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This chapter explains verification and common configuration procedures for the WebFOCUS Client.
In this section: |
In a split web-tier environment, all WebFOCUS web components run through the application server, and you should not create the ibi_html and approot aliases on a web server. Instead, you can configure your application server to serve the content in the install_directory /ibi/apps directory.
The steps for configuring WebFOCUS to run only in an application server configuration is similar to split web-tier, in that you configure the application server to serve static content from the ibi_html and apps directories. This is described in Using the Static Content Server Option.
The one difference is where the ReportCaster Default Library URL is pointing. With split web-tier, this setting points to the web server. In an application server-only configuration, it points to the application server.
WebFOCUS installs a pair of web applications into the install_directory/ibi/WebFOCUS80/webapps directory, which are designed to serve static content from the file system to the browser:
Deploy one or both of these applications to address the following split web-tier and standalone application server configurations:
Note: Tomcat can be used by itself without these applications because it can map a directory on the file system to a context path.
Each application includes a deployment descriptor (webconfig.xml) that is used to locate the directory containing its configuration file. The context parameter IBI_Configuration_Directory in webconfig.xml is updated during installation to point to install_directory/ibi/WebFOCUS80/config, which contains the configuration file approotConfig.xml. The configuration file is shared by both content server applications even though its name suggests it would be used by only one. The configuration file is used to maintain MIME mappings, the physical path of the directories being served, and the logging level.
The applications also include a Log4J property file (log4j.xml), which contains the path to the log file used by each application. The installation updates each log4j.xml file with the path to its own log file, install_directory/ibi/WebFOCUS80/logs/wfapproot.log and install_directory/ibi/WebFOCUS80/logs/wfibihtml.log, respectively.
The content server applications roll the log files over daily by appending the date to the log file and creating a new one (for example, wfibihtml.log.2010-10-31). You can increase the log level by editing install_directory/ibi/WebFOCUS80/config/approotConfig.xml and changing the log level setting to DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR, or FATAL, where DEBUG is the most verbose.
There are special considerations for using the content server option in a clustered web-tier environment.
Generally speaking, the approach of specifying a fully qualified path to the configuration file (approotConfig.xml) in webconfig.xml and of specifying a fully qualified path to the log files in log4j.xml is sufficient for most installations. These paths are properly set during installation.
However, there is an option to pass the content servers these paths from the Java VM command line. To do this, complete the following steps:
<context-param> <param-name>IBI_Configuration_Directory</param-name> <param-value>${IBIARCFG}</param-value> </context-param>
<param name="File" value="${IBIARLOG}/wfapproot.log"/>
<param name="File" value="${IBIARLOG}/wfibihtml.log"/>
The settings below are slightly different in a clustered web-tier environment.
–DIBIARCFG=install_directory/ibi/WebFOCUS80/config –DIBIARLOG=install_directory/ibi/WebFOCUS80/logs
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To configure the WebFOCUS Client, edit files either through a text editor or the WebFOCUS Administration Console. The WebFOCUS Administration Console also provides tools to verify the installation.
For NLS configuration information, see the WebFOCUS Security and Administration manual.
WebFOCUS 8 contains a Welcome page in the WebFOCUS BI Portal from which you can access WebFOCUS interfaces, such as the WebFOCUS Administration Console.
http://hostname:port/ibi_apps/
where:
Are the host name and HTTP port of the web server or application server. If you require SSL, use https instead of http.
The WebFOCUS Sign In page opens, as shown in the following image.
Note: If you receive a page not found error, ensure that your application server is started and that you have deployed the WebFOCUS application. For more information on configuring your application server, see Installing the WebFOCUS Client.
Note: If you receive an invalid user name or password error, ensure that the WebFOCUS repository has been created and contains initial table data.
The WF BI Portal page displays, as shown in the following image.
You can change the default credentials using the Security Center facility. Click Administration from the top menu, and then Security Center. For more information, see the WebFOCUS Security and Administration manual.
Access the WebFOCUS Administration Console using Internet Explorer or Firefox.
You can also manually enter the following URL in your browser:
http://hostname:port/ibi_apps/console/webfocusconsole.jsp
The WebFOCUS Sign In page opens, as shown in the following image.
If a logon page does not appear, ensure that your web and/or application servers are started and configured.
Note: After you have verified the WebFOCUS Client configuration, change the password of the default administrator user ID, which is admin. For more information on WebFOCUS Client security, see the WebFOCUS Security and Administration manual.
