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Author's profile photo Ashok Rajashekar

Fiori BI Launchpad Administrator configurations and settings in BI 4.2 SP04

Introduction

The new BI Launch Pad is a modern version of the classic BI launch pad application, built for maximum productivity. It has a fiorified user experience that makes the user interface (UI) simple and intuitive. With the ever-so-simplified UI, it is now that much simpler to access, view, organize, and manage your BI objects. This Blog explains the admin configurations and settings for the Fiori BI Launchpad.

1. Configure RESTful URL details in Central Management console for login the Fiori  BI Launchpad:

After installing or upgrading BI 4.2 SP04, if user is unable to login to Fiori BI Launchpad with a “Logon Failed for WACS contact administrator for necessary rights” Error message.

 

 

To resolve the above issue, follow the below steps :

  1. login to Central Management console as an administrator
  2. Navigate to Manage–>Applications–>Restful webservices–>properties
  3. Provide the WACS URL ie., hostname or fully qualified name where WACS server is deployed.

 

 

2. Setting Authentication tab and CMS visible in Fiori BI LaunchPad:

1. <INSTALLDIR>\SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI4.0\warfiles\webapps\BOE\WEB-INF\config\custom\

If you are using the Tomcat version installed with BI platform, you can also access the following

directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\SAP BusinessObjects\Tomcat6\webapps\BOE\WEBINF\

config\custom

2. Create a new file using Notepad and save the file under the following name:

Bing.properties

4. To include the authentication options on the BI launch pad logon screen add the following:

authentication.visible=true

5. To change the default authentication type add the following authentication.default=<authentication>

Replace <authentication> with  default Authentication types  “secEnterprise, secLDAP, secWinAD, secSAPR3”

6. To prompt users for the CMS name on the BI launch pad logon screen:

cms.visible=true

7. Save and close the file.

8. Restart your web application server.

3. Configuring Email link for “contact Administrator” option in Fiori BI Launchpad:

1. <INSTALLDIR>\SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI4.0\warfiles\webapps\BOE\WEB-INF\config\custom\

If you are using the Tomcat version installed with BI platform, you can also access the following

directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\SAP BusinessObjects\Tomcat\webapps\BOE\WEBINF\

config\custom

2. Create a new file using Notepad and save the file under the following name:

Bing.properties

3. can be modified in “admin.user.email=administrator@bilp.com” properties.

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      52 Comments
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      Author's profile photo Manikandan Elumalai
      Manikandan Elumalai

      Good one. Look like all the interrelated blogs are flowing  at the right time before our community members looking for it. Appreciate it.

      Author's profile photo Ashok Rajashekar
      Ashok Rajashekar
      Blog Post Author

      Thanks Mani.

      Author's profile photo Jordan Boen
      Jordan Boen

      I cannot get past the “Logon Failed for WACS contact administrator for necessary rights” error message…the WAC server is running on the same server the rest are running on. The host name is the same, but port 6405/biprws doesn’t work – only when I enter the following does it get to the signin page: http://<server ip address>:8080/BOE/BILaunchPad

      But then when I try to login, I get that logon failed for WACS message…I’m not sure what to do from here

      Author's profile photo Ashok Rajashekar
      Ashok Rajashekar
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Jordan,

      Can you please update the RESTful Webservices URL in CMC with IPAddress (Machine IP where WACS is running) instead of hostname and try login to Fiori BILP.

       

      Thanks,
      Ashok R

      Author's profile photo Jordan Boen
      Jordan Boen

      I have the IP address already in there > http://xxx.x.xxx.xxx:8080/BOE/BILaunchPad

       

      I can get to the login page, but cannot login…the address matches the one in the WACS application settings…

       

      I should also say, the old BI Launch Pad login works just fine, only this new Fiori-Design one isn't working. 

      Author's profile photo Ashok Rajashekar
      Ashok Rajashekar
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Jordan,

      can you please confirm http://xxx.x.xxx.xxx:6405/biprws/  URL is working ?

      Thanks,

      Ashok R

       

       

       

      Author's profile photo Jordan Boen
      Jordan Boen

      That's what is weird, that does not work (see pic) - only when I use :8080/BOE/BILaunchPad does it work

       

      Author's profile photo Jordan Boen
      Jordan Boen

      Here's my setting in CMC

      Author's profile photo Ashok Rajashekar
      Ashok Rajashekar
      Blog Post Author

      Yes. This looks weird. Finally can you try below steps :

      1. Login to BILP (http://xx.xx.xxxx:8080/BOE/BI) and in same browser in a new tab try to access Fiori BILP (http://xx.xxx.8080/BOE/BILaunchpad/)
      2. Change the RESTful application URL to http://localhost:6405/biprws and try to access Fiori BILP in the same server machine.
      3. change the RESTful application url with fully qualified host name. ie., http://TEST.ABC.COM:6405/biprws and try to access Fiori BILP in the same server machine.

