Taking 11.1.2.4 for a spin in the cloud

Giving thanks

As most of you know, or should know by now, yr. obt. svt. is a complete, full, and unreserved infrastructure idiot.  As most of you also know, or should know by now, that the 11.1.2.4 EPM suite has just been released.  And with this, I am faced with a conundrum:  I need (well, I want) to play with the latest release, but I will need about a month (yes, really, if I do it after hours) to get the !@#$ thing to install on my VM.  So here I am, between trapped between Scylla and Charybdis.  What to do, what to do, what to do?  I want to do a test drive, but I’ll get to it done in time for the first patch.  Ugh.

Metavero to the rescue in the cloud

John Booth has solved the problem – he has created another of his EPM Amazon Web Services AMIs (Amazon Machine Instance).  Get an AWS account and fire up John’s AMI  (see Tim German’s post on how to go through the steps on this), and off you go to EPM 11.1.2.4-land.

This blog post is not going to be much about connecting to the cloud as Tim German will be covering the mechanics (and quite a bit more) over on his blog; I’ll just note the highlights and the some of my stupid mistakes intrepid adventures in the new AMI.  This post will also cover an interesting thing I discovered about Planning 11.1.2.4 and Hybrid.

As an aside about the cloud – as you know, Oracle is making a huge push into that area with many of their products.  There’s Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service which has been a runaway success, surprising many in its popularity, and I expect there will be many more like services.  What is somewhat amusing is that John and I presented on EPM in the cloud at Kaleidoscope (as it was called then) 2010.  And we had…about 30 people in the room.  It’s not often I get to lead the market, but apparently when I do, no one cares.  :)  They do now.

Running the new Metavero image

What it looks like

OMG, it is Windows 2012.  I cannot (well, I can and am) tell you how much I hate this interface.  And no, it is not because it is unfamiliar, it is because it sucks.  Hey, why not break 20-odd years of interface so a server can look like a tablet?  Sounds like an excellent idea.  Only not really.  Okay, rant out of the way and I’ll show you how John mitigated this less than stellar approach.  Here’s hoping that Microsoft update the UI to match the rumored not-completely-awful Windows 10.  Fingers crossed on this one.

Again, the whine is over and here it is:

As you may note, John has put the most important icons onto the desktop so you can get going as quickly as possible.  If you hit what-passes-for-the-Start-menu on the 2012 instance, you will see all of the detailed shortcuts you need.  You have heard my rant about this subject so I willl spare you any more of my vitriol.

Actually running EPM

The AMI does not automatically start up the “compact” EPM service.  You must do so by clicking on the helpfully numbered 1. Start Test Drive icon.

That will bring up a dialog box asking if you want to run some who-knows-what-but-I-don’t-care (I am an Essbase/Planning guy, not a bean counter – no offence intended towards those with a green eye shade) portion of the EPM 11.1.2.4 suite.

You will then see a cool graphic John created to let you know that the instance is Working, Working, Working.  It will not be overly fast, alas, but that’s hardly his fault..

Creating a new database for Planning

While that is slowly starting up, let’s create a new Oracle database (note that SQL Server is gone, gone, gone) user instance.  Navigate over to EM Express Login either on the desktop (I went to this because when the starting image is showing the desktop icon is blocked).

Lauch that, log in as sys using the common epmtestdrive123 password making sure you tick the

“as sysdba” box:

Go to Security:

Click on the HYPPLANAPP2 user name (for us SQL Server types, this equates to, sort of, a database) and then click on Create Like.

Name your user and give it a password.  For sanity’s sake, I used the epmtestdrive123 password.

Follow the dialog box, taking the defaults each time.

Again, the defaults:

Ta da, you have just created a new user in Oracle.

Hello, Workspace and Essbase

And now that you’ve done that, EPM 11.1.2.4 should be ready to go.  Go ahead and log in as epm_admin/epmtestdrive123.

If you want to be wild and crazy, go ahead and launch EAS off the web as well:

Don’t do this

Do not use epmtestdrive, ‘coz that:

Will lead to this:

Oh agony.

Do this

Instead, use epm_admin/epmtestdrive123:

Success!  Boil in bag!

