OBIEE - Sample Administration Documentation

As I mentioned in Part 1 of a previous article here, you really need to have documentation around your OBIEE environment.


Not the most glamerous of suggestions surely, but your boss and sysadmin will love you. Start by documenting where to find stuff middleware home, logfiles, config files (instanceconfig.xml etc.), the URLs used for administration.

Then move on to documenting the config changes made after the install, what settings were changed and if known what the default values were before and what they are now. What are the connection details for your RCU schemas (BIPLATFORM and MDS). Capture things like server names and directory structures.

Now comes the living documents which you can generate periodically and version. Run off a repository report and catalog reports. This will give you (and your colleagues) a better understanding of what the repository looks like and also what in the catalog is where on the dashboards.

As an added benefit you can now work backwards from the catalog reports through the repository reports to see where data comes from to fill reports, and vice-versa, from a physical column work your way through the repository to the catalog report to see where the data is used.

Remember, having no documentation means a risk to your business.

And keep it up to date, mark your calendar for a monthly review, most times , no change, but there will be that month.......

Here's a suggestion of some topics to get you started!

General Info about your OBIEE Install

Server
URL
DNS Shortcut
WebLogic Console
Enterprise Manager
Repository Name
Catalog Path

Install Type Information

Type
OS
Install Dir

OBIEE Configuration

writeback
EVALUATE_SUPPORT_LEVEL
Usage Tracking
Repository Monitoring

Users/Passwords

Schema Prefix
BIPLATFORM
MDS
weblogic
Repository

Custom Deployments

password_change.ear

Maps