Thursday, September 29, 2011

Great Night of Baseball

If you are a baseball fan, last night was spectacular.

Even more so, if like me, you were fans of either the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves or St. Louis Cardinals.

Well, the Braves and Red Sox fan's wouldn't call last night spectacular...spectacularly horrible...maybe.

I decided to take LC and my father to the game last name, the Three Chet's if you will.



David Price was pitching for the Rays and the Yankees were throwing Johnny Bullpen, or the remainder of their 40 man roster, to save their arms for the post-season. The Yankees had already clinched their spot, the Rays were tied with the Red Sox for the Wild Card slot. Boston was playing the Baltimore Orioles at the same time.

On September 3rd, the Red Sox had a 9 game lead over the Rays, a seemingly insurmountable lead. But this is baseball, it's not over until the fat lady sings. The fact that the Rays were now tied with the Red Sox was a testament to the Ray's pitching and the utter collapse of the Boston Red Sox.

It didn't look good for the Rays. In the 6th inning, the Rays were down 7-0. Evan Longoria struck out with men on base to end the inning. He couldn't have looked more dejected...he just flipped his bat at home and starting walking out to 3rd base. That's when we decided to leave.

First, it was a school night. It was after 9 PM and it would take about 45 minutes to drop my dad off and another 15 minutes to get home. Second, it was 7-0 and the Rays appeared to have given up. So off we went.

We listened to the game on the way home, hearing that the Red Sox vs. Orioles game was in rain-delay. Dropping me dad off, we watched a little bit of the top of the 8th inning before heading home.

The Rays scored 1 run, 2 runs, 3 runs and had 2 men on base with Longoria coming to bat. I'm thinking he needs to hit a double...home runs are rally-killers (no one is on base...it just "seems" desolate out in the field). Before we could turn onto the freeway, Longoria hits a 3 run homerun to bring the score to 7-6 in the bottom of the 8th. Wow, just wow.

100 MPH on the Veteran's Expressway to get home...

Sitting in front of the TV...we watch the first 2 hitters in the bottom of the 9th make outs. They pinch-hit Dan Johnson, hitting .108 this season. Johnson was pulled up from the minors just a couple of weeks ago:

HE'S BAAACK: The Rays are bringing their lucky charm to Boston, having called up Dan Johnson, whose list of key hits includes the monumental and momentous pinch-homer off Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon on Sept. 9, 2008, with the bat mounted in his house as a memento.

Johnson said he'd welcome the chance for history to repeat itself: "I would love to add a bat to the collection, no doubt."

Johnson, 32, was thrilled just to be back in the majors, having been sent down in late May and hampered much of the year by a wrist injury.

With 2 strikes Johnson wrapped one around the right field foul pole to tie the game. LC and I jumped up, hi-fived, screamed and yelled...wow, just wow.

At 11:17, the 10th inning I believe, I sent LC to bed.

Around midnight, the Orioles/Red Sox game had resumed and it was now the bottom of the 9th, with Papelbon in to pitch. He strikes out the first 2 hitters. With 2 strikes, Chris Davis doubled. Nolan Reimold doubled to switch places with Davis, tie game. Then Robert Andino singled to left scoring the pinch-runner giving the Orioles the win.

As this was announced, Longoria was coming to the plate for the Rays (this is how I remember it anyway)...couple of pitches later, he hits a screamer down the left field line barely clearing the left field wall. Rays win, Rays win!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

OOW 2011: No Soup For You!

For those that don't understand the reference.

I didn't ask for bread, I didn't break any of the rules...but I will not be attending Oracle OpenWorld this year.

Family matters require that I be home.

I'm sure I've suffered from some level of depression over the years since Kate was born, it hasn't kept me from working (an escape, to be sure), but it has affected me. I don't think I've understood the extent to which it has affected my family, as a whole though.

So I'm taking some time to help where I can.

Of course I'll miss seeing my friends, hanging out with the smart people...in other words, being there.

Family is simply more important.

Monday, September 19, 2011

OOW: Predictions

I haven't seen too many (ok, none) of these this year, but one today hit home:

Predicting OBIEE 11.1.1.6 by Joe Leva.

I've been lucky enough to hang out (err, stalk, as he would say) with Joe in the recent past, he's a smart dude. Here's his prediction in short:

Prior keynotes have brought us Exadata (and Exadata 2) and Exalogic. The Oracle database is clearly a pillar of their business, it was a good first choice for a machine. The middleware stack is another large area of the Oracle product line, hence Exalogic. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could run OBIEE on the Exalogic? What would we call an OBIEE machine? ExaIntelligence? The Oracle BI Machine?

Now, just in case I’m right on this, how do I support this? The packaged software and hardware in the “machines” is a way for Oracle to capture revenue that would otherwise go to implementation partners. The BI machine is a logical inevitable progression, if it doesn’t come this year it will be next year. The economics demand it.

