MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server. System Administrator Guide

Transcription

1 Microtrategy arrowcast erver ystem Administrator Guide Version 9.4

2 wenty-sixth dition, version 9.4 o ensure that you are using the documentation that corresponds to the software you are licensed to use, compare this version number with the software version shown in About Microtrategy... in the Help menu of your software. Document number: opyright by Microtrategy ncorporated. All rights reserved. f you have not executed a written or electronic agreement with Microtrategy or any authorized Microtrategy distributor, the following terms apply: his software and documentation are the proprietary and confidential information of Microtrategy ncorporated and may not be provided to any other person. opyright by Microtrategy ncorporated. All rights reserved. H FWAR AD DUMA AR RVDD A AD WHU XR R LMD WARRAY F AY KD BY HR MRRAGY RRAD R AY WH HA B VLVD H RA, RDU, R DRBU F H FWAR R DUMA, LUDG, BU LMD, H MLD WARRA F MRHAABLY AD F FR A ARULAR UR, GD L AD FRGM, QUALY R AURAY. H R RK A H QUALY AD RFRMA F H FWAR AD DUMA WH YU. HULD H FWAR R DUMA RV DFV, YU (AD MRRAGY,. R AY L WH HA B VLVD WH H RA, RDU, R DRBU F H FWAR R DUMA) AUM H R F ALL ARY RVG, RAR, R RR. M A D ALLW H XLU F MLD WARRA, H ABV XLU MAY ALY YU. n no event will Microtrategy, nc. or any other person involved with the creation, production, or distribution of the oftware be liable to you on account of any claim for damage, including any lost profits, lost savings, or other special, incidental, consequential, or exemplary damages, including but not limited to any damages assessed against or paid by you to any third party, arising from the use, inability to use, quality, or performance of such oftware and Documentation, even if Microtrategy, nc. or any such other person or entity has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or for the claim by any other party. n addition, Microtrategy, nc. or any other person involved in the creation, production, or distribution of the oftware shall not be liable for any claim by you or any other party for damages arising from the use, inability to use, quality, or performance of such oftware and Documentation, based upon principles of contract warranty, negligence, strict liability for the negligence of indemnity or contribution, the failure of any remedy to achieve its essential purpose, or otherwise. he entire liability of Microtrategy, nc. and your exclusive remedy shall not exceed, at the option of Microtrategy, nc., either a full refund of the price paid, or replacement of the oftware. o oral or written information given out expands the liability of Microtrategy, nc. beyond that specified in the above limitation of liability. ome states do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation may not apply to you. he information contained in this manual (the Documentation) and the oftware are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by Microtrategy, nc. Microtrategy, nc. reserves the right to make periodic modifications to the oftware or the Documentation without obligation to notify any person or entity of such revision. opying, duplicating, selling, or otherwise distributing any part of the oftware or Documentation without prior written consent of an authorized representative of Microtrategy, nc. are prohibited. U.. Government Restricted Rights. t is acknowledged that the oftware and Documentation were developed at private expense, that no part is public domain, and that the oftware and Documentation are ommercial omputer oftware provided with RRD RGH under Federal Acquisition Regulations and agency supplements to them. Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.. Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in echnical Data and omputer oftware clause at DFAR et. seq. or subparagraphs (c)(1) and (2) of the ommercial omputer oftware Restricted Rights at FAR , as applicable. ontractor is Microtrategy, nc., 1850 owers rescent laza, Vienna, VA Rights are reserved under copyright laws of the United tates with respect to unpublished portions of the oftware. he following are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microtrategy ncorporated in the United tates and certain other countries: Microtrategy, Microtrategy 6, Microtrategy 7, Microtrategy 7i, Microtrategy 7i valuation dition, Microtrategy 7i lap ervices, Microtrategy 8, Microtrategy 9, Microtrategy Distribution ervices, Microtrategy Multiource ption, Microtrategy ommand Manager, Microtrategy nterprise Manager, Microtrategy bject Manager, Microtrategy Reporting uite, Microtrategy ower User, Microtrategy Analyst, Microtrategy onsumer, Microtrategy mail Delivery, Microtrategy B Author, Microtrategy B Modeler, Microtrategy valuation dition, Microtrategy Administrator, Microtrategy Agent, Microtrategy Architect, Microtrategy B Developer Kit, Microtrategy Broadcast erver, Microtrategy Broadcaster, Microtrategy Broadcaster erver, Microtrategy Business ntelligence latform, Microtrategy onsulting, Microtrategy RM Applications, Microtrategy ustomer Analyzer, Microtrategy Desktop, Microtrategy Desktop Analyst, Microtrategy Desktop Designer, Microtrategy erm 7, Microtrategy ducation, Microtrategy erainer, Microtrategy xecutive, Microtrategy nfocenter, Microtrategy ntelligence erver, Microtrategy ntelligence erver Universal dition, Microtrategy MDX Adapter, Microtrategy arrowcast erver, ii

