Purpose
To maintain a centralized CMS configuration as a best practice for all the Business Objects Server
Business Objects Enterprise provides for centralized and/or decentralized system management depending on the organizational needs. The system management is built on a common API providing granular control of the environment for tasks that include setting up user roles, security access, server administration, password management, and more. Included with Business Objects Enterprise is a 100% .NET or Java web-based environment for total infrastructure management, deployment, and configuration. The CMC is a web-based environment for administrators to easily access and configure the system while controlling the overall access rights, applications, and end-user viewing experience.
Central Management console provides control for the following system
elements
· User and Group creation and management
· User Categories
· User interface settings and preferences
· Security Authentication
· Server / Services Configuration
· Server Group deployment
· Object rights, processing, scheduling and security settings
· Business calendars creation
· License key management
· Universes and data connections
Central Management Console – Components
Business Objects Enterprise Xi – Release 2 – Servers
Central Management Server
The Central Management Server (CMS) is the central platform service and is responsible for maintaining a database of information about your BusinessObjects Enterprise XI system. All the platform services are managed and controlled by the CMS. The CMS also manages access to the system file store where the physical documents are actually managed. The system repository database is maintained using the provided MySQL database, or by using your preferred IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle database, or Sybase ASE . The database structure is automatically created when you set up your BusinessObjects Enterprise XI system or it can be configured on a different database if you want to move your implementation to another environment. All access to the repository is managed directly by the platform and management interfaces and by the SDKs. The CMS data includes information about users and groups, security levels, BusinessObjects Enterprise content, and services. The CMS also maintains the BusinessObjects Enterprise repository, and a separate audit database of information about user actions.
The CMS performs four main tasks
Maintains security (users)
By maintaining a database of users and their associated object rights, the CMS enforces access rights to BusinessObjects Enterprise and the types of tasks users are able to perform.The platform manages user access and content delivery to broad internal and external user audiences. Building on a hierarchical object-level security model, BusinessObjects Enterprise enables the application of rights at both the folder and object level, and supports full inheritance at the user and group level. Similarly, it supports aggregation through a flexible, group-user membership model.
Manages objects (folders, reports, and program objects)
The CMS keeps track of the object location and maintains the folder hierarchy. All system objects are called InfoObjects and essentially contain all the information about the actual object. The physical documents or objects are stored in a file store. The separation of the object definition (metadata) from the physical document allows for fast and efficient processing as only the required information is retrieved from the system’s repository. In addition, by communicating with the scheduling and processing services, the CMS is able to ensure that scheduled jobs run at the appropriate times.
Manages servers (services)
By staying in frequent contact with each of the services in the system, the CMS is able to maintain a list of service status. Report services access this list, for instance, to identify which cache server is free for a report viewing request. BusinessObjects Enterprise XI includes adaptive Crystal Reports page generation services that automatically add or remove service instances as work loads change or services become unavailable.
Manages auditing (system auditor)
By collecting information about user actions from each BusinessObjects Enterprise service and writing these records to a central audit database, the CMS acts as the system auditor. This audit information allows system administrators to better track and manage their BusinessObjects Enterprise XI deployment.
File Repository Server
In every business objects Enterprise XI Implementation, there is both an input and output file repository service. The input file repository server manages all of the objects managed by the platform. The output file repository server manages the entire report instance generated by the scheduling services
Program Job Server
A job server processes scheduled actions on objects at the request of the CMS. You can configure the job server
to process program objects and it will become a program job server. Program objects allow you to write,
publish, and schedule custom applications, including scripts or Java programs that run against, and perform
maintenance work on, BusinessObjects Enterprise.
to process program objects and it will become a program job server. Program objects allow you to write,
publish, and schedule custom applications, including scripts or Java programs that run against, and perform
maintenance work on, BusinessObjects Enterprise.
The program job server processes scheduled program objects, as requested by the CMS. To run a program, the program job server first retrieves the files from storage on the input file repository server, and then runs the program. By definition, program objects are custom applications. Therefore the outcome of running a program will be dependent upon the particular program object that is run.
Report Application Server
The Crystal Reports Report Application Server (RAS) is used by Business Objects provided or custom-written applications that address interactive report creation and modification scenarios. When RAS is used within Business Objects Enterprise, these applications are generally web based. RAS has two main parts–the server that processes requests, and the API. When an application uses the RAS API to create and modify reports, the RAS Server processes these requests. The RAS API that is used to create and modify reports is remoteable–meaning that the application that uses the RAS API can reside on a separate machine from the RAS Server. When used in combination with the Business Objects Enterprise SDK, RAS can create reports and save them into the Business Objects Enterprise Repository. RAS is different from the Page Server in that it is optimized to meet the needs of report creation and modification scenarios. The Page Server / Cache Server combination is optimized for report viewing.
Desktop Intelligence Report Server
The Desktop Intelligence Report service is the core engine that handles the collection of data, formatting, and layout of a Desktop Intelligence document. As a core service, is communicates with the CMS when a document is requested. The service handles connection to the universe to collect the data. The CMS determines the user rights to the document and then generates the information required to view with the document
Desktop Intelligence Cache Server
As with the Crystal Reports cache server, the Desktop Intelligence cache server is accessed before the page server is used. If the cache server cannot fulfill the request with a cached report page, it passes the request to the page server. The page server runs the report and returns the results to the cache server. The cache server then caches the report page for future use, and returns the data to the viewer
Web Intelligence Job Server
The Web Intelligence job server processes document scheduling, as requested by the CMS, and generates Web Intelligence report instances. Instances are versions of a report object that contain saved data. To generate a Web Intelligence report instance, the Web Intelligence job server processes requests it receives from the CMS and communicates with the database to retrieve the
current data and then stores the instance in the output file repository. When a
user requests to view and interact with a stored document instance, the Web
Intelligence report server accesses that instance directly.