Now wouldn't that be cool, an OBIEE machine a la Exadata or Exalogic? I'll take 1, or 2.

Do you have any predictions for what will be announced this year? FMW will be big I'm sure. There's a big announcement on September 21st (Wednesday), maybe it's the Exadata Mini(-me)?

Let's hear some more fun predictions...

The Exadata Mini - Exclusive Picture!

Early this morning ZDNet's Larry Dignan reported that Oracle would be announcing the "Exadata Mini" edition: Oracle's 'Exadata mini' would aim for midmarket

Well, through tireless research and a lot of hacking, I've found a picture of said machine:



Vern Troyer, the actor who plays "Mini-me" from the Austin Powers movies, stands 32 inches tall, which for the rest of the world, is 81.28 centimeters.

It stands at 20" tall, and as Mr. Dignan reports, this could fit under your desk.

If you're curious to know how Oracle was able to reduce the size...check out this video:

Friday, September 16, 2011

More T-Shirts

Recently I was asked to create some merchandise that fell outside of my norm.

Specifically, I was asked to create a onesie, or piece baby outfit. I tried using my normal method of creating a simple png (pixel) graphic in gimp, however, when I tried to add that to something other than a regular old t-shirt, the application didn't give me the option to do so. Apparently I needed to use vector graphics. I should have known this, since I'm a design genius and all that.

I thought I could continue to use gimp and simply save the file as an encapsulated post script and upload it. Spreadshirt has a semi-automated system that, apparently, attempts to open the file. If it can't, it sends it off for review by their staff. Sometime in the next day or 2, I get an email telling me whether it has passed or not. None of my 3 attempts passed. In my rejection notice, they said I could send them the file directly and ask what's wrong. That's when I got a nice primer on vector vs. pixel graphics. I needed to use a tool like Corel Draw, Illustrator or Inkscape. I chose Inkscape, it was free and runs on Linux. Yay for me. Yay for OSS.

So here are my first 2 attempts at using vector graphics.

First, the custom order:



Next, the LOWER( ORACLENERD ) edition:



There's still time to get one before Oracle OpenWorld, just a little over 2 weeks away.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Prepping for Oracle OpenWorld 2011

SQL> SELECT TO_DATE( 20111001, 'YYYYMMDD' ) - SYSDATE time_to_oow
  2  FROM dual;

TIME_TO_OOW
-----------
 15.8921065
Wow. Just a little over 2 weeks to go. Time certainly flies.

As I'm wont to do, I've put off just about everything. For the last 2 weeks I've been scrambling to get a room. Two days ago I looked at the prices in downtown San Francisco and I thought I might be living sleeping on someone's floor, or sleeping on the street (don't think I haven't done that). It was even more serious because I had promised a friend of mine that I would cover his accommodations; he had helped me out last year when Kate got sick by buying me a ticket to get home immediately (end of the month, I was out of funds).

Yesterday I finally scored a place through airbnb. Somewhere on Lombard street, Russian Hill? Whatever. It's 1.7 miles to the Moscone Center.



In San Francisco, 1.7 miles is nothing. Far too many great distractions (people watching) for it to feel like a long walk. Bonus points for staying (getting) in shape while there. Bonus points for helping the effects of the beer wear off before sleep. Negative bonus points if I get lost, which I will, especially if I am alone. No sherpa this year unfortunately.

As soon as I booked my room, I booked my flight. They're still cheap too.

I haven't even looked at the sessions yet. Shocking.

Lots of activities planned though:

- Sunday - Oracle ACE dinner thingy.
- Monday - Customer meeting and OTN party.
- Tuesday - Nothing yet.
- Wednesday - Blogger meet-up, Appreciation Event
- Thursday - Nothing
- Friday - OBIEE Meetup thingy with product development.

Somewhere in there I'm supposed to fight with Kellyn Pot'Vin. Additional fun will be a repeat of last year's game, The Piwowar challenge. Personally, I like Pot' Wen(ch), but that might get me punched again.

I've been throwing a little bit too. They have this Home Run Derby...area, where I can go and throw my arm out trying to see how hard I can throw after 10 years. I may be in a sling after the first day.

It's gonna be a hoot. So excited to hang out with a bunch of smart, passionate people and talk shop (or beer). I don't think I've left my house in weeks, I really need to get out.

OOW 2011 Twitter List

For the past couple of years George Woods has been compiling a list of Twitterites who will be attending Oracle OpenWord. 2009 and 2010. I realized this year I hadn't seen it yet, so I emailed him. Unfortunately he will be unable to attend, he's working with that other database right now.

There is no planned event for us yet, but it can't hurt to have if something does come up.

If you plan on attending, please fill out this simple form; twitter handle is the only thing required.