       

      Author's profile photo Manikandan Elumalai
      Manikandan Elumalai

      Can we check the KBA here https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/2457962/E

      The issue could be something to do with the VM where BIP is deployed.

      Author's profile photo Jordan Boen
      Jordan Boen

      No luck…always returns the 404 missing info error…

      I tried all variations of http://localhost:6405/biprws, http://<server ip address>:8080/BOE/BILaunchPad, etc etc from the server – nothing.

      Old BILP works fine:

       

      New one does not:

      Author's profile photo Jordan Boen
      Jordan Boen

      I have even less luck when on the actual server BI is installed on - cannot even get to the logon page when trying on the server using localhost, IP address, or FQDN name...I can only get to the logon page from another PC when I enter the IP address, port 8080, and the BOE/BILaunchPad - however when I try to login, I get that "Error Logon Failed for WACS" message...sigh...I appreciate the help so far, maybe that note will help, but I don't see anything in that note that is relevant to me.

      Author's profile photo Bharath B N
      Bharath B N

      This IP adress and host name confusion :

      1. If you change the URL of the RESTful web services to IP Address then this wont work inside the machine. in this case you have to add this IP address to Host entry.
      2. If you are using host name in the  RESTful web services application, then BIlaunchpad wont work outside and you will get WACS error.

      Solution : please change the "RESTFul webservcies application" URL to IP address and also add same IP as HOST entry in same machine.

      -Bharath

      Author's profile photo Bharath B N
      Bharath B N

      Hi Jordan,

      I think you are using "BOE/BILaunchPad", can you please change it to "BOE/BILaunchpad". "p" must be letter.

      Thats what difference I feel by seeing above image.

      -Bharath

       

      Author's profile photo Jordan Boen
      Jordan Boen

      Yea, no such luck - not sure to be honest, I'll keep trying. I've tried disabling the Windows Firewall, using port 6405 (I cannot even get to the page, can only use port 8080)

       

       

       

      Author's profile photo Bharath B N
      Bharath B N

      What is the response for the URL : http://host:6405/biprws/v1/about  

      Author's profile photo Jordan Boen
      Jordan Boen

      Author's profile photo Bharath B N
      Bharath B N

      Perfect. So REST SDK is working.

      How about URL http://localhost:8080/BOE/BILaunchpad

      Author's profile photo Jordan Boen
      Jordan Boen

      What should the RESTful Web app be set to?

      • The http://localhost:8080/BOE/BILaucnhpad?
      • The http://localhost:6405/biprws?
      • The http://<our IP address>:8080/BOE/BILaucnhpad?

       

      Thanks for the support btw...

      Author's profile photo Bharath B N
      Bharath B N

      Please try in localhost first, once everything works then you can change it to IP address.  So please set REST URL to this  – http://localhost:6405/biprws

      And hit the new launchpad url in localhost only –  http://localhost:8080/BOE/BILaucnhpad

      -Bharath

       

      Author's profile photo Jordan Boen
      Jordan Boen

      OMG - success!!!!!!! I didn't realize that you want the REST URL to be the 6405 one, but then use the 8080 URL to access the page...doh!

      If I could, I would double-like your post lol!

      Author's profile photo Bharath B N
      Bharath B N

      Finally. ?

      To know more about new Fiorified BI Launchpad :

       https://blogs.sap.com/2017/05/16/fiorified-bi-launchpad-in-boe-4.2/

      Author's profile photo Filip Ghysens
      Filip Ghysens

      Hi I had also some issues.

      In my case I had windows firewall blocking port 6405.

      I added an inbound rule to allow that specific port and then worked fine

       

      f

      Author's profile photo Vamshidhar Mitta
      Vamshidhar Mitta

      Hi Ashok,

      Small Correction:

      It should be just Tomcat instead of Tomcat6 as mentioned in the path.With SAP BI 42, Tomcat version that comes with BI installation is Tomcat 8.

      C:\Program Files (x86)\SAP BusinessObjects\tomcat\webapps\BOE\WEB-INF\config\custom

      Thanks,

      Vamshidhar

       

       

       

       

      Author's profile photo Ashok Rajashekar
      Ashok Rajashekar
      Blog Post Author

      Thanks Vamshi. I have update the changes.

