Installing Oracle BI Publisher on SLES 10.0

Previous Posts:
Oracle 10g Rel 2 on SLES 10.0
Installation Prepation
Hardware and Software check
Software Installation
Patch Oracle Database Software
Create Database
Install Oracle HTTP Server
Install APEX
Next Posts:
Automate Startup/Shutdown
Install Oracle Workflow

For the Installation of Oracle BI Publisher I have created one more Linux user: orabip.
This User will be the owner of BI Publisher Software.

NOTE: Before You start this Installation please stop the Oracle Enterprise Manager with the command "emctl stop dbconsole"
and stop the Oracle HTTP Server using the command "$ORACLE_HOME/opmn/bin/opmnctl stop"

For the Architecture and background of PDF printing in APEX 3.0 plase consult following document:
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/application_express/html/configure_printing.html
Please ignore the statement: At this time, the standalone BI Publisher download for Linux does not seem to be working ...
It's working now!

Connect to Linux Box as root and execute following commands:
vl094:~ # useradd -u 5003 -g oinstall -G dba -d /appl/home/orabip -s /bin/bash orabip
vl094:~ # mkdir /appl/orabip
vl094:~ # mkdir /appl/home/orabip
vl094:~ # chmod 775 /appl/home/orabip
vl094:~ # chown orabip:oinstall /appl/orabip /appl/home/orabip
vl094:~ # passwd orabip
Changing password for orabip.
New Password:
Bad password: too simple
Reenter New Password:
Password changed.

Download the Oracle BI Publisher installation Files and Installation Documentation:
BI Publisher 10.1.3.3.for Linux x86
The downloaded file is marked with "redhat" - ignore this - it works well under SLES to!

Connect to Linux Box as user orabip:
vl094:~ # ssh -Xl orabip vl094
Password:
/usr/X11R6/bin/xauth: creating new authority file /appl/home/orabip/.Xauthority

Using cpio You can get the Package content:
cpio -idmv < bipublisher_linux_x86_redhat_101330_disk1.cpio

Do not create or add any environment variable in the orapib's .bash_profile file. Change directory to Installation Directory:
orabip@vl094:~> cd RH_Linux/Oracle_Business_Intelligence_Publisher_Standalone/install/

Start Installer:
orabip@vl094:~/RH_Linux/Oracle_Business_Intelligence_Publisher_Standalone/install> ./runInstaller
Starting Oracle Universal Installer...

Checking installer requirements...

Checking operating system version: must be redhat-2.1AS, redhat-3, redhat-4, redhat-5, suse-9, suse-10, SuSE-9 or SuSE-10
Passed


All installer requirements met.

Preparing to launch Oracle Universal Installer from /tmp/OraInstall2007-09-25_09-43-09PM. Please wait ...orabip@vl094:~/RH_Linux/Oracle_Business_Intelligence_Pul> Oracle Universal Installer, Version 10.1.0.6.0 Production
Copyright (C) 1999, 2007, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Form: Welcome.

Press "Next"
--------------------------------------------------------------
Form: File LocationChange Path for BPHome1 to /appl/orabip/OraHome_1.
Press "Next".
--------------------------------------------------------------
Form: Select Installation Type.
Select Option Basic.
Press "Next"
--------------------------------------------------------------
Form. Choose OC4J Administrator Password.

Enter value qwertz1 for Password.
Press "Next".
--------------------------------------------------------------
Form: Summary.
Press "Install".
--------------------------------------------------------------
Form: Install.
Wait ...
--------------------------------------------------------------
Form : End of Installation.Press "Exit".
--------------------------------------------------------------
Form: Exit.
Press "Yes".

BI Publisher is Installed!

