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Author's profile photo Lucia Subatin

Configure Information Access in HANA Express to connect from Lumira or Analysis for Office

So you are trying to explore your models in HANA Express from Lumira or Analysis for Office but getting error  “InformationAccess Service GetResponse is not available. Install SAP HANA EPMMDS plugin.”

And you wonder why if before SPS01 you could do it without problems?

Wonder no more! The reason is that one of the components is no longer there as described by note 2456225.

In this blog post, I’m documenting the steps I followed to enable Information Access with the EPMMDS plugin in SAP HANA, express edition on my Google Cloud Platform machine.

Before we continue…. If you are using SPS01 and SPS02?

(I know, you want it back…not everybody has this access… it used to be there… life was great… this is all I can offer for now)

If you are using SAP HANA, express edition 2.0 SPS03, you can skip to “Configure the tenant database”. All of the components are installed. You can upgrade your instance following this: https://www.sap.com/developer/tutorials/hxe-ua-updating-vm.html or https://www.sap.com/developer/tutorials/hxe-ua-updating-binary.html

My HXE instance is on Google Cloud Platform, which I created using the launcher but the procedure should work for the other available flavors too.

Find out the version of your SAP HANA instance

As described by the note, you need to download the right EPMMDS plugin for your version of HXE. 0Log in to a console and use ./HDB version to find it out:

 

Find your version in the chart in this other note (2536153) and take note of name of the package you will need to download:

Download EPMMDS

Go to https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/softwarecenter/search/EPMMDS and download the plugin file for your version as described in the chart above.

If you cannot see the results, you might want to check the warning at the top of this post. 

Install EPMMDS

Goes without saying, my next step was to wait until the package was uploaded into my GCP instance.  Very cool stuff, like TechEd Bangalore, happened in the meantime.

Once uploaded, extract the file with the SAPCAR tool and take note of the location where you are extracting the file (in my case, the upload is into my home folder)

sudo /usr/sap/hostctrl/exe/SAPCAR -xvf <<name of the package you have uploaded>>

Switch to hxeadm (sudo su – hxeadm), go back into the directory where SAP_HANA_EPM-MDS was extracted (cd /somedirectory/SAP_HANA_EPM-MDS/) and execute ./hdbinst from inside the newly created directory:

Wait for the installation to finish. You should get the most inspirational message for the day, installation done

You can try to test it using URL  http://your_IP Address:80XX/sap/bc/ina/service/v2/GetServerInfo  (Where XX is the instance number, 90 is the default). You should get error “Request execution failed due to missing privileges “.

You will need to assign the INA_USER  role to the user that will be connecting (I’ll show this below). If you have already done this and try again, you will still get an error who does not want to be an error:  “No servers are available. Error: No error”

We´ll solve this… keep going…

Configure the tenant database

You need a tenant database to solve the error with a personality disorder. HXE instances bring a tenant DB up and running by default. I sometimes stop them to free up RAM.  There is a tutorial on how to create a tenant here if you need it, too.

If, like me, you stopped the default tenant database called HXE, you can just use the following to get it back up:

ALTER SYSTEM START DATABASE HXE;

I’m doing this from the SSH console with hdbsql, but any SQL client you have works. You don’t need to do this if you never stopped the tenant DB that comes by default.

You will need to access the XS engine in the tenant database. I changed the configuration in the webdispatcher  as follows. There’s more information about this on the help. Run the following from your SYSTEMDB as SYSTEM (or similar):

 

ALTER SYSTEM ALTER CONFIGURATION ('xsengine.ini', 'database', 'HXE') SET ('public_urls', 'http_url') = 'http://hxe.hxehost:8090' WITH RECONFIGURE;

ALTER SYSTEM ALTER CONFIGURATION ('xsengine.ini', 'database', 'HXE') SET ('public_urls', 'https_url') = 'https://hxe.hxehost:4390' WITH RECONFIGURE;

(Replace “90” with the proper instance number if your instance number is not 90 and “HXE” with the right name for your tenant DB ).

While you have the SSH console open and if you haven’t already, you can also grant the proper permissions to the user that will be connecting from the tenant DB, quit and log in to the tenant DB first:

hdbsql -i 90 -d HXE -u SYSTEM
call GRANT_ACTIVATED_ROLE('sap.bc.ina.service.v2.userRole::INA_USER','THE_USER_YOU_WILL_USING');

I already had a user called INAUSER in my tenant db (HXE), so this is what it looks like:

Remember to map the hosts file to the new configuration in the webdispatcher:

Test it!

