Month: February 2015

DIY Hyperion Planning – Create a Planning App

Some Context . . .

This is the ninth (and final) post in a multi-part blog educating readers on how to build a personal “sandbox” environment for Hyperion Planning. Click here to see all nine posts in the series.

Creating a Test Hyperion Planning Application

Once the EPM products are configured, there are three additional prerequisites for creating an application:

  • Create the Planning Application Repository
  • Create the Planning Application Repository Schema User
  • Create the Planning Data Source

If you’ve been following this tutorial from the beginning, you will have already created the Repository (PLANAPP1) and Repository User (also PLANAPP1). These were created when you pasted the SQL code into SQL Plus.

For the purposes of this example, we will be creating a “Classic” Hyperion Planning application. The alternative approach (using EPMA) is rapidly losing popularity. Oracle does not appear to be investing in this product, so “Classic” it is . . .

Start the EPM Services

Locate the “Start EPM System” icon within the apps on your VM. (I would recommend right-clicking on this icon and selecting “Pin to Start”. Do the same with the “Stop EPM System” script.) Run the start script to startup the EPM services on your VM. Some notes about the startup process:

  • On my laptop, startup takes a little less than 9 minutes.
  • Faster processors and hard drives will improve startup time.
  • Compact deployments will start faster than “regular” deployments.
  • The script will close when startup is complete.
  • Watch Task Manager on the VM during startup to monitor CPU and memory utilization.
  • Upon completion of the script, ensure that all services started as expected.
  • Don’t forget to stop the EPM services before you shut down your VM.

Create a Data Source

Once the services have started, open a browser on your host. Navigate to the following URL:

http://<INSERT SERVER NAME HERE>:8300/HyperionPlanning

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Enter the Shared Services admin user ID and password.

Select “Sign In”.

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Select “Manage Data Source”.

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Select “Create”.

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Enter the App Database connectivity information.

Enter the Essbase Server connectivity information.

Validate each connection.

Select “Save”.

Create the Planning Application

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Select Manage Applications

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Select “Create”.

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Select “Advanced Planning”.

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Name your application and select “Next”.

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Select the application parameters. The simplified Planning interface appears to force applications to have an ASO plan type.

(This would appear to be a bug, as the on-premise interface does not require this.)

Select “Next”.

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Review the application settings. Select “Create”.

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Planning will begin creating the application.

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Select “OK”. The application interface will be displayed.

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Next Steps

With the application created, users may now begin the typical Hyperion Planning development activities, including:

  • Building Dimensions
  • Building Input Forms
  • Loading Data
  • Building Calc Manager Rules
  • Building Reports
  • Creating Approvals Processes

DIY Hyperion Planning – Configure Hyperion Planning

Some Context . . .

This is the eighth post in a multi-part blog educating readers on how to build a personal “sandbox” environment for Hyperion Planning. Click here to see all nine posts in the series.

Installation vs Configuration

When we installed Hyperion Planning and the related EPM applications in the previous post, we installed all products at once. As we move on to configuration, we will configure the products one at a time. Could we attempt to configure everything at once? Yes, however in previous versions, this caused problems, so we will take a more conservative approach.

Configure Shared Services

To launch the configuration utility, navigate to the Apps window in Server 2012 (from the Start Menu).

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Right-click on the “EPM System Configurator” and select “Run as Administrator”. The EPM System Configurator will be displayed.

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Select the Home Directory and Instance Name. Select “Next”.

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Select “Perform first time configuration of Shared Services database”.

Confirm the database driver, server and port.

Enter the Oracle SID, user name and password for the Shared Services repository.

ENSURE THAT THE USER ID AND PASSWORD ARE CORRECT!!! If the wrong user ID and password are used, Shared Services tables and other objects will be created in the wrong schema, making a mess.

Select “Next”.

The screen below should be displayed.  If a network IO error is displayed instead, please see the point in the previous post about updating the server name in the “listener.ora” file.  Ensure that the server was rebooted (or the Oracle RDBMS service restarted) after that change.

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Select “Uncheck All” and expand “Hyperion Foundation”.

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Select “Configure Common Settings” and “Configure Database”.

Select “Next”.

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Accept the defaults and select “Next”.

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Enter a user ID and password for the Shared Services admin user.

Make a note of this very important user ID and password.

Select “Next”.

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Confirm the configuration tasks.

Select “Next”.

