December 4, 2008 1

Repository/Web Catalog Migration Tipsand Caching

Melinda Rojo

Dan Malone

December 4, 2008 2

Session Overview

Under the covers the OBIEE dashboards are comprised of a multitude of objects in both the Metadata

Repository and the Web Catalog. Version control and migrating these objects between environments are

non trivial tasks. This session will share what we have learned.

We will also discuss how we used OBIEE caching to improve performance and the methods we used to automate clearing the OBI server cache when the

data warehouse refresh is complete.

December 4, 2008 3

Session Topics

■ Architecture Overview■ Migration Overview

– Metadata Repository– Web Catalog

■ Cache Management

December 4, 2008 4

Architecture Overview

■ 2 Servers per Environment– 2 Metadata Repositories– Shared Web Catalog

» No replication

■ 4 Environments– Pre-Development– Development– Test– Production

■ Windows Terminal Services– Administration Tools

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Migration Overview

■ Pre-Migration Tasks■ Metadata Repository Migration■ Web Catalog Migration

December 4, 2008 6

Pre-Migration Tasks

■ Change Ownership of Web Catalog Objects to Administrator

■ Set Permissions on Objects■ Setup Security in Target Environment

– Create New Groups» Repository Groups» Web Catalog Groups

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Metadata Repository Migration

■ Development– Migrate Metadata Repository (.rpd file)

between servers in same environment■ Development -> Test

Test -> Production– Promote Metadata Repository between

environments– Migrate Metadata Repository (.rpd file)

between servers in same environment

December 4, 2008 8

Migration in the Same Environment

■ Copy physical Metadata Repository file (.rpd) from one server to the other

■ Tips & Tricks– Stop BI services to ensure no changes are

occurring– Requires outage since BI services are

stopped during copy

December 4, 2008 9

Migration Between Environments

■ Option #1: Copy/Paste changes manually– Only selected changes will migrate to target environment– Physical layer changes will overwrite– Business Model and Presentation layer changes require

delete then paste– Initialization blocks and variables are duplicated– To avoid down time in production, copy-paste to both servers

■ Option #2: Copy Metadata Repository file (.rpd)– All changes will migrate to target environment– Not all changes are ready to migrate– Passwords for privileged users can be different– Passwords for connection pools can be different

December 4, 2008 10

Web Catalog Migration

■ Do not copy physical files– All or nothing

■ Why? – See Security Presentation

■ Exceptions– Saved data formats

» <catalog root>/system/metadata» Cannot use Catalog Manager because objects

are owned by system account

December 4, 2008 11

Migrating with Catalog Manger

■ Catalog Manager is a Windows only tool– On-line changes only with Linux environment

■ Tool allows connection to multiple catalogs Tool allows copy – paste method– Copy is an additive process ONLY– Remember to delete objects in target environment

■ Copies permissions between environments– Set Paste ACL preference– Groups need to be created first

» In both presentation and metadata

■ Allows selection of multiple objects■ Allows for Smart Rename (fix refs)

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Screen Shot of Web Catalog

December 4, 2008 13

Migration Tips

■ Only migrate Shared folder and sub-folders

■ Delete-copy-paste is best but requires outage

■ Is there a new Subject Area?– Must log into Answers and view the subject

area» Subject Area privileges are not available until

someone accesses it

December 4, 2008 14

Questions?

December 4, 2008 15

What Caches?

■ Browser■ Presentation Services■ BI Server

December 4, 2008 16

Cache Management Requirements

■ We want to use cache to improve performance

■ Warehouse refreshes daily■ Different business areas refresh at

different intervals

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What options did we not use?

■ Physical Layer Tables– Set to expire at a given interval

December 4, 2008 18

Clearing the Cache Manually

■ Presentation Services– Refresh icon on Dashboard– Clear My Selections– Manage Sessions

» Session Management» Close all Cursors

– Clear BI Server cache

■ BI Server– Repository -> Manage ->Cache

» Purge

– Changes to the Business Model– Restart BI Server

December 4, 2008 19

Clearing the Cache Automatically

■ Physical Layer– Set to never expire

■ Tables in the warehouse– PolyData Stats table with last load date– Business Model to Stats table name mapping– View joining these tables

■ Initialization block sets dynamic repository variables– 10 minute refresh– Multiple variables in single init block

■ Business Model logical column associated with the value of the repository variable

December 4, 2008 20

Automated Cache Clearing

December 4, 2008 21

The Magic Behind Automated Cache Clearing

■ Data Warehouse job completes and updates PolyData Stats table

■ The initialization block changes the repository variable value

■ The Logical Column value is changed■ Changing the value is considered a

change to the business model■ Therefore the cache clears!

December 4, 2008 22

Questions?

December 4, 2008 23

Contact

■ OBIEE Technical Conference:http://polydata.calpoly.edu/dashboards/obiee_conf/index.html

■ Email: polydata@calpoly.edu