BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 Administrators GuideBusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2

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Patents Business Objects owns the following U.S. patents, which may cover products that are offered

and sold by Business Objects: 5,555,403, 6,247,008 B1, 6,578,027 B2, 6,490,593 and 6,289,352.

Trademarks Business Objects, the Business Objects logo, Crystal Reports, and Crystal Enterprise are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects SA or its affiliated companies in the United States and other countries. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Copyright Copyright 2006 Business Objects. All rights reserved.

Third-party contributors

Business Objects products in this release may contain redistributions of software licensed from third-party contributors. Some of these individual components may also be available under alternative licenses. A partial listing of third-party contributors that have requested or permitted acknowledgments, as well as required notices, can be found at:http://www.businessobjects.com/thirdparty2 BusinessObjects Enterprise Deployment and Configuration Guide

Event Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29File Repository Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Cache Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30ContentsChapter 1 Getting Started 17

About this guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18About BusinessObjects Enterprise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Chapter 2 BusinessObjects Enterprise Architecture 19Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Architecture basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Client tier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

InfoView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Central Management Console (CMC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Central Configuration Manager (CCM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Publishing Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Import Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Application tier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Application server and BusinessObjects Enterprise SDK . . . . . . . 25Web Component Adapter (WCA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Web development platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Java platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Windows .NET platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Web application environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Intelligence tier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Central Management Server (CMS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 3

Processing tier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Job servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Report Job Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

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Program Job Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Web Intelligence Job Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Destination Job Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32List of Values Job Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Desktop Intelligence Job Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Web Intelligence Report Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Report Application Server (RAS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Page Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Data tier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Report viewers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Information flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

What happens when you schedule an object? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36What happens when you view a report? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Report viewing with the Cache Server and Page Server . . . . . . . . 38Report viewing with the Report Application Server . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Viewing Web Intelligence documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Security management components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Web Component Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42CMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Security plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Chapter 3 Central Management Console Basics 45Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Using the CMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Logging on to the CMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Navigating within the CMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Setting CMC preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Making initial security settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Setting the Administrator password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Disabling a user account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Modifying default security levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

Managing BusinessObjects Enterprise applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52CMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Contents

Crystal Reports Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Desktop Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Discussions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Accessing the Discussions page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Searching for discussion threads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Sorting search results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Deleting discussion threads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Setting user rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

InfoView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Web Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Chapter 4 Setting Rights 59Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Rights and the BusinessObjects Enterprise object security model . . . . . . 60

How rights work in BusinessObjects Enterprise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Navigating the Rights tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Locating the Rights tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Columns in the Rights tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Reading the Rights tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

BusinessObjects Enterprise top-level folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Access levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Access levels overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Considerations for setting access levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Assigning access levels to groups and users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Assigning No Access and Full Control access levels . . . . . . . . . . 66

Advanced object rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Advanced object rights overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Navigating the Advanced Rights page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Locating the Advanced Rights page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Columns in the Advanced Rights page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 5

Base rights and available rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Inheritance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

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The rationale for inheritance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Group and folder inheritance concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Group inheritance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Folder inheritance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Breaking inheritance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Enabling and disabling inheritance with access levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74Inheritance with advanced rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Priorities affecting advanced inheritance settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Using rights to delegate administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Delegated administration overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Choosing between Modify the rights users have to objects options . . . 79

Modify the rights users have to objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Securely modify rights users have to objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Owner rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Summary of recommendations for rights administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Choosing between View and View-on-demand rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81View-on-demand rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81View rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Chapter 5 Managing User Accounts and Groups 83Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Account management overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

User management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Group management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Available authentication types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Managing Enterprise and general accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Creating an Enterprise user account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Creating a group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Adding subgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Specifying group membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Adding users to groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 906 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

Modifying a user account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Deleting a user account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

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Changing password settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Enabling Trusted Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Modifying a group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Viewing group members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Deleting a group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Disabling the Guest account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Granting access to users and groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Controlling access to user inboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Managing aliases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Creating a user and a third-party alias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Creating an alias for an existing user . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Assigning an alias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Reassigning an alias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Deleting an alias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101Disabling an aliases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Chapter 6 Managing Licenses 103Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Managing license information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Adding a license key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Viewing current account activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Chapter 7 Managing Applications 107Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Setting rights on applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Managing CMC settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Managing Crystal Reports Explorer settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110Managing Designer settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110Desktop Intelligence settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111Managing Discussions settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Accessing the Discussions page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 7

Searching for discussion threads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112Sorting search results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

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Deleting discussion threads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Setting user rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Managing InfoView settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114Managing Web Intelligence settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Chapter 8 Managing Servers 117Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118Server management overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118Server status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Starting, stopping, and restarting servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120Stopping a Central Management Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Enabling and disabling servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Server settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122Server metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Viewing current server metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123The Metrics tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Viewing system metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125Server groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Creating a server group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126Working with server subgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127Modifying the group membership of a server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

User access to servers and server groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128Object rights for the Report Application Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Chapter 9 Managing Data Sources and Connections 131Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132Data source connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132Managing universes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Viewing and deleting universes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133Controlling access to universes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Managing universe connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134Controlling access to universe connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1358 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

Managing OLAP cubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

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Creating an OLAP cube connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136Editing an OLAP cube connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137Deleting an OLAP cube connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

OLAP Data source connection settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Connection settings for Microsoft OLAP data sources . . . . . . . . . . . 138Connection settings for Essbase/DB2 OLAP data sources . . . . . . . . 140Connection settings for Oracle OLAP data sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Chapter 10 Managing Objects 143Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144General object management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Setting object rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144Object rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Setting access levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148Copying, moving, or creating a shortcut for an object . . . . . . . . . . . . 149Deleting an object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150Searching for an object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150Sending an object or instance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Available destinations by object type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152Changing properties of an object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153Assigning an object to categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Report object management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155What are report objects and instances? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155Setting report refresh options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156Setting report processing options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Setting report viewing options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158Specifying default servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159Changing database information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Updating parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162Updating prompts for Web Intelligence document objects . . . . . 163Using filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 9

