Tech Talk: Migrating from Oracle Discoverer

From time to time, we will talk tech with a bit more detail for those of you who appreciate diving under the hood a bit to see the engine. In this tech talk, we look at options when migrating from Oracle Discoverer.

As you may know, Oracle Discoverer was a business intelligence tool. It provided ad-hoc query and analysis capabilities for business users to retrieve and analyze data from Oracle databases. Discoverer allowed users to create custom reports, perform data exploration, and build dashboards without the need for extensive technical knowledge or SQL expertise.

However, Oracle discontinued the support and development of Oracle Discoverer in June 2017. Oracle has recommended transitioning to other business intelligence tools, such as Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE), Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC), or other third-party solutions. Of the third-party solutions, SplashBI is one of the most feature-rich and easy to migrate to.

Problem Statement

Migrating from Oracle Discoverer to most third-party analytic tools requires the exporting of Discoverer such as Business Areas, Folders, and Workbooks. The easy way to perform the export is to use Oracle Discoverer Administrator which is a desktop application.

Unfortunately, Oracle has removed access to download Oracle Discoverer Administrator or Oracle BI Discoverer Desktop and Discoverer Administrator installation media. The only way to obtain the installation media is to log an SR with Oracle.

Export Instructions

An alternative export method is to perform the export from the Oracle Discoverer server. This can prove a tricky process, especially if the operating system environment is not set up properly.

Below are instructions for performing the export on a Linux server.

1. Make sure that the environment is not being automatically set. This ensures that key environment variables do not get set to the Middleware home instead of the Discoverer home.
2. Navigate to the Discoverer home “util” directory:
   • cd $ORACLE_HOME/Discoverer/Discoverer_discoinst_1/util/
3. Set the environment using the Discoverer provided environment file:
   • descent.sh
4. Ensure setting the LD_LIBRARY_PATH and CLASSPATH correctly
   • echo $CLASSPATH
   • Ensure the following are included in the CLASSPATH
     •       $ORACLE_HOME/discoverer/lib
     •       $ORACLE_HOME/discoverer/lib32
     •       $ORACLE_HOME/lib
     •       $ORACLE_HOME/lib32         
   • echo $LD_LIBRARY_PATH               
   • Ensure the following are included in the LD_LIBRARY_PATH 
     • $ORACLE_HOME/discoverer/lib
     •       $ORACLE_HOME/discoverer/lib32
     •       $ORACLE_HOME/lib
     •       $ORACLE_HOME/lib32        

5. At this point the environment should be set properly
6. Navigate to the folder that contains the eulbuilder.jar file
   • cd $ORACLE_HOME/discoverer/lib/
7. Testing the connection using EUL connection string
   • java -jar eulbuilder.jar -connect <eul_username>/<eul_password>@<instance name>
     •  The <instance name> should be one of the names of the DBC files from an EBS instance deployed to Discoverer.
   • Example: java -jar eulbuilder.jar -connect EUL_US/eul_us@TEST

8. Testing the connection using EBS username and password

Once you are able to connect, use some of the export command options provided in the following Oracle documentation.  https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E24001_01/bi.1111/b40108/ref.htm

Let Adjacent Solutions Help

We hope you find this nuts and bolts offering helpful for exporting as part of your migration.

We live in this vast Oracle space and love the consulting work we do here at Adjacent Solutions.

If you require expertise to aid in your migration plans, don’t hesitate to reach out below for on-shore, proven consulting.

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Jonathan Coreil, CEO

Jonathan Coreil is the founder and CEO of Adjacent Solutions. During his experience developing and leading successful Client Success Management teams, he discovered an emerging need to provide companies with specialized technical tools and dedicated talent using Oracle technology and founded Adjacent Solutions. Today, Adjacent Solutions has grown to a leading onshore Oracle solutions integrator and managed services provider in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex. For questions or to share blog ideas you’d like to see, please email us at [email protected].