You can find the document here. If I can figure out how to embed the list here, I will do so.

OK, I just stole the iframe method from the above form. It's ugly, but it's better than nothing.



If you know of a better (and easy) way, let me know.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

OBIA: Installing Informatica 9.0.1

I'm in the process of building out a tip-to-tail dev/test system that includes the components from OBIA.

The components include:
- EBS Vision database
- Informatica PowerCenter 9.0.1
- Data Warehouse Administration Console (DAC)
- OBIEE 11.1.1.5
- OBIA 7.9.6.3

I recently rebuilt my EBS instance. I put my last go at it on a removable disk and seem to have misplaced it.

This will be part of a series of posts describing the entire process. I don't do it often enough and so I have to "remember" what I did, now I'll have my own reference.

Environment

As usual, this is running in a VirtualBox virtual machine.
- Host: Ubuntu 11.04, Natty Narwhal
- VirtualBox: 4.1.2
- Guest: Oracle Enterprise Linux (64 bit)
Linux oracle-web-tier 2.6.32-200.13.1.el5uek #1 SMP
x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
- Installed software: 11gR2 Database, OBIEE 11.1.1.5, Oracle Web Tier

I grabbed the download from edelivery, file name is: V26109-01.zip.

Other references:

- OBIA 7.9.6.3 Documentation Library
- OBIA Installation Guide for Informatica PowerCenter Users Release 7.9.6.3: Specifically this section, Installing Informatica PowerCenter Services.

Step 1, create a database account.
CREATE USER infa IDENTIFIED BY testing
  DEFAULT TABLESPACE users;

GRANT DBA TO infa;
**Note I have given DBA privileges, this is not necessary.**

It is simply easier, for now, to do it this way.

Step 2, unzip the files on your system.

It is recommended that you create an OS user specific to this task. I am using my previously existing oracle (dba, oinstall) account

Step 3, run the install.sh file
[oracle@oracle-web-tier infa_zips]$ ./install.sh
OS detected is Linux
unjar task is in progress.............
unjar of ESD completed.....
Do you want to continue installation (y/n) ?
y
Starting installation ...

\***************************************************************************
\* Welcome to the Informatica 9.0.1 HotFix 2 Server Installer.  *
\***************************************************************************


To verify whether a machine meets the system requirements for an Informatica installation, 
run the Pre-Installation System Check Tool (i9Pi) before you start the installation process. 
You can find the i9Pi tool in the following directory: /i9Pi


Before you continue, read the 9.0.1 HotFix 2 Installation Guide and Release Notes.
You can find the 9.0.1 HotFix 2 documentation in the Documentation Center at 
http://my.informatica.com
Configure the LANG and LC_ALL variables to generate appropriate code pages and 
create and connect to repositories and Repository Services.
Do you want to continue? (Y/N)Y
Installer requires operating system Linux version 2.6 and later.
Current operating system Linux version 2.6.
Current operating system meets minimum requirements.

 Select a choice :  
1.   Install Informatica 9.0.1 with Hot Fix 2 or Upgrade from a previous version of Informatica 
to Informatica 9.0.1 with Hot Fix 2 
2.   Apply Informatica 9.0.1 Hot Fix 2 to existing 9.0.1 install.
Enter the choice(1 or 2):1
 
-----------------------------------------------------------
Checking for existing 9.0.1 HotFix 2 product installation.
Select (G)UI mode (needs X Window support) or (C)onsole mode (G/C):G
Launching installer in GUI mode ...
Preparing to install...
Extracting the JRE from the installer archive...
Unpacking the JRE...
Extracting the installation resources from the installer archive...
Configuring the installer for this system's environment...

Launching installer...

Preparing SILENT Mode Installation...

===============================================================================
Informatica 9.0.1 Services HotFix2               (created with InstallAnywhere)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


System Requirements:



License Key and installation directory:



Confirmation:



Running...



Configuring...



Create a domain and Enable HTTPS. Enable HTTPS is checked by default, I won't be using it.



Configure the database connection and JDBC URL



Testing the connection...



Informatica Domain. I'm going to accept the defaults:



Summary


===============================================================================
Configuring Installation...
---------------------------

 [==================|==================|==================|==================]
 [------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------]

Installation Complete.
To verify your installation, open up http://localhost:6007/administrator/, username is administrator and the password is the one you supplied during installation.



You'll be redirected to this page.



Next steps will be to cover the Information Repository Service and Informatica Integration Service. That of couse, is later.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Pythian Acquires "Dude Who Gets Stuff Done"

Pythian, the world's leading remote DBA service company, has announced the (non-hostile) acquisition of John Piwowar.

Wait, Pythian didn't announce it, officially anyway...



Source



Source

Maybe it was John?