Setting printer and page layout options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165Processing extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Contents

Applying processing extensions to reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168Registering processing extensions with the system . . . . . . . . . . . 169Selecting a processing extension for a report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170Sharing processing extensions between multiple servers . . . . . . 171

Working with hyperlinked reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Publishing and hyperlinking reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172Publishing reports with existing hyperlinks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Viewing hyperlinks in a report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Viewing hyperlinked reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Viewing the universes for a Web Intelligence document . . . . . . . 174

Rights set on Desktop and Web Intelligence documents . . . . . . . . . . 175Desktop Intelligence document rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175Web Intelligence document rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Program object management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179What are program objects and instances? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Program types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180Setting program processing options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Specifying command-line arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181Setting a working directory for a program object . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182Configuring executable programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183Configuring Java programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185Authentication and program objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Object package management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187What are object packages, components, and instances? . . . . . . . . . . 188Creating an object package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188Adding objects to an object package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189Configuring object packages and their objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190Authentication and object packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Chapter 11 Scheduling Objects 193Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19410 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

Scheduling overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194About the scheduling options and parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Contents

Recurrence patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196Run options and parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Scheduling objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198Scheduling objects using object packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198Scheduling an object with events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Setting the scheduling options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202Setting notification for an objects success or failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Determining an objects success or failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203About notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Specifying alert notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205Selecting a destination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Default destination support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208Unmanaged Disk destination support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208FTP support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210Email (SMTP) support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211Inbox support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Choosing a format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214Selecting cache options for Web Intelligence documents . . . . . . . . . 216Scheduling an object for a user or group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Managing instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217Managing and viewing the history of instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Viewing an instance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Pausing or resuming an instance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Deleting an instance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Setting instance limits for an object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220Using Calendars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Calendars overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221Creating calendars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222Adding dates to a calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Calendar format options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223Specific dates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 11

Recurring dates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225Deleting calendars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Contents

Specifying calendar rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228Managing events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Managing events overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229File-based events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230Schedule-based events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231Custom events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232Specifying event rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Chapter 12 Organizing Objects 235Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236Organizing objects overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

About folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236About categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Working with folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237Creating and deleting folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Creating a new folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238Creating a new subfolder at any level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238Deleting folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Copying and moving folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239Adding a new object to a folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240Specifying folder rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Folder rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242Setting access levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245Setting limits for folders, users, and groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245Managing user folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Working with categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247Creating and deleting categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Creating a new category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247Creating a new subcategory at any level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248Deleting categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Moving categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24912 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

Adding an object to a new category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249Removing or deleting objects from a category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Contents

Specifying category rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250Category rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Managing personal categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Chapter 13 Publishing Objects to BusinessObjects Enterprise 253Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254Publishing overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Publishing options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255Publishing Wizard procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Logging on to BusinessObjects Enterprise via the Publishing Wizard 256Creating and selecting a folder on the CMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257Moving objects between folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258Duplicating the folder structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258Adding objects to a category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259Changing scheduling options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259Refreshing repository fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260Publishing with saved data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261Selecting a program type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261Specifying program credentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262Changing default values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262Changing object properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262Entering database logon information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263Setting parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263Setting the schedule output format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264Adding extra files for programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264Specifying command line arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264Finalizing the objects to be added . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Publishing with the CMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265Saving objects directly to the CMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Chapter 14 Managing Profiles 269BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 13

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270What are profiles? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Contents

Creating profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271Personalizing data with profile targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271Personalizing data for users and groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272Resolving conflicts between profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273Specifying profile rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Appendix A Working with Performance Management Applications 277About performance management applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

Performance management repository . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278Setting performance management security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

Setting security for metrics and dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279Setting security for dashboards and analytics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279Setting security for performance management functionality . . . . . . . . 280

Troubleshooting performance management applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281Predictive Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Appendix B Customizing the appearance of Web Intelligence documents 283Customizing the appearance of Web Intelligence documents . . . . . . . . . 284

What you can do with the defaultconfig.xml file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285Locating and modifying defaultconfig.xml . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Desktop Intelligence Enterprise Java InfoView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287Desktop Intelligence Enterprise .NET InfoView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

List of key values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288Example: Modifying the default font in table cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Appendix C Synchronizing data source credentials 291Using data source credentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

About DBUSER and DBPASS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292Enabling data source credential synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292Setting data source credentials for user objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293Using data source credentials with universes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293Troubleshooting data source credentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29414 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

Report object doesnt use the specified credentials . . . . . . . . . . . 294Using BOUSER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

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Appendix D Trusted Authentication 295Enabling Trusted Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Configuring the server for Trusted Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296Configuring trusted authentication for the client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Appendix E Business Objects Information Resources 301Documentation and information services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Whats in the documentation set? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302Where is the documentation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Documentation from the products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302Documentation on the web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302Documentation on the product CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Send us your feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303Customer support, consulting and training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

How can we support you? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303Online Customer Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Looking for the best deployment solution for your company? . . . . . . 304Looking for training options? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Useful addresses at a glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Appendix F Glossary 307BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 15

Contents16 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

Getting Startedchapter

Getting StartedAbout this guide1

About this guide

This guide provides you with information on how the use the CMC to manage your BusinessObjects Enterprise system. Procedures are provided for common tasks. Conceptual information and technical details are provided for all advanced topics.For information on how to optimize the security and performance of your BusinessObjects Enterprise system see the BusinessObjects Enterprise Deployment and Configuration Guide. For information about installing BusinessObjects Enterprise, see the BusinessObjects Enterprise Installation Guide.

