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Add an OLAP Data Source

You must add an external OLAP data source so that CDM users can query OLAP data.

  1. Install the 64-bit version of the client runtime on the CDM application server, as necessary for the type of database that you plan to use.
    • For an Oracle Essbase data source, follow these steps:
      1. Download and install Essbase Client install from the Oracle website.
      2. Edit the PATH Environment Variable to include the bin folder of Essbase Client. For example, the Oracle home path on a 64-bit computer is C:\Oracle\Middleware. Therefore, the Essbase Client bin path is C:\Oracle\Middleware\EPMSystem11R1\common\EssbaseRTC-64\11.1.2.0\bin.
    • For an IBM® Cognos® TM1® data source, download and install the IBM Cognos TM1 client, version 9.5 or later. To connect to TM1 10.1 data, you must install the same version of TM1 client library on the CDM application server.
  2. In CDM, do either of the following to open the Data Source Connectivity tab in the work area:
    • Click the File tab, then navigate to Administration > External Data > Data Source Connectivity.
    • Click the Home tab, then in the Navigation Pane, click Administration and double-click Data Source Connectivity under External Data.
  3. Click Home > Add > OLAP Data Source, or right-click any existing data source in the work area and click Add > OLAP Data Source.
  4. Specify the connection parameters for the desired type of data source.
  5. Click Test Connection.
    • If the connection succeeds, the Connection successful icon Connection successful icon is displayed.
    • If the connection fails, the Connection test failed icon The connection test failed icon is displayed. Check with the database administrator to ensure that the database server is running and that you have the correct parameters.
  6. Click OK.

Users can now create and edit queries based on the newly defined OLAP data source. They can also associate queries with reports, allowing query results to be used by the reports.

Important: You must ensure that each new data source is added to the whitelist element so that the CDM application server can authenticate the data source.

Connection Parameters for Oracle Essbase

To connect to Oracle Essbase as an OLAP data source in CDM, use the following parameters:

Parameter

Description

Name

Enter a unique name for the data source.

Description

Specify a description for the data source. This is optional.

Expiration Policy

Select the expiration policy. Expiration policies determine when the cached data must be refreshed from the underlying external data sources.

Provider

Select Oracle Essbase.

Server

Enter the name of the Essbase server, for example, essbaseserver.

Authentication Type

Select Basic Authentication to authenticate against the server account. Select Active Directory SSO to authenticate using an existing Active Directory user account.

The credentials will be passed to the Essbase server and only data that the Active Directory user is authorized to view will be returned. Using this option, you no longer need to create additional accounts to use Essbase data sourcing.

Note: If you define queries with Essbase SSO, these are run against Essbase SSO with your credentials as the current user of CDM. Your credentials need to be imported into CDM from an Active Directory source. The same Active Directory needs to be defined at the Oracle Essbase Server level under Shared Services.

User ID

Enter the user name of the Essbase server account if you are using basic authentication. Enter the user name of the account that has access to the Essbase data source if you are using Windows™ authentication.

Password

Enter the password of the account that you are using for authentication.

Login Attribute

When using Essbase Single Sign-On authentication Active Directory SSO, use the default value sAMAccountName.

Note: This is the attribute in the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) to identify users in Active Directory. You should use this default value.

Locking User

When using Essbase Single Sign-On authentication Active Directory SSO, enter the user name of the user to use when refreshing report contents after locking the report.

Locking Password

When using Essbase Single Sign-On authentication Active Directory SSO, enter the password of the user to use when refreshing report contents after locking the report.

Application

Enter the name of the application on the server that is hosting the Essbase cube.

Cube

Enter the name of the cube that is defined in Oracle Essbase.

Connection Parameters for Microsoft Analysis Services

To connect to Microsoft™ Analysis Services (MSAS) as an OLAP data source in CDM, use the following parameters:

Parameter

Description

Name

Enter a unique name for the data source.

Description

Specify a description for the data source. This is optional.

Expiration Policy

Select the expiration policy. Expiration policies determine when the cached data must be refreshed from the underlying external data sources.

Provider

Select Microsoft Analysis Services.

Server

Enter the name of the MSAS server, for example, msasserver.

Authentication Type

Select Windows Authentication to authenticate against a data sources Microsoft Windows™ account that users create on their computers.