...Starting today, I begin the "on-boarding" process at Pythian, as a member of one of their ERP teams.
In a way, it feels as much like starting school as it does a new job. This move represents my biggest career challenge to date, and I
look forward to learning a ton (and contributing a ton) in the company of a lot of smart, talented people. Since I'm going to be packing
my brain full of new things over the next 3 weeks, I expect that the only blog activity here will be from pre-scheduled posts, drafts that
I'd been putting off finishing until recently. Once I'm up to speed on the new system, you'll hopefully be hearing more from me on the
Pythian blog!

I think it's obvious from John's post how excited he is. I am excited for him too. John's an awesome dude, sherpa (for me), protector (of me, from myself), and DBA.

Find John in the following locations:

- Twitter
- Blog
- LinkedIn
- oraclenerd

OK, this didn't turn out as funny as I had intended, whatever.

Great move for both parties. Can't wait to see what John does with the vast resources available to him now.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

OBIEE: Start/Stop Individual Components (Manually)

Previously I wrote about how to start and stop individual components via Enterprise Manager.

This time, I'm going to run through the manual steps to do the same, start and stop individual components using the Oracle Process Manager and Notification Server (OPMN) Tool.

First, navigate to the ORACLE_INSTANCE/bin directory. For me on Linux, that is /obiee/Middleware/instances/instance. List out the directory contents and you should see the opmnctl
[oracle@oracle-web-tier bin]$ ls -lah
total 56K
drwx------  3 oracle dba 4.0K Aug 16 00:53 .
drwx------ 14 oracle dba 4.0K Sep  8 17:09 ..
drwxr-x---  2 oracle dba 4.0K Aug 16 00:53 essbase_ha
-rwx------  1 oracle dba  44K Aug 16 00:53 opmnctl
Let's see what is running:
[oracle@oracle-web-tier bin]$ ./opmnctl status

Processes in Instance: instance1
---------------------------------+--------------------+---------+---------
ias-component                    | process-type       |     pid | status  
---------------------------------+--------------------+---------+---------
coreapplication_obiccs1          | OracleBIClusterCo~ |    1525 | Alive   
coreapplication_obisch1          | OracleBIScheduler~ |    1443 | Alive   
coreapplication_obijh1           | OracleBIJavaHostC~ |    1487 | Alive   
coreapplication_obips1           | OracleBIPresentat~ |    1469 | Alive   
coreapplication_obis1            | OracleBIServerCom~ |   30698 | Alive
All of the components are running. Good. Let's shut down everything.
[oracle@oracle-web-tier bin]$ ./opmnctl shutdown
[oracle@oracle-web-tier bin]$ ./opmnctl status
opmnctl status: opmn is not running.
And bring everything back up.
[oracle@oracle-web-tier bin]$ ./opmnctl startall
opmnctl startall: starting opmn and all managed processes...
[oracle@oracle-web-tier bin]$ ./opmnctl status

Processes in Instance: instance1
---------------------------------+--------------------+---------+---------
ias-component                    | process-type       |     pid | status  
---------------------------------+--------------------+---------+---------
coreapplication_obiccs1          | OracleBIClusterCo~ |    3124 | Alive   
coreapplication_obisch1          | OracleBIScheduler~ |    3123 | Alive   
coreapplication_obijh1           | OracleBIJavaHostC~ |    3121 | Alive   
coreapplication_obips1           | OracleBIPresentat~ |    3120 | Alive   
coreapplication_obis1            | OracleBIServerCom~ |    3122 | Alive
Now, let's stop the BI Server, coreapplication_obis1 or OrcleBIServerCom~. There are 2 ways to bring this down. Well, one command, stopproc, but 2 different ways. Notice the column headers up above, you have ias-component and process-type. Using ias-component:
[oracle@oracle-web-tier bin]$ ./opmnctl stopproc ias-component=coreapplication_obis1
opmnctl stopproc: stopping opmn managed processes...
[oracle@oracle-web-tier bin]$ ./opmnctl status

Processes in Instance: instance1
---------------------------------+--------------------+---------+---------
ias-component                    | process-type       |     pid | status  
---------------------------------+--------------------+---------+---------
coreapplication_obiccs1          | OracleBIClusterCo~ |    3124 | Alive   
coreapplication_obisch1          | OracleBIScheduler~ |    3123 | Alive   
coreapplication_obijh1           | OracleBIJavaHostC~ |    3121 | Alive   
coreapplication_obips1           | OracleBIPresentat~ |    3120 | Alive   
coreapplication_obis1            | OracleBIServerCom~ |     N/A | Down
Start it back up.
[oracle@oracle-web-tier bin]$ ./opmnctl startproc ias-component=coreapplication_obis1
opmnctl startproc: starting opmn managed processes...
[oracle@oracle-web-tier bin]$ ./opmnctl status