Back to Planning

Creating a Planning data source is no different than in 11.1.2.3.x.  I’m not going to bore you with any of it save the Oracle settings for us SQL Server types as it is a bit different:

Make sure that you don’t use the default 1521 or you will spend a long time cursing and whining and moaning.  Not that I could possibly tell you what that is like from personal experience.

Once you have created the sample Planning application, go on and log into Workspace.  It looks pretty much the same as does the Vision app from 11.1.2.3.x:

Playing in the Cloud, or at least looking like it

Of course, if you want to pretend you are on PBCS, simply go to http://metavero/HyperionPlanning and see the lovely new UI:

I couldn’t seem to view the Vision sample application, so I deleted it through the pretty UI and then created it again:

Where in the world…

And…I couldn’t see any forms:

Nor could I see any Dashboards (I have to admit, I’m not totally sure what that equates to in Workspace):

But I could see Tasks:

And Rules:

No Approvals:

But Reports:

And the Console:

And Settings:

And Academy:

And Navigator:

So what happens when I go back into Workspace?

I see Forms:

And Approvals:

So that’s a weird one that I am putting down to some kind of bug or some kind of idiocy on my part.

The good news

Hybrid aggregations?  They’re there both in the web UI and Smart View:

Here’s my starting number.

And a change in Product X’s Units to 999 from 451.

Do a submit and the Computer Equipment total is changed.

So what happens if I do it in Essbase?  Same change of data.

And…nothing.  Bummer.

And what gets more interesting is that the Essbase.cfg does not have the ASODYNAMICINBSO setting for the Vision application.

I can only surmise that this is because of the requirements of the cloud which do not allow manipulation of the Essbase.cfg.  I believe this means that all 11.1.2.4 Planning applications are Hybrid without any choice.  I have to read the documentation a bit to see if this is a correct guess or not.

Stop the World – I Want to Get Off

John tells me that it’s a really good idea to stop the Oracle database in a graceful manner.  Happily, there is an icon – 2. Stop Test Drive….  Go ahead and click on it.

That will automatically shut down Windows:

Thankfully this takes care of Shut Down, as I couldn’t find the !@$%ing Shut Down link.  See, I am sparing you (most of) my Windows 8 and Windows 2012 Server rant.  You’re welcome.

Make sure you have no running instances in AWS:

You will still get billed for storage, but not for running costs.  

NB – This instance shuts down at 3 am automatically.

The end for now

I strongly urge you to get your feet wet on John’s AMI.  There’s lots of stuff that I’ve just barely scratched the surface, especially as the whole Financial Close product suite is really terra incognita to me.

Personally, I will be installing 11.1.2.4 on a VM both to save costs and because I like wearing a cilice as penance for some kind of technological sin that I am not actually aware of.  I’m sure I’m guilty of whatever it is.

Putting aside my manifold neuroses and insecurities, John has give the EPM community round the globe something to really spend time on, and in, as we learn the intricacies of how 11.1.2.4 really and truly works.

Thanks again, John, for making this available.

Be seeing you.

What Kscope13 sessions am I looking forward to, Cameron edition

Introduction

In my five previous posts I’ve covered the Essbase, Planning, EPM Foundations and Data Management, EPM Reporting, and Everything Else sessions I am looking forward to (and admitting that I am somewhat unlikely to attend as I would need to be Cameron * 5 to do so and that is a scary prospect, even to me).

But what about my sessions?  Am I ever going to give you at least a hint as to what they are all about?  Am I, indeed.  I like to think, in my humble (ahem) way, that I in fact have some slightly useful information to impart.  You may not agree but after all you are reading this blog.  If you think my presentations stink and yet you’re still here you must at least admit you are somewhat confused.  OTOH, if you think my presentations aren’t half bad (and if they aren’t better than that I have wasted hundreds of hours on them, which I suppose is possible), you may be interested in the following sessions.

Top Six Advanced Planning Tips

When: Jun 24, 2013, Session 4, 1:45 pm - 2:45 pm

I am copresenting this with Jessica Cordova and it’s a chance for the two of us to impart some of the lessons learnt and techniques we’ve picked up over the years in Hyperion Planning-land.  Jessica is the primary, and me the junior on this one and you’ll understand what that means in a moment.

