PlatformServices.properties - What is it used for?

[Former Member]

Hello Folks,

BO Admin guide says, in a cluster environment, we have to configure the cluster name in the SIA properties, and modify the PlatformServices.properties file to make the cluster work.

I tried to not give a cluster name, and do nothing to the PlatformServices.properties file, seems the cluster is still working fine?

Do you know what is the file used for? How about the cluster name?

Best Regards,

Dawei

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Eventhough if you didn't give the cluster name. it will still work with the existing CMS name.

Please check the below document for the defining the cluster name

http://scn.sap.com/community/bi-platform/blog/2013/08/22/how-to-define-cluster-name-in-the-sap-busin...

below is the content of the above url. Let me know if you need any additional details.

change the cluster name on Windows:

Use the CCM to stop any SIA that is a member of the cluster.

Click SIA Properties on the toolbar.

Click the Configuration tab.

Select the Change Cluster Name to check box.

Type the new name for the cluster.

But the cluster name is prefixed by the @ symbol.

For instance, if your existing CMS is called PROD1, then the default cluster name is @BI-PROD

Click OK and then start the Central Management Server.

The CMS cluster name is now changed. All other CMS cluster members are dynamically notified of the new cluster name (although it may take several minutes for your changes to propagate across cluster members).

Go to the Servers management area of the CMC and check that all of your servers remain enabled. If necessary, enable any servers that have been disabled by your changes

Update Cluster Name in Web Applications:

Cluster name is defined in the BO, now we have to update the same in the Business Intelligence 4.0 web applications (Netweaver, Websphere, Tomcat, Weblogic, JBOSS)

If you have added additional CMSs to your deployment, and you are using a Java application server, you must modify the PlatformServices.properties file in the webapps/BOE/WEB-INF/config/custom directory of your web application deployment.

To define cluster properties for the BOE web application :

1.Access the custom folder for the BOE.war file on the computer hosting the web applications.
If you are using the Tomcat web application server installed with SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence platform, you can access the following folder:

C:Program Files (x86)/SAP BusinessObjects/Tomcat6/webapps/BOE/WEB-INF/config/custom

Tip:

If you are using a web application server that does not enable direct access to the deployed web applications, you can use the following folder in your product installation to modify the BOE.war file.

<INSTALLDIR>SAP BusinessObjects /Business Intelligence platform 4.0/warfiles/webapps/BOE/WEB-INF/config/custom.

You will have to later redeploy the modified BOE.war file.

2.Create a new file.Use Notepad or any other text editing utility.
3. Specify CMC cluster properties for each cluster in your deployment.
Precede each cluster name with an @ symbol, and separate each CMS name with a comma (,).
The port number is separated from the CMS name with a colon (:). The port number is assumed to be 6400 unless it is specified.
Use the cms.clusters property to specify each cluster in your deployment. For example,

cms.clusters=@samplecluster,@samplecluster2, @samplecluster3. Use the

cms.clusters.[cluster name] property to specify each CMS in the cluster. For example:

cms.clusters=@samplecluster,@samplecluster2, @samplecluster3

cms.clusters.samplecluster=cmsone:6400,cmstwo

cms.clusters.samplecluster2=cms3,cms4, cms5

cms.clusters.samplecluster3=aps05

Below is the example:

cms.clusters=@BI-PROD

cms.clusters.BI-PROD=BXY.PROD1.XYZ.COM:6400, BXY.PROD2.XYZ.COM:6400, BXY.PROD3.XYZ.COM:6400, BXY.PROD4.XYZ.COM:6400

Make sure that there are no syntax issues.

4. Save the file with the PlatformServices.properties name.

5. Restart the web application server.

If you create the PlatformServices.properties file in the war files (i.e C:\Program Files (x86)\SAP BusinessObjects\SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 4.0\warfiles\webapps\BOE\WEB-INF\config\custom). You need to redeploy the BOE webapps.

The new properties take affect only after the modified BOE web application is redeployed on the computer running the web application server. Use WDeploy to redeploy the WAR file on the web application server.