Processes in Instance: instance1
---------------------------------+--------------------+---------+---------
ias-component                    | process-type       |     pid | status  
---------------------------------+--------------------+---------+---------
coreapplication_obiccs1          | OracleBIClusterCo~ |    3124 | Alive   
coreapplication_obisch1          | OracleBIScheduler~ |    3123 | Alive   
coreapplication_obijh1           | OracleBIJavaHostC~ |    3121 | Alive   
coreapplication_obips1           | OracleBIPresentat~ |    3120 | Alive   
coreapplication_obis1            | OracleBIServerCom~ |    3525 | Alive 
process-type shutdown:
[oracle@oracle-web-tier bin]$ ./opmnctl stopproc process-type=OracleBIServerComponent
opmnctl stopproc: stopping opmn managed processes...
[oracle@oracle-web-tier bin]$ ./opmnctl status

Processes in Instance: instance1
---------------------------------+--------------------+---------+---------
ias-component                    | process-type       |     pid | status  
---------------------------------+--------------------+---------+---------
coreapplication_obiccs1          | OracleBIClusterCo~ |    3124 | Alive   
coreapplication_obisch1          | OracleBIScheduler~ |    3123 | Alive   
coreapplication_obijh1           | OracleBIJavaHostC~ |    3121 | Alive   
coreapplication_obips1           | OracleBIPresentat~ |    3120 | Alive   
coreapplication_obis1            | OracleBIServerCom~ |     N/A | Down
Note that I didn't use OracleBIServerCom~. It expects the full name of the component, in this case, OracleBIServerComponent. If you use the shortened name, you'll get this:
[oracle@oracle-web-tier bin]$ ./opmnctl stopproc process-type=OracleBIServerCom~
opmnctl stopproc: stopping opmn managed processes...
================================================================================
opmn id=oracle-web-tier:9501
    No processes or applications match the specified configuration.
Finally, bring the BI Server back up.
[oracle@oracle-web-tier bin]$ ./opmnctl startproc process-type=OracleBIServerComponent
opmnctl startproc: starting opmn managed processes...
[oracle@oracle-web-tier bin]$ ./opmnctl status

Processes in Instance: instance1
---------------------------------+--------------------+---------+---------
ias-component                    | process-type       |     pid | status  
---------------------------------+--------------------+---------+---------
coreapplication_obiccs1          | OracleBIClusterCo~ |    3124 | Alive   
coreapplication_obisch1          | OracleBIScheduler~ |    3123 | Alive   
coreapplication_obijh1           | OracleBIJavaHostC~ |    3121 | Alive   
coreapplication_obips1           | OracleBIPresentat~ |    3120 | Alive   
coreapplication_obis1            | OracleBIServerCom~ |    3803 | Alive
Fairly simple.

For a full list of opmnctl commands, simply run ./opmnctl help and you'll get the following output:
[oracle@oracle-web-tier bin]$ ./opmnctl help

usage: opmnctl [verbose] [<scope>] <command> [<options>]

verbose: print detailed execution message if available

Permitted <scope>/<command>/<options> combinations are:

 scope    command     options
-------  ---------   ---------
          start                         - Start opmn
          startall                      - Start opmn & all managed processes
          stopall                       - Stop opmn & all managed processes
          shutdown                      - Shutdown opmn & all managed processes
[<scope>] startproc   [<attr>=<val> ..] - Start opmn managed processes
[<scope>] restartproc [<attr>=<val> ..] - Restart opmn managed processes
[<scope>] stopproc    [<attr>=<val> ..] - Stop opmn managed processes
[<scope>] reload                        - Trigger opmn to reread opmn.xml
[<scope>] status      [<options>]       - Get managed process status
[<scope>] metric      [<attr>=<val> ..] - Get DMS metrics for managed processes
[<scope>] dmsdump     [<dmsargs>]       - Get DMS metrics for opmn
[<scope>] debug       [<attr>=<val> ..] - Display opmn server debug information
[<scope>] set         [<attr>=<val> ..] - Set opmn log parameters
[<scope>] query       [<attr>=<val>]    - Query opmn log parameters
          launch      [<attr>=<val> ..] - Launch a configured target process
          phantom     [<attr>=<val> ..] - Register phantom processes
          ping        [<max-retry>]     - Ping local opmn
          validate    [<filename>]      - Validate the given opmn xml file
          help                          - Print brief usage description
          usage       [<command>]       - Print detailed usage description
          createinstance                - Create an Oracle Instance
          createcomponent               - Create a specified component
          deleteinstance                - Delete an instance and components
          deletecomponent               - Delete a specified component
          registerinstance              - Register with admin server
          redeploy                      - Redeploy the admin server application
          unregisterinstance            - Unregister with admin server
          updateinstanceregistration    - Update instance registration
          updatecomponentregistration   - Update component registration

Friday, September 9, 2011

OBIEE: Start/Stop Individual Components (Enterprise Manager)

The very first thing I thought, after firing up my first OBIEE 11g instance, was how freaking intimidating it was.