Use the following URL:

http://hxe.hxehost:8090/sap/bc/ina/service/v2/GetResponse?Request={"Metadata":{"Expand":["Cubes"]}}

And you should get something like:

I will show how to consume Calculation Views created in XS Advanced via Information Access in the following post: https://blogs.sap.com/2017/12/18/consume-calculation-views-from-xs-advanced-via-information-access/

In the meantime, we can stay in touch on  or on LinkedIn

 

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      22 Comments
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      Author's profile photo Aldo Ruiz Wong
      Aldo Ruiz Wong

      Hello Lucia,

      First of all I want to thank you for your help to make this scenario work.

      I have followed all the steps using a new instance of HXE.ova VM (Server only virtual machine), but I am getting some problems at the final step:

      This is the version of my VM, I think we are working at the same environement:

      I get these messages at the final test:

      1. http://hxehost:8090/sap/bc/ina/service/v2/GetServerInfo2 -> I get this message: {"error":{"code":10,"message":"'GetServerInfo2': undefined function import or entity set"}}2. https://hxehost:4390/sap/bc/ina/service/v2/GetResponse?Request={Metadata:{Expand:[Cubes]}} -> I get this message: {"error":{"code":14,"message":"ina: Parameter 'Request' could not be parsed"}}3. https://hxe.hxehost:4390/sap/bc/ina/service/v2/GetResponse?Request={Metadata:{Expand:[Cubes]}} -> It does not recognize the user and password

      I created a new user "LUMIRA" and the only granted role is "sap.bc.ina.service.v2.userRole::INA_USER"

      What could I have done wrong?

      Regards

      Author's profile photo Lucia Subatin
      Lucia Subatin
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Aldo,  

      The 3rd option should be the right one and yes, we are using the same revision of HXE.

      The INAUSER I created has many more authorizations and I could log in to the tenant DB using hdbsql  (hdbsql -i 90 -d HXE). Have you tried that with the user you created yet?

      Maybe you could add the role to your tenant's SYSTEM user temporarily and try with that one to rule out authorization problems.

      Cheers,

      Lucía.

      Author's profile photo Aldo Ruiz Wong
      Aldo Ruiz Wong

      Hello Lucia,

      I can't log in using hdbsql with the user "LUMIRA", maybe there are permissions missing since I only added the role sap.bc.ina.service.v2.userRole::INA_USER

      But I can login in eclipse:

      I added the "sap.bc.ina.service.v2.userRole::INA_USER" role to user "SYSTEM" and I get this message when I check the URL https://hxe.hxehost:4390/sap/bc/ina/service/v2/GetResponse?Request={Metadata:{Expand:[Cubes]}}

      The problem may be the permissions that the user has?

      Thank You

      Author's profile photo Lucia Subatin
      Lucia Subatin
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Aldo,

      I see the user Lumira is logged in to the systemDB in your screenshot. It has to be created and granted the Ina role in the tenant, HXE. Same applies with the SYSTEM user, the permissions need to be granted in the tenant HXE, and of course use the password for SYSTEM on the tenant.

      Cheers,

      Lucía.

      Author's profile photo Aldo Ruiz Wong
      Aldo Ruiz Wong

      Hello Lucia,

      Yes, I was woking in the systemDB instead HXE, now that I have created the user Lumira in the tenant HXE and I added the role sap.bc.ina.service.v2.userRole::INA_USER to user Lumira I get this message when I check the URL https://hxe.hxehost:4390/sap/bc/ina/service/v2/GetResponse?Request={Metadata:{Expand:[Cubes]}} : {"error":{"code":14,"message":"ina: Parameter 'Request' could not be parsed"}}

      I added the role sap.bc.ina.service.v2.userRole::INA_USER to SYSTEM and I get the same message.

      Regards

      Author's profile photo Lucia Subatin
      Lucia Subatin
      Blog Post Author

      Interesting... The request is missing some quotes, they must have been deleted by the blogging platform? Try this:

      https://hxe.hxehost:4390/sap/bc/ina/service/v2/GetResponse?Request={"Metadata":{"Expand":["Cubes"]}} 

      You can also try:

      https://hxe.hxehost:4390/sap/bc/ina/service/v2/GetServerInfo

      Which should show a response like:

      Or just try connecting from Lumira (https seems not be working for me because of the certificate):

      Author's profile photo Aldo Ruiz Wong
      Aldo Ruiz Wong

      I am getting response from https://hxe.hxehost:4390/sap/bc/ina/service/v2/GetServerInfo

      Also from https://hxe.hxehost:4390/sap/bc/ina/service/v2/GetResponse?Request={"Metadata":{"Expand":["Cubes"]}}

      And yes, now I can connect to Lumira, thank you very much for all your help.

