Migrating from Test Server to Production Server

general discussion
1

Has anyone in the User Group successfully established a production
repository and a test repository on separate servers and been able to
migrate Universes (Both Linked and Stand-alone) and reports without
having to delete and readd the universes and reports.

The situation I would like to have is that all development work is done
on copies of the production Universes and once these are ready for
production, they are moved to the production server. We tried copying
the data from the production repository to the test tables, but had
issues with that and Business Objects Tech Support said this was not
something that we should do.

I know we can create domains for Test and Production, but our
environment and QA prefers that production and test be separate.

Listserv Archives (BOB member since 2002-06-25)

2

Hi

We have a similiar situation. We set up two different repositories one is a Test repository on a test database which is copy of the production database and other is Production repository on the production database. Initially when the Repositories are setup we generate a Bomain.key file. I have a standalone version of Business Objects installed on my PC. When I want to work with the Test Repository I copy the Bomain.Key file for the test into Shdata and LocData folders and viceversa. All the Business Objects universes are stored on the Universe folder of the designer who created. When I want to export the Universes to the Production repository, I simply change the Bomain.key file and open the universe and export it.

Occasionally I get an error exporting to the other repository first time complaining about some violation of Unique Key(something like that). I correct it by logging in as general supervisor and exporting the universe. The next time you can log in as your self.

Thank You
Radhika

Listserv Archives (BOB member since 2002-06-25)

3

Warning – Long answer ahead.

Issue:

Has anyone in the User Group successfully established a production
repository and a test repository on separate servers and been able to
migrate Universes (Both Linked and Stand-alone) and reports without
having to delete and readd the universes and reports.

Response:

Depends – what version of BusObj are you using? With 4.0.5.5 we had two
separate security domains, two separate universe domains, and two separate
document domains (one prod, one test). Migration from test to prod involved
the deletions you mention. No reliable way of migrating linked universes was
found.

With 4.1.3, I have setup an environment with one security domain to which
everyone belongs, three separate document domains, and three separate
universe domains (one production, one quality, and one development). I’ve
successfully tested migrating universes and documents along the chain without
having to delete or readd them. You do have to DISABLE the Designer property
that defaults to “Prevent from overwriting Universe.” (Granting someone
everything effectively denies them this right.) I’ve not done any testing
with linked universes. I plan to move this configuration into production
shortly. There are some setup quirks, however. See below for details.

Issue:

I know we can create domains for Test and Production, but our
environment and QA prefers that production and test be separate.

Response:

This depends on how separate they need to be. In our proposed environment,
we have one security domain, and separate universe and document domains.
Development and quality documents can use the development and quality
universes without affecting the production versions in any way. If you have
to maintain separate security domains (two separate IDs and BOMain.keys),
this won’t work for you.

To accomplish this, I had to set up the group structure a little bit
different. Each application group exists as Group, Group_Quality, and
Group_Development. Users in Group and Group_Quality have exactly the same
rights and can see both the Document, Universe, Document_Quality, and
Universe_Quality domains. Users in Group_Development have more wide open
rights and can only see the Document_Development and Universe_Development
domains. With the exception of those Supervisory users (the Production
Control group) who do the migrations from one domain to the next, if someone
needs to see both Group or Group_Quality AND Group_Development, they have to
have a separate ID for Group_Development. Business Objects will let you
assign rights in such a way to appear as though a separate ID should not be
necessary, but the way it applies those rights requires a separate ID.

If you have any specific questions, you can contact me directly.

David

dbberg@duke-energy.com

Listserv Archives (BOB member since 2002-06-25)