3 Microtrategy bjects, Microtrategy LA rovider, Microtrategy DK, Microtrategy upport, Microtrategy elecaster, Microtrategy ransactor, Microtrategy Web, Microtrategy Web Business Analyzer, Microtrategy World, Application Development and ophisticated Analysis, Best n Business ntelligence, entralized Application Management, nformation Like Water, ntelligence hrough very hone, ntelligence o very Decision Maker, ntelligent -Business, ersonalized ntelligence ortal, Query one, Rapid Application Development, Microtrategy ntelligent ubes, he Foundation For ntelligent -Business, he ntegrated Business ntelligence latform Built For he nterprise, he latform For ntelligent -Business, he calable Business ntelligence latform Built For he nternet, ffice ntelligence, Microtrategy ffice, Microtrategy Report ervices, Microtrategy Web MM, Microtrategy Web ervices, ixel erfect, ixel-erfect, Microtrategy Mobile, Microtrategy ntegrity Manager and Microtrategy Data Mining ervices are all registered trademarks or trademarks of Microtrategy ncorporated. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. pecifications subject to change without notice. Microtrategy is not responsible for errors or omissions. Microtrategy makes no warranties or commitments concerning the availability of future products or versions that may be planned or under development. atent nformation his product is patented. ne or more of the following patents may apply to the product sold herein: U.. atent os. 6,154,766, 6,173,310, 6,260,050, 6,263,051, 6,269,393, 6,279,033, 6,567,796, 6,587,547, 6,606,596, 6,658,093, 6,658,432, 6,662,195, 6,671,715, 6,691,100, 6,694,316, 6,697,808, 6,704,723, 6,741,980, 6,765,997, 6,768,788, 6,772,137, 6,788,768, 6,798,867, 6,801,910, 6,820,073, 6,829,334, 6,836,537, 6,850,603, 6,859,798, 6,873,693, 6,885,734, 6,940,953, 6,964,012, 6,977,992, 6,996,568, 6,996,569, 7,003,512, 7,010,518, 7,016,480, 7,020,251, 7,039,165, 7,082,422, 7,113,993, 7,127,403, 7,174,349, 7,181,417, 7,194,457, 7,197,461, 7,228,303, 7,260,577, 7,266,181, 7,272,212, 7,302,639, 7,324,942, 7,330,847, 7,340,040, 7,356,758, 7,356,840, 7,415,438, 7,428,302, 7,430,562, 7,440,898, 7,486,780, 7,509,671, 7,516,181, 7,559,048, 7,574,376, 7,617,201, 7,725,811, 7,801,967, 7,836,178, 7,861,161, 7,861,253, 7,881,443, 7,925,616, 7,945,584, 7,970,782, 8,005,870, 8,051,168, 8,051,369, 8,094,788, 8,130,918, 8,296,287, 8,321,411, and 8,452,755. ther patent applications are pending. Various Microtrategy products contain the copyrighted technology of third parties. his product may contain one or more of the following copyrighted technologies: Graph Generation ngine opyright hree D Graphics, nc. All rights reserved. Actuate Formula ne. opyright Actuate orporation. All rights reserved. XML parser opyright Microsoft orporation. All rights reserved. Xalan XL processor. opyright he Apache oftware Foundation. All rights reserved. Xerces XML parser. opyright he Apache oftware Foundation. All rights reserved. F XL formatting objects. opyright he Apache oftware Foundation. All rights reserved. ortions of ntelligence erver memory management opyright ompuware orporation. All rights reserved. AHRequest library. opyright , All-eeing nteractive. All rights reserved. his product includes software developed by the penl roject for use in the penl oolkit. ( nternational omponents for Unicode opyright ompaq omputer orporation opyright Hewlett-ackard ompany opyright BM orporation opyright Hummingbird ommunications Ltd. opyright ilicon Graphics, nc. opyright un Microsystems, nc. opyright he pen Group All rights reserved. Real layer and RealJukebox are included under license from Real etworks, nc. opyright All rights reserved. iii