For more information on using WDeploy, see the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform Web Application Deployment Guide.

Once you complete the activity and update your cluster name in BI Launchpad properties and Opendocument properties to reflect in the login screens.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hello Dawei,

When you set a cluster name, you can allow (for example) your users to login to the CMC using @BI-PROD instead of BXY.PROD1.XYZ.COM:6400 (example above). (You don't want them to know every CMS server name on your Platform)

This cluster name does not need to be a valid dns entry, for example, on Windows, this is stored in a registry key.

Regards,

Matthieu

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks Matthieu, I love this answer, simple and clear.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

I'm not authorized to view the link. Thanks very much for posting this Prasad.

So like Matthieu Greze said, the reason why we set a cluster name, is to hide the CMS server name, is my understanding correct?

Thanks.

Best Regards,

Dawei

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Yes. If you have clustered env, you don't need to give each machine name in the cluster to your users/customers. You can just give them Cluster name.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

If you have a large or mission-critical implementation of BusinessObjects Enterprise, you will probably want to run several CMS machines together in a CMS cluster. A CMS cluster consists of two or more CMS servers working together to maintain the system database. If a machine that is running one CMS fails, a machine with another CMS will continue to service BusinessObjects Enterprise requests. This "failover" support helps to ensure that BusinessObjects Enterprise users can still access information when there is equipment failure.

Please check the below url for the same.

https://prodxireports.mis.vanderbilt.edu/businessobjects/enterprise115/adminlaunch/help/en/administr...

[Former Member]

Hi Da,

Below is the information on adding clusters to the web.xml file in PLATFORMSERVICES.

If you have added additional CMSs, and you are using a Java application

server, you can modify the web.xml file in the PlatformServices\WEBINF\

directory of your web application deployment.

To modify the web.xml to define clusters:

1. Open the web.xml:

In a default deployment on Tomcat 5.5 the file is located in the following

directory:

C:\Program Files\Business Objects\Tomcat55\webapps\Plat

formServices\WEB-INF

2. Locate the following section in the file:

<!-- EXAMPLE:

<context-param>

<param-name>cms.clusters</param-name>

<param-value>@samplecluster, @samplecluster2,

@samplecluster3</param-value>

</context-param>

<context-param>

<param-name>cms.clusters.samplecluster</paramname>

<param-value>cmsone:6400, cmstwo</param-value>

</context-param>

<context-param>

<param-name>cms.clusters.samplecluster2</paramname>

<param-value>cms3, cms4, cms5</param-value>

</context-param>

<context-param>

<param-name>cms.clusters.samplecluster3</paramname>

<param-value>aps05</param-value>

</context-param>

-->

3. Remove the comment tags from this section.

4. In the param-value tag under <param-name>cms.clus

ters</param-name>, list the names of each cluster in your deployment.

A “@” character must go before each cluster name in this tag as shown

in the example. Separate each cluster name with a comma.

Tip:

Remove the sample cluster names from the section.

5. In the param-name tag after the cluster list, type the name of the first

cluster .

In the example replace “samplecluster” in

<param-name>cms.clusters.samplecluster</param-name>

with the cluster name. Cluster names should not include the “@” character

in this tag.

6. In the param-value tag, list the name of each CMS in the cluster and

enter the CMS port number if required.

Note:

Separate each CMS name with a comma. The port number is separated

from the CMS name with a colon; The port number is assumed to be

6400 unless a specific port number is provided.

7. Repeat steps 5-6 for each cluster in your deployment.

8. Save your changes.

9. Restart your application server.

Thanks,

Arun

[Former Member]

Hi Arun,

Thanks for your reply. This is for BO3 right?

Seems the platformservices is integrated in BIP 4.

And I don't want to know the config steps, I want to know why we have to configure it.

Best Regards,

Dawei

[Former Member]

Hi Da,

The end users shouldn't know the actual CMS names and they should know the BI server by some of your company standard naming convention to avoid getting into internal technical know how of the BI server ......hope this make it simple...

Thanks,

Arun