02 Jan 2013 Blank schemas in BI Administration Tool when importing metadata

Posted at 15:51h in Enterprise BI, ETL, Oracle by

OBIEE (11.1.1.6) demands having the full set of OCI libraries in order to import metadata successfully.  A couple of steps will guide you to install the missing libraries as well as configuring the tnsnames.ora file properly.

 

Import Metadata function in OBIEE Administration Tool uses the Oracle Call Interface for 10g and 11g.

 

 

The connection type uses a set of libraries installed during OBIEE. However, the full set of OCI libraries are needed while accessing to the database schemas. If any of those libraries is missing the schemas will be shown in blank:

 

 

Solution

 

The solution is installing the full set of libraries.

 

1. Download the Oracle 11g Client tools from the oracle website:

 

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/enterprise-edition/downloads/112010-win32soft-098987.html

 

 

 

2.Run setup.exe

 

3. Select custom install

 

4. Specify the installation path where “owner” is your username:

 

 

5. Select Oracle Call Interface (OCI)

 

 

6. After installation finishes, restart BI Administration Tool. Proceed importing metadata again and verify that now schemas are shown under Data source view:

 

 

Note: If during the installation process the PATH variable has failed add it manually (steps 6,7,8 and 9)

7. Go to My PC->System Properties->Advance system settings

8.A new window will come up, select “Advanced” tab and then “Environment Variables”

 

 

9. Go to the System Variables and find “Path”

10.Insert the path of the installation. Replace “owner” for the right value specified in step4 C:\app\owner\product\11.2.0\client_1\bin;

 

 

Configuring TNSnames.ora

11. Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition Plus Client\oraclebi\orahome

12.Create “network” folder in case it does not exist:

 

 

13. Create “admin” folder in case it does not exist neither:

 

 

14. Create a text file named as tnsnames.ora and save it

 

 

Conclusion

 

To sum up, OBIEE (11.1.1.6) has not got all the libraries needed for importing schemas under 11g Database. The oracle 11g client tool installs the needed libraries in order to import schemas correctly. Furthermore, the tnsnames.ora file needs to be created in the right path to ensure the Administration tool is reading from it.

Jordi G
jordi.gonzalez@clearpeaks.com