A bit of a side note

Actually “Six” in the title is something of a misnomer because in fact we are only going to present three sessions.  Ah, I hear you (and I do, really, in my mind, which is confusing because of course one hears with one’s ears) exclaim, “Wot?  ‘e said six an’ now he says three.  ‘e’s barmy ‘e is.”  Writing dialect is tough, especially when your inner Cockney only extends as far as really liking the Lambeth Walk.  I lay blame at the feet of my love for British war movies which, just like American ones, always have a mix of men from civvy street and there’s always someone from south of the Thames.    Also, their RSM’s have great script writers.  Wow, quite an excursion into the Weird Entertainment Cameron Likes.  

And we now return to our regular programming

Anyway, Jessica and I wrote our sections, rehearsed them via GoToMeeting, and realized that we had quite a bit (a lot) more than 50 odd minutes worth of content.  So our choice was to either cut sections out entirely or skim through our topics.  As the whole point was to do advanced topics we were in a bit of a bind until I realized that we could put up what sections we are doing up to a vote and do the balance at an ODTUG webinar after Kscope.  We are going to pinky promise on this and we all know that means that is a promise unto death.  Also, this will be an opportunity for you the audience to decide exactly what you want from us – it will be Kscope session democracy in action.  I hope you’re willing to indulge this slightly off beat approach as I think what we have to say is pretty good.

Monday Night Madness/Hyperion EPM Open Mic Night

When:  8:00pm to 10:00 pm

There is an Open Mic Night at Monday’s after-session fun.  Like a fool, I have volunteered to be one of the speakers in case there is a dearth of volunteers.  Also like a fool, and quite true to form (so I am repeating myself) I didn’t realize that one is not required, nay, is not allowed to write a presentation for this.  I wrote one.  Good thing I’ve got a really cool demo to go with it.  

We’ll see if I do this but if I do, I have got a really awesome twist on focused aggregations in Calculation Manager/Planning except this time the products are  Calc Scripts/Dodeca.  All I’ll say is that I have a way round the big problem with focused aggregations in Calculation Manager.  It is fast, fast, fast, fast.

Exalytics - An Apples to Apples Comparison

When:  Jun 25, 2013, Session 6, 8:30 am - 9:30 am

I think this has to be the Kscope group project to end all group projects.  By that I mean that John Booth, Tim German, Dan Pressman, and I all got together on the Mother and Father of all benchmarking tests.

Thanks to the generosity and quite possibly world record patience of Mark Rittman of the eponymously named Rittman-Mead, we have access to an Exalytics box.  What oh what oh what to do with it?  Why benchmark it against a really fast generic Linux box (that John bought with his own money – we are committed, or nuts) of course.  I also love that these severs are named Asgard and Zeus.  Naming the servers after mythological figures was coincidental and I think indicative of their speed.  Both environments are fast and put to shame anything I have ever seen at a client.  This project encouraged me to buy a mega laptop (well, mega as of summer 2013 – 32 gigs of RAM, 8 CPUs, and a SSD); I shall never buy one with a physical drive again.

What are our results?  As is usual, we are testing this down to the very last minute (some, like me, would argue that we are testing this beyond the last minute), so I honestly cannot say.  I will bet that whatever box you’ve got, we’ve got our hands on a faster one.  :)

Practical SQL for EPM Practitioners

When:  Jun 25, 2013, Session 8, 11:15 am - 12:15 pm

I’m terribly excited about this because I have found that I spend more and more of my time in projects using SQL to do all sorts of interesting and unusual (at least for an EPM geek) things.  It’s really opened my horizons wrt the roles I can play on a project and I find writing SQL code to be oddly therapeutic.  Yeah, I’m weird.

I’m going to use practical examples that I have used in the real world to show a bunch of techniques and approaches that I’ve found useful.  Of course, just like the Planning presentation I have more, much more, than I can possibly fit into a single session but I can temper that deficiency by blogging about it here.

As I was not all that long ago firmly in the “SQL means SELECT * FROM …” camp it’s been quite a transformation in skills for me and a valuable one to boot.  If you do EPM, and I don’t just mean Essbase and Planning, and yet are not at a SQL hacker like me I encourage you to attend.  

