OBIEE 11.1.1.3 to OBIEE 11.1.1.7 - known issues and work around

In this post, I have compiled a list of key known issues in OBIEE release versions from 11.1.1.3 to 11.1.1.7 along with available work around provided by Oracle:
 
1. Oracle Business Intelligence Server fails to start if the connect string used for the
connection pool is missing in the $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin/tnsnames.ora file.
 
To work around this issue, ensure that a valid connect string is present in the
tnsnames.ora file.
 
2. Graphs and scorecard objects do not render properly in web browser - source of this issue could be the adobe flash player version is out of date. OBIEE requires adobe flash player version of at-least 10.1 or higher
 
3. Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator Crashes while Closing - this is a known issue with no solution. It has no impact on server, so it can be ignored.
 
4. Out of Memory Error When Crawling the Catalog -
In certain situations, you might experience an out-of-memory issue while crawling or data loading the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog for full-text searching. This issue can occur if the catalog is large or has a deep folder structure.
 
To work around this issue, you can segment the crawl or data load into smaller pieces:
 
1. Open the BISearchConfig.properties file for editing.
2. Change the "RootNode" value to specify the start location.
3. Change the "ExcludePaths" value to specify the folders to exclude.
4. Save the changes and close the file.
For example, suppose that the catalog has the following folder structure:
/users
/shared
/shared/Reports
/shared/Dashboards
 
Create agents to crawl or data load the following paths:
 
/users folder structure
/shared (excluding all sub-folders)
/shared/Reports
/shared/Dashboards
 
 
5. Characters Supported in Folder Names by BI Presentation Services Not Supported by BI Publisher
 
Characters not supported by BI Publisher are:
 
~, !, #, $, %, ^, &, *, +, `, |, :, ", \\, <, >, ?, ,, /
 
Folders named with these characters might exhibit unexpected behavior if you log in directly to BI Publisher; for example, the folder might not be visible, the folder might not expand properly, or the name might appear garbled.
 
To work around this issue, do not use these characters in folder names.
 
6. Issues with WebLogic LDAP User Passwords - If you experience issues with WebLogic LDAP user passwords that contain non-ascii characters, then reference bug #9929485 for details of a
patch.
 
7. Poor Performance Starting Up WebLogic Server
Impacted Releases: 11.1.1.5, 11.1.1.6.0, 11.1.1.6.2
 
If you are running BI Publisher using a shared catalog with Oracle BI Enterprise Edition, you might experience a prolonged delay when restarting the WebLogic server using either the "Activate Changes" button in the WebLogic console, or using the WebLogic.sh script.
 
To improve startup performance, you can move or delete the following sets of folders from the /config/bi publisher/repository. Removing these folders has an impact during runtime, therefore ensure that you understand the impact before moving or removing the folders.
 
- Tools - this folder contains the BI Publisher Desktop Tools executable binary files that are available from the user Home page Tools download links. These links no longer function when the Tools directory is removed. No other BI Publisher functionality is affected. The BI Publisher Desktop Tools are also available from the install media and from the Oracle Technology Network (OTN).
 
- Reports/Samples - the Samples folder contain the sample reports and data models
delivered with BI Publisher.
 
If English is the only language required for your system, then you can also remove the
following:
 
- Admin/Translation - these folders contain the translation files for languages other
than English.
 
8. Error When Installing Oracle Business Intelligence Against a SQL Server Database
Impacted Releases: 11.1.1.5, 11.1.1.6.0, 11.1.1.6.2, 11.1.1.7
 
If you are using an MS SQL Server database when installing Oracle Business Intelligence, then the mds-owsm and bip_datasource JDBC data sources has an invalid test table. This stops the WebLogic Server automatic connection testing from functioning. For example, if the database stops, WebLogic Server does not recognize a hanging or invalid connection.
 
The workaround is to edit the Test Table Name parameter to allow a SQL string to be executed to test the connection. To do so, set the parameter in the WebLogic Server Administration Console to SQL select 1.
 
9. Antivirus Software Might Block the Installation in a Windows Environment
 
If you are deploying to a mapped network drive on a computer running a supported Windows operating system, then ensure that the antivirus software is not set to block the remote creation of autorun.inf files. As a best practice, disable the antivirus, this will also speed up the installation a bit.
 
