Updating a userid in the Web Catalog with runcat.cmd

Have you ever run into this error with OBIEE 11g?

The GUID (########################) for user ABC already exists in the catalog with username XYX. If this user was renamed in the backend, please use the catalog user management tools to rename this user in the catalog. If the username was not renamed, the catalog has to be cleaned of this GUID.[[
File:securityimpl.cpp
Line:610

This error occurs when an LDAP user is renamed, typically preventing the user from logging into the application. Oracle provides

documentation for updating the GUID, but there is little if any documentation to update a userid. Here are the steps to updating a userid in the OBIEE 11g Web Catalog.

Steps:

Log into the Oracle BI host.
Navigate to the Catalog Manager path:
<MiddlewareHome>\instances\instance1\bifoundation\OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent\coreapplication_obips1\catalogmanager

Create a file called boot.txt in the same directory
Update the file with credentials able to use catalog manager
login=userid
pwd=password

Replace userid and password with those appropriate for your system (eg. weblogic....)

Save the file and close

Execute the runcat.cmd utility to update the userid
runcat.cmd -cmd renameAccounts -old OLDUSERID -new NEWUSERID -online http://IPAddress:PORT/analytics/saw.dll -credentials boot.txt

No output indicates that the user has been updated. Test by impersonating the user and logging into OBIEE.  You should now be able to login successfully under the new userid.

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