Release Notes for Platform™ Analytics™
Version 7.5
June 2009
Comments to: doc@platform.com
Support: support@platform.com
Contents
- What's New in Platform Analytics Version 7.5
- What's Changed in Platform Analytics Version 7.5
- System requirements
- FTP directory contents
- System ports
- Obtaining the Cognos installation files
- Known issues
- Get technical support
What's New in Platform Analytics Version 7.5
Analytics upgrade package
The Analytics upgrade package provides you with an easier way to upgrade Analytics from version 7.1 to version 7.5 without requiring you to reinstall Analytics or manually migrate all your data and settings.
The Analytics upgrade package has the following features:
- The upgrade package cuts the upgrade time for a typical Analytics installation from approximately two days down to approximately half a day.
- The upgrade package preserves all existing data, configuration, reports, and Cognos cube views.
- The new data schema is backward compatible with Platform Analytics 7.1.
- The sampling data loss will not be more than one data sampling interval during the actual upgrade process.
What's Changed in Platform Analytics Version 7.5
Data loaders
Analytics has the following changes to currently existing data loaders:
- The FLEXnet events and FLEXnet usage data loaders now support file paths in UNC format and file paths containing spaces.
- The FLEXnet events and FLEXnet usage data loaders are no longer case sensitive when saving license server names. Therefore, license cubes no longer handle identical license server names with lower case or upper case characters as seperate license servers.
- Email notifications containing error messages for the FLEXnet usage data loader now contain information about the license server and the license file.
Cubes and datamarts
Analytics has the following changes to currently existing cubes and datamarts:
- Analytics now retains transaction information on cube and datamart builds. You can use this information to track cube builds, determine build times over time, and determine when cube builds encountered failures.
- Cube build information is available in the CUBEINFO_HIST table, while datamart build information is available in the DATAMARTINFO_HIST table.
- License Utilization and License Utilization by Feature cubes now include information on reserved licenses.
- Workload and HPC Workload cubes now include application tag information. This allows you to track job slot usage by application tag, which is available from the LSF event stream data.
- Workload cubes now include CPU time rank information. This allows the histograms of the cubes to show job distribution by ranking of CPU time.
- Hardware cube, Hardware with Boolean Resources, Workload, Job Throughput, and HPC Workload cubes now include CPU and core information. This allows you to keep track of the number of processors, cores, and threads configured on a host.
User groups
Analytics now supports user group names of up to 512 characters (increased from 128 characters) for LSF jobs associated with a user group (that is, jobs submitted using bsub -G).
Compound resource requirements
Analytics now supports LSF jobs with compound resource requirements (that is, jobs submitted using bsub -R):
Fixed bugs and known issues
Analytics 7.5 includes fixes for various bugs and for the following known issue from Analytics 7.1:
- Analytics node installer saves the database password incorrectly if it contains special characters
System requirements
Analytics server host
Hardware requirements for the Analytics server host vary, depending on the number of hosts in the cluster, number of finished jobs daily, and whether the database is installed on the same machine as the server. The requirements described in the table below are for an LSF cluster consisting of 500 hosts and 300 000 finished jobs daily: a cluster with fewer hosts and running fewer jobs will have lower hardware requirements.
The Analytics server host must be a Windows or Solaris host to install the Cognos tools. For additional requirements, refer to the Cognos documentation.
If you do not wish to generate cubes with the Analytics server, you may proceed with the installation if the host does not meet the Cognos requirements. The Analytics server host can be a Linux, Solaris, or Windows host if you are not installing Cognos tools.
note:
A Solaris machine may not be powerful enough to host both the Analytics server and an Oracle database. You may wish to install the Oracle database on a different host.
Disk space requirements
Disk space requirements for the Analytics server vary, depending on the number of hours in the cluster, the number of finished jobs daily, and whether the database is installed on the same machine as the server. The requirements described in the table below are for a cluster consisting of 500 hosts and 300 000 finished jobs daily with six months of data, and list the approximate requirements for each component: a cluster with fewer hosts and running few jobs will have lower disk space requirements.
Supported operating systems
The following table describes the supported operating systems:
Database host
Tablespace requirements
Disk space requirements for the tablespace vary, depending on the number of hosts in the cluster and the number of finished jobs daily. For example, for an LSF cluster consisting of 500 hosts and 300 000 finished jobs daily with six months of data, you require at least 100 GB of space in your database host.