Users must assign rights for the data sources account to access the data sources. A separate data sources account gives you more flexibility when you are assigning access rights on external data.

Important: The Credentials.config file needs to be updated for the DataSourcesCredentials configuration settings.

Application

Enter the name of the application on the server that is hosting the MSAS cube or in-memory tabular model.

Cube

Enter the name of the cube or tabular model that is defined in MSAS.

Connection Parameters for IBM Cognos TM1

To connect to IBM® Cognos® TM1® as an OLAP data source in CDM, use the following parameters:

Parameter

Description

Name

Enter a unique name for the data source.

Description

Specify a description for the data source. This is optional.

Expiration Policy

Select the expiration policy. Expiration policies determine when the cached data must be refreshed from the underlying external data sources.

Provider

Select TM1.

Connection Type

Choose depending on how your TM1 server is deployed: TM1 on Prem or TM1 on Cloud.

Admin Host

Enter the TM1 Admin host.

Server IP

Populated automatically based on the Server Name selected.

Authentication Type

Select Basic Authentication to authenticate against the server account using standard Cognos® TM1 credentials. Select CAM authentication to authenticate using an existing CAM user account.

The credentials will be passed to Cognos TM1 and only data that the user is authorized to view will be returned. Using this option, you no longer need to create additional accounts to use Cognos TM1 data sourcing.

User ID

Enter the username of the TM1 server account if you are using basic authentication.

Password

Enter the password of the account that you are using for basic authentication.

Locking User

When using CAM authentication, specify the username of the user to use when refreshing report contents after locking the report.

Locking Password

When using CAM authentication, specify the password of the user to use when refreshing report contents after locking the report.

Namespace ID

When using CAM authentication, specify the namespace ID of the user to use when refreshing report contents after locking the report.

Server Name

Select the name of the TM1 Server on the server that is hosting the TM1 cube.

Cube

Select the name of the cube that is defined in TM1.

Connection Parameters for IBM Cognos TM1 Using NATed IP

To connect to IBM® Cognos® TM1® using NATed IP as an OLAP data source in CDM, use the following parameters:

Parameter

Description

Name

Enter a unique name for the data source.

Description

Specify a description for the data source. This is optional.

Expiration Policy

Select the expiration policy. Expiration policies determine when the cached data must be refreshed from the underlying external data sources.

Provider

Select TM1.

Connection Type

Choose depending on how your TM1 server is deployed: TM1 on Prem or TM1 on Cloud.

Using NATed VPN

Select if using a NATed IP.

Admin Host

Enter the TM1host REST URL.

NATed Server IP

Enter the NATed IP of the TM1 server.

Authentication Type

Select Basic Authentication to authenticate against the server account using standard Cognos® TM1 credentials. Select CAM authentication to authenticate using an existing CAM user account.

The credentials will be passed to Cognos TM1 and only data that the user is authorized to view will be returned. Using this option, you no longer need to create additional accounts to use Cognos TM1 data sourcing.

User ID

Enter the username of the TM1 server account if you are using basic authentication.

Password

Enter the password of the account that you are using for basic authentication.

Locking User

When using CAM authentication, specify the username of the user to use when refreshing report contents after locking the report.

Locking Password

When using CAM authentication, specify the password of the user to use when refreshing report contents after locking the report.

Namespace ID

When using CAM authentication, specify the namespace ID of the user to use when refreshing report contents after locking the report.

Server Name

Select the name of the TM1 server on the server that is hosting the TM1 cube.

Cube

Select the name of the cube that is defined in TM1.

Connection Parameters for Oracle EPM

To connect to Oracle EPM as an OLAP data source in CDM, use the following parameters:

Parameter

Description

Name

Enter a unique name for the data source.

Description

Specify a description for the data source. This is optional.

Expiration Policy

Select the expiration policy. Expiration policies determine when the cached data must be refreshed from the underlying external data sources.

Provider

Select Oracle EPM.

Domain

Specify the domain where the Oracle EPM REST API is hosted, for example, https://<domain>.oraclecloud.com.

User ID

Enter the Oracle EPM user credentials.

Password

Enter the password for the specified username.

Application

If the specified credentials are correct, this drop-down list will populate with available applications from the Oracle EPM instance. Select the desired application.

Cube

Once an application is selected, click the drop-down to retrieve and select from the list of available cubes within the chosen application.

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