4 iv

5 ontents ystem Administrator verview xv About Microtrategy arrowcast erver xv arrowcast Administrator xvi Delivery ngine xvi ubscription ortal system xvi verview of system administrator tasks xvii rganization of this manual xviii Reference materials xviii ystem administrator task flow xviii ection ystem Administrator oncepts 1 hapter 1 Microtrategy arrowcast erver architecture 3 About the arrowcast erver system 3 ystem administrator responsibilities 4 ystem creation and identification 4 Best practices for folder use and maintenance 5 About the Delivery ngine 5 About the ubscription ortal 6 Administration objects 6 ubscription Book 6 Distribution managers 8 xecution engines 9 Microtrategy Logging erver and lients 11 nformation source modules and information sources 12 Document formatting modules and document formatters 21 nformation transmission modules (Ms) and information transmitters (s) 22 Devices 25 Locales and internationalization 25 Administrative accounts 30 Unverified administrative accounts 31 Application objects 32 ortal objects 32 ubscription ortal web server 32 nformation repositories 33 bject Repository 33 ubscription Book Repository 34 ortal Repository 35 hapter 2 stablishing upporting Resources 37 ervers required 37 v

6 Windows domain controllers 37 Domain name system servers 38 W servers 38 Relational database management systems 39 mart hosts/mail transfer agents (optional) 40 nternet proxy servers/wlb servers (optional) 40 Microtrategy ntelligence erver 41 ollocated services 41 etwork bandwidth, topology, and firewalls 42 stimating bandwidth requirements 42 etwork topology 42 High availability 43 Firewalls 43 nternet domain 44 Additional resources 44 hapter 3 onfiguring Machines 47 Hardware configuration 47 oftware configuration 50 lustering 52 Delivery ngine subsystem 53 ubscription ortal subsystem 59 Workload distribution in a cluster 59 U affinity 60 Failure recovery 61 egment failure 62 xecution engine failure 62 Distribution manager failure 62 etting up arrowcast erver for transmission 63 Direct mode 63 mart host mode 64 Device settings 64 esting M connectivity 65 etting up arrowcast erver for file transmission 71 Defining file delivery locations 71 Dynamically generating file or folder names: Macros 73 ontrolling device default settings 73 nabling users to define file delivery options 73 Defining file delivery location and settings: Addresses 74 Windows authentication and file transmission 74 etting up arrowcast erver for printing 75 Delivery location definition 75 ontrolling device default settings 77 nabling users to define printer locations 77 Defining printer delivery location and settings: Addresses 78 vi ontents

7 Windows authentication and printing 78 etting up arrowcast erver for text (M) transmission 78 onfiguring the Microtrategy Logging erver 80 Microtrategy Logging lient operation 81 Microtrategy Logging erver operation 82 Microtrategy Logging Module operation 82 Microtrategy Database Logger 85 Microtrategy Distributed Logger 86 Logging levels 87 hapter 4 Administering ystems 91 Recording transmission information 91 ending notification for file and print delivery 99 pecifying document creation options 101 Administering multiple systems 102 Maintaining separate environments 102 Migrating objects between systems 103 Migrating objects with dependencies 104 Repeated object migration 105 Migration scenarios 105 Using scenarios to prevent errors 107 Migration and folder structures 108 reating and restoring versions 109 ontrolling and monitoring multiple systems 110 Viewing system messages 111 etting the administrative notification 111 uning the Delivery ngine 112 Minimize report size 113 Reduce report count 113 ptimize system workload capacity 113 ontrol memory consumption 114 ptimize execution cycles 114 pecify queue sizes for segmentation 115 Maintaining arrowcast erver systems 118 Log files 118 Repository databases 119 opying Repositories 119 Using ommand Manager to automate key processes 120 ommand Manager support for Microtrategy ntelligence erver 120 ommand Manager support for arrowcast erver 121 Using ommand Manager 121 tatement syntax for arrowcast erver 123 Refreshing imported files 129 ontents vii