Oracle database requirements
The following are the supported versions of Oracle:
- Oracle 9i Enterprise Edition
- Oracle 10g Enterprise Edition
- Oracle 10g Express Edition (for non-production clusters only)
Analytics node hosts
The requirements described in the table below are minimum system requirements. The actual hardware requirements vary, depending on the number of hosts in the cluster, the number of finished jobs daily, and the number of license usage combinations. For example, for an LSF cluster consisting of 500 hosts, 300 000 finished jobs daily, and 4000 license usage combinations, the machine needs 2 GB of memory.
Disk space requirements
A minimum of 500 MB of free disk space is recommended for the binary and data collection files. In addition, the Analytics node host running the FLEXnet usage data loader requires at least 2 GB of free space in /tmp.
Supported operating systems (LSF 7.x)
The following table describes the supported operating systems for the Analytics node installed in an LSF 7.x cluster:
Supported operating systems (LSF 6.2)
The following table describes the supported operating systems for the Analytics node installed in an LSF 6.2 cluster:
important:
To ensure that your LSF 6.2 cluster works properly with Analytics, you must install the latest Maintenance Pack to your LSF 6.2 cluster.
System ports
You need to ensure that the system ports for Analytics and the Cognos OLAP tools are open for the hosts and components to communicate with one another. You also need to ensure that your web server port is open.
Analytics system ports
Analytics hosts use the following TCP ports:
- The Analytics server requires the use of three consecutive ports, starting with the base port. The default base port is 9090 (therefore, the Analytics server uses ports 9090, 9091, and 9092 by default), but you can change this value when you run the Analytics server installer.
- The task scheduler uses PIAD_PORT (9090 by default) to communicate with the automation manager.
- The event manager uses PIEM_PORT (9091 by default) to receive events from Analytics components.
- The automation manager uses PAIM_PORT (9092 by default) to receive events from Analytics components.
- The Analytics node requires the use of a port for the loader controller (plc) service. The default loader controller port is 4046, but you can change this value when you run the Analytics node installer.
- The Oracle database host uses 1521 by default.
Determine the Cognos system ports
The port numbers for some of the Cognos OLAP tools are randomly assigned during installation. If you need to ensure that the Cognos ports are open, you must determine what port numbers are assigned to the Cognos OLAP tools.
- Log into the Analytics server host.
- Start the Cognos Configuration Manager.
- Windows: Click Start > Programs > Cognos version_number > Tools > Configuration Manager and select Open the current configuration.
- Solaris: Start the Cognos Configuration Manager (configure) from the cer5/bin subdirectory of the Cognos installation directory.
- If you installed Cognos in the default directory (/usr/cognos), run /usr/cognos/cer5/bin/configure.
- Determine the Cognos PowerPlay Enterprise Server port number.
- Navigate to server_host_name > Cognos PowerPlay Enterprise Server > Dispatcher > General.
The Cognos PowerPlay Enterprise Server port number is shown in the PowerPlayer Server Port Number parameter.
- Determine the Cognos Upfront port numbers.
- Navigate to server_host_name > Upfront > Data Store > General.
- The Cognos Upfront data store port number is shown in the Data Store Port parameter.
- The Cognos Upfront search engine port number is shown in the Search Engine Port parameter.
- Navigate to server_host_name > Upfront > Server > Administration Connection.
The Cognos Upfront server administration port number is shown in the Server Administration Port parameter.
- Determine the Access Manager Server port number.
- Navigate to server_host_name > Services > Access Manager - Server > General > Ticket Service.
The Access Manager Server port number is shown in the Port parameter.
- Determine the Access Manager Directory Server port numbers.
- Navigate to server_host_name > Services > Access Manager - Directory Server > General.
- The Access Manager Directory Server port number is shown in the Port parameter. The default value is 389, which is the same as the Sun Java Directory Server port number.
- The Access Manager primary ticket service port number is part of the Primary ticket service parameter, which is in the following format:
server_host_name:port_number
FTP directory contents
The Analytics FTP directory contains the necessary files to install Platform Analytics. The files are grouped into directories containing the installation files.
nodes
This directory contains the files for the Platform Analytics node installation package.