10. Oracle Business Intelligence Installer Stops at Administrator User Details Screen
 
If you attempt to install on a Windows system that is using DHCP, does not have a primary DNS suffix, and does not have a loopback adapter configured, then the Oracle Business Intelligence installer stops at the screen that prompts for the Administrator user details. This is displayed as a red cross in the tree on the left-hand side of the installer. This issue is caused by the installer not being able to resolve the IP address to a host name.
 
The workaround is to configure a loopback adapter or primary DNS suffix.
 
11. Issues When Installing Oracle Business Intelligence on Windows 2008
 
When you install Oracle Business Intelligence on Windows 2008, you might experience issues such as OPMN failing to start processes.
 
The workaround is to run the installation and configuration steps with the Run as Administrator option.
 
12. Installing Oracle Business Intelligence on a Shared Drive Might Fail
 
Attempting to install Oracle Business Intelligence on a shared drive might fail, resulting in the following error message:
Installation Failed. Prepare Session failed You may not have enough space on your drive for a successful install. Do you still want to continue?
 
To avoid this issue when installing Oracle Business Intelligence on a shared drive, start the Oracle Business Intelligence installer from the command line using the ignoreDiskWarning option. For example, on Linux, use the following command:
 
./runInstaller -ignoreDiskWarning
 
13. Job Manager Does Not Start Due to Insufficient Permissions on Windows  Operating Systems
Impacted Releases: 11.1.1.5, 11.1.1.6.0, 11.1.1.6.2, 11.1.1.7
 
If certain permission settings are insufficient, then Job Manager does not open when you attempt to start it. You can resolve this issue by changing the permission settings on the bifoundation folder. This folder can be found in the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition Plus Client installation directory.
 
To resolve this issue:
 
1. In Windows Explorer, access the bifoundation folder, found in the directory where you installed Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition Plus Client. Typically, you can find this folder in the following directory:
 
C:\Program Files\Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition Plus
Client\oraclebi\orainst\bifoundation
 
2. Right-click the bifoundation folder, and then click Properties.
3. Click the Security tab.
4. Click Edit.
5. Click Add. The Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog window opens.
6. Click Authenticated Users, and then click OK.
7. In the Users or Groups pane, click Authenticated Users.
8. In the Permissions pane, click the Modify and Write check boxes so that check
marks are displayed in them.
9. Click OK.
10. Start Job Manager either from the Start menu or the command line.
 
14. Oracle Essbase Fails to Start on Microsoft Windows x64 (64-Bit). It shows the following error:
 
Network Error [10048]: Unable to Bind Host Server Socket On Port [9501]
 
This error occurs when Oracle Process Management and Notification (OPMN) components are started on both the cluster nodes of Oracle Essbase cluster environment, and the Essbase component that is stopped on the active cluster node1 tries to fail over to cluster node2 or back to cluster node1.
 
At this time, OPMN spawns Oracle Essbase and passes two command line arguments as ports. They are as follows:
 
1. Its main listening port (1423 - as configured in opmn.xml).
2. A ping port, where OPMN keeps pinging Essbase.
 
For the second command line argument, OPMN does a port scan to find a free port from a dynamic range specified in opmn.xml file from the following attribute:
 
 
The port scan reports port 9501 as a free port. This result is incorrect, as OPMN is already listening on port 9501. Thus, when OPMN sends the startup arguments to Essbase with a ping port of 9501, Essbase fails to start and shuts down. To work around this issue, specify the range in opmn.xml file as:
 
 
15. Job Manager Cannot Launch if the Client Tools Install Path Includes Multi-Byte Characters
 
When running the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition Plus Client Installer, if the install path contains any multi-byte characters, then Job Manager cannot launch. To avoid this issue you must change the install path if it contains any multi-byte characters. Ensure that the install path contains only ASCII characters.
 
I have also faced similar issue for launching AdminTool when path of installed location has spaces. Installing client tools directly in a folder under c: drive should resolve the issue.
 
16. Conditional Formatting Might Not Work After Upgrading from Oracle Business Intelligence Release 10g to Release 11g
 
If an attribute column's Value Suppression setting (in the Column Format tab of the Column Properties dialog) is not set to Repeat, then the measure is aggregated to the grain as defined by the position of the column with the format defined. This might cause a change in the conditional formatting after upgrading from Oracle Business Intelligence Release 10g to Release 11g. If the Value Suppression setting is set to Repeat, then the measure column that the conditional format is based on always uses
the detail grain of the table view, in which case the conditional formatting works as expected.
 