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Ensure that all configuration steps are successful.

Select “Task Panel” to continue the configuration process, or “Finish”. If “Finish” is selected, simply restart the Config Tool to continue the configuration process.

Configure Essbase and EAS

Select the options below in the Config Tool to configure Essbase and EAS.

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Select “Next”.

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Update the Username and Password for the correct EAS schema.

ENSURE THAT THE USER ID AND PASSWORD ARE CORRECT!!! If the wrong user ID and password are used, EAS tables and other objects will be created in the wrong schema, making a mess.

Select “Next”.

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Accept the default Essbase server information. Select “Next”.

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Confirm the configuration tasks.

Select “Next”.

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Ensure that all tasks complete successfully.

Select “Task Panel” to continue the configuration process, or “Finish”. If “Finish” is selected, simply restart the Config Tool to continue the configuration process.

Configure EPMA

Select the options below in the Config Tool to configure EPMA.

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Select “Next”.

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Update the Username and Password for the correct EPMA schema.

ENSURE THAT THE USER ID AND PASSWORD ARE CORRECT!!! If the wrong user ID and password are used, EPMA tables and other objects will be created in the wrong schema, making a mess.

Select “Next”.

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Accept the default dimension server ports.

Select “Next”.

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Confirm the configuration tasks.

Select “Next”.

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Confirm that all configuration steps completed successfully.

Select “Task Panel” to continue the configuration process, or “Finish”. If “Finish” is selected, simply restart the Config Tool to continue the configuration process.

Configure Planning

Select the options below in the Config Tool to configure Planning.

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Select “Next”.

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Update the Username and Password for the correct Planning schema.

ENSURE THAT THE USER ID AND PASSWORD ARE CORRECT!!! If the wrong user ID and password are used, Planning tables and other objects will be created in the wrong schema, making a mess.

Select “Next”.

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Accept the default RMI port.

Select “Next”.

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Confirm the configuration tasks.

Select “Next”.

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Confirm that all configuration steps completed successfully.

Select “Task Panel” to continue the configuration process, or “Finish”. If “Finish” is selected, simply restart the Config Tool to continue the configuration process.

Configure Calc Manager

Select the options below in the Config Tool to configure Calc Manager.

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Select “Next”.

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Update the Username and Password for the correct Calc Manager schema.

ENSURE THAT THE USER ID AND PASSWORD ARE CORRECT!!! If the wrong user ID and password are used, Calc Manager tables and other objects will be created in the wrong schema, making a mess.

Select “Next”.

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Confirm the configuration tasks.

Select “Next”.

Confirm that all configuration steps completed successfully.

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Select “Task Panel” to continue the configuration process, or “Finish”. If “Finish” is selected, simply restart the Config Tool to continue the configuration process.

Configure Financial Reports

Select the options below in the Config Tool to configure Financial Reports.

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Select “Next”.

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Update the Username and Password for the correct Reporting and Analysis schema.

ENSURE THAT THE USER ID AND PASSWORD ARE CORRECT!!! If the wrong user ID and password are used, Reporting and Analysis tables and other objects will be created in the wrong schema, making a mess.

Select “Next”.

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Select the default location and port range.

Select “Next”.

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Accept the default ports.

Select “Next”.

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Select the default RMI ports.

Select “Next”.

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Confirm the configuration tasks.

Select “Next”.

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Confirm that all configuration steps completed successfully.

Select “Task Panel” to continue the configuration process, or “Finish”. If “Finish” is selected, simply restart the Config Tool to continue the configuration process.

Deploy the App Server

The previous steps configured the repositories of each individual product. The next step is to deploy to the application server. We will do this for all products at once.

Select the options below in the Config Tool to deploy to the application server.

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Select “Next”.

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Enter a password for the domain admin.

Select “Next”.

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Pay special attention to the check box at the top of this screen. The option to deploy the Java web applications to a single managed server is referred to as a “Compact Deployment”. Compact Deployment is often useful when limited server memory is available. (E.g., less than 16GB) Unfortunately, compact deployment can make it difficult to debug problems with individual products. I prefer to not use Compact Deployment; however there are situations where it is appropriate.

Select “Next”.

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Confirm the configuration tasks.

Select “Next”.

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Confirm that all configuration steps completed successfully.

Select “Task Panel” to continue the configuration process, or “Finish”. If “Finish” is selected, simply restart the Config Tool to continue the configuration process.