The following table describes the files for the supported operating systems in the nodes directory:
servers
This directory contains the files for the Platform Analytics server installation package.
The following table describes the files for the supported operating systems in the servers directory:
docs
This directory contains the files for the Platform Analytics documentation package.
The following table describes the files in the docs directory:
schema
This directory contains the files for the Platform Analytics database schema package.
The following table describes the files for the supported databases in the schema directory:
upgrade/nodes
This directory contains the files for the Platform Analytics node upgrade package.
The following table describes the files for the supported operating systems in the upgrade/nodes directory:
upgrade/servers
This directory contains the files for the Platform Analytics server upgrade package.
The following table describes the files for the supported operating systems in the upgrade/servers directory:
upgrade/schema
This directory contains the files for the Platform Analytics database schema upgrade package.
The following table describes the files for the supported databases in the upgrade/schema directory:
Obtaining the Cognos installation files
Analytics supports Cognos 7.4 MR1 and later for generating cubes. Contact Platform for details on downloading the Cognos installation files.
Known issues
- LSF 6.2, 7.0.4, and 7.0.5 cluster data loaders do not obtain any job data
- LSF 6.2, 7.0.4, and 7.0.5 cluster data loaders do not obtain any job data
- Analytics cube views cannot open if Cognos is installed in a non-default locale
- LSF event data loader may report "Could not parse the record" if an Analytics node is running on an AIX or HP-UX host
- LSF data loaders fail to work on Windows if installing Analytics with EGO-enabled LSF before restarting Windows
- Analytics node does not send events after installation if it is started before the Analytics server
- When upgrading Analytics on a shared file system, the upgrade package may stop responding
- Data loaders may not activate immediately when the database host is physically disconnected from the network
- FLEXnet events data loader does not support mapped network drives on Windows
- FLEXnet usage data loader could not obtain license usage data due to insufficient disk space in /tmp
- In certain configurations, the Analytics Console shows that the loader controller is down, but perfadmin or egosh shows it is running
- License servers with the same license feature must run in the same time zone
- The BuildCubes process does not stop when you stop the Analytics daemons on Solaris hosts
- A crashed InstallShield database may cause the Analytics installation to fail
LSF 6.2, 7.0.4, and 7.0.5 cluster data loaders do not obtain any job data
After installing Analytics on a cluster running LSF 6.2, 7.0.4, or 7.0.5, the data loaders do not obtain any job data. This is because, by default, LSF 6.2, 7.0.4, and 7.0.5 do not enable the lsb.stream file for the exporting of LSF job event data, while Analytics requires this to be enabled for the data loaders to obtain job data.
To resolve this issue, you need to enable the lsb.stream file for the exporting of LSF job event data.
Enable the lsb.stream file
- Edit the lsb.params file
- UNIX (Solaris or Linux): $LSF_ENVDIR/lsbatch/cluster_name/configdir/lsb.params
- Windows: %LSF_ENVDIR%\lsbatch\cluster_name\configdir\lsb.params
- In the lsb.params file, edit the Parameters section to enable the exporting of LSF job event data to the lsb.stream file.
Add the following lines to the Parameters section:
# Enable streaming of lsbatch system events ENABLE_EVENT_STREAM=y # Determines the location of the lsb.stream file. This parameter is optional. # The default location is: $LSB_SHAREDIR/{clustername}/logdir/stream. # EVENT_STREAM_FILE=/tmp/lsb.mystream # Determines the maximum size of the lsb.stream file. This parameter is optional. # The default size is 100MB. # MAX_EVENT_STREAM_SIZE=10000- Reconfigure mbatchd to apply these changes.
badmin mbdrestart
- To verify that these changes are in effect, verify that the lsb.stream files exists.
By default, lsb.stream is located at the following directories:
- UNIX (Solaris or Linux): $LSB_SHAREDIR/cluster_name/logdir/stream
- Windows: %LSB_SHAREDIR%\cluster_name\logdir\stream
If you defined the EVENT_STREAM_FILE parameter in lsb.params, check the specified file path for the lsb.stream file.