17. Issues Exporting Large Data Sets to Microsoft Excel
 
In Oracle Business Intelligence Release 10g, you might have been accustomed to exporting large data sets (that is, those over 10000 rows) to Excel format. In Release 11g, while it is still possible to export directly to an Excel format, you might notice greater performance when exporting large numbers of rows if you export first to CSV, then import that file into Excel. If Oracle Business Intelligence is installed on a computer with a 32-bit operating system, then you should export to CSV format for
greater performance.  If you must export a large data set without using the CSV format on a computer with a 64-bit operating system, then you might experience an out-of-memory error. If you see this error message, then you must likely increase the heap size for the JavaHost service. The default heap size is 1024MB. Depending on the available memory on the computer, you might want to increase the heap size for the JavaHost service.
 
18. RPD Upgrade Process Fails If the 10g Administrator UserID or Password Contains any Non-Native Characters
 
The repository upgrade process from Oracle Business Intelligence 10g to Oracle Business Intelligence 11g fails if the 10g Administrator user ID or password contains any non-native characters, and the operating system is Windows or Non-UTF8 Linux. For example, "Administrator/bi10g-éíô" fails to upgrade. The upgrade utility might run to completion, but with error messages, and users cannot log on if you try to run the system using the upgraded repository. You must change the Administrator user
ID, password, or both the user ID and password to one that uses only native characters before running the repository upgrade command line utility or Upgrade Assistant wizard.
 
19. Errors Might Be Reported In Upgraded Analyses that Contain EVALUATE_ Database Analytic Function
 
To ensure system security, the ability to use the following database analytic functions in analyses is disabled by default:
- EVALUATE
- EVALUATE_ANALYTIC
- EVALUATE_AGGR
- EVALUATE_PREDICATE
 
Use of these functions in analyses is governed by the setting of the EVALUATE_SUPPORT_LEVEL parameter in the NQSConfig.INI file. When upgrading systems that previously provided support for these functions in Oracle BI Answers, you must manually add the EVALUATE_SUPPORT_LEVEL
parameter to the NQSConfig.INI file and set it appropriately. See Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition for information about the EVALUATE_SUPPORT_LEVEL parameter.
 
20. Existing Dashboard Prompts Based on Columns Renamed in the Business Model Do Not Work
 
If a column is renamed in the Business Model, then existing dashboard prompts based on that column do not work with newly created analyses. The workaround is to use Catalog Manager to rename the column in the catalog.
 
21. Gauge Views Might Be Cut Off and Not Visible Under Certain Conditions
 
Under certain conditions, if the size of the canvas assigned to a gauge view is very small, and the legend is set to display on the left, then some of the gauges in the gauge view might be cut off and not visible. The workaround is to edit the gauge view and change the Legend position to Right, Top, or Bottom. Alternatively, you can increase the size of the gauge view canvas so that all gauges display.
 
22. Numerical Units on a Dashboard Prompt Slider Might Not Be Translated Correctly
 
The numerical units (such as million or billion) that are displayed on a dashboard prompt slider might not be translated correctly.
 
The workaround is to modify the obiprp.promptcomponents.xml file as follows:
1. Open the obiprp.promptcomponents.xml file for editing. You can find the file here:
ORACLE_INSTANCE\bifoundation\web\msgdb\l_XX\messages\uicmsgs
2. Ensure that each entry for a numerical unit (such as tag name kmsgSliderBillion, kmsgSliderMillion, or kmsgSliderDecillion) is translated correctly.
3. Restart the Managed Servers, the Administration Server and all Oracle Business Intelligence Java components, and the Oracle Business Intelligence system components. For information on how to restart the Managed Servers, the Administration Server and all Oracle Business Intelligence Java components, and the Oracle Business Intelligence system components, see Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
 
23. Scorecard Diagrams on Dashboard Pages Might Print as Tables
 
When you print a dashboard page that contains multiple scorecard diagrams (for example a strategy tree, strategy map, custom view, and cause & effect map) in PDF or HTML format, some of the diagrams might print as tables rather than diagrams. The workaround is to scroll down the page and wait until all the diagrams have fully rendered before printing.
 
24. Agent Deliveries Fail with Microsoft Active Directory and Oracle Virtual Directory
 
If you are using Microsoft Active Directory and Oracle Virtual Directory, then agent deliveries fail.
The workaround is to apply the Oracle Virtual Directory Patch Number 9904956 - GUID Returned for AD User Cannot Be Used in Search Filter.
 
 
There are more known issues identified by Oralce. Refer to the product documentation to find out more known issues for the release.