LCM and the magic of 7-zip

LCM is a great tool in the EPM world in terms of migrating artifacts from one environment to another, however, it being a real world, we know it is not perfect to the core. Moreover, when it comes to migrating reports from one environment to another, owing to the long, crazy, weird hard-to-remember paths that 

Hyperion is used to, we get those errors while trying to copy the “EXPORT FOLDER IN SOURCE ENVIRONMENT” to “IMPORT FOLDER IN TARGET ENVIRONMENT.” I think you understand what I mean, right, if you are used to LCM and those errors.

This is where 7-zip comes in handy. Windows comes with its very own Win-Zip, however, I am not a huge fan of it. 7-zip is a free tool and, I believe, it works a lot better when it comes to zipping the Hyperion kind-of files.

This is how it can be used in the process of LCM.

When you perform an LCM export in the source environment, a folder is created in the IMPORT-EXPORT folder.

For example, if you have performed an LCM export with the ADMIN account and named the export “REPORT 2013” the following would be the path/file you would be looking for –

\\Server\d$\oracle\Middleware\user_projects\epmsystem1\import_export\admin@Native Directory\REPORT 2013.

Here is the trick now. If you try to copy the folder “REPORT 2013” directly to the target environment, you can get errors, such as “file too long” OR “permission related” etc. This is where you can use 7-zip. As I have already mentioned earlier, it is free to download, and it takes only a minute or so to install it. Zip the “REPORT 2013” folder, and copy the “zipped” folder and paste it to the target IMPORT-EXPORT folder. Now you go to the target server and unzip it, and there you go, you have the files, ready to be imported in the target environment. 

SendTo folder in Windows Server 2008 R2

SendTo folder comes in pretty handy when it comes to running Maxl and ESSCMD scripts in the Oracle Essbase environment and several other regular activities such as sending Mails, zipping, etc.

While some are there in the SendTo folder by default, ESSCMD, Maxl, etc should be added manually in the SendTo folder before we can use it.

If you are looking for “how to add items to the SendTo folder” follow the instructions below. In this example, I am going to add ESSCMD and ESSMSH (Maxl) to the SendTo folder. You can add other elements in the 2008 R2 environment in the same way.

NOTE: SentTo folder is located in C:\Users\whatever_your_username_is\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows and the AppData folder is “HIDDEN” by default,

therefore,

if you do not see the AppData folder under “whatever_your_username_is”

a. GOTO > Control Panel > Folder Options

b. Under the VIEW tab, click the Radio Button “Show hidden files, folders, and drives” > Apply

Now,

a. Navigate through C:\Users\whatever_your_username_is\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows and you will be able to see the SendTo folder.

b. Next, find the ESSCMD and ESSMSH (Maxl) – both .exe files. The path should be something like “D:\oracle\Middleware\EPMSystem11R1\products\Essbase\EssbaseServer\bin”

c. Copy them under the SendTo folder and you are all set.

Now, if you have a Maxl or Esscmd script that you want to run, you can just right-click it and SentTo proper file type.