You have Enterprise Manager, the WLS Console and regular old /analytics. Nah...not too much.

Whatever.

Of course I'm still learning it daily, but most of the basics I have down now.

A basic concept which was super-easy in 10g, like stopping and starting individual services like the BI Server and Presentation Server, didn't seem so easy any more.

Now this isn't rocket science, but I'm sure it will help someone new (and intimidated!) by OBIEE 11g.

First, using Enterprise Manager.

After logging in, you'll see the Farm_bifoundation_domain (essentially your home) page:



From there, navigate to the Business Intelligence folder and click on coreapplication:



This will take you to your coreapplication (BI) page:



From there, you can stop all components of the BI Server; BI Server, Presentation, Java Host, etc.



Easy.

Sometimes though, you just need to restart one of the services, usually the BI Server or the Presentation Server.

Easy enough, see that tab Capacity Management, click on it:



That'll take you here, where you can start, stop and restart individual services:



Simply select the service you want to stop, start or restart like so:



Then select Stop Selected and you'll be prompted to confirm your selection:



Now you've stopped the BI Server service.



You can confirm this by looking at the Overview page as well:



There is also a manual way of doing this. Since it's Friday evening, I will wait until later to write that one up. Must go watch Megamind or some other fun kids movie with one of the monsters.

OBIEE 11g: Unresolved table: "**NONE**". (HY000)

Yesterday I was having problems simply converting the Usage Tracking catalog. It may or may not be related to having Web Tier (or any other non-OBIEE component) installed, I can't say with certainty though.

The reason that you have to convert/upgrade the Usage Tracking RPD/Web Catalog is because a pre 11g version was inadvertently shipped. Good news though, if you have upgrade issues like I've had, you can get an 11g copy of the RPD (both 11.1.1.3 and 11.1.1.5) on MOS. No upgraded web catalog though.

I managed to merge the Usage Tracking metadata into my RPD, then I was off to make the web catalog work. I copied the Usage Tracking web catalog over to the SampleAppLIte web catalog and tried to run it.



If you can't read that, it says:
[nQSError: 27004] Unresolved table: "**NONE**". (HY000)
I went in and played with the permissions, restarted the server, nothing worked. I kept getting the same message.

Twitter machine to the rescue.



I started to go through the criteria for one specific report.

The only thing that jumped out at me was that none of the folder qualifiers had quotes around them, like Measures."Some Measure". That's OK, because there is no space.

I replaced each and every criteria in the report, ran it, same error.

Wait, there's a filter.

Remove it.

The report runs.

w00t.

So I went into Catalog Manager > Properties > Edit XML and sure enough:



I replaced **NONE** with Usage Tracking, reloaded the metadata (and bounced the server for good measure), and voila!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

OBIEE 11g: UPGCMP-02712

Amusingly, the Usage Tracking components (RPD, Web Catalog) must be upgraded from 10g to 11g (11.1.1.5 for me). Not sure how this was missed, but it was.

I've run through the Upgrade Assistant multiple times, each one failing.



Here's the log:
[2011-09-08T03:07:12.156-04:00] [Framework] [NOTIFICATION] [] [upgrade.Framework] [tid: 13] 
[ecid: 0000J97r9aPFw000jzwkno1EQ6_m000004,0] Start 11g Components: false
[2011-09-08T03:07:12.185-04:00] [Framework] [NOTIFICATION] [] [upgrade.Framework] [tid: 13] 
[ecid: 0000J97r9aPFw000jzwkno1EQ6_m000004,0] Starting to upgrade BIEE.
[2011-09-08T03:07:12.239-04:00] [Framework] [ERROR] 
[UPGAST-00138] [upgrade.Framework] [tid: 13] [ecid: 0000J97r9aPFw000jzwkno1EQ6_m000004,0] 
upgrade exception occurred
[2011-09-08T03:07:12.239-04:00] [Framework] [ERROR] [] [upgrade.Framework] [tid: 13] 
[ecid: 0000J97r9aPFw000jzwkno1EQ6_m000004,0] 
Cause: An unexpected upgrade exception has occurred. Action: See the secondary error message 
for additional details.
[2011-09-08T03:07:12.239-04:00] [Framework] [ERROR] [] [upgrade.Framework] [tid: 13] 
[ecid: 0000J97r9aPFw000jzwkno1EQ6_m000004,0] 
UPGCMP-02712: Expected oracle.biee.admin:oracleInstance=*,type=BIDomain.OracleInstance,
group=Service Oracle instance, found 2
[2011-09-08T03:07:12.240-04:00] [Framework] [ERROR] [] [upgrade.Framework] [tid: 13] 
[ecid: 0000J97r9aPFw000jzwkno1EQ6_m000004,0] 
UPGCMP-02712: Expected oracle.biee.admin:oracleInstance=*,type=BIDomain.OracleInstance,
group=Service Oracle instance, found 2
[2011-09-08T03:07:12.240-04:00] [Framework] [NOTIFICATION] [] [upgrade.Framework] [tid: 13] 
[ecid: 0000J97r9aPFw000jzwkno1EQ6_m000004,0] 
Finished upgrading BIEE with status: Failure.
[2011-09-08T03:07:12.241-04:00] [Framework] [NOTIFICATION] [] [upgrade.Framework] [tid: 13] 
[ecid: 0000J97r9aPFw000jzwkno1EQ6_m000004,0] 
Finished upgrading components.
[2011-09-08T03:07:12.241-04:00] [Framework] [NOTIFICATION] [] [upgrade.Framework] [tid: 13] 
[ecid: 0000J97r9aPFw000jzwkno1EQ6_m000004,0]   
0 components upgraded with success.
[2011-09-08T03:07:12.241-04:00] [Framework] [NOTIFICATION] [] [upgrade.Framework] [tid: 13] 
[ecid: 0000J97r9aPFw000jzwkno1EQ6_m000004,0]   
1 components upgraded with failure.
My Oracle Support (MOS) didn't turn up any hits on that error number. The Google Machine did though. This OTN Forum post has the same exact problem. It appears that Merlin128 is talking to him or herself. I'm ok with that.