Analytics cube views cannot open if Cognos is installed in a non-default locale
When installing Cognos, you must select the default locale (United States) and language (English); otherwise, you cannot open published cube views and you may see an error message stating that "The request failed because there is no valid cube mapping to handle the request".
If you encounter this problem, you must reinstall Cognos using the default locale and language, then reinstall the Analytics server.
LSF event data loader may report "Could not parse the record" if an Analytics node is running on an AIX or HP-UX host
If you have an Analytics node running on an AIX or HP-UX host, the LSF event data loader (lsfeventloader) may report "Could not parse the record" in the log.
This issue occurs because the field length for each event is limited to 512 characters, which may not be enough for AIX or HP-UX hosts.
To resolve this issue, download and apply the appropriate patches for LSF 6.2 or LSF 7.0.5 from the Platform FTP site (ftp.platform.com) for LSF. These patches do not work for other versions of LSF.
- For LSF 6.2, download Patch 128495 from the following directory in the Platform FTP site: /patches/6.2/patch/build128495
- For LSF 7.0.5, download Patch 128556 from the following directory in the Platform FTP site: /patches/7.0.5/patch/build128556
LSF data loaders fail to work on Windows if installing Analytics with EGO-enabled LSF before restarting Windows
If you installed LSF (with EGO enabled) on a Windows host and wish to install the Analytics node on this host, you must restart Windows before you install Analytics; otherwise the LSF data loaders might not work correctly when you start the loader controller.
Analytics node does not send events after installation if it is started before the Analytics server
After installing Analytics using a clean database, if you start the Analytics node before starting the Analytics server, the node will not send events. This problem only occurs the first time after installation.
The EVENT_MANAGER_CONF table for the event locator is not initialized until you start the Analytics server for the first time. Therefore, if you start the Analytics node without first starting the Analytics server after initial installation with a clean database, the event sender does not have access to the EVENT_MANAGER_CONF TABLE until you start the Analytics server.
To resolve this issue, restart the Analytics node after you start the Analytics server.
When upgrading Analytics on a shared file system, the upgrade package may stop responding
When upgrading Analytics from version 7.1 to version 7.5, if Analytics is installed on a shared file system, the upgrade package may stop responding if the shared file system is not fully stable.
This is an issue with the InstallShield Multiple Platform (ISMP) on which the upgrade package is built.
To work around this issue, kill the upgrade process and run the upgrade package again.
Data loaders may not activate immediately when the database host is physically disconnected from the network
If the database host is disconnected from the network, DLP does not activate within 15 minutes, resulting in data loss. This does not occur if the database goes down, but the database host is still physically connected.
This is an issue with the Oracle JDBC driver. To work around this issue, restart the loader controller after the database host is physically disconnected from the network.
FLEXnet events data loader does not support mapped network drives on Windows
In the FLEXnet events data loader properties file (flexliceventloader.properties), if you defined the LicenseLogFile parameter to point to a Windows UNC file path or to a mapped network drive, the data loader log file shows a "not a valid file" or "does not exist" error for "FlexlmEventParser.java".
The FLEXnet events data loader (flexliceventsloader) does not support mapped network drives and has limited support for UNC file paths.
To work around this issue, use a slash (/) to define a UNC file path or a local Windows file path rather than a backslash (\). For a mapped network drive, use the UNC file path instead of the mapped network file path.
For example,
- For a local log file (c:\logs\flexlicense.log), use the following to define a Windows file path:
LicenseLogFile=c:/logs/flexlicense.logFor a mapped network drive (\\fileserver\logs\flexlicense.log mapped to z:\logs\flexlicense.log), use the following to define a UNC file path instead of the mapped network file path: LicenseLogFile=//fileserver/logs/flexlicense.logFLEXnet usage data loader could not obtain license usage data due to insufficient disk space in /tmp
If you have an Analytics node running on a Solaris host, the FLEXnet usage data loader (flexlicusageloader) log may report "Failed to obtain license usage from the license server" and "Not enough space" errors.
This error occurs if you have insufficient space allocated to /tmp on that host. To work around this issue, extend the /tmp space so it has at least 2 GB of free space on that host before starting the Analytics node on the host.