Web Intelligence Report Server
The Web Intelligence report server provides core Web Intelligence display and interaction within the platform for end-user query and analysis. The Web Intelligence report server is accessed when the CMS requests the creation or viewing of a Web Intelligence document for further interaction. For users who want to conduct ad hoc query and analysis, the Web Intelligence reports server requests a predefined metadata object, called a universe, from the repository and opens an HTML or Java-based query panel. Users select fields and/ or filters through the interface. The Web Intelligence report server handles report modification and interaction. Due to the interactive nature of Web Intelligence, no separate report application server is required.
Crystal Reports Page Server
The Crystal Reports page server is primarily responsible for responding to page requests by processing reports and generating encapsulated page format (EPF) pages. The key benefit of EPF is that it supports page-on-demand access so only the requested page is returned, not the entire report. This greatly enhances performance and reduces unnecessary network traffic for large reports. The EPF pages contain formatting information that defines report layout. The page server retrieves data for the report from an instance or directly from the database (depending on the user request and the rights he or she has to the report object). When retrieving data from the database, the page server automatically disconnects from the database after it fulfills its initial request and if necessary, reconnects to retrieve additional data. This helps conserves database traffic and use of unnecessary database licenses.
Crystal Reports Job Server
A Crystal report job server processes scheduled actions on objects at the request of the CMS. The report job
server processes scheduled reports and generates report instances (instances are versions of a report object
that contain saved data). To generate a report instance, the report job server communicates with the database
to retrieve the current data and then stores that instance in the repository.
server processes scheduled reports and generates report instances (instances are versions of a report object
that contain saved data). To generate a report instance, the report job server communicates with the database
to retrieve the current data and then stores that instance in the repository.
The Crystal report job server provides scheduling capabilities for Crystal Reports as well as refreshing performance management metrics. There are many options available for scheduling including scheduling based on a specified time, a recurring schedule, or even a predefined business calendar. The Crystal Reports job server can schedule objects to different formats such as Crystal Reports, Excel, PDF, Word, and text and schedule to different destinations including email, printer, or file server.
Desktop Intelligence Job Server
Similar to Crystal report Job server
Crystal Reports Cache Server
The cache server is accessed before the page server is used. If the cache server does not fulfill the request with a cached report page, it passes the request to the page server. The page server runs the report and returns the results to the cache server. The cache server then caches the report page for future use, and returns the data to the viewer.
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI also supports active data sharing with Crystal Reports. Active data sharing means that in situations where different reports access the same data, the documents can use shared data and the requested report can be rendered without an additional database hit even though the other report itself may be different. This results in a significant performance improvement across the entire system, including the database. A major benefit of active data sharing is as the load and usage increases, more data is cached, and the system runs more efficiently.
List of Values Job Server
The list of values job service is a new component within BusinessObjects Enterprise XI. Its purpose is to support the scheduling of predefined lists of values or prompts. These lists support dynamic and cascading prompts for Crystal Reports XI. Future versions will support scheduled dynamic and cascading prompts lists for Web Intelligence and other tools. The key benefit of having predefined and scheduled lists of values is that the report does not have to query the database to gather the prompts every time a user requests a specific view of a report. On-demand lists of values that query the database are handled by the RAS. Wherever possible, prompt lists should be scheduled in cases where the cascading prompt levels do not change regularly (e.g., country/state/city/customer lists).
Event Server
The event service manages three event types, à file based / scheduled / programmatic
IT administrator creates file based event monitoring programs to track a variety of tasks. After the file-based event is created and stored in the and stored in BO Enterprise XI, the event service monitors the specified directory for new files and executes those program when they appear. In other words the event server notifies the CMS that the file-based event has occurred. Scheduled events are an effective way to link the execution of reports together. After notifying the CMS of the event, the event service resets itself and monitors the directory for the appropriate file. When the file is newly created in the monitored directory, the event service triggers your file-based event.
Destination Job Server
Destination Job Server is only responsible for handling the requests submitted through the “Send To” command within InfoView. When you are in InfoView and you select a document (check the box next to it) and then proceed to select to send it to an inbox, email, or other destination. When you use this InfoView “Send To” functionality you are in effect creating a job that only has the purpose of delivering a file to a destination.
Business Objects Enterprise Xi – Release 2 – Folders and Categories
Folders are objects used to organize documents. You can use folders to separate content into logical groups. Because you can set security at the folder level, you can use folders as a tool for controlling access to information.
Categories are objects used to organize documents. You can associate objects with multiple categories, or subcategories within categories. A category can be a corporate or a personal category. For complete information
Folders and categories provide you with the ability to organize and facilitate content administration. They are useful when there are a number of reports that a department or area requires frequent access to, because you can set object rights and limits once at the folder or category level, rather than setting them for each report or object.
By default, new objects that you add to a folder or category inherit the object rights that are specified for the folder or category.
It's good practice to set up folders that represent a structure that already exists in your organization, such as departments, regions, or even your database table structure. Then use categories to set up an alternate system of organization.
Business Objects Enterprise Xi – Release 2 – Users and Groups
The Users and Groups management areas of the Central Management Console (CMC) provide you with a central place to perform all of these tasks. In the Users area, you can specify everything required for a user to access Business Objects Enterprise. To create user accounts, specify the following:
In the Groups area, you can create groups that give a number of people access to the report or folder. This enables you to make changes in one place instead of modifying each user account individually. To create groups, specify the following:
· Group membership
After the user accounts and groups have been created, you can add report objects and specify rights to them. When the users log on, they can view the reports using InfoView or their custom web application
