More than 4 longs years ago OBIEE 12c was released. After then nothing much happened, and there were even some (fake) rumours it was the end of the development of the product. The future was Oracle Analytics Cloud. But Friday 31st January 2020 something new finally happened.

OAS is GA (Linux only for now)

Oracle Analytics Server was long-awaited, first expected to be released in December 2019, nothing happened and the silence and lack of info from Oracle made us imagine the worse.
The wait is now over and version 5.5.0 of Oracle Analytics Server is available for download on https://edelivery.oracle.com, searching for “Oracle Analytics Server”.

Oracle Analytics Server is available
Oracle Analytics Server 5.5.0 is available!

Do not trust eDelivery too much…

First important thing to know is that the downloads suggested by eDelivery are wrong: the file named V988574-01.zip, Oracle Analytics Server 5.5.0 For Linux x86-64 (3.5 GB), is the right one, but both WebLogic versions provided aren’t going to work.

UPDATE:
eDelivery packaging of Oracle Analytics Server is now fixed and provides the right WebLogic file.

Every single OBIEE 12c version required more than a “simple” WebLogic install to be deployed, the right base has always been Fusion Middleware Infrastructure. OAS 5.5 is an evolution of OBIEE 12c and as such comes with the same requirement: “Oracle Fusion Middleware 12c (12.2.1.4.0) Infrastructure”. This is different than “WebLogic Server” (V983365-01.zip) or “WebLogic Server and Coherence” (V983364-01.zip).

OAS downloads has the wrong WebLogic
On eDelivery the OAS download comes with the wrong WebLogic files.

Good news is that you can find this one on eDelivery as well, as separate download not directly linked with OAS. Add both products in your “cart” and remove unneeded files before to download.

OAS downloads on Oracle eDelivery
OAS requires Fusion Middleware 12.2.1.4 Infrastructure.

Before to start installing it’s important to look at the Certification Matrix first, to figure out the right OS and the required dependencies. In my case Oracle Linux 7 is my preferred choice of OS and it’s certified. For Java it’s still a JDK 1.8, more precisely 8u211 or newer. On the database side I always stick to Oracle for the RCU schemas (the system schemas required to install and run the tool). The tool being new they already support up to Oracle Database 19c (20c will be released soon, but it’s still not available and therefore not included in the Certification Matrix).

Oracle Database 18c will be supported only from OAS 5.5.1?

I’m using Oracle Database 19c and it’s supported. What catched my eye is that the Certification Matrix says Oracle Database 18c will be supported for the RCU schemas only from OAS 5.5.1. Not sure if it’s a doc error or reality, you maybe want to check twice if that’s your choice of database.

UPDATE:
Oracle Analytics PMs confirmed it’s a typo and will soon be fixed. Oracle Database 18c is already a supported database for RCU schemas.

Read the doc … and fill the gaps

After the technical requirement it’s important to have a look at the Documentation to find out how to install the tool. Good news it’s almost like installing OBIEE 12c. The main difference is that OAS itself is now also a JAR (like FMW Infrastructure) and not an executable (.bin) like OBIEE 12c was.

Sadly, the documentation has some errors, some pieces coming from OBIEE 12c and not matching anymore and other references which aren’t exactly precise. If you already successfully installed OBIEE 12c you will not really have any issue, otherwise read carefully the documentation first, so you have an idea of the whole process and can “fill the gaps” between the doc and the reality.

UPDATE:
Fixes to the doc will be published in the next days to make it match better OAS.

Making it easy: OAS in Docker

If you already read some of my old posts you probably know that I heavily use Docker for sandboxing and tests. I also published Docker images for every main OBIEE 12c version released few days after they were GA.

Guess what! I did the same for OAS

Not even 24h after the release of the tool, and despite being traveling back home from the ITOUG Tech Days 2020 conference, I already published on my GitHub repository the Docker image for OAS 5.5.0.

I use it with an Oracle Database 19c running in Docker itself, you can find the exact same Docker image on the Oracle GitHub repository.

Once you have a supported database available, all you have to do is:

  • Download Fusion Middleware Infrastructure 12.2.1.4.0
  • Download OAS 5.5.0
  • Download Oracle JDK 1.8.0_241 RPM
  • Clone (or download as ZIP) my GitHub Docker images repository
  • Place the binaries and RPM inside the “5.5.0” folder
  • Execute buildDockerImage.sh
  • Enjoy your OAS Docker image!

As simple as that! When you create an OAS container it will take some time at the first execution because the tool is going to be configured (the RCU create schemas, the domain is created etc.) but once done you have an empty, but ready to use, Oracle Analytics Server 5.5.0.

Build an OAS Docker image
Copy the binaries of OAS, FMW Infrastructure and Oracle JDK 1.8 in the “5.5.0” folder and build the image.
Create an OAS Docker container
After building the image it’s possible to create containers with it. A database is required for the RCU schemas.
OAS running in a Docker container
After few minutes of configuration (first run) OAS is up and running in a Docker container.
OAS about screen
OAS 5.5.0 running in Docker.

Where is the Client Tool?

With every new release of OBIEE 12c I was used to install the matching client tool (Admin tool for developing the RPD, Catalog manager and Job Manager). With OAS 5.5.0 apparently there still isn’t a client tool.
Couldn’t find it on eDelivery, on OTN, on MOS or anywhere else.

It looks like they maybe were in a rush to make OAS 5.5.0 GA before end of January and therefore some pieces got lost and will come a bit later (maybe it’s just waiting on somebody else to update a web page).

In the meantime, you can either import your own OAC or OBIEE 12c exported content bundle (just like if you were migrating to OAS) or enjoy all the feature of Data Visualization and the various connections and sources supported. Waiting to develop an RPD a bit later when the client tool will be released.

Update
The client tool is finally available. And also all the needed binaries in a single page avoiding the issues of eDelivery.
https://www.oracle.com/solutions/business-analytics/analytics-server/analytics-server.html

Update…

The Oracle Analytics Product Managers team has been extremely proactive on the Oracle Analytics Server release. They really wanted to get every feedback and fixed when needed really quickly. Always great to have such a good interaction!

Share This