The WebFOCUS Administration Console opens, as shown in the following image.
Using this console, you can edit the WebFOCUS Client communication and security settings. This console is documented in the WebFOCUS Security and Administration manual and relevant sections are available by clicking Help.
The WebFOCUS Administration Console contains a verification tool to further test the configuration.
For troubleshooting assistance, see Troubleshooting WebFOCUS and ReportCaster.
It is a good idea to set authentication for the WebFOCUS Administration Console. The WebFOCUS Administration Console does not have its own authentication mechanism and by default, none is used.
If you wish to set authentication for the console, you can choose to do this through the WebFOCUS Reporting Server or the web server. For more information, see the WebFOCUS Security and Administration manual.
WebFOCUS Client communication settings are stored in the following file:
/install_directory/ibi/WebFOCUS80/client/wfc/etc/odin.cfg
This file contains node blocks defining WebFOCUS Reporting Servers that the client accesses. A node block is a set of parameters that define a server, listener, or other communication component.
When you installed the WebFOCUS Client, you specified a default WebFOCUS Reporting Server that the client accesses. If this is the only server the client will access, you can proceed to Configuring Static Authentication.
To change connection information for the default server or define additional servers, use the procedures that follow.
The right pane displays all defined WebFOCUS Reporting Servers. To edit parameters of a defined WebFOCUS Reporting Server, select its radio button and click Modify.
This page lets you choose to define a single server (Client), CLM Processing, or a Cluster node. A cluster node is a node that consists of multiple servers. When the client accesses the cluster, it chooses one of the servers in that cluster. This is used for load balancing and fail over. The best way to use clusters is through the Cluster Manager component that you can optionally add to your WebFOCUS environment.
The remaining fields are optional in most environments.
Note: Setting the User ID and Password here is not recommended and may not have the desired result.
When you make a connection from client to server without specifying a server, the default server is used. The default server and many other settings are set in the following file:
/install_directory/ibi/WebFOCUS80/client/wfc/etc/cgivars.wfs
The following variable specifies the default server:
IBI_REPORT_SERVER
To set this using the WebFOCUS Administration Console:
When the client accesses a WebFOCUS Reporting Server running with security, the client must log on to the server for tasks, such as browsing metadata, listing files, or running reports. Either your applications or users can provide a log on, or you can use Static Authentication. With Static Authentication, you specify a user ID and password that the client always passes to the server. This can be set for all servers or for each individual server. Static authentication ensures that every WebFOCUS Client connection to a server accesses the server using the same environment configuration.
Note: In some environments, you may be able to use Trusted Authentication (Already Verified Processing) instead of Static Authentication. For more information, see the WebFOCUS Security and Administration manual. This section only addresses static authentication.
The following variables define static authentication:
IBI_REPORT_USER IBI_REPORT_PASS
You should set these variables using the WebFOCUS Administration Console so you can encrypt the file containing your password. Static authentication is defined globally for all nodes in the cgivars.wfs file. Static authentication can be defined for a specific node by creating a profile with the node name.
These steps set a logon that is used when accessing all servers.
These steps set a logon that is used when accessing a specific node (a server or a cluster).
The right pane displays defined WebFOCUS Reporting Servers.
For additional information on using the WebFOCUS Administration Console, click Help or see the WebFOCUS Security and Administration manual.
Although most WebFOCUS Client features are configured through the WebFOCUS Administration Console, some features are enabled and configured through the WebFOCUS Reporting Server. If you license Active Technologies, you must provide the Active Technologies license code in the WebFOCUS Reporting Server Web Console.
This console was introduced in How to View the Web Console and Test the Server.
Active Technologies for Adobe® Flash® is generated using a Java-based compiler engine that is included with Adobe Open Source Flex SDK for the WebFOCUS Reporting Server. There is a known issue with the Adobe Flex® compiler not working properly with the IBM version of Java due to a conflict between the version of Xerces that the Flex software uses and the one that is included with the IBM JVM. As a workaround, ensure that the JVM loads the version of Xerces supplied with the Flex software instead of the version supplied with the IBM JVM.