yes it was the web-tier.. or actually any component that creates a second instance...the upgrade utility only works with 1 instance installed.. to temporarily have only one instance.. I was able to change this file. run the upgrade. then change it back...middleware\user_projects\domains\bifoundation_domain\opmn\topology.xml

I tried that, commented out the second ias-instance section and restarted all the services (Linux 64).

Run the Upgrade Assistant, no joy.

With a little more research on MOS, I found note ID 1336567.1 which provides an 11.1.1.3 and 11.1.1.5 RPD. Yay.

To my above comment about how a pre-11g component got in there, the MOS note says:

The UsageTracking.rpd shipped is actually a pre 11.1.1.3 version and cannot be opened in the current versions of OBIEE 11g Administrator. It was shipped inadvertently.

All was not lost, I did find the master note for Usage Tracking Issues, ID 1293415.1.

So, I can't open the Usage Tracking web catalog in Catalog Manager (runcat.sh). I tried to deploy just the Usage Tracking catalog...and the BI Presentation server wouldn't come back up. Upgrade Assistant still doesn't work.

Help?

Update 09/08/2011 13:33 EST

So I thought I could use the Oracle created SampleApp (v105, not v107) and received a similar failure:
[2011-09-08T10:29:57.471-07:00] [Framework] [ERROR] [UPGAST-00138] 
[upgrade.Framework] upgrade exception occurred
[2011-09-08T10:29:57.471-07:00] [Framework] [ERROR] 
[upgrade.Framework] 
Cause: An unexpected upgrade exception has occurred. 
Action: See the secondary error message for additional details.
[2011-09-08T10:29:57.471-07:00] [Framework] [ERROR] [upgrade.Framework] 
UPGCMP-02712: Expected oracle.biee.local:* Oracle instance, found 0
[2011-09-08T10:29:57.471-07:00] [Framework] [ERROR] [upgrade.Framework] 
UPGCMP-02712: Expected oracle.biee.local:* Oracle instance, found 0
That VM has Essbase, amongst other components. I speculate there is some sort of (yet unknown) weirdness going on when you don't have a straight (just OBIEE) install.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

DROP DATABASE;

I decided to blow away one of my newly created databases. Instead of using the DBCA, I decided to try it manually.
DROP DATABASE;

DROP DATABASE
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01586: database must be mounted EXCLUSIVE and not open for this operation
Not it.
SQL> SHUTDOWN;
Database closed.
Database dismounted.
ORACLE instance shut down.
SQL> STARTUP MOUNT EXCLUSIVE;
ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area 1048059904 bytes
Fixed Size                  2219992 bytes
Variable Size             608174120 bytes
Database Buffers          432013312 bytes
Redo Buffers                5652480 bytes
Database mounted.
SQL> DROP DATABASE;
DROP DATABASE
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-12719: operation requires database is in RESTRICTED mode
Ugh.
SQL> STARTUP NOMOUNT;
ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area 1048059904 bytes
Fixed Size                  2219992 bytes
Variable Size             608174120 bytes
Database Buffers          432013312 bytes
Redo Buffers                5652480 bytes
SQL> DROP DATABASE;
DROP DATABASE
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01507: database not mounted


SQL> ALTER DATABASE MOUNT;

Database altered.