About BusinessObjects EnterpriseBusinessObjects Enterprise is a flexible, scalable, and reliable solution for delivering powerful, interactive reports to end users via any web applicationintranet, extranet, Internet or corporate portal. Whether it is used for distributing weekly sales reports, providing customers with personalized service offerings, or integrating critical information into corporate portals, BusinessObjects Enterprise delivers tangible benefits that extend across and beyond the organization. As an integrated suite for reporting, analysis, and information delivery, BusinessObjects Enterprise provides a solution for increasing end-user productivity and reducing administrative efforts.18 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

BusinessObjects Enterprise Architecturechapter

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureOverview2

Overview

This section introduces BusinessObjects Enterprise administrators to the architecture of BusinessObjects Enterprise. This section coversthe following topics: Architecture basics Client tier Intelligence tier Processing tier Data tier Report viewers Information flowFor faster navigation, click on the title of the topic you are interested in.

Architecture basicsBusinessObjects Enterprise is a multi-tier system. Although the components are responsible for different tasks, they can be logically grouped based on the type of work they perform. If you are new to BusinessObjects Enterprise, use this section to gain familiarity with the BusinessObjects Enterprise framework, its components, and the general tasks that each component performs.In BusinessObjects Enterprise, there are five tiers: The client tier The application tier The intelligence tier The processing tier The data tierTo provide flexibility, reliability, and scalability, the components that make up each of these tiers can be installed on one machine, or spread across many.The following diagram illustrates how each of the components fits within the multi-tier system. Other Business Objects products plug in to the BusinessObjects Enterprise framework in various ways. This section describes the framework itself. Consult each products installation or administration guides for details about how it integrates with the BusinessObjects Enterprise framework.20 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureArchitecture basics 2The servers run as services on Windows machines. On UNIX, the servers run as daemons. These services can be vertically scaled to take full advantage of the hardware that they are running on, and they can be horizontally scaled to take advantage of multiple computers over a network environment. This means that the services can all run on the same machine, or they can run on separate machines. The same service can also run in multiple instances on a single machine.For example, you can run the CMS and the Event Server on one machine, while you run the Report Application Server on a separate machine. This configuration is called horizontal scaling. If the Report Application Server is BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 21

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureClient tier2running on a multi-processor computer, then you may choose to run multiple Report Application Servers on it. This configuration is called vertical scaling. The important thing to understand is that, even though these are called servers, they are actually services and daemons that do not need to run on separate computers.Tip: When you are familiar with the architecture and want to customize your system configuration, see the BusinessObjects Enterprise Deployment and Configuration Guide.Note: BusinessObjects Enterprise supports reports created in versions 6 through XI of Crystal Reports. Once published to BusinessObjects Enterprise, reports are saved, processed, and displayed in version XI format.

Client tierThe client tier is the only part of the BusinessObjects Enterprise system that administrators and end users interact with directly. This tier is made up of the applications that enable people to administer, publish, and view reports and other objects.

The client tier includes: InfoView Central Management Console (CMC) Central Configuration Manager (CCM) Publishing Wizard Import WizardFor faster navigation, click on the title of the topic you are interested in.

InfoViewBusinessObjects Enterprise comes with InfoView, a web-based interface that end users access to view, schedule, and keep track of published reports. Each BusinessObjects Enterprise request that a user makes is directed to the BusinessObjects Enterprise application tier. In .NET InfoView, the web server forwards the user request directly to an application server where the request 22 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureClient tier 2is processed by the Web Component Adapter (WCA); typically, InfoView only uses the WCA when OLAP is installed. In this case, the web server will forward the .csp request to the WCA for processing.InfoView also serves as a demonstration of the ways in which you can use the BusinessObjects Enterprise Software Development Kit (SDK) to create a custom web application for end users. In the case of .NET, InfoView also demonstrates how you can use the BusinessObjects Enterprise .NET Server Components. For more information, see the developer documentation available on your product CD.

Central Management Console (CMC)The Central Management Console (CMC) allows you to perform user management tasks such as setting up authentication and adding users and groups. It also allows you to publish, organize, and set security levels for all of your BusinessObjects Enterprise content. Additionally, the CMC enables you to manage servers and create server groups. Because the CMC is a web-based application, you can perform all of these administrative tasks remotely. .The CMC also serves as a demonstration of the ways in which you can use the administrative objects and libraries in the BusinessObjects Enterprise SDK to create custom web applications for administering BusinessObjects Enterprise. For more information, see the developer documentation available on your product CD.

Central Configuration Manager (CCM)The Central Configuration Manager (CCM) is a server-management tool that allows you to configure each of your BusinessObjects Enterprise server components. This tool allows you to start, stop, enable, and disable servers, and it allows you to view and to configure advanced server settings. On Windows, these settings include default port numbers, CMS database and clustering details, SOCKS server connections, and more. In addition, on Windows the CCM allows you to add or remove servers from your BusinessObjects Enterprise system. On UNIX, some of these functions are performed using other tools.

Publishing WizardThe Publishing Wizard is a locally installed Windows application that enables both administrators and end users to add reports to BusinessObjects Enterprise. By assigning object rights to BusinessObjects Enterprise folders, BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 23

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureApplication tier2you control who can publish reports and where they can publish them to. The Publishing Wizard publishes reports from a Windows machine to BusinessObjects Enterprise servers running on Windows or on UNIX.For more information, see Chapter 13: Publishing Objects to BusinessObjects Enterprise.

Import WizardThe Import Wizard is a locally installed Windows application that guides administrators through the process of importing users, groups, reports, and folders from an existing BusinessObjects Enterprise, Crystal Enterprise, or Crystal Info implementation to BusinessObjects Enterprise. The Import Wizard runs on Windows, but you can use it to import information into a new BusinessObjects Enterprise system running on Windows or on UNIX.For more information, see the BusinessObjects Enterprise Installation Guide.