Configure Web Server

Select the options below in the Config Tool to configure the web server.

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Select “Next”.

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Use the Oracle HTTP Server.

Select “Next”.

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Confirm the configuration tasks.

Select “Next”.

A command prompt will open.  A script will launch and eventually close.

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Confirm that the configuration was a success.

Select “Finish”.

Configure the Services

The services created by the Config Tool in the previous steps will be set to start automatically. I prefer setting these to start manually. They can then be started by running the pre-built startup and shutdown scripts.

** NOTE – Most infrastructure consultants create custom start/stop scripts.

To change the services to manual startup, navigate to Control Panel by selecting the “Start” button.

Select “Administration Tools”.

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Double-click “Services”. Scroll down to the Oracle services.

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Right-click on each Oracle service (except RDBMS services) and select “Properties”.

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Change the startup type to “Manual”.

Select “OK”.

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Perform this step for each service in the red square above. The remaining Oracle services are RDBMS-related, and can be left as-is.

Starting the EPM System

Restart your VM.

Navigate to the applications in Windows Server 2012.

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Take note of the two scripts above used to Start and Stop EPM services (circled in green).

Select the “Start EPM System” icon. A script will run to start the EPM services (this may take a bit). Once the script completes, confirm that all Oracle EPM services are running by navigating to Services.

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Alternatively, you may also review the startup logs in:

C:\Oracle\Middleware\user_projects\epmsystem1\diagnostics\logs\starter

The Moment of Truth . . .

Open a browser on your host.

Navigate to the following URL to access Workspace:

http://<INSERT SERVER NAME HERE>:19000/workspace/index.jsp

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Login with the Shared Services “admin” user ID and password.

Logout.

Navigate to the following URL to access the new simplified Hyperion Planning interface:

http://<INSERT SERVER NAME HERE>:8300/HyperionPlanning

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Login with the “admin” user ID and password.

A screen will be displayed stating that there are no applications (we will create an app in the next post).

Logout.

Run the script to shut down the EPM Services. Always try to gracefully shut down the services prior to shutting down your VM.

Take a snapshot.

Congratulations!!!  You now have your very own Hyperion Planning sandbox environment.

In the Next Post

Things should be looking very good at this point.  The next step is to build an actual Hyperion Planning application!  Click here for the last post in the series.

DIY Hyperion Planning – Install Hyperion Planning

Some Context . . .

This is the seventh post in a multi-part blog educating readers on how to build a personal “sandbox” environment for Hyperion Planning. Click here to see all nine posts in the series.

So far . . . so good . . .

In the previous posts, we laid the foundation for our Hyperion Planning environment. We completed the following steps:

  • Downloaded the Relevant Files
  • Created a Virtual Server
  • Installed and Configured the Server Operating System
  • Installed and Configured the Oracle RDBMS
  • Created our RDBMS Users and Schemas

Now would be a good time to take a snapshot of your virtual machine.

Installation Time

To begin the Hyperion Planning installation, navigate to the zipped files previously downloaded from e-delivery. Unzip all of the downloaded files. I recommend 7zip. Unzip these files from the host computer.

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You may receive warnings about the location of your unzipped files already having certain files in place. This is because Oracle sometimes packages the same file in multiple zip files, and should not cause concern.

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Simply select “Yes to All” when prompted. After unzipping, your folder structure will look something like this:

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Login to your VM. Navigate to the unzipped files (on your shared folder) and locate the file “installTool.cmd”. Right click on this file and select “Run as Administrator”.

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Select a language.

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Select “OK”.

The EPM System Installer will open.

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Make sure that the prerequisite checks all pass. If any of the four lines above do not have a check box, you must stop the installation, as something is wrong.

Assuming all four lines have a check next to them, select “Next”.

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Select a Middleware Home.

Select “Next”.

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Choose the install type (only one option will be available).

Select “Next”.

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Select the software to install.  Note that we are not really installing Financial Management above.  There is a required component under this product.

Select “Next”.

A .NET warning will appear.

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Select “OK”.

Confirm the components to be installed.

Select “Next” and the installation will begin. This portion will take some time.

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Ensure that everything was installed successfully. Select “Finish”. Take a snapshot before configuring the software.

In the Next Post

With Hyperion Planning installed, it’s time to move on to the configuration. Click here for the next post in this series.