SQL> DROP DATABASE;
DROP DATABASE
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-12719: operation requires database is in RESTRICTED mode
Not it. Here's the SQL Reference. Maybe that RESTRICTED reference means something...
SQL> STARTUP MOUNT RESTRICTED;
ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area 1048059904 bytes
Fixed Size                  2219992 bytes
Variable Size             608174120 bytes
Database Buffers          432013312 bytes
Redo Buffers                5652480 bytes
ORA-01504: database name 'RESTRICTED' does not match parameter db_name
'TESTING'
Barnacles. Perhaps the Administrator's Guide has something.
SQL> STARTUP MOUNT TESTING;
ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area 1048059904 bytes
Fixed Size                  2219992 bytes
Variable Size             608174120 bytes
Database Buffers          432013312 bytes
Redo Buffers                5652480 bytes
Database mounted.
SQL> DROP DATABASE;
DROP DATABASE
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-12719: operation requires database is in RESTRICTED mode


SQL> ALTER DATABASE RESTRICTED;
ALTER DATABASE RESTRICTED
                        *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-02231: missing or invalid option to ALTER DATABASE


SQL> ALTER DATABASE READ ONLY;
ALTER DATABASE READ ONLY
                    *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-02231: missing or invalid option to ALTER DATABASE
Last try
SQL> STARTUP NOMOUNT RESTRICT;
ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area 1048059904 bytes
Fixed Size                  2219992 bytes
Variable Size             608174120 bytes
Database Buffers          432013312 bytes
Redo Buffers                5652480 bytes
SQL> DROP DATABASE;
DROP DATABASE
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01507: database not mounted


SQL> ALTER DATABASE MOUNT;

Database altered.

SQL> DROP DATABASE;

Database dropped.

Disconnected from Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.2.0.1.0 - 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options
Voila!

OEL: Add More Disk(s)

Many of you know I'm still relatively new to non-Windows platforms. I've been running Ubuntu (from 9.04 > 11.04) at home for a few years now though, in an effort to better understand what I am doing when I don't have to just point-and-click. Fortunately for me, Ubuntu has a pretty slick UI so it's not all done at the command line.

During that same time, I've taken to using Oracle Enterprise Linux for all my software installs, from the database (11gR1 > 11gR2), OBIEE (10.1.3.4 > 11.1.1.5), Informatica components, so on and so forth. I can say with all honesty now, that I would prefer a nix install over a Windows 2008 Server install (security being the biggest issue I have, not that it's bad, I have no idea...let's just say I find it annoying that if I can install the software, I should have access to the directories...which apparently I don't).

All of my testing is done with VirtualBox. For my XP virtual machines, I've gotten to the point where I simply clone an existing "base" VDI and use that (for clients mostly, and some OBIEE software).

Often times I'll allocate n GBs of space. Occasionally, like with my first few attempts with OBIEE, I don't allocate enough space. For me, that means recreating the entire VM with n + x number of GBs. Silly, I know.

I don't have to do that any longer, I finally learned how to add space without starting from scratch. Yay for me.

First up, I go into the settings of the VM (while stopped, of course) and add a new SATA controller. I select Create new disk.



Please ignore the "10" GBs part, I had taken those screenshots last week. I'm actually adding 100 GBs for the remainder of this exercise. I choose a location, name it and give it a size in GBs.



Now you can see (forget the 10, it's 100) it listed in the Storage section of the VM Settings



So now I fire up my VM (OEL 5.7), go to System > Administration > Logical Volume Managment. You'll be prompted for the root password.



Under the Uninitialized Entities, you should see the disk you just added. Select Initialize Entry.

3

Blah blah blah. Yes.



Blah blah blah. Yes.



Now it's migraterd up to your Unallocated Volumes section. Add to existing Volume Group.



You should be prompted with your currently existing Volume Group, in my case, VolGroup00. Select it and then click Add.



Here's a picture of what I have allocated so far, 4.8 GiB (the rest is swap space)



Now, under VolGroup00 (Logical View), select Edit Properties



You'll be prompted with the Edit Logical Volume dialog. On the slider, you can see that it goes up to 104.97 and just below that a, "Use remaining space for this volume: 99.97 Gigabytes"



You can choose either one.



Now you can usee that VolGroup00 has 2 physical volumes which comprise it, sda2 and sdb1, sdb1 is the one I've just added. To the right, you can see the Volume Group Size is now 109.84.



And finally, System Monitor shows that I now have a total of 101.7 GiBs associated with VolGroup00-LogVol00



It's as simple as that.

Someday I'll figure out how to add different disks (well, technically they are different disks, just logically only 1) so that I can layout my tablespaces a bit better. For now though, no more recreating virtual machines just because I didn't plan well enough.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

T-Shirt: Now in Pink

I haven't done much with the T-Shirt collection lately. For whatever reason, I finally decided to do one in pink.

You have one month until Oracle OpenWorld...and did I mention it goes to a good cause?