In certain configurations, the Analytics Console shows that the loader controller is down, but perfadmin or egosh shows it is running
In the Analytics Console, if you click Data Collection Nodes, you may see that the loader controller is Down. However, if you examine the loader controller service (plc) in the Analytics node (using perfadmin list or egosh service list) the loader controller service is STARTED.
This issue may occur because you incorrectly defined the loopback IP address (127.0.0.1) as the name of your host rather than localhost in the /etc/hosts file.
To fix this problem, either delete the line in the /etc/hosts file where you defined the loopback IP address (127.0.0.1) as the name of your host, or change the loopback IP address to localhost.
License servers with the same license feature must run in the same time zone
If you have two or more license servers in different time zones, the wi_licutilfeaturemart datamart contains inaccurate information. This issue occurs when you have license servers with the same license feature running in different time zones.
To work around this issue, ensure that license servers with the same license feature are running in the same time zone.
The BuildCubes process does not stop when you stop the Analytics daemons on Solaris hosts
On Solaris hosts, when you stop the Analytics daemons (using daemons.sh stop) the BuildCubes Java process does not stop.
To work around this issue, after stopping the Analytics daemons, find the cube build Java processes by running ps -ef | grep -i java | grep -i cube, then manually kill the relevant Java processes.
A crashed InstallShield database may cause the Analytics installation to fail
If you failed to install Analytics, you may need to manually remove the InstallShield Multi-Platform (ISMP) database.
Remove the ISMP database from the following directories:
- Windows: C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Universal\common
- UNIX: ~/InstallShield
Get technical support
Contact Platform
Contact Platform Computing or your Analytics vendor for technical support. Use one of the following to contact Platform technical support:
World Wide Web
Platform Support
Platform Computing Inc.
3760 14th Avenue
Markham, Ontario
Canada L3R 3T7When contacting Platform, please include the full name of your company.
See the Platform Web site at www.platform.com/Company/Contact.Us.htm for other contact information.
Get patch updates and other notifications
To get periodic patch update information, critical bug notification, and general support notification from Platform Support, contact supportnotice-request@platform.com with the subject line containing the word "subscribe".
To get security related issue notification from Platform Support, contact securenotice-request@platform.com with the subject line containing the word "subscribe".
We'd like to hear from you
If you find an error in any Platform documentation, or you have a suggestion for improving it, please let us know:
Information Development
Platform Computing Inc.
3760 14th Avenue
Markham, Ontario
Canada L3R 3T7Be sure to tell us:
- The title of the manual you are commenting on
- The version of the product you are using
- The format of the manual (HTML or PDF)
Copyright
© 1994-2009, Platform Computing Inc.
Although the information in this document has been carefully reviewed, Platform Computing Inc. ("Platform") does not warrant it to be free of errors or omissions. Platform reserves the right to make corrections, updates, revisions or changes to the information in this document.
UNLESS OTHERWISE EXPRESSLY STATED BY PLATFORM, THE PROGRAM DESCRIBED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT WILL PLATFORM COMPUTING BE LIABLE TO ANYONE FOR SPECIAL, COLLATERAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY LOST PROFITS, DATA, OR SAVINGS, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THIS PROGRAM.
Document redistribution policy
This document is protected by copyright and you may not redistribute or translate it into another language, in part or in whole.
Internal redistribution
You may only redistribute this document internally within your organization (for example, on an intranet) provided that you continue to check the Platform Web site for updates and update your version of the documentation. You may not make it available to your organization over the Internet.
Trademarks
LSF is a registered trademark of Platform Computing Corporation in the United States and in other jurisdictions.
POWERING HIGH PERFORMANCE, PLATFORM COMPUTING, PLATFORM SYMPHONY, PLATFORM JOBSCHEDULER, and the PLATFORM and PLATFORM LSF logos are trademarks of Platform Computing Corporation in the United States and in other jurisdictions.
UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and in other jurisdictions.
Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.
Microsoft is either a registered trademark or a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.
Macrovision, Globetrotter, and FLEXnet are registered trademarks or trademarks of Acresso Corporation in the United States of America and/or other countries.
Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates.
Intel, Itanium, and Pentium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.
Other products or services mentioned in this document are identified by the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
Third Party License Agreements
www.platform.com/legal-notices/third-party-license-agreements
|
© 1994-2009, Platform Computing Inc.
www.platform.com |