Application tierThe application tier hosts the server-side components that process requests from the client tier as well as the components that communicate these requests to the appropriate server in the intelligence tier. The application tier includes support for report viewing and logic to understand and direct web requests to the appropriate BusinessObjects Enterprise server in the intelligence tier.For both the Java and .NET platforms, the application tier includes the following components: Application server and BusinessObjects Enterprise SDK Web Component Adapter (WCA)24 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureApplication tier 2Note: In Crystal Enterprise 10 on Windows, the communication between the web server and the application server was handled through the Web Connector; the functionality of the Web Component Adapter (WCA) was provided through the Web Component Server (WCS). In BusinessObjects Enterprise XI, the web server communicates directly with the application server and the WCA handles the WCS functionality, both on Windows and Unix platforms.

Application server and BusinessObjects Enterprise SDKBusinessObjects Enterprise systems that use the BusinessObjects Enterprise Java SDK or the BusinessObjects Enterprise .NET SDK run on a third party application server. See the Platforms.txt file included with your product distribution for a complete list of tested application servers and version requirements.The application server acts as the gateway between the web server and the rest of the components in BusinessObjects Enterprise. The application server is responsible for processing requests from your browser. It also supports InfoView and other Business Objects applications, and uses the SDK to convert report pages (.epf files) to HTML format when users view pages with a DHTML viewer.

Web Component Adapter (WCA)The web server communicates directly with the application server that hosts the BusinessObjects Enterprise SDK. The Web Component Adapter (WCA) runs within the application server and provides all services that are not directly supported by the BusinessObjects Enterprise SDK. The web server passes requests directly to the application server, which then forwards the requests on to the WCA.The WCA has two primary roles: It processes ASP.NET (.aspx) and Java Server Pages (.jsp) files It also supports Business Objects applications such as the CMC (CMC)

and Crystal report viewers (that are implemented through viewrpt.aspx requests).

Note: In Crystal Enterprise 10 on Windows, the communication between the web server and the application server was handled through the Web Connector; the functionality of the Web Component Adapter (WCA) was provided through the Web Component Server (WCS). In BusinessObjects Enterprise XI, the web server communicates directly with the application server and the WCA handles the WCS functionality, both on Windows and Unix platforms.BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 25

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureApplication tier2

Web development platforms

BusinessObjects Enterprise supports the following web development platforms: Java platform Windows .NET platform

Java platformAll UNIX installations of BusinessObjects Enterprise include a Web Component Adapter (WCA). In this configuration, a Java application server is required to host the WCA and the BusinessObjects Enterprise Java SDK. The use of a web server is optional as you may choose to have static content hosted by the application server.

Windows .NET platformBusinessObjects Enterprise installations that use the .NET Framework include Primary Interop Assemblies (PIAs) that allow you to use the BusinessObjects Enterprise .NET SDK with ASP.NET, and a set of .NET Server Components that you can optionally use to simplify the development of custom applications. This configuration requires the use of a Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) web server.Note: In Crystal Enterprise 10 on Windows, the communication between the web server and the application server was handled through the Web Connector; the functionality of the Web Component Adapter (WCA) was provided through the Web Component Server (WCS). In BusinessObjects Enterprise XI, the web server communicates directly with the application server and the WCA handles the WCS functionality, both on Windows and Unix platforms.You do not need a Web Component Adapter for custom ASP.NET applications.

Web application environmentsBusinessObjects Enterprise supports Java Server Pages (.jsp) and ASP.NET (.aspx) pages. BusinessObjects Enterprise includes web applications developed in .aspx, such as InfoView and the sample applications available via the BusinessObjects Enterprise Launchpad.Java Server Pages (.jsp) and ASP.NET (.aspx) pages allow you to develop cross-platform J2EE and ASP.NET applications that use the BusinessObjects Enterprise SDKs in conjunction with third party APIs.26 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureIntelligence tier 2Note: For backward compatibility, BusinessObjects Enterprise continues to support Crystal Server Pages (.csp) and Active Server Pages (.asp).BusinessObjects Enterprise also includes Primary Interop Assemblies (PIAs) that enable you to use the BusinessObjects Enterprise SDK and Report Application Server SDK with ASP.NET. It also includes a set of .NET Server Components which simplify development of custom BusinessObjects Enterprise applications in ASP.NET.For more information, see the developer documentation available on your product CD.

Intelligence tierThe intelligence tier manages the BusinessObjects Enterprise system. It maintains all of the security information, sends requests to the appropriate servers, manages audit information, and stores report instances.

The intelligence tier includes the following components: Central Management Server (CMS) Event Server File Repository Servers Cache Server

Central Management Server (CMS)The CMS is responsible for maintaining a database of information about your BusinessObjects Enterprise system, which other components can access as required. The data stored by the CMS includes information about users and groups, security levels, BusinessObjects Enterprise content, and servers.The CMS also maintains the BusinessObjects Enterprise Repository, and a separate audit database of information about user actions. This data allows the CMS to perform its four main tasks: Maintaining securityBusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 27

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureIntelligence tier2By maintaining a database of users and their associated object rights, the CMS enforces who has access to BusinessObjects Enterprise and the types of tasks they are able to perform. These tasks include enforcing and maintaining the licensing policy of your BusinessObjects Enterprise system.

Managing objectsThe CMS keeps track of the location of objects and maintains the containment hierarchy, which includes folders, categories, and inboxes. By communicating with the Job Servers and Program Job Servers, the CMS is able to ensure that scheduled jobs run at the appropriate times.

Managing serversBy staying in frequent contact with each of the servers in the system, the CMS is able to maintain a list of server status. Report viewers access this list, for instance, to identify which Cache Server is free to use for a report viewing request.

Managing auditingBy collecting information about user actions from each BusinessObjects Enterprise server, and then writing these records to a central audit database, the CMS acts as the system auditor. This audit information allows system administrators to better manage their BusinessObjects Enterprise deployment.