      Author's profile photo Matthew Wong
      Matthew Wong

      Hi Lucia Subatin !

      Thank you for this post!

      One of the few blogs that actually parallels my situation. are you currently using HXE 2.0 + Lumira 2.0 environment?

       

      --Matt

      Author's profile photo Lucia Subatin
      Lucia Subatin
      Blog Post Author

      Hi, Matt,

      Yes, in my case, it's HXE 2.0 SPS02 (same would apply to SPS01) and Lumira 2 SP2.

      Best,

      Lucia.

      Author's profile photo Matthew Wong
      Matthew Wong

      Hi Lucia, after a successful Live Data Connection in Lumira 2.0, when I add a dimension or measure to the chart, Lumira shows the 3 dots thinking and just hangs there infinitely. Did you ever experience this with your calculation views?

      --Matt

      Author's profile photo Matthew Wong
      Matthew Wong

      Hi Lucia,

      my error displays "problems accessing the data"

       

      do you know how to find error log for lumira 2.0?

      –Matt

       

      Author's profile photo Lucia Subatin
      Lucia Subatin
      Blog Post Author

      Hi! Sorry I missed the notification on this

      I am consuming my views without a problem form both Lumira or Analyisis for Office. Maybe the following note helps? https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/2220451

      Cheers,

      Lucia.

       

       

       

      Author's profile photo Andreas Reiser
      Andreas Reiser

      Tried with CAL version (HANA 2.0 SP02) and works great. Thanks!

       

      Author's profile photo Sunil Manjunatha
      Sunil Manjunatha

      Hi Lucy,

      Great Article.Please let me know which connection do we need to use to connect to Tableau with HANA 2.0 SPS2 for consuming container based calculation views

       

      Author's profile photo Lucia Subatin
      Lucia Subatin
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Sunil, I do not use Tableau so I can't help here.

      You should  post the question in the Q&A and specifiy what Tableau uses to connect (JDBC, maybe?). If it's JDBC you could use something like  "jdbc:sap://hxehost:39015/?currentschema=SCHEMA_NAME".

      Best,

      Lucia.

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Hi Lucia

      I followed your excellent guide but now after the installation the webdispatcher will not start. We can see the massage "FAIL: process hdbwebdispatcher HDB Web Dispatcher not running" when we start the instance.

      Have you experienced this before?

      Kind regards

      Erik

      Author's profile photo Lucia Subatin
      Lucia Subatin
      Blog Post Author

      Hi, Erik,

      I replied in the Q&A so we can keep it organized and have more people help if needed. I have experienced that before but due to memory shortage but only the logs can confirm that. Let's follow up in the Q&A.

      Best regards,

      Lucia.

      Author's profile photo Steven Rider
      Steven Rider

      That's a legit post. Thank you Ms. Subatin.

       

      Kirk Eckhardt

      Author's profile photo Ken Johnson
      Ken Johnson

      This was extraordinarily helpful, thank you! Muchisimas gracias!

       

      Author's profile photo Jingjing Liu
      Jingjing Liu

      Hello Lucia,

      I followed your instructions to get the right version of EPM MDS via the NOTE 2536153, but the chart seems not to be available anymore.

      Is there another way to find out the right version to download?

       

      Kind regards

      Jingjing

      Author's profile photo Maryam Osama
      Maryam Osama

      Hello Lucia,

      Thanks for the detailed blog. Below URLs are working fine for me

      • /sap/bc/ina/service/v2/GetResponse?Request={"Metadata":{"Expand":["Cubes"]}}
      • /sap/bc/ina/service/v2/GetServerInfo

      The HANA Live connection is established successfully in Lumira Discovery, but I am not able to see any folders or search for any views as shown below

       

      I tried logging to the HANA DB fom Lumira Designer, I could find this error in the log

      Your help will be highly appreciated.

      Regards,

      Author's profile photo Tejas Gandhi
      Tejas Gandhi

      Hello Lucia,

      Firstly Thank you so much for your blog . It is really very helpful.

      I have done all necessary checks mentioned in your blog . when trying to connect using application user or system user , I am getting below error -

      Analysis Office currently is not able to establish a connection.:

      [ProtocolError] The remote server returned an error: (403) Forbidden.

       

      Apart from INA_USER role what are the other roles that needs to be assigned to user ? I am having HANA 2.0 SPS 04 and Analysis for Microsoft excel 2.8 sp5 version installed . I tried to use various version of Analysis for office(2.4 sp04 , 2.3 sp04) still I am facing same error .

      If anyone came across this issue and solved , kindly let me know . It would be great help

       

      Thank you & Regards!