OBIEE is Dead, Long Live Oracle Analytics - Time to Upgrade

Are you still working on a on-premise OBIEE? Then you must check out Oracle Analytics since OBIEE is coming to the end of its product lifecycle!

This session explores what benefits Oracle Analytics brings for OBIEE customers, and walks you through the upgrade process. It includes a thorough comparison between Oracle Analytics Cloud and Server along with discussions on all the difficult migration hurdles, and how to successfully overcome them.

Transcript

1. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev OBIEE is Dead, Long Live Oracle Analytics Time to Upgrade!
2. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev Federico Venturin o Analytics Consultant o Oracle ACE Associate ♠ o Oracle Analytics Ambassador 2024 o ITOUG Board member o Based in Trebaseleghe Venice, Italy o fventurin.hashnode.dev o fed.venturin@gmail.com
3. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Doc ID 1664916.1 o 12.2.1.4 is the terminal release o Premier Support Ends Dec 2025 o Extended Support Ends Aug 2027 OBIEE is Dead
4. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Do nothing o Migrate to Oracle Analytics o Migrate to a different tool Options
5. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Suite of tools and services for unified analytics across the enterprise o Supports all types of analytics use cases o Deployment options: o Oracle Analytics Cloud (Oracle-managed) o Oracle Analytics Server (Customer-managed) What is Oracle Analytics?
6. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Cloud benefits o Scalability and flexibility o Cost-efficiency o Security o Automatic updates and maintenance o Exclusive features o Data replication o Oracle Analytics Day by Day o Natural language generation o No access to the underlying server and configuration files o Limits based on the number of OCPUs (Plan Your Service) Why Oracle Analytics Cloud?
7. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Full control o More customization options o Customers responsible of maintenance and backup o New features are released only once a year Why Oracle Analytics Server?
8. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev What's Interesting for OBIEE Customers?
9. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Not new o Included at no cost o Key features: o User-friendly interface o Responsive design o Data can be uploaded and combined o Data preparation capabilities o Incorporates AI and ML Data Visualization (DV)
10. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev
11. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Self-service data models o Can contain multiple tables o Files (XLSX, XLS, CSV and TXT) o Suject Areas and analyses o Connections to supported sources o Quality Insights o Identify anomalies and outliers o Correct or replace values o Single-click enrichments Datasets F
12. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev Datasets o Available as external subject areas in Analytics F F
13. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o In workbooks, you can add multiple datasets and blend them o Blending relationships persist in Analytics Data Blending F F
14. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Visually impactful and fully interactive o Can be embedded in dashboards and interact with existing prompts Enhanced Visualizations F F
15. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Created, trained and applied to datasets using data flows o Predict values, classes, or identify groups without requiring ML expertise Predictive Models F
16. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o All-or-nothing approach for handling permissions (up to Nov 2023) o Individual permissions can now be granted to user-defined roles Fine-Grained Permissions in DV F
17. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Agents were automatically disabled after a migration (up to Nov 2023) o Agents can now be disabled or maintain their status after a migration Restore Deliveries Options F F
18. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev What Has Changed?
19. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Catalog is stored in database tables rather than the file system o Most common system settings are managed in the DV Console page Different Behavior F F
20. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Act as another user o BI Server Metadata Web Service o Database storage for user group memberships (authentication provider BISQLGroupProvider) o Oracle E-Business Suite (ICX cookie integration) o Session personalization using system session variables such as GROUP, ROLES, DISPLAYNAME, USERLOCALE, TIMEZONE, PORTALPATH, SKIN Deprecated
21. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Act as another user o BI Server Metadata Web Service o Database storage for user group memberships (authentication provider BISQLGroupProvider) o Oracle E-Business Suite (ICX cookie integration) o Session personalization using system session variables such as GROUP, ROLES, DISPLAYNAME, USERLOCALE, TIMEZONE, PORTALPATH, SKIN Deprecated Not available in OAC
22. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Business Intelligence Composer Wizard o Favorites Manager o Fuse, Skyros, SkyrosCloud, blafp, and FusionFX dashboard styles o Initialization blocks for authentication and authorization (set values for USER, ROLES, GROUP, GROUPS) o Most Popular reports and dashboards Desupported and Planned for Removal
23. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Business Intelligence Composer Wizard o Favorites Manager o Fuse, Skyros, SkyrosCloud, blafp, and FusionFX dashboard styles o Initialization blocks for authentication and authorization (set values for USER, ROLES, GROUP, GROUPS) o Most Popular reports and dashboards Desupported and Planned for Removal Not available in OAC
24. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Albany fonts in analyses, dashboards, and pixel-perfect reports o BI Scheduler Job Manager o Catalog Manager Graphical User Interface o Flash Templates o Flat files and XML-based data sources o Inclusion of Oracle Analytics Clients as part of the server installation o Oracle Business Intelligence Mobile App Designer Desupported and no Longer Available
25. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Oracle Database 11.x o Oracle Marketing Segmentation o Oracle R and Oracle R Enterprise o Scorecard and Strategy Management o WebDAV Server Delivery Channel Desupported and no Longer Available
26. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev How to Upgrade to Oracle Analytics?
27. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev Approach Assessment Foundation Adopt & Support Migrate
28. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o What is in scope? o Current platform architecture o Data sources, security model, metadata repository and presentation catalog o Customizations and integrations o Software development lifecycle and operating model o Usage tracking data analysis o Outputs o Target platform architecture o Migration plan and recommendations for process changes Assessment
29. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o System Requirements and Specifications for FMW 12.2.1.4 o Certification Information for OAS o Certification Information for OAC o Data Sources and Data Types Reference for OAC o Feature Availability and Comparison (OAC) o Feature Availability and Comparison (OAS) Pre-Requisites
30. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev In-Place o 12.2.1.4 > OAS Paths to Oracle Analytics Out-of-Place* o 11.1.1.9 > OAS > OAC o 11.1.1.9 > OAS o 12c > OAS o 12.2.1.4 > OAC * Canonic approach
31. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev In-Place o 12.2.1.4 > OAS Paths to Oracle Analytics Out-of-Place* o 11.1.1.9 > OAS > OAC o 11.1.1.9 > OAS o 12c > OAS o 12.2.1.4 > OAC * Canonic approach
32. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev In-Place o 12.2.1.4 > OAS Paths to Oracle Analytics Out-of-Place* o 11g > OAC | OAS o 12c > OAC | OAS * Unofficial approach
33. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev Building a Good OAC Foundation o Creating a new OAC instance using the OCI Console is straightforward
34. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o In the Navigator menu, click Analytics & AI > Analytics Cloud Building a Good OAC Foundation
35. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Select a compartment, and click Create Instance Building a Good OAC Foundation
36. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev Building a Good OAC Foundation o Enter a name and a brief description
37. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev Building a Good OAC Foundation o Select the size of your deployment
38. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Select the License and Edition, then click Create Building a Good OAC Foundation
39. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Creating a new OAC instance using the Console is straightforward o It can be automated using the REST API or the Command Line o But establishing a robust platform within OCI includes also: o Setting up the network architecture and configuring access control o Replicating existing users and groups in OCI IAM o Connecting OAC to on-premises data sources Building a Good OAC Foundation
40. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev Building a Good OAS Foundation o Deploying OAS takes more time than OAC
41. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Complete the prerequisite steps o Create the required folder structure o Do not keep the configuration data (Domain home) in the Oracle home directory o Obtain the appropriate product distributions and patches o Download page for Oracle Analytics Server o Critical Patch Update (CPU) Advisor For Oracle Analytics Server Building a Good OAS Foundation
42. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Install Java Developers Kit 8 o Install Oracle WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4 o Install Oracle Analytics Server 2024 o Apply required patches o Create RCU schemas for OAS o Configure the OAS domain o Reconfigure the security realm in WebLogic Console Building a Good OAS Foundation
43. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Deploying OAS takes more time than OAC o It can be automated and replicated through silent installation Building a Good OAS Foundation
44. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Delete objects that are obsolete / no longer used o Delete objects that are no longer supported o Check the RPD consistency and fix errors / warnings Preparing Metadata Content
45. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev 11.1.1.9 > OAS o Generate the migration utility on OAS cd DOMAIN_HOME/bitools/bin ./migration-tool.sh package bi-migration-tool.jar o Copy the migration utility to OBIEE o Create the export bundle java -jar migration-tool.jar out oracleHome domainHome exportBundlePath o Import the export bundle on OAS cd DOMAIN_HOME/bitools/bin ./migration-tool.sh in exportBundlePath ssi Migrating Metadata (Canonic Approach)
46. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev 12.2.1.4 > OAC | 12c* > OAS o Export OBIEE metadata using the command line cd DOMAIN_HOME/bitools/bin ./exportarchive.sh ssi exportDirectory [nouserfolder] [encryptionpassword=password] * Use the appropriate command from 12c releases prior to 12.2.1.4 Migrating Metadata (Canonic Approach)
47. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev 12.2.1.4 > OAC | 12c > OAS o Import and restore the export bundle on OAC/OAS Migrating Metadata (Canonic Approach) F F
49. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Predefined application role names have changed over time o They are not altered when you restore an export bundle in OAC o Insufficient Permissions screen in OAC o Predefined application role policies have changed over time o They are overwritten when you restore an export bundle in OAS o Insufficient Permissions screen in OAS o Need to migrate only a subset of the catalog? o You can choose which component to restore, but no fine-grained control What Could Go Wrong?
50. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Keep predefined application roles, memberships and policies o Migrate each component separately using command line tools o Expected to work when migrating from 10g, 11g and 12c o Not documented o Not supported Migrating Metadata (Unofficial Approach)
51. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Migrate application roles and memberships using WLST commands o ORACLE_HOME/oracle_common/common/bin/wlst.sh o connect('username', 'password', 'adminServerURL') o listAppRoles('obi') o listAppRoleMembers('obi', 'appRoleName') o createAppRole(appStripe='obi', appRoleName='appRoleName') o grantAppRole('obi', 'appRoleName', 'principalClass', 'principalName') o What about OAC? o WLST commands not available o OCI IAM does not allow to import OAC application roles and memberships as IDCS o More about it later... Migrating Metadata (Unofficial Approach)
52. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Get an offline copy of the RPD o Check the RPD consistency using the latest Model Administration tool o Upload the RPD to Oracle Analytics: cd CLIENT_HOME\bi\bitools\bin datamodel.cmd uploadrpd -I RPDFilename [-W RPDPassword] -U username [-P password] -SI serviceInstance -S hostname -N port [-SSL] [-TS trustStore] [-TSP trustStorePassword] Migrating Metadata (Unofficial Approach)
53. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Get an offline copy of the OBIEE catalog o Upgrade the catalog: runcat.cmd -cmd upgradeCatalog -offline catalogPath o Update application role names: runcat.cmd -cmd renameAccounts -accountType approle -old BIAuthor -new BIContentAuthor -offline catalogPath runcat.cmd -cmd renameAccounts -accountType approle -old BIAdministrator -new BIServiceAdministrator -offline catalogPath runcat.cmd -cmd replaceAccountPermissions -old BIAuthor -oldType role - new BIContentAuthor -newType role -offline catalogPath runcat.cmd -cmd replaceAccountPermissions -old BIAdministrator -oldType role -new BIServiceAdministrator -newType role -offline catalogPath Migrating Metadata (Unofficial Approach)
54. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Archive files allows you to migrate only a part of the catalog o Create an archive file: runcat.cmd -cmd archive -offline catalogPath -outputFile archiveFile -folder catalogFolder o Deploy an archive file on Oracle Analytics: runcat.cmd -cmd unarchive -online analyticsURL -inputFile archiveFile -folder catalogFolder -credentials credentialsFile Migrating Metadata (Unofficial Approach)
55. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Get an Oracle Analytics "vanilla" BAR file o Open (expand) the BAR file cd ORACLE_HOME/bi/modules/oracle.bi.metadatalcm/scripts ./expandarchive.sh BARPath expandedPath encryptionpassword=password o Inject custom content into the expanded archive o Create a new BAR file ./createarchive.sh newBARPath expandedPath encryptionpassword=password o Upload and restore the new BAR file on Oracle Analytics Migrating Metadata (Unofficial Approach)
56. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev Post-Migration Steps o Migrate configuration settings not included in the export bundle o Check the RPD consistency and fix errors / warnings o Enable Usage Tracking o Restore deliveries o Review your backup and restore strategy
57. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o Identify and mitigate potential issues or discrepancies o Automated testing o Create a testing suite o The Baseline Validation Tool (BVT) is no longer supported (Doc ID 2831659.1) o Extract and execute logical SQL using Oracle BI EE Web Services o Manual testing o Involve selected business users o Validate aspects that cannot be covered by automated testing Testing and Validating
58. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o How many new features are there in OAS 2024? o How many of these are related to Classic? Personal Considerations
59. fed.venturin@gmail.com fventurin.hashnode.dev o How many new features are there in OAS 2024? 100+ o How many of these are related to Classic? 4 o There is a clear intention to eventually replace Classic with DV Personal Considerations