      I think it does not have anything to do with my problem.

      Did you do anything with certificates?

      I am struggling with this. I have all boxes green in HANA Cloud Connector Administration Page. However, it seems the system is not reachable from C4A.

      Don't know what I could have missing...

      Is this the way you configured the C4A connection in C4A System Administration Tab?

      - HOST: VIRTUAL_HOST

      - PORT: VIRTUAL_HOST_PORT (i.e.: 8080)

      - USER: C4A AGENT User

      - PASSWORD: C4A AGENT Password

      And then in the connection, for the SYSTEM: VIRTUAL_HOST:6400

      Is that correct?

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member
      Blog Post Author

      I didn't have to do anything with certificates, my Tomcat is http.

      The configuration you mention for the C4A Agent and Connection was exactly the same for me.

      Have you applied the setting as per the SAP note I put in the blog? (2305230)

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Hi, I m trying to do the same since last week...
      Now I get the error of wrong host and port on BI connection.

      What link are you using on Connections? Is the local address of BI server or a virtual host similar to C4Agent setting?

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member
      Blog Post Author

      Virtual host name  and CMS port (e.g. BI4SYS:6400).

      Regards,

      Matt

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      but did you mapp the BO server on cloud connector ?

      Author's profile photo Juan Carlos Lazaro
      Juan Carlos Lazaro

      MMatteo, thanks for pointing that.

      Not yet done. That is still pending. But, does this have to do with the Tomcat issue? I thought that would be independent to the cloud connector setting.

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      ok, works for me. Only C4agent must be configured on the Cloud Connector.

      The bi system is mapped bythe agent, in the connection I wrote just the system host and port (BI4SYS:6400).

      Author's profile photo Juan Carlos Lazaro
      Juan Carlos Lazaro

      Hi Matteo,

      I think I have some misconfiguration, but I cannot find what it is exactly.

      Would you mind putting your settings?

      • Cloud Connector

                Cloud Connector is running on port 8443.

      • C4A Agent


                I have deployed C4A Agent in the same tomcat as BO. Then I configured the           access inside Cloud Connector as follows:

                Virtual Host: bi4:8080. Should I use a different port here?

                Internal Host: xxxx.xxx.xxx:8080

                Protocol: HTTP

                Back-end Type: non-SAP system

                Principal Type: none

                Url_Path: /C4A_AGENT/ - path and all sub-paths

      • C4A Agent inside C4A

                Host: bi4. This is the virtual port defined in C4A Agent, is that correct?

                Port: 8080. This is the virtual port defined in C4A Agent, is that correct?

                User Name: C4A Agent created when configuring C4A Agent

      • Connection inside C4A

                System: bi4:6400. Not sure if this is the right value

                User: bi user. Administrator should work, right?

      I have the feeling that I am misconfiguring something, but cannot find where the issue is.

      I would really appreciate if you could point me to the wrong value define, as something has to be wrong. 🙁

      Thanks a lot

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      seems ok..what kind of error do you have?

      btw, you can test if the agent is working properly with a POST call, using postman or the browser developer tool, at the link:

      http://[tomcatserver]:[tomcatport]/C4A_AGENT/service/api/epm/bw

      if the answer is 200 the agent is working fine.

      The c4agent configuration seems fine, in the C4A must use the virtual host and port defined in the connector. The user needs the Service role and you must restart the tomcat server after you add the role.

      Hope this helps

      Author's profile photo Juan Carlos Lazaro
      Juan Carlos Lazaro

      Matteo,

      thanks for replying.

      I get the 200 value when testing.

      When configuring the connection in C4A I don't get any error, but the connection is not created, I get to the same screen once and again.

      Don't know what else I could try.

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      try to look at the tomcat java console... when you create the BI connection the c4agent will raise an exeption if something goes wrong...I caught my errror in this way

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      What did you enter as Landscape Host in the initial configuration of HANA Cloud Connector?

      Do I need a HCP account?

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Hi Matt,

      Do you think you can create a document similar to the one Dong Pan had created for HANA remote connections? Link is right here.

      It would be greatly appreciated =)

      Author's profile photo Henry Banks
      Henry Banks
      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Hello Henry,

      I am aware of the user guide provided by SAP. I did put in the effort to understand the steps but I did not find it easy to follow, and the reasons are:

      - A lot of links that take you to different pages (A link within a link within a link).

      - Very brief/vague instructions on what needs to be done.

      I think there is an opportunity here for the creation of a step-by-step guide. I will surely share if I come up with one 🙂

      Author's profile photo Henry Banks
      Henry Banks

      At what step have you come unstuck ?

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Hi Henry,

      My goal as of now is to connect to a universe.

      I have configured Tomcat 8, deployed C4A_Agent, received the white screen, and used fiddler to verify the 200 message. After that, I went to SAP C4A administration, and put in my tomcat localhost information, tomcat UN and Pass.

      then, I have successfully installed and configured HANA cloud connector: I created a connection to the tomcat and set the resource to /C4A_AGENT/ with all subpaths. I received the green light on both the virtual host and its resource.

      Finally, I got the error below when I tried creating a connection in SAP C4A. This is where I am stuck actually. Do you have an idea how to remedy this? 🙂

      Thanks!

      Moe

      SCN-c4a error.PNG

      Author's profile photo Henry Banks
      Henry Banks

      it might be a good idea if you created a seperate "Discussion" under this C4A space to get more eyes .

      I wonder - what could this "Unexpected Character" be?  a space? a wildcard character? a unicode character with an acccent ?

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Moe,

      I also encountered a similar issue and it was to do with the HCC issue that was resolved as per the note detailed in the blog. I would recommend raising a ticket with SAP Support on this one. There were really helpful in me being able to get this connectivity setup.

      Regards,

      Matt

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Hi Matt,

      Thank you for the advice. I raised a ticket and I hope to get it resolved. I want to switch topics here.

      Since you have also figured out HCP and HANA connectivity, would it be okay to send you a private message to gain some guidance? I am literally stuck at the connection screen on C4A on every connection method. All of the work leading to the connection screen had been done.

      Warm regards,

      Moe

      P.S. you'd have to follow me to enable private messaging.

      Author's profile photo Henry Banks
      Henry Banks

      http://scn.sap.com/thread/3898177

      my understanding is that this enquiry is being handled via support on the above discussion thread. 

      Author's profile photo chandra koduri
      chandra koduri

      Hi Matt,

      When I tried above process but not connected to BI universe.
      When I given system name,username and password it is not loaded.

      Please share valid inputs

      thanks,
      Chandra.K

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      I´m facing a problem building my model, the metrics has a data quality issue and BOC indicates I have to change the data type

      any clue?

       

      best regards.

      Jaime