Typically, you provide the CMS with database connectivity and credentials when you install BusinessObjects Enterprise, so the CMS can create its own system database and BusinessObjects Enterprise Repository database using your organizations preferred database server. For details about setting up CMS databases, see the BusinessObjects Enterprise Installation Guide. See the Platforms.txt file included with your product distribution for a complete list of tested database software and version requirements.Note: It is strongly recommended that you back up the CMS system database,

and the audit database frequently. The backup procedure depends upon your database software. If you are unsure of the procedure, consult with your database administrator.

The CMS database should not be accessed directly. System information should only be retrieved using the calls that are provided in the BusinessObjects Enterprise Software Development Kit (SDK). For more information, see the developer documentation available on your product CD.28 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureIntelligence tier 2 You can access the audit database directly to create custom audit reports. See the BusinessObjects Enterprise Auditors Guide for more information.

On Windows, the Setup program can install and configure its own Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) database if necessary. MSDE is a client/server data engine that provides local data storage and is compatible with Microsoft SQL Server. If you already have the MSDE or SQL Server installed, the installation program uses it to create the CMS system database. You can migrate your default CMS system database to a supported database server later.For details about configuring the CMS, its system database, and CMS clusters, see the BusinessObjects Enterprise Deployment and Configuration Guide. For more information about Auditing, see the BusinessObjects Enterprise Auditors Guide.

Event ServerThe Event Server manages file-based events. When you set up a file-based event within BusinessObjects Enterprise, the Event Server monitors the directory that you specified. When the appropriate file appears in the monitored directory, the Event Server triggers your file-based event: that is, the Event Server notifies the CMS that the file-based event has occurred. The CMS then starts any jobs that are dependent upon your file-based event.After notifying the CMS of the event, the Event Server resets itself and again monitors the directory for the appropriate file. When the file is newly created in the monitored directory, the Event Server again triggers your file-based event.Note: Schedule-based events, and custom events are managed by the CMS.

File Repository ServersThere is an Input and an Output File Repository Server in every BusinessObjects Enterprise implementation.The Input File Repository Server manages all of the report objects and program objects that have been published to the system by administrators or end users (using the Publishing Wizard, the CMC, the Import Wizard, or a Business Objects designer component such as Crystal Reports or the Web Intelligence Java or HTML Report Panels).Tip: If you use the BusinessObjects Enterprise SDK, you can also publish reports from within your own code.BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 29

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureProcessing tier2The Output File Repository Server manages all of the report instances generated by the Report Job Server or the Web Intelligence Report Server, and the program instances generated by the Program Job Server.The File Repository Servers are responsible for listing files on the server, querying for the size of a file, querying for the size of the entire file repository, adding files to the repository, and removing files from the repository.Note: The Input and Output File Repository Servers cannot share the same

directories. This is because one of the File Repository Servers could then delete files and directories belonging to the other.

In larger deployments, there may be multiple Input and Output File Repository Servers, for redundancy. In this case, all Input File Repository Servers must share the same directory. Likewise, all Output File Repository Servers must share a directory.

Objects with files associated with them, such as text files, Microsoft Word files, or PDFs, are stored on the Input File Repository Server.

Cache ServerThe Cache Server is responsible for handling all report viewing requests. The Cache Server checks whether or not it can fulfill the request with a cached report page. If the Cache Server finds a cached page that displays exactly the required data, with data that has been refreshed from the database within the interval that you have specified as the default, the Cache Server returns that cached report page.If the Cache Server cannot fulfil the request with a cached report page, it passes the request along to the Page Server. The Page Server runs the report and returns the results to the Cache Server. The Cache Server then caches the report page for future use, and returns the data to the viewer. By storing report pages in a cache, BusinessObjects Enterprise avoids accessing the database each and every time a report is requested.If you are running multiple Page Servers for a single Cache Server, the Cache Server automatically balances the processing load across Page Servers.

Processing tierThe processing tier accesses the data and generates the reports. It is the only tier that interacts directly with the databases that contain the report data.30 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureProcessing tier 2The processing tier includes: Job servers Web Intelligence Report Server Report Application Server (RAS) Page Server

Job serversA Job Server processes scheduled actions on objects at the request of the CMS. When you add a Job Server to the BusinessObjects Enterprise system, you can configure the Job Server to: Process report objects Process program objects Send objects or instances to specified destinationsIf you configure a Job Server to process report objects, it becomes a Report Job Server. If you configure a Job Server to process program objects, it becomes a Program Job Server, and so on. The processing tier includes: Report Job Server Program Job Server Web Intelligence Job Server Destination Job Server List of Values Job Server Desktop Intelligence Job ServerBusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 31

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureProcessing tier2

Report Job Server

If you configure a Job Server to process report objects, it becomes a Report Job Server.The Report Job Server processes scheduled reports, as requested by the CMS, and generates report instances (instances are versions of a report object that contain saved data). To generate a report instance, the Report Job Server obtains the report object from the Input FRS and communicates with the database to retrieve the current data. Once it has generated the report instance, it stores the instance on the Output FRS.

Program Job ServerIf you configure a Job Server to process program objects, it becomes a Program Job Server.Program objects allow you to write, publish, and schedule custom applications, including scripts, Java programs or .NET programs that run against, and perform maintenance work on, BusinessObjects Enterprise.The Program Job Server processes scheduled program objects, as requested by the CMS. To run a program, the Program Job Server first retrieves the files from storage on the Input File Repository Server, and then runs the program. By definition, program objects are custom applications. Therefore the outcome of running a program will be dependent upon the particular program object that is run.Unlike report instances, which can be viewed in their completed format, program instances exist as records in the object history. BusinessObjects Enterprise stores the programs standard out and standard error in a text output file. This file appears when you click a program instance in the object History.

Web Intelligence Job ServerThe Web Intelligence Job Server processes scheduling requests it receives from the CMS for Web Intelligence documents. It forwards these requests to the Web Intelligence Report Server, which will generate the instance of the Web Intelligence document. The Web Intelligence Job Server does not actually generate object instances.

Destination Job ServerIf you configure a Job Server to send objects or instances, it becomes a Destination Job Server.A Destination Job Server processes requests that it receives from the CMS and sends the requested objects or instances to the specified destination:32 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureProcessing tier 2 If the request is for an object, it retrieves the object from the Input File Repository Server.

If the request is for a report or program instance, it retrieves the instance from the Output File Repository Server.

The Destination Job Server can send objects and instances to destinations inside the BusinessObjects Enterprise system, for example, a users inbox, or outside the system, for example, by sending a file to an email address.The Destination Job Server does not run the actual report or program objects. It only handles objects and instances that already exist in the Input or Output File Repository Servers.

List of Values Job ServerThe List of Values Job Server processes scheduled list-of-value objects. These are objects that contain the values of specific fields in a Business View. Lists of values are use to implement dynamic prompts and cascading lists of values within Crystal Reports. List-of-value objects do not appear in CMC or InfoView. For more information, see the Business Views Administrators Guide.The List of Values Job Server behaves similarly to the Report Job Server in that it retrieves the scheduled objects from the Input File Repository Server (FRS) and saves the instance it generates to the Output FRS. There is never more than one instance of a list-of-values object. On demand list of value objects are processed by the Report Application Server.

Desktop Intelligence Job ServerThe Desktop Intelligence Job Server processes scheduling requests it receives from the CMS for Desktop Intelligence documents and generates the instance of the Desktop Intelligence document.

Web Intelligence Report ServerThe Web Intelligence Report Server is used to create, edit, view, and analyze Web Intelligence documents. It also processes scheduled Web Intelligence documents and generates new instances of the document, which it stores on the Output File Repository Server (FRS). Depending on the users access rights and the refresh options of the document, the Web Intelligence Report Server will use cached information, or it will refresh the data in the document and then cache the new information.BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 33

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureProcessing tier2

Report Application Server (RAS)

The Report Application Server (RAS) processes reports that users view with the Advanced DHTML viewer. The RAS also provides the ad hoc reporting capabilities that allow users to create and modify reports over the Web.The RAS is very similar to the Page Server: it too is primarily responsible for responding to page requests by processing reports and generating EPF pages. However, the RAS uses an internal caching mechanism that involves no interaction with the Cache Server.As with the Page Server, the RAS supports COM, ASP.NET, and Java viewer SDKs. The Report Application Server also includes an SDK for report-creation and modification, providing you with tools for building custom report interaction interfaces.

Page Server The Page Server is primarily responsible for responding to page requests by processing reports and generating Encapsulated Page Format (EPF) pages. The EPF pages contain formatting information that defines the layout of the report. The Page Server retrieves data for the report from an instance or directly from the database (depending on the users request and the rights he or she has to the report object). When retrieving data from the database, the Page Server automatically disconnects from the database after it fulfills its initial request and reconnects if necessary to retrieve additional data. (This behavior conserves database licenses.)The Cache Server and Page Server work closely together. Specifically, the Page Server responds to page requests made by the Cache Server. The Page Server and Cache Server also interact to ensure cached EPF pages are reused as frequently as possible, and new pages are generated as soon as they are required. BusinessObjects Enterprise takes advantage of this behavior by ensuring that the majority of report-viewing requests are made to the Cache Server and Page Server. (However, if a users default viewer is the Advanced DHTML viewer, the report is processed by the Report Application Server.)The Page Server also supports COM, ASP.NET, and Java viewer Software Development Kits (SDKs).34 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureData tier 2Data tierThe data tier is made up of the databases that contain the data used in the reports. BusinessObjects Enterprise supports a wide range of corporate databases.

See the Platforms.txt file included with your product distribution for a complete list of tested database software and version requirements.

Report viewersBusinessObjects Enterprise includes report viewers that support different platforms and different browsers in the client tier, and which have different report viewing functionality. (For more information on the specific functionality or platform support provided by each report viewer, see the BusinessObjects Enterprise Users Guide or the Crystal Reports Developers Guide.)All of the viewers fall into two categories: client-side viewers

Client-side viewers are downloaded and installed in the users web browser.

zero client viewersThe code to support zero client viewers resides in the application tier.

All report viewers help process requests for reports, and present report pages that appear in the users browser.

Client-side viewersClient-side viewers are downloaded and installed in the users browser. When a user requests a report, the application server processes the request, and retrieves the report pages (in .epf format) from the BusinessObjects

client-side viewers zero client viewers

Active X viewer DHTML viewerJava viewer Advanced DHTML viewerBusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 35

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureInformation flow2Enterprise framework. The application server then passes the report pages to the client-side viewer, which processes the report pages and displays them directly in the browser.

Zero client viewersZero client viewers reside on the application server. When a user requests a report, the application server processes the request, and then retrieves the report pages (in .epf format) from the BusinessObjects Enterprise framework. The SDK creates a viewer object on the application server which processes the report pages and creates DHTML pages that represent both the viewer controls and the report itself. The viewer object then sends these pages through the web server to the users web browser.

Installing viewersIf they havent already done so, users are prompted to download and install the appropriate viewer software before the report is displayed in the browser. The Active X viewer is downloaded the first time a user requests a report, and then remains installed on the users machine. The user will be prompted to reinstall the ActiveX viewer only when a new version becomes available on the server.

Information flowThis section describes the interaction of the server components in order to demonstrate how report-processing is performed. This section covers two different scenarios: What happens when you schedule an object? What happens when you view a report?

What happens when you schedule an object?When you schedule an object, you instruct BusinessObjects Enterprise to process an object at a particular point in time, or on a recurring schedule. For example, if you have a report that is based on your web server logs, you can schedule the report to run every night on a recurring basis.When a user schedules an object using InfoView, the following happens:1. InfoView sends the request to the web server.2. The web server passes the web request directly to the application server,

where it is evaluated by the BusinessObjects Enterprise SDK.3. The SDK passes the request to the CMS.36 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureInformation flow 24. The CMS checks to see if the user has sufficient rights to schedule the object.

