Five BI Admin Tips for 2017
I’ve been working with the Business Objects platform since the days of Crystal Enterprise and been tracking with it to what it is today with BI 4.2 SP03. Having implemented this solution across commercial and public sectors and diverse industries ranging from retail to non-profits to defense, it’s revealing to see the common struggles encountered with diagnosing issues and maintaining a well-run system.
Over the years, great improvements have been made to the installation and general performance/stability of the system. The challenge comes in when all isn’t well and you need to delve deeper into the inner workings of the system. In the past, there were limited tools and it sometimes felt like black magic trying to figure things out. Fortunately, our colleagues in AGS have been diligent over the years and with such, we can be much better equipped to administer our systems.
If you are a well-seasoned administrator, I’m sure you can related to this and appreciate how far we have come. For those newer to the platform, I hope these tools will get you further down the road. For all, please share your admin tips and advice for starting the year well.
1. BI Platform Support Tools
The BI Platform Support Tool is a Java based utility designed for supporting many aspects of the BI platform administration. These include reporting on the landscape configuration, performing root cause analysis tasks, and delivering performance optimization and go-live services. For SAP Business Objects BI Platform 4.0 and above.
Documentation and Download:
https://wiki.scn.sap.com/wiki/display/BOBJ/SAP+BI+Platform+Support+Tool
2. WebiAdminTool
This utility provides real-time Webi-APS usage and relationship tracking. It offers an overview of current connections between WIReportServer and APS processes on each machine. It further allows analysis of what a user is actually running the report and has the open session with each server. For SAP Business Objects BI Platform 4.0 and above
It is found in the \Program Files (x86)\SAP BusinessObjects\SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 4.0\java\apps\WebiAdminTool directory and run via the command line “java -jar GenericContainer_AdminTool.jar” A 64-bit java/bin directory in the system PATH variable is needed.
Note: This is an unsupported tool, meant for use by SAP employees. However this tool provides good insight into the inner workings of the Web Intelligence server.
Documentation:
https://wiki.scn.sap.com/wiki/display/BOBJ/WebiAdminTool
3. Flexible Log Reader
This is a tool for reading and analyzing text log files. It has powerful search and filtering options. You can scan for information relevant to the problem through the use of filters and tags. If you’ve ever used the Windows text editor to scroll through a log for relevant details, this is for you.
Documentation:
https://wiki.scn.sap.com/wiki/display/BOBJ/Flexible+Log+Reader
4. CMS Data Access Drivers
Introduced in BI 4.2 SP03, this is the modern day incarnation of the Query Builder. It will allow you to query the CMS database for information on you BI content, such as reports, universes, connections, schedules, users, etc. As the CMS repository stores metadata in the form of InfoObjects in virtual tables, it is not possible to browse this data directly using a conventional SQL query tool. With the development of this driver, you can use a universe with Web Intelligence to query the metadata of the CMS database. Sample Web Intelligence documents are provided with the universe and driver.
Download and Documentation:
5. New Auditing Universe and Reports
Long a requirement for customers, to gain insight into how their BI platform is being utilized for performance to compliance, there is a new comprehensive universe available for BI 4.1 and above. This comes with sample Web Intelligence documents compatible with BI 4.1 SP05 and above. This universe is currently available for SQL Anywhere, MS SQL Server, Oracle, SAP HANA, and DB2.
Download and Documentation:
Excellent overview, the question is if the BI Platform support tool will implement functionality of the WebiAdmin tool.
Agree. It would be good if all the features in 1,2 & 3 should be available in BIP Support tool.
Nice!!! I agree with CHUANG!
These tools might not require a for a small BOBJ environment but help a lot to maintain a huge BOBJ environments. 🙂
Thanks CHUANG.
Great Info, thanks.
Now with respect to the WebiAdmin tool: I have a very simple Webi Report: 260 result rows with 5 columns (thereof 2 measures), flat table, no formulas, no condtional formatting, etc. No Data Merging, no multiple data sources, etc. Really, a most basic list report so to speak.
Question:
What kind of performance should I expect when opening such a Webi report /no data refresh (the report is saved with data) on a 4.2 SP3 system, assuming I am the only user on an 8 CPU core Windows 2012 R2 Server with 32 GB RAM, all on One Server Install (Tomcat & SQL Anywhere for CMS DB), assuming the SAP BI BusObjects server configuration is “good”?
Should this be in 1 – 3 sec. range or am I expecting too much?
I would expect it to open in couple of seconds, not more than that.
it would be impossible to say without proper server analysis and sizing as well as performance testing.
If it is not as fast as you expect, I suggest you collect a copy of E2E trace and use Flexible Log Reader to look into it. There is an option named as Performance chart under View menu in this tool, which could be very helpful.
In addition, I also suggest you try 4.2 SP3 Patch3 that is more stable that 4.2 SP3 if this is your DEV or QA system.
Nice Overview and all in one place (Still hyperlink missing in all the URLs 🙂 ). I feel you should add the below utility as well.
https://wiki.scn.sap.com/wiki/display/BOBJ/XI+3.1+and+BI+4.x+SI_FILES+Integrity+Checker+Tool .
Thanks
Mani
@DC CHUANG - there seems to be no other way to reach people on SCN, so I'm posting here to alert you that you won a prize. 🙂
And yes, please add hyperlinks, as others noted. Thanks.