8 ection ystem Administrator nterfaces 131 hapter 5 Add arrowcast erver Administrative Accounts Dialog Box 133 Add arrowcast erver Administrative Accounts dialog box layout 133 hapter 6 Administrative otification Dialog Box 135 Administrative otification dialog box layout 136 Administrative otification Request dialog box 137 hapter 7 Box 139 Assign Administrative rivileges to Account Dialog Assign Administrative rivileges to Account dialog box layout 140 hapter 8 onfigure bject Management Dialog Box 141 onfigure bject Management dialog box layout 141 hapter 9 onflict Resolution Dialog Box 145 onflict Resolution dialog box layout 145 hapter 10 Device ditor 149 Device ditor layout 149 elect nformation ransmitter dialog box 151 ransmission tab 151 laintext tab 159 xcel tab 159 HML tab 159 DF tab 159 hapter 11 Distribution Manager onfiguration Dialog Box 161 Distribution Manager onfiguration dialog box layout 162 hapter 12 Document Formatter - xcel Dialog Box 163 Document Formatter - xcel dialog box layout 163 hapter 13 dit Available User roperties Dialog Box 165 dit Available User roperties dialog box layout 165 hapter 14 xecution ngine onfiguration Dialog Box 167 xecution ngine onfiguration dialog box layout 168 hapter 15 nformation ource Wizard 169 nformation ource Wizard layout 170 viii ontents

9 nformation ource dialog box 170 Welcome 171 ntelligence erver 171 Microtrategy ntelligence erver roperties dialog box 171 roject dialog box 175 Advanced roperties dialog box 175 Default Language 176 Default Authentication 176 ecurity and Dynamic ubscription upport 176 Default ecurity 177 rompt Resolution dialog box 177 User and ubscription roperties 178 Address roperties 179 ersonalization 181 ummary 182 ave nformation ource dialog box 182 hapter 16 nformation ransmission Module Dialog et 183 nformation ransmission Module dialog set layout 183 Register nformation ransmitter dialog box 184 -mail (M) 184 Wireless (M) 186 M (M) 188 Web (ortal) 189 hapter 17 Locale ditor 191 Locale ditor layout 191 hapter 18 pen Device File for mport Dialog Box 193 pen Device File for mport dialog box layout 193 hapter 19 Register nformation ource Module Dialog Box 195 Register nformation ource Module dialog box layout 195 hapter 20 Register Document Formatter Dialog Box 197 Register Document Formatter dialog box layout 197 hapter 21 Register ubscription Book Module Dialog Box 199 Register ubscription Book Module dialog box layout 199 hapter 22 Repository opy Dialog Box 201 Repository opy dialog box layout 201 bject Repository page 202 ubscription Book Repository page 202 ontents ix

10 ummary page 203 hapter 23 ystem Message Viewer Dialog Box 205 ystem Message Viewer dialog box layout 206 elect Message ypes dialog box 207 Log governing dialog box 209 Log formats dialog box 210 Log filtering dialog box 210 hapter 24 ystem ettings Dialog Box 211 ystem ettings dialog box layout 211 Distribution Manager tab 212 xecution tab 212 onsole tab 213 Recording tab 213 Document reation tab 213 ection ystem Administrator How Do...? 215 hapter 25 Managing Administrator Accounts 217 Add a login D to the local administrators group for Windows Workstation 217 Add a login D to the local administrators group for Windows Add an account 219 Assign privileges to an account 220 Remove an account 220 Remove privileges from an account 221 hapter 26 opying and Restoring bjects 223 opy objects to another system for backup/restore purposes 223 Restore all objects from a backup system 223 Restore a single object from a backup system 224 Revert the objects in one environment to the older object definitions from another environment 224 Update the objects in one environment with the new object definitions from another environment 225 hapter 27 Managing Distribution Managers 227 Add a distribution manager 227 Delete a distribution manager 227 Run a distribution manager 228 top a distribution manager 228 hapter 28 Working with Document Formatters 229 Delete a document formatter 229 x ontents