5. If the user has sufficient rights, the CMS schedules the object to be run at the specified time(s).

6. When the time occurs, the CMS passes the job to the appropriate job server. Depending on the type of object, the CMS will send the job to one of the following job servers: If the object is Web Intelligence document, it sends the job to the

Web Intelligence Job Server, which sends the request to the Web Intelligence Report Server.

If the object is a report, it sends the job to the Report Job Server. If the object is program, it sends the job to the Program Job Server.

7. The job server retrieves the object from the Input File Repository Server and runs the object against the database, thereby creating an instance of the object.

8. The job server then saves the instance to the Output File Repository Server, and tells the CMS that it has completed the job successfully.If the job was for a Web Intelligence document, the Web Intelligence Report Server notifies the Web Intelligence Job Server. The Web Intelligence Job Server then notifies the CMS that the job was completed successfully.

Note: The Cache Server and the Page Server do not participate in scheduling

reports or in creating instances of scheduled reports. This can be an important consideration when deciding how to configure BusinessObjects Enterprise, especially in large installations. For more information, see the BusinessObjects Enterprise Deployment and Configuration Guide.

When you schedule program objects or object packages, the interaction between servers follows the same pattern as it does for reports.

What happens when you view a report?This section describes the viewing mechanisms that are implemented in InfoView. It contains information on: Report viewing with the Cache Server and Page Server Report viewing with the Report Application Server Viewing Web Intelligence documentsBusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 37

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureInformation flow2When you view a report through BusinessObjects Enterprise, the processing flow varies depending upon your default report viewer, the type of report, and the rights you have to the report. In addition, the processing flow for custom applications may differ. In all cases, however, the request that begins at the web server must be forwarded to the application server.The actual request is constructed as a URL that includes the reports unique ID. This ID is passed as a parameter to a server-side script that, when evaluated by the application server, verifies the users session and retrieves the logon token from the browser. The script then checks the users InfoView preferences and redirects the request to the viewing mechanism that corresponds to the users default viewer.Different report viewers require different viewing mechanisms: The zero-client DHTML viewer is implemented through

report_view_dhtml.aspx.When evaluated by the application server, this script communicates with the framework (through the published SDK interfaces) in order to create a viewer object and retrieve a report source from the Cache Server and Page Server.

The zero-client Advanced DHTML viewer is implemented through report_view_advanced.aspx.When evaluated by the application server, this script communicates with the framework (through the published SDK interfaces) in order to create a viewer object and retrieve a report source from the Report Application Server.

The client-side report viewers (the ActiveX and Java viewers) are implemented through viewrpt.aspx, hosted by the WCA.The Crystal Web Request is executed internally through viewer code on the application server. The viewer code communicates with the framework in order to retrieve a report page (in .epf format) from the Cache Server and Page Server.If they havent already done so, users are prompted to download and install the appropriate viewer software.

Report viewing with the Cache Server and Page ServerThis section describes the process for viewing a Crystal report when using the zero-client DHTML, ActiveX, or Java viewer. This process uses the Cache Server and the Page Server.1. Upon receiving a report-viewing request, the Cache Server checks to see

if it has the requested pages cached. Cached pages are stored as Encapsulated Page Format (.epf) files.38 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureInformation flow 22. If a cached page for the report (.epf file) is available:a. The Cache Server checks with the CMS to see if the user has rights

to view the cached page.b. If the user is granted the right to view the report, the Cache Server

sends the cached page (.epf file) to the application server.3. If a cached page for the report (.epf file) is unavailable:

a. The Cache Server requests new cached pages (.epf files) from the Page Server.

b. The Page Server checks with the CMS to see if the user has rights to view the report.

c. If the user is granted the right to view the report, the Page Server retrieves the report from the Input File Repository Server.

d. If the report is an instance, and the user only has View rights, the Page Server will generate pages of the report instance using the data stored in the report instance. That is, the Page Server will not retrieve the latest data from the database.If the report is an object, the user must have View On Demand rights to view the report successfully (because the Page Server needs to retrieve data from the database).

e. If the user has sufficient rights, the Page Server generates the cached page (.epf files) and forwards them to the Cache Server.

f. The Cache Server then caches the pages (.epf files).g. The Cache Server sends the pages (.epf files) to the application

server.4. The application server sends the report to the users Web browser in one

of two ways, depending on how the initial request was made: If the initial request was made through a DHTML viewer

(report_view_dhtml.aspx), the viewer SDK (residing on the application server) is used to generate HTML that represents both the DHTML viewer and the report itself. The HTML pages are then returned through the web server to the users web browser.

If the initial request was made through an Active X or Java viewer (viewrpt.aspx), the application server forwards the cached pages (.epf files) through the web server to the report viewer software in the users web browser.BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 39

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureInformation flow2

Report viewing with the Report Application Server

This section describes the process for viewing a Crystal report when using the Advanced DHTML viewer. This process flow uses the Report Application Server (RAS).1. Upon receiving a report-viewing request, the RAS checks to see if it has

the requested report data in cache. (The RAS has its own caching mechanism, which is separate from the Cache Server.)

2. If a cached version of the report (.epf file) is available:a. The RAS checks with the CMS to see if the user has rights to view

the report.b. If the user is granted the right to view the report, the RAS returns

cached pages (.epf files) to the application server.3. If a cached page of the report (.epf file) is unavailable:

a. The RAS checks with the CMS to see if the user has rights to view the report.

b. If the user is granted the right to view the report, the RAS retrieves the report object from the Input File Repository Server.

c. The RAS then processes the report object, obtains the data from the database, generates the cached pages (.epf files), caches the pages and sends the pages to the application server.

d. If the user is granted View rights to the report object, then the RAS will only ever generate pages of the latest report instance. That is, the RAS will not retrieve the latest data from the database.If the user is granted View On Demand rights to the report object, then the RAS will refresh the report against the database.Note: The interactive search and filter features provided by the Advanced DHTML viewer are available only if the user has View On Demand rights (or greater) to the report object.