Start with command:
/appl/orabip/OraHome_1/oc4j_bi/bin/oc4j -start

Stop with command (Port 23791 will be changed to 20002):
/appl/orabip/OraHome_1/jdk/bin/java -jar /appl/orabip/OraHome_1/oc4j_bi/j2ee/home/admin.jar ormi://localhost:23791 oc4jadmin qwertz1 -shutdown force

NOTE (Port Conflict):
We have installed 3 different Oracle products that use "oc4j". Now we have "port conflict". I solve this problem changing the server port numbers in jms.xml and rmi.xml.The changes is done for "orahs" and "orabip" users. "oracle" users configuration is not modified.
Changes for user "orahs" - Oracle HTTP Server user.
1) Edit $ORACLE_HOME/j2ee/home/config/jms.xml
Change the standard port value 9127 to 21127.
<jms-server port="21127">
2) Edit $ORACLE_HOME/j2ee/home/config/rmi.xml
Change the standard port value 23791 to 20001.
<rmi-server port="20001" >
3) Edit $ORACLE_HOME/j2ee/home/config/internal-settings.xml
Change the default port values (NOTE: old values are changed to comment!):
<!-- sep-property name="port" value="5555" / -->
<sep-property name="port" value="21555" />
<!-- sep-property name="ssl-port" value="5556" / -->
<sep-property name="ssl-port" value="21556" />
<!-- sep-property name="ssl-client-server-auth-port" value="5557" / -->
<sep-property name="ssl-client-server-auth-port" value="21557" />
4) Edit http-web-site-xml.
Change the default port value from 8888 to 28881.
<web-site port="28881" display-name="OC4J 10g (10.0.2) HTTP Web Site">
Changes for user "orabip" - Oracle BI Publisher user.
1) Edit /appl/orabip/OraHome_1/oc4j_bi/j2ee/home/config/jms.xml
Change the standard port value 9127 to 22127.
<jms-server port="22127">
2) Edit /appl/orabip/OraHome_1/oc4j_bi/j2ee/home/config/rmi.xml
Change the standard port value 23791 to 20002.
<rmi-server
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="http://xmlns.oracle.com/oracleas/schema/rmi-server-10_0.xsd"
port="20002"
ssl-port = "23943"
schema-major-version="10"
schema-minor-version="0"
>

Command to stop BI Publisher is changed (new "rmi" port!):
/appl/orabip/OraHome_1/jdk/bin/java -jar /appl/orabip/OraHome_1/oc4j_bi/j2ee/home/admin.jar ormi://localhost:20002 oc4jadmin qwertz1 -shutdown force

NOTE (Oracle Notification Server "netstat spam").
After Oracle HTTP Server Start (using opmnctl startall) I noticed that the system decreased performance. Linux command "netstat -a" show me about 54000 lines of output(!?!) - normaly is about 380, mostly with the content:
tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:49463 127.0.0.1:6113 TIME_WAIT
tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:49462 127.0.0.1:6113 TIME_WAIT
tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:49461 127.0.0.1:6113 TIME_WAIT
tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:49460 127.0.0.1:6113 TIME_WAIT
tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:49459 127.0.0.1:6113 TIME_WAIT
etc etc
I added in "listener.ora" one row at end of file:
SUBSCRIBE_FOR_NODE_DOWN_EVENT_LISTENER=OFF
This works! The "line count" from netstat -a is about 380 now.


Don't forget to startup the stopped processes using
"emctl start dbconsole;" and
"$ORACLE_HOME/opmn/bin/opmnctl start"

Now we can configure Application Express to use BI Publisher for PDF Printing:

• Connect to APEX Administration Page on http://vl094.fla.net:7780/pls/apex/apex_admin.
• Select option"Manage Service".
• Under "Mnage Environment Settings" select "Instance setings".
• On "Instance Settings" Form select option "Report Printing".

You are now on "Report Printing" Form.

Select BI Publisher "Advanced Support".
Enter following values:
Print Server Host address: vl094.fla.net
Print server Port: 9704
Print server Script: /xmlpserver/convert.
Press "Apply Changes".

Congratulation: You are ready to use PDF Printig with APEX!

Here You can see a simple "PDF Printing in APEX" video demonstration.


Regards,
Flavio