Make sure the Flex compiler uses the xercesImpl.jar file that is provided in the Flex library folder under the ibi folder. Add the following syntax into the user ID profile that starts the WebFOCUS Reporting Server:
export CLASSPATH=/ibi/srv80/home/etc/flex/lib/xercesImpl.jar:$CLASSPATH
This must be set in the CLASSPATH since the Flex compiler does not read the IBI_CLASSPATH when it is executed.
As a default, Apache Tomcat sets the maximum size limit to 2097152 (2MB) limit for accepting HTTP POST requests. Since EXL07 MIME files can easily reach this limit, ExcelServlet will fail with a HTTP 400 error or produce a corrupted .XLSX file. To fix this problem, Tomcat needs to be configured by setting an attribute in the server.xml file.
In the /tomcat_home/conf/server.xml file, add the maxPostSize attribute and set it to 0 to disable the limit check. For example, in the <Connector port> element block:
<Connector port="8080" protocol="HTTP/1.1"
connectionTimeout="20000"
redirectPort="8443" maxPostSize="0" />
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This section explains how to verify and troubleshoot the most common type of graphs. By default, WebFOCUS graphs are generated through the web or application server using a Java-based graph engine installed with WebFOCUS Client. This is known as Server Side Graphics or PCHOLD. Using this approach, a complete graph file is created on the web or application server and then sent to a browser.
For the graph engine to create Server Side Graphics, you must configure your application server, as explained in Configuring Web and Application Servers. To do this, you either set the DISPLAY environment variable or use the headless Java VM option:
If an X Windows Server is available, set a DISPLAY variable to the X Windows Server and ensure the X Server accepts the connection. This supports all WebFOCUS graph options. For more information, see How to Use Server Side Graphics by Settings DISPLAY.
See How to Use Server Side Graphics With the Headless Java Option for more information.
The DISPLAY variable of your application server must be set to an X server. See Configuring Web and Application Servers for information on setting DISPLAY. This can be set in the .profile of the user ID that runs the application server or the application server startup script. For example:
export DISPLAY=xserverHostname:0.0
export TERM=xterm
If your UNIX machine does not have an X server, you can install an X Server on a Windows machine and set DISPLAY to that Windows machine.
In addition, the X Server must accept requests from the web and/or application server. On some UNIX platforms, the X Server is set by default to refuse connections, even when DISPLAY is set to localhost:0. On these machines, one solution is to log on to the physical machine and start an X session. Then, open a shell and use the xhost command to specify hosts that will connect to the X server. For example:
xhost +localhost
The xhost command is installed with your X Windows environment and may not be in your PATH by default. After issuing the xhost command, leave this user logged on so that an X session remains running. To protect the machine, lock the display instead of logging off. If a different user needs to log on to the physical machine or the machine is rebooted, the xhost command should be reissued on log on and an X session left running.
If an X Server is not available, the headless option can be set. This is a Java VM option and not a WebFOCUS specific feature. It is set at the application server level:
-Djava.awt.headless=true
Review your application server documentation and see Configuring Web and Application Servers. After setting Java options, completely restart your application server.
Note: If you change the default WebFOCUS Graph settings to use SSG_EXTERNAL=YES, then it should also be set through the WebFOCUS Administration Console under Configuration and Graph in the IBIJAVACMD field.
A sample procedure is installed with the WebFOCUS Reporting Server to test Server Side Graphics.
http://hostname:port/ibi_apps/ibi_html/homepage/proc.htm
cargraph
Your browser should display a graph similar to the following image.
If you get an error or the browser seems to hang, check your application server logs.
This means that the DISPLAY variable is probably not set properly. Be sure to set and export this variable to a machine that is running an X server.
This means that there is no available X Server on the host or the host is rejecting the connection. Try using the xhost command, as explained in How to Use Server Side Graphics by Settings DISPLAY. You must configure your X Server to allow the connection and then restart the application server.
IBIF_graphengine =GRAPH53
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If you are planning to use a reverse proxy configuration with an Apache Tomcat application server, you must configure a setting in the server.xml file to ensure that all URL calls use the address of the web-facing proxy server as opposed to the internal server.
To modify the server.xml file:
<Tomcat_Home>/conf
where:
Is the location on your system where Apache Tomcat is installed.
<!-- Define a Coyote/JK2 AJP 1.3 Connector on port 8009 --> <Connector port="8009" enableLookups="false" redirectPort="8443" debug="0" protocol="AJP/1.3" proxyName="WEB-FACING PROXY_SERVER" proxyPort="WEB FACING PROXY_PORT"/>
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