      Author's profile photo Mark Richardson
      Mark Richardson

      Problem with "looping" Login page on new FIORI BI Launchpad..?

      Have checked all of the settings documented above - and am using the same ADMINISTRATOR (Enterprise) account credentials that work OK in the regular CMC and Old Launchpad on the same BI Platform and Tomcat environment.

       

      1.) CMC -> Applications -> RESTFul WebService is configured with Fully-Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).

      2.) Checked that the REST SDK APIs, simple API is working OK using the FQDN.

      3.) Confirmed that the Web Application Container Server (WACS) is running OK on that environment by testing the CMC -> BI Administrators' Cockpit using the same Administrator (Enterprise) credentials.

      4.) We can get to the Login-Page for the new FIORI BI Launchpad, and had updated the Bing.properties file to expose everything on the Login-Page.

      5.) We enter exactly the same System, User Name, Password & Authentication values into the new FIORI BI Launchpad....and get the "Three-Dots" Fiori-Processing overlay for a couple of seconds...but then it reverts back to the Login-Screen.

      ...We never get to the FIORI Launchpad "Home" page...

      No Error-Messages or anything...just kicks us back to the Login-Screen.

      6.) We have CONFIRMED that the CMS-Connection is actually taking place via the FIORI BI Launchpad by testing that page with a BLANK password.

      Based on all of the above - it appears that everything is configured correctly, and is passing VALID login info to the CMS from the FIORI BI Launchpad.

      However, it is not "completing" the hand-over to the new HOME page for the FIORI BI Launchpad

      Are there any new SECURITY Settings or PERMISSIONS that need to be granted to give users access to the new FIORI BI Launchpad..?

      Thanks in advance for any advice on how to resolve this issue.

       

      Author's profile photo Bharath B N
      Bharath B N

      Hi Mark,

      Are you able to  Login to old BI Launchpad ?

      If yes – please login to old BI launchpad(http://host:port/BOE/BI) and in same browser next tab hit the new BI launchpad URL(http://host:port/BOE/BILaunchpad).

      Please update us the result of this scenario.

       

      -Bharath

      Author's profile photo Mark Richardson
      Mark Richardson

      Yes, no issues logging-in to old BI launchpad (http://host:port/BOE/BI) using exactly the same System, User Name, Password & Authentication values.

      In the same browser (IE-11.0.42) - opened another Tab and hit the new BI launchpad URL (http://host:port/BOE/BILaunchpad).

      Behaviour is the same as described in my post above.

      1.) Get to the new Login page OK.
      2.) Enter same System, User Name, Password & Authentication values.
      3.) Fiori Three-Dots appear for a few seconds.
      4.) Kicked back to new Login-Screen without any errors, etc.
      5.) Nothing gets us to the new HOME page in the Fiori Launchpad.

      If there aren't any new SECURITY Settings or PERMISSIONS that need to be granted to give users access to the new FIORI BI Launchpad ---- is it possible that the WAR file(s) for the new Fiori Launchpad didn't deploy correctly - or is corrupted..?

      I am going to check the CMS AUDIT logs to see if any of my Login attempts from Fiori Launchpad are being captured by the CMS...so at least we will know where the process is breaking.

      Author's profile photo Bharath B N
      Bharath B N

      Please check this error is coming form Tomcat or WACs (REST) in network.

      If error is coming from REST SDK, please copy that logon token and hit REST URL from any REST Client (Postman for Chrome, REST Client in Mozilla)

      -Bharath

      Author's profile photo Bharath B N
      Bharath B N

      Please check in CMC->Applications->BI Launchpad

      Author's profile photo Mark Richardson
      Mark Richardson

      Bharath :

      OK, now we are on to something.

      We do NOT see that new "Logon to new Fiorified BI Launch pad" Specific-Rights setting under

      CMC -> Applications -> BI Launchpad -> User Security -> Assign Security -> Advanced -> Add/Remove Rights

      However, there is a Security Setting for "Send to StreamWork" that I don't see in your list - so I am wondering if our WebApplication layer didn't upgrade properly when we upgraded this box from SAP BO-BI 4.2 (SP03) to the new SP04 update package..?

      We checked the VERSION in the CMS Server Metric - and confirmed that the Version is 14.2.4.2410

      Do we need to re-deploy the WebApps..? Is there anything else we can check to see if the Upgrade ran OK..?

      Thanks.

