1.0 Introduction
The objective of this article is to guide you through the detailed process involved with code-promotion of BICS snapshot (data-model, catalog content, application roles and security setups) from Development/Test to Production environment.
Please note this document is written based on Oracle BICS current version 17.1.6.0.0. Some of the screenshots may look different in future releases.
If you are looking for migrating Oracle BI-Apps RPD to BICS, check this article for detailed steps.
2.0 Pre-requisites
Please follow the below pre-requisites before promoting the snapshot into Production environment:
Take a snapshot of your target (production) BICS environment (in case of any issues during migration and to restore at a later date) using console as shown below and set a password.
Login to BICS -> Launch Console -> Click on Snapshots and Models:
3.0 Creation of Snapshot in Dev/Test Environment
Before taking snapshot, make sure to unlock/publish any data-models and also logout any BICS sessions so snapshot will be in a clean state.
Login to your BICS dev/test environment and navigate to Console -> Snapshot and Models -> Create a Snapshot and give an appropriate Description.
Download the created snapshot and provide a password which is required for ‘Upload Snapshot’ step in target/production environment.
4.0 Upload/Replace of Snapshot in Production Environment
Before proceeding further, make sure all the steps mentioned in section 2 above are fulfilled on creating backup snapshots.
Login to BICS Production -> Launch Console -> Click on Snapshot and Models -> Upload Snapshot -> select the snapshot created in section 3 above and provide the password.
Once the snapshot is uploaded, you will see the below confirmation about successful upload of Snapshot:
Now that the snapshot is available in your production environment, the next step is to Restore to make use of it:
You will be prompted with three Restore options and check the appropriate options:
| a. | Data Model | To promote data-model (rpd) related changes only |
| b. | Application Roles | To promote New or Updated application roles |
| c. | Catalog | To promote new or updated Catalog objects |
Check all options if your code-migration involves all three areas. If not, choose the appropriate ones.
You will see a successful snapshot restore completion message if everything goes well during restore process.
In order to review restored objects, navigate to:
| a. | Catalog | reports, dashboards, visual analyser projects, etc. |
| b. | Application Roles | new changes/updates for objects, joins, hierarchies, etc. |
| c. | Catalog | new or updated application roles, users, permissions, etc. |
5.0 How to promote individual objects to Production Environment?
In the above steps, we looked at promoting entire catalog or data-model or application roles but not on promoting individual components. Now, first let’s look at how to promote individual catalog objects (reports, dashboards, visual analyser projects, filters, prompts, etc.).
Navigate to Oracle BICS / Catalog and select a Folder and click on Archive and choose the appropriate permissions:
It generates a file with folder name and with an extension of .catalog (ex: Disco to BICS Migration.catalog).
Or if you want an individual object to be archived, check this screenshot (ex: Sales Effectiveness V1.catalog).
At the moment, there is no option available to promote a portion of RPD or application roles separately. If there is one available in near future, this blog will be updated.
If you need more information, please do not hesitate to contact us at +44 (0)207 7780091 or info@reliason.com. Alternatively, visit us at www.reliason.com to learn about how we can help your Organisation on Oracle BI technologies and to access our whitepapers and test-drives.