11 Register a document formatter 229 et the properties of an xcel document formatter 230 hapter 29 Managing xecution ngines 231 Add an execution engine 231 Delete an execution engine 231 dle an execution engine 232 Run an execution engine 232 top an execution engine 232 hapter 30 onfiguring nformation ransmitters 233 Allow users to specify file paths where their files should be saved 233 Allow users to specify printer locations where their services should be printed 234 reate a File device 234 reate an -mail (M) or Wireless (M) device 236 reate an M (M) device 238 reate a rint device 239 reate a Web (ortal) device 241 Delete a device 241 Delete an information transmitter 242 mport devices from a device library 242 Register an information transmitter 243 rint documents on printers within my network 243 et the properties of an -mail (M) information transmitter 244 et the properties of an M (M) information transmitter 246 et the properties of a Web (ortal) information transmitter 246 et up xcel properties for a device 247 et up HML properties for a device 247 et up DF properties for a device 247 et up plain text properties for a device 248 hapter 31 onfiguring nformation ource Modules 249 reate a Microtrategy nformation ource 249 Delete an information source 252 Delete an information source module 252 Register an information source module 253 hapter 32 reating Locales 255 reate a locale 255 Delete a locale 256 hapter 33 onfiguring a arrowcast erver ystem 257 Apply system governing settings 257 lear the ystem Message Viewer 258 onnect to a system 258 ontents xi

12 opy system messages to the clipboard 259 opy object repository 259 opy subscription book repository 260 opy object repository and subscription book repository 260 Destroy a system 261 Find a string in the system message 262 Filter the system messages 262 Migrate an object from one system (repository) to another 263 Modify the Microtrategy Logging erver configuration 263 Modify transmission properties regarding address display 264 Register a new ubscription Book Module 264 Remove all system components from a computer 265 Resolve conflicts related to object management 265 ave the system messages 266 ecure the bject Repository 266 ecure the ubscription Book Repository 267 elect the logging format for system messages 267 end notification for file and print delivery 268 et the administrative notification 268 et governing for system messages 269 et message types for system messages 270 pecify document creation options 270 pecify the rules for object management 271 tart the arrowcast erver system 271 top the arrowcast erver system 272 urn transmission recording on 272 urn transmission recording off 272 View system messages 273 ection V ystem Administrator Appendixes 275 Appendix A xecutable Files 277 Appendix B Language upport 279 Appendix arrowcast erver rror odes 281 Distribution Manager 281 egment xecutor 310 xecution ngine 324 nformation ource Module 330 nformation ransmission Module 331 Appendix D arrowcast erver ecurity 333 Microtrategy arrowcast erver M transmitter through network firewall 333 xii ontents

13 upported security measures 334 ecurity with Microsoft 334 Account privileges 334 ryptography 335 ubscription ortal subsystem 335 Distributed omponent bject Model 335 Remote Method nvocations 336 ample configuration options 336 onfiguration A: All components on one server 336 onfiguration B: ypical nstallation 337 onfiguration : nterprise dition using Windows load balancing 337 Appendix arrowcast erver Windows ervices 339 Appendix F ervice xecution Flow in arrowcast erver 341 ervice triggered and inserted into queue 341 Highest priority service selected, recipients per segment determined 342 ubscription et Ds and segment size passed to ubscription Book Module 342 egments created and information passed to distribution manager 343 egment assigned to execution engine and information provided 344 egment executor initialized and information sources identified 344 egment definition sent to ubscription Book Module to retrieve recipients 345 Recipient list sent to segment executor and analyzed 346 tep 1. nitialize transmitter 346 tep 2. nitialize formatters 347 tep 3: erform personalization bucketing 347 tep 4: egment executor sends information object request to information source module 350 Appendix G roubleshooting 353 roubleshooting tools 353 ystem Message Viewer 353 ortal Administrator error log 354 Log files 354 Monitor 354 ystem creation 354 tarting the Delivery ngine 356 ervice creation and execution 359 ubscription administration 371 -mail (M) 374 rinting 379 nformation ource Module 380 HML Document ditor 380 ortal Administrator 381 Licensing errors 383 ontents xiii

14 rror messages 383 rinting 384 aving to file 387 ection V ndex 389 xiv ontents

15 RDU ystem Administrator verview his manual provides arrowcast erver system administrators with information and steps to administer a Microtrategy arrowcast erver system. About Microtrategy arrowcast erver Microtrategy arrowcast erver is an information delivery platform designed for proactive transmission of information in the form of personalized messages. Microtrategy arrowcast erver includes a Delivery ngine that can: Gather information from any source (such as Microtrategy ntelligence erver, the web, directly from databases, from flat files, and so on) through an open ervice rovider nterface ersonalize the information gathered based on individual characteristics and preferences Format the information into text, HML, and Microsoft xcel documents Deliver the information via any channel such as , M, or a web portal, through an open ervice rovider nterface arrowcast erver comprises the following technical feature groups: arrowcast Administrator Delivery ngine ubscription ortal system arrowcast erver includes a ubscription ortal through which end users can specify their preferences and choose what types of information they would like to receive. arrowcast erver nterprise dition clusters across multiple machines to scale with available resources and provide failover support. arrowcast erver also implements a modular architecture where modules can be added or removed as needed to provide different means of gathering, xv