      Author's profile photo Bharath B N
      Bharath B N

      Did you checked error is coming form Tomcat or WACs (REST)  ?

      Author's profile photo Mark Richardson
      Mark Richardson

      There is no "error" - just a looping login.

      Tomcat is working OK for regular Launchpad.

      WACs (REST) is working OK for the CMC BI Cockpit.

      Is there a specific error that can be found in a trace-log or similar..?

      Author's profile photo Denis Konovalov
      Denis Konovalov

      webapp layer has nothing to do with rights existence in CMC, those will be in CMS DB.
      If there are missing rights for new bilaunchpad , its possible upgrade didn’t succeed entirely.

      Do you have any files in setup/packagetemp directory ? if yes, which ones ?

      Check setupengine.log from the upgrade and see if there are any dfo related issues.

      Author's profile photo Mark Richardson
      Mark Richardson

      Yes, at this point it looks like a corrupted upgrade process.

      Thankfully it is a SANDBOX server - so we are rolling it back to the OS baseline and rebuilding the Platform boxes into their original state before re-running the 4.2 (SP04) upgrade process.

      Thanks for all the feedback.

       

      Author's profile photo Jaabir Hoosdally
      Jaabir Hoosdally

      Hello,

      I got the following error while opening a webi report base on BW BEX in the fiori BI launchpad. The same report is working fine in BOE/BI

       

       

      Error 1: On launching the report, before variables screens appears.

      You can skip the message but the report turns to blank.

       

      Error 2: Occurs on others reports, when refreshing filters.

       

      Thanks in advanced for all feedback

       

       

       

       

      Author's profile photo Ashok Rajashekar
      Ashok Rajashekar
      Blog Post Author

      Thanks Jaabir for the Query.

      is it possible to share the document so that we can have a quick look and can provide you the update.

       

      Regards,

      Ashok R

      Author's profile photo Vytautas Thienel
      Vytautas Thienel

      Hi,

      I have a similar problem as Mark Richardson described above. I am almost sure that this is related to the hostname and network configuration. We are OEM offering SAP BI cloud solutions to various customers. Currently we are using the latest SAP BO 4.2 SP04 Patch01. Internally and some of the clients via VPN can access the new Fiori launch pad without any problems. However, all the clients who have modified the hostname for the SAP BI on their internal network cannot access the new Fiori Launch Pad. Please note, that the old BI Lauch Pad works fine for everyone.

      Log in error using new Fiori Launch Pad

      After following this blog some of our clients who are using client specific hostnames were still getting the following error message.

      Then I have changed Applications–>Restful webservices–>properties from http://hostname:6405/biprws to http://100.100.1.1:6405/biprws. Instead of the hostname I have provided the IP address of the BOBJ Server. The result is that the error message has changed into the following one:

      Account information not recognized: Could not reach CMS “example.no:6400”. Specify the correct host and port and check for network issues. (FWM 20030).

      I will try to check the what are the network settings on the client side. I believe it could be something related to the client’s local IT network configuration, VPN etc.

      Or do you think this could be something SAP BOBJ configuration related? Maybe instead of http://100.100.1.1:6405/biprws I should use http://localhost:6405/biprws in Restful webservices?

      Thanks,

      Vytautas

       

       

      Author's profile photo Bharath B N
      Bharath B N

      Hit this Url from browser and see the response :

      http://100.100.1.1:6405/biprws/v1/about

      If this is working fine : Give same CMS as what you are using in old launchpad.

       

      -Bharath

      Author's profile photo Ashok Rajashekar
      Ashok Rajashekar
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Vytautas,

       

      Please try with http://localhost:6405/biprws in Restful webservices. if it doesn't work then

       

      For  http://100.100.1.1:6405/biprws  add Host entry with Ip address in the Host file (C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts)

       

      Thanks,
      Ashok R

      Author's profile photo Vytautas Thienel
      Vytautas Thienel

       

      Thank you for the replies. I have changed the URL to http://localhost:6405/biprws in Restful webservices. However, it did not solve the error. I am going to keep the following change for some time.

      The users cannot access http://100.100.1.1:6405/biprws/v1/about. The client has a complex network infrustructure. I believe the problem (FWM 20030) is related to the firewall, proxy, port, etc. setup on their network.

       

      Author's profile photo Vytautas Thienel
      Vytautas Thienel

      I will keep the other situation in another comment.

      We have a #2_Client where the users can access http://100.100.1.1:6405/biprws/v1/about, but they still cannot log in to Fiori Launch Pad and get the error “Logon failed to WACS. Contact your system administrator for necessary rights.”

