Validating OBIEE 11G Catalog

Validating OBIEE 11G Catalog

Validating the Catalog

Over time, inconsistencies can develop in the catalog as links are broken, 
users are deleted, or NFS file system issues are encountered. 
These inconsistencies can eventually lead to incorrect behavior, 
such as the inability to edit an agent's recipient list. 
You can periodically take the production system offline and validate the catalog, 
to be informed of and to take corrective action on inconsistencies.

Performing a Basic Validation of the Catalog

Use the following procedure to perform a basic validation of the catalog.

To validate the catalog:

1.     Stop Presentation Services.

2.     In 11g only, regenerate the user GUIDs for the catalog

Ensure that you regenerate the user GUIDs before validating the catalog. 
Failure to do so can result in the removal of all accounts, permissions,
 and privileges from the catalog.

1.     Update the FMW_UPDATE_ROLE_AND_USER_REF_GUIDS parameter in NQSConfig.INI:

a.     Open NQSConfig.INI for editing at:

b.  ORACLE_INSTANCE/config/OracleBIServerComponent/coreapplication_obisn

c.     Locate the FMW_UPDATE_ROLE_AND_USER_REF_GUIDSparameter and
 set it to YES, as follows:

d.  FMW_UPDATE_ROLE_AND_USER_REF_GUIDS = YES;

e.     Save and close the file.

2.     Update the Catalog element in instanceconfig.xml:

a.     Open instanceconfig.xml for editing at:

b.  ORACLE_INSTANCE/config/OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent/

coreapplication_obipsn

c.     Locate the Catalog element and update it as follows:
a.  -<Catalog
b.  -<UpgradeAndExit>
false

c.  UpdateAccountGUIDs>UpdateAndExit
d.  /Catalog>

h.     Save and close the file.

3.     Restart the Oracle Business Intelligence system components using opmnctl:

4.  cd ORACLE_HOME/admin/instancen/bin

5.  ./opmnctl stopall

6.  ./opmnctl startall

7.     Set the FMW_UPDATE_ROLE_AND_USER_REF_GUIDS parameter in NQSConfig.INI back to NO.

Important: You must perform this step to ensure that your system is secure.

8.     Update the Catalog element in instanceconfig.xml to remove the UpdateAccount GUIDs entry.

9.     Restart the Oracle Business Intelligence system components again using opmnctl:

a.  \Oracle_BI1\opmn\bin>opmnctl stoptall

b.   \Oracle_BI1\opmn\bin>opmnctl startall

3.     Back up the catalog by using the 7-Zip utility to create a compressed file for it.

4.     Create a backup copy of the instanceconfig.xml file.

5.     Edit the instanceconfig.xml file so that it contains the appropriate elements for 
performing the validation.

6.     Start Presentation Services to run the validation according to the values that you 
specified in the instanceconfig.xml file.

7.     Stop Presentation Services.

8.     Create a backup copy of the instanceconfig.xml file in which you added the validation 
elements, renaming the file similar to instanceconfig_validate.xml. In this way, you have 
a version of the file to use as a starting point for subsequent validations.

9.     Restore the backup version of the instanceconfig.xml that you created earlier to use
 as the current version.

10.  Start Presentation Services.

Specifying the Elements for Validating the Catalog

As part of the process of validating the catalog, you include elements in the instanceconfig.xml file
 that run the validation when you restart Presentation Services. The following procedure describes
 how to edit the instanceconfig.xml file to include these elements.

To specify the element for validating the catalog:

1.    Open the instanceconfig.xml file for editing.

2.     File Location in\instances\instance1\config\OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent
\coreapplication_obips1

3.    Locate the Catalog section in which you must add the elements that are described in Table 17-1.

4.  Include the elements and their ancestor element as appropriate, as shown in the followi
ng example. In this example, the validation runs when Presentation Services starts. Inconsistent 
accounts (such as those for deleted users), links, and objects are removed. Inconsistent users'
 home directory names are logged but directories are not removed.

- <ps:Catalogxmlns:ps="oracle.bi.presentation.services/config/v1.1">

      <UpgradeAndExit>false</UpgradeAndExit>

         

  <ps:Validate>OnStartupAndExit</ps:Validate>

  <ps:ValidateAccounts>Clean</ps:ValidateAccounts>

  <ps:ValidateHomes>Report</ps:ValidateHomes>

  <ps:ValidateItems>Clean</ps:ValidateItems>

  <ps:ValidateLinks>Clean</ps:ValidateLinks>

  </ps:Catalog>

Caution:

Include only one Catalog element in the instanceconfig.xml file or unexpected results 
might occur. Unless expressly noted, include most nodes in an XML document only once.

5.    Save your changes and close the file.

In OBIEE 11g it is important that we validate the catalog after upgrading the
 catalog from 10g so that the catalog is consistent and ready for migration to
 production environments.

As part of the process of validating the catalog, you include elements in the
 instanceconfig.xml file that run the validation when you restart Presentation Services.


The validation runs when Presentation Services starts, and Presentation
Services is stopped when the validation is complete. Inconsistent accounts
(such as those for deleted users), links, and objects are removed.
 Inconsistent users' home directory names are logged but directories are not removed.

<ServerInstance>
<Catalog>
    <Validate>OnStartupAndExit</Validate>
    <ValidateAccounts>Clean</ValidateAccounts>
    <ValidateHomes>Report</ValidateHomes>
    <ValidateItems>Clean</ValidateItems>
    <ValidateLinks>Clean</ValidateLinks>
</Catalog>
</ServerInstance>

 OnStartupAndExit
    Clean
    Report
    Clean
    Clean





Caution:
Include only one Catalog element in the instanceconfig.xml file or unexpected results might occur. Unless expressly noted, include most nodes (such as that for the Catalog element) in an XML document only once.

Save your changes and close the file.





Table 17-1 Elements for Validating the Catalog

Element
Description
Default Value

Validate
Performs the validation of the catalog according to the values of the other Validate-related elements in this section. Values are described in the following list:



None — Performs no validation.
OnStartupAndExit — When Presentation Services starts, performs the validation, performs the Report or Clean operation, then stops Presentation Services. You run through multiple cycles of Report, Clean, Report, and so on for each element (such as ValidateAccounts, ValidateHomes, ValidateItems, and ValidateLinks) until the catalog is validated.

If this value is not None, then all privileges and each object's ACLs in the entire catalog are cleaned of terminated accounts, regardless of the settings of the other Validate-related elements.
None
ValidateAccounts
Verifies that all information about users, roles, and groups in the catalog is consistent. Values are described in the list after this table.
None
ValidateHomes
Verifies that all information about home directories in the catalog is consistent. Values are described in the list after this table.
ValidateHomes is executed only if ValidateAccounts is set to either Report or Clean.
None
ValidateItems
Verifies that all information about objects in the catalog is consistent. Values are described in the list after this table.
None
ValidateLinks
Cleans shortcuts in the catalog, but does not reconcile internal references to objects. For example, suppose that a dashboard page includes the text: "display the results here after running /shared/sales/myfavreport". If a user subsequently deletes the myfavreport object, then no fix or message is indicated during validation. Values are described in the list after this table.
None


The elements have the values that are described in the following list:

None — Specifies that no validation is performed.
Report — Specifies that details about each inconsistent object are written to the sawlog.log file.
For information, see Section 8.3.2, "What Are Diagnostic Log Configuration Files and Where Are They Located?"
Clean — Specifies that details about each inconsistent object are written to the sawlog.log file and that each object is removed from the catalog.

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