16 formatting, and delivering information. For example, alert information can be gathered directly from a database and delivered wirelessly via M, or content can be gathered from different websites, combined and reformatted, and delivered via HML or posted back to the web. Delivered information can be personalized based on specific individual preferences. arrowcast erver is an adaptable, scalable, robust platform for information subscription, gathering, processing, personalization, and delivery. arrowcast Administrator arrowcast Administrator provides a unified console through which arrowcast erver systems can be developed, controlled, and administered. t can be used on several machines at the same time for a single system, to facilitate rapid development and distributed deployment. arrowcast Administrator presents an easy-to-use interface for creating information delivery services and for administering a distributed arrowcast erver system. Delivery ngine he Delivery ngine is responsible for the content gathering, formatting, and transmission for information delivery services. ts open architecture is component-based to allow integration with custom data sources, formatting methods, transmission technologies, and directory management systems. he Delivery ngine can be administered remotely and can be clustered easily, providing workload distribution as well as automatic failover and recovery. With the addition of locale and time zone awareness, the Delivery ngine easily supports a multinational user community. he Delivery ngine provides the information delivery capabilities of a arrowcast erver system. ubscription ortal system Users control the content they receive by specifying what information they want to see using the ubscription ortal system. hrough the web-based portal, users determine the frequency, schedule, delivery device, and personalization of information services. arrowcast erver ensures that xvi ystem Administrator verview

17 individuals receive one-to-one, personalized information where and when it is most useful. he ubscription ortal system includes the following: ortal Administrator Wizard: he ortal Administrator Wizard provides a web-based interface through which a system can be configured and administered. his wizard allows the portal administrator to specify which arrowcast erver services are deployed in the ubscription ortal. ubscription ortal: ach ubscription ortal offers users the ability to view services and any arrowcast documents generated by arrowcast erver. Users can also administer user passwords and preferences, addresses, and subscriptions. Users can change schedules for their subscriptions and save preferences for future use. he ubscription ortal system provides the subscription and personalization capabilities of a arrowcast erver system. For more information about understanding the functionality of the ubscription ortal system see User elf ubscription in the arrowcast Application Designer Guide. verview of system administrator tasks ystem administrator tasks include installing and configuring all of the components of the arrowcast erver system. hey also include monitoring system performance, maintaining the system environment, tuning the system configuration, and troubleshooting problems. he full list of tasks are described below: lan your arrowcast system onfigure machines nstall software reate/configure a arrowcast erver system est the configuration Migrate administration objects Migrate application objects erform maintenance Upgrade the system Monitor the system roubleshoot the system upport a development and production environment verview of system administrator tasks xvii

18 nsure 7x24 operations erform error recovery rganization of this manual he information in this guide is divided into the following sections: oncepts: rovides information about product components and features. nterfaces: rovides interface-specific information. xplains the interfaces used to administer your arrowcast system. How Do...?: rovides steps to perform administrative tasks. he roubleshooting section at the end of the guide briefs you about the troubleshooting tools that are useful to resolve any errors related to arrowcast erver. Reference materials Before you begin any administration tasks, read the Microtrategy arrowcast erver Getting tarted Guide, which introduces the functionality of Microtrategy arrowcast erver. he Getting tarted Guide also provides basic terminology and information resources that can help you use the software and other manuals. ystem administrator task flow Many of the basic system administrator tasks are part of the ystem onfiguration Wizard, which is detailed in the arrowcast erver nstallation and onfiguration Guide. ortal administration tasks are described in the arrowcast erver Application Designer Guide. he following list describes more advanced configuration tasks. ask How Do... hapter 1. Add or remove a distribution manager. Managing Distribution Managers 2. Add a new arrowcast Administrator account. Managing Administrator Accounts 3. Add or remove an execution engine. Managing xecution ngines xviii ystem Administrator verview

19 ask How Do... hapter 4. hange system governing settings. Apply system governing settings 5. reate, modify, or delete a device. onfiguring nformation ransmitters 6. reate, modify, or delete an information source. onfiguring nformation ource Modules 7. reate, modify, or delete a locale reating Locales 8. Register an information source module. onfiguring nformation ource Modules 9. reate, modify, