Migration of Objects – BI Reports

Once we develop the Data Model and Report and the testing is completed, we will have to raise a migration request with instructions to migrate the BI Report to production (Already go-live cases).

BI Administrator role is required in order for the Archive/Unarchive option to be visible.

Let’s see an existing report and see how to migrate it to another instance.

Archiving files in BI Catalog:

Navigate to Tools > Reports and Analytics > Click on Browse Catalog

Or you can directly navigate to BI Catalog using the below link:

https://abcd-test.fa.us6.oraclecloud.com/analytics

Export/Archive the Files from Source instance:

Navigate to the folder of interest where the reports to be migrated are present. Ex: /Shared Folders/Custom/Human Capital Management/Reports/Phones Report/

Now, let’s look into the option of archiving these Data Model and Report files. We can select the Data Model and Click on More and select the Archive option or click the archive option from the left bottom tasks window.

First select the Data Model, and then from the left down options, click on Archive. It will provide a pop-up to chose the options for Permissions and Timestamps.

Keep Permissions:
Use this option to maintain the object or folder’s existing permissions. If you do not select this option, then the archiving process does not include any permissions. Upon unarchiving, the system assigns the parent folder’s permissions to all of the objects and folders.
Keep Timestamps:
Use this option to maintain the CreationTime, LastModified, and LastAccessed timestamps assigned to the object or folder. Upon unarchiving, the LastModified timestamp is updated to indicate the time at which the object or folder is unarchived. If you do not select this option, then the archiving process does not include timestamp information.

Select the check boxes if you want to keep the timestamps and permissions and click OK.

Once you click OK, it will download archive file as <Data Model Name>.xdm.catalog (phone_dm.xdm.catalog) for Data Model archives.

We can repeat the same steps for Archiving the BI Report by selecting it and clicking on archive. The archive file will be downloaded as <Data Model Name>.xdo.catalog (phone_rpt.xdo.catalog)

We can also archive the complete folder using the archive option on the folder. Archive file will be named as <Folder Name>.catalog (Phones Report.catalog) and it will automatically archive all contents within the folder (BI Reports, Prompts, Dashboards, OTBI Analytics, Infolets, etc.)

The archive files contain some encrypted content and we cannot view the files as such using any editor or copy the contents of the data model from the archive file.

We will have to unarchive them in any other instance to view the contents of the data model/BI Report/folder.

Import/Unarchive the Files to target instance:

Now, we will login to the target instance and navigate to the folder of interest and unarchive these catalog files (migrating the reports).

Now, let’s try to unarchive these folders in another instance at path /Shared Folders/Custom/Reports/ folder

Click on Browse and navigate to the folder and the catalog file of the Data Model object that you want to unarchive.

Replace:
Use to specify if and how to replace an existing folder or object with the same name. Note the following options:

• All — Select this option to replace any existing folders or objects with the same names as folders or objects included in the archive file that you are uploading.
• Old — Select this option to replace folders or objects except those folders or objects that exist, unless they are older than the source.
• None — Select this option to add any new folders or objects, but preserve any existing folders or objects.
• Force — Select this option to add and replace all folders or objects.

ACL:
Use to specify how the folders or objects are assigned permissions using Access Control Lists (ACLs) when unarchived. Note the following options:

• Inherit — Inherits the folder or object’s permissions (ACL) from its new parent folder.
• Preserve — Preserves the folder or object’s permissions (ACL) as it was in the original, mapping accounts as necessary.
• Create — Preserves the folder or object’s permissions (ACL) as it was in the original, creating and mapping accounts as necessary.

We normally use the Replace option to old/force replace to replace the old version with new version of the objects.

Once all options are selected, click OK.

Now the data model should be visible to you on the screen.

Repeat the same steps to unarchive the BI Report catalog file as well.

Now we can see that both Data Model and Report are unarchived successfully. However if you click Open for the Report, it still doesn’t work as we haven’t mapped the data model to this report in the new instance.

Click on Edit for the Report.

We need to click on search symbol and browse the data model and click save.

Once set, we will get a hyperlink for the data model. If the data model appears grayed out, then the link to the data model is missing.

Once the link is set, we are good to run the report in the target instance where we have unarchived the files.

Archiving files using XMLP Server

Navigate to the XMLP server using the below link:

https://abcd-test.fa.us6.oraclecloud.com/xmlpserver

XMLP server is archaic and we don’t use much in the latest versions. However if you get the .xdmz (bip datamodel) and .xdoz(bip report) files and have a requirement to import them then you can use the below approach.

We can see that similar options exist in XMLP server as well. Upload instead of Archive and Download instead of Unarchive. Rest of the functionality remains the same except some advanced options will not be visible.

We can see that the downloaded files have different extensions .xdoz for Reports and .xdmz for data models and .xdrz for folders.

You can use the upload option to import them into the target instance.

Hope this helps when you have requirement to migrate the BI Reports using Analytics screen of XMLP serve screen.

Tip: XMLP server migration is not used now. Was used in earlier versions of BIP Reporting. Although we can use it now also, it is recommended to use the Analytics screen to migrate the reports for advanced features that have been added to analytics.