      Do you have any ideas why #2_Client cannot log in? I have already followed this guide and I am able to log in Fiori Launch pad using the client’s BI user account from my local PC.

      Author's profile photo Vytautas Thienel
      Vytautas Thienel

      It seems that the new Fiori Launch Pad is very sensitive to the host names.

      In this particular case the reason was the host file on the clients local PC. C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts.

      It seems that the client must have a host entry with the title of the Machine Name or the CMS.

       

      For e.g.

      BO server

      Host file: 100.100.1.1 QWERTY

      CMS: QWERTY.CentralManagementServer

      http://100.100.1.1:6405/biprws in Restful webservices.

       

      Client Local PC

      Host file: 100.100.1.1 ABCD

      The user can access the sign in site but during the log in the error “Logon failed to WACS. Contact your system administrator for necessary rights.” will appear.

      The problem is related to the hostname of the user PC. If I will change the host file to 100.100.1.1 QWERTY everything works fine.

      However, the old BI launchpad works fine in both cases. In addition, our clients would like to use their own hostnames for the BI services. But it seems that they must change the hostname to the Machine Name we have set up on BO during the installation.

      P.S. I have tried to log in Fiori Launchpad using IP addresses only (not hostnames).

      Quetions

      • Does anyone knows why the name of the host (not IP address) is important in the new Fiori Dashboard? Why it has to match the Machine Name?
      • Any ideas how to workaround this issue?

       

      Author's profile photo Karthika Sumangala
      Karthika Sumangala

      Dear Bharath

       

      I am getting the same error. We are on SAP BI 4.2 SP7 Patch 4.

      “Logon failed for RESTful webservices. Contact System Administrator”.

       

      I have checked the RESTful URL and it looks fine.

      http://<host>:6405/biprws

       

      The BI launchpad fiori is accessible from server machine and when accessing using client its throwing error. Please guide to solve this.

       

      Thank you.

      Author's profile photo Denis Konovalov
      Denis Konovalov

      if you run http trace you'll see where the problem is.

      Author's profile photo Karthika Sumangala
      Karthika Sumangala

      Please note this was working fine till last week. Not sure what changes has happened.

      Port 6405 is not getting pinged from my client machine. It's fine in the server machine.

      Please suggest what has to be checked as I am new to BO admin.

      RESTful URL is

       

      http://<host>:6405/biprws

       

      Thanks and regards,

      Karthika

      Author's profile photo Ashok Rajashekar
      Ashok Rajashekar
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Karthika,

      kindly check add the fully qualified Hostname and check. Or else you can also check with the tomcat port as now BIP restful services are supported.

      Thanks,

      Ashok R

      Author's profile photo Karthika Sumangala
      Karthika Sumangala

      When I changed the port number 6405 to 8080 in RESTful URL, it works..

      But then the old BI lauch pad throws error. Both old and new fiori launchpads were working fine 2 weeks back.

      I am seeing this error today on accessing the Fiori launchpad from IE.

      Please suggest on what else should be checked.

       

      Regards,

       

       

      Author's profile photo Ashok Rajashekar
      Ashok Rajashekar
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Karthika,

      old BILP should work irrespective of restful URL. You can clear the cache and try. First try with old BILP and then logout and try new BILP.

      Hope it should work.

      Thanks,

      Ashok R

      Author's profile photo Karthika Sumangala
      Karthika Sumangala

      Thanks Ashok

       

      It is working now 🙂

      May I know the reason why suddenly it stopped working with old port 6405.

       

      Regards,

      Karthika

      Author's profile photo Shawn Li
      Shawn Li

      This is THE BEST ANSWER after searching the internet for hours. SAP’s KBA did not resolve the logon error related to RESTful service. Why didn’t SAP use this as the answer in KBA for trouble shooting? I have rated that KBA 2576124 to 1 star and suggested to add your solution. Many thanks!

      Author's profile photo Shawn Li
      Shawn Li

      Hi Ashok,

      Here is the situation. When user is trying to login into BO 4.3 server through Chome with hostname:8080/BOE/BI she got the "Logon failed for RESTful Services. Please contact system administrator" error message. She tried on Microsoft Edge and got same error. I tried her login from my laptop and it worked fine. So I let her input the full URL hostname.ms.ds.ourcompany.com:8080/BOE/BI and it worked on Edge but not Chrome. She and I live in the same state and we are on our company's private network. This should be the server setup issue. I am going to submit an incident ticket to SAP.

      Thanks,

      Shawn