Lunch n’ Learn

When:  25 June, 12:45 pm to 1:45 pm

I’m sharing the dais with my much-admired former boss, Tracy McMullen (I have no idea what her title is now other than Mrs. Awesome but when I worked at interRel, she was Director of Consulting) and Chris Barbieri (Chris, I admire you too, even if you hate Essbase for reasons of technological jealously (Mr. HFM)  or maybe just sheer perverse bloody mindedness); John Booth moderates.  These are always free-wheeling and open ended.  I do get quite hungry.  This time I’m bring an energy bar.

A BSO Developer's Introduction to ASO Essbase

When:  Jun 26, 2013, Session 13, 11:15 am - 12:15

I actually didn’t sign up to do this presentation but was instead asked to do it.  I’m not an ASO wizard by any means but that actually was a good thing for this presentation because the topic is in fact how to approach ASO when one is a BSO geek.  

Yes, this has been done to death at Kscope but I think I bring two unique approaches to this subject.

1. I use Sample.Basic, the BSO database that just about everyone knows, as the subject for my conversion.  It is both harder and easier to convert than you think.  As everyone (hopefully) knows what Sample.Basic is all about wrt calcs, dimensionality, etc., I can use the familiar constructs of that database to explain a plethora of ASO topics.  Although ASO and BSO are very different technologies one can use many BSO constructs to understand ASO.
2. I used Dan Pressman’s standout ASO chapter in Developing Essbase Applications to dive deeply into the ASO kernel and understand how to design ASO databases for performance.  This was really exciting for two reasons:
1. I need to understand how tools work.  IOW, “I gots to know”.  Hopefully in a less cinematically violent way than Dirty Harry but I at least share that innate curiosity about How Things Work.  Have you ever seen a bitmap index?  You will, and it won’t make your head explode.  I now know how ASO works, or at least as well as anyone who doesn’t have an @oracle.com email address does.
2. I thought that Dan’s chapter was simply amazing, but also very, very dense.  I don’t mean that as a criticism in any way – it is a difficult and highly technical subject and a complete explanation of it is therefore obliged to be just as difficult and highly technical.  I read the chapter six times from beginning to end in an effort to understand it as well as multiple phone calls with Dan.  I am happy to announce that I think I have made more accessible what I consider to be the most important work on Essbase extant.  Do I cover all of what he wrote about or even delve into it at the same depth?  No, that simply isn’t possible within the 50-odd minutes (that time thing keeps on popping up, doesn’t it?) allotted to me but I think if you’ve read Dan’s chapter and did a big “whaaaa?” you should come to my session.  With its lessons under your belt you’ll be able to tackle Dan’s work again and again.  Btw, Dan is reprising his session from last year (quite unusual in Kscope but such is the import of his work) on 25 June from 2 to 3.  Even if you go to Dan’s session I encourage you to come to mine – the bitmap, the bitmap, the bitmap is difficult to understand at first but it is the essence of ASO performance and I cover it from a beginner’s perspective.  Did I mention I was excited?  :)

Fwiw, this was a very difficult presentation for me to write because so much of it is theory – I tend to think of myself as more the engineer type who takes theory and applies it as opposed to a physicist who strictly stays on the theoretical side of things.  So a bit of a stretch but if you are a BSO developer or someone, like me, who has seen some real dogs of ASO applications and guessed that BSO design principles may not apply, come to this session.

Conclusion or my ODTUG cup runneth over

I’ve figured out that in addition to the above two full presentations, plus the Planning copresentation, plus the benchmarking presentation, plus the open mic presentation, plus two private presentations for ODTUG/Oracle, I am somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 ½ to 5 presentations this year.  As I write all of my presentations from scratch (I do not exactly have an army of minions who do this for me) that is an incredible amount of work.  I would guess somewhere around 300 to 400 hours and it came at the expense of just about everything that wasn’t work related; there are others (hello, Dan) on these projects who have put in even more unpaid time.  Yes, I love Kscope, but maybe I can love Kscope14 a little more by trying just a wee bit less.  We’ll see if that actually comes true.  

In any case, I think I’ve got some great things in store for the next week and I will be live blogging starting Saturday with the volunteer event.  

Be seeing you round Kscope13.