4. When the application server receives the cached pages (.epf files) from the RAS, the viewer SDK generates HTML that represents both the Advanced DHTML viewer and the report itself.

5. The application server sends the HTML pages through the web server to the users web browser.

Viewing Web Intelligence documentsThis section describes the process for viewing a Web Intelligence document.1. InfoView sends the request to the web application server.40 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureInformation flow 22. The web application server sends the request to the application server, which creates a new session with the Web Intelligence Report Server.

3. The Web Intelligence Report Server checks if the user has rights to use the Web Intelligence application.

4. The web application server then sends the request to the Web Intelligence Report Server.

5. The Web Intelligence Report Server contacts the CMS to check whether the user has the right to view the document, and to check when the document was last updated.

6. If the user has the right to view the document, the Web Intelligence Report Server checks whether it has up-to-date cached content for the document.

7. If cached content is available, the Web Intelligence Report Server sends the cached document information to the SDK.If cached content is not available, the following happens:a. The Web Intelligence Report Server obtains the document

information from the CMS and checks what rights the user has on the document.

b. The Web Intelligence Report Server obtains the Web Intelligence document from either the Input or Output File Repository Server and loads the document file.Note: Which FRS is used depends on whether the request was for a Web Intelligence document that was saved to BusinessObjects Enterprise or for an instance of the document. Documents are stored on the Input FRS. Instances are generated when an object is run according to a schedule, and they are stored on the Output FRS.

c. If the document is set to refresh on open and the user has the View On Demand rights, the Web Intelligence Report Server refreshes the data in the document with data from the database.Note: If the document is set to refresh on open but the user does not have View On Demand rights, an error message is displayed.

d. The Web Intelligence Report Server stores the document file and the new document information in cache.

e. The Web Intelligence Report Server sends the document information to the SDK.

8. The viewer script calls the SDK to get the requested page of the document. The request is passed to the Web Intelligence Report Server.BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 41

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureSecurity management components29. If the Web Intelligence Report Server has cached content for the page, it returns the cached XML to the SDK.If the Web Intelligence Report Server does not have the cached content for the page, it renders the page to XML using the current data for the document. It then returns the XML to the SDK.

10. The SDK applies an XSLT style sheet to the XML to transform it to HTML.11. The viewer script returns the HTML to the browser.

Security management componentsSystem security within BusinessObjects Enterprise is distributed across most components, but it is managed primarily by the WCA, the CMS, the security plug-ins, and third-party authentication tools, such as SiteMinder and Kerberos. These components work together to authenticate and to authorize users who access BusinessObjects Enterprise, its folders, and its other objects.This section discusses key components as they relate to system security, including: Web Component Adapter CMS Security plug-insNote: Because these components are responsible for additional tasks, several of the components discussed here are described in additional detail elsewhere in this section.

Web Component AdapterThe WCA is the gateway between the web server and the remaining BusinessObjects Enterprise components. As such, the WCA receives all HTTP requests that are sent to BusinessObjects Enterprise from users web browsers.The WCA ensures that each user has a valid logon token for the system. If the logon token is missing, or if it has expired, the WCA initiates the primary authentication process.The WCA is also responsible for maintaining the users session state in the WCA session variable. This session variable contains information that BusinessObjects Enterprise uses when fulfilling users requests.42 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureSecurity management components 2CMSIn relation to system security, the Central Management Server (CMS) performs a number of important tasks. The majority of these tasks rely upon the database that the CMS uses to keep track of BusinessObjects Enterprise system data. This data includes security information, such as user accounts, group memberships, and object rights that define user and group privileges.When you first set up your system, the CMS allows you to create user accounts and groups within BusinessObjects Enterprise. And, with its third-party security plug-ins, the CMS allows you to reuse existing user accounts and groups that are stored in a third-party system (a Windows NT user database, an LDAP directory server, or a Windows AD server). The CMS supports third-party authentication, so users can log on to BusinessObjects Enterprise with their current Windows NT, LDAP, or Windows AD credentials.When users log on, the CMS coordinates the authentication process with its security plug-ins; the CMS then grants the user a logon token and an active session on the system. The CMS also responds to authorization requests made by the rest of the system. When a user requests a list of reports in a particular folder, the CMS authorizes the request only when it has verified that the users account or group membership provides sufficient privileges..For more information about the CMS and the CMS database, see Central Management Server (CMS) on page 27.

Security plug-insSecurity plug-ins expand and customize the ways in which BusinessObjects Enterprise authenticates users. BusinessObjects Enterprise currently ships with the system default BusinessObjects Enterprise security plug-in and with the Windows NT, LDAP, and Windows AD security plug-ins. Each security plug-in offers several key benefits.Security plug-ins facilitate account creation and management by allowing you to map user accounts and groups from third-party systems into BusinessObjects Enterprise. You can map third-party user accounts or groups to existing BusinessObjects Enterprise user accounts or groups, or you can create new Enterprise user accounts or groups that corresponds to each mapped entry in the external system.The security plug-ins dynamically maintain third-party user and group listings. So, once you map a Windows NT, LDAP, or Windows AD group into BusinessObjects Enterprise, all users who belong to that group can log on to BusinessObjects Enterprise. When you make subsequent changes to the third-party group membership, you need not update or refresh the listing in BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrators Guide 43

BusinessObjects Enterprise ArchitectureSecurity management components2BusinessObjects Enterprise. For instance, if you map a Windows NT group to BusinessObjects Enterprise, and then you add a new NT user to the NT group, the security plug-in dynamically creates an alias for that new user when he or she first logs on to BusinessObjects Enterprise with valid NT credentials.Moreover, security plug-ins enable you to assign rights to users and groups in a consistent manner, because the mapped users and groups are treated as if they were Enterprise accounts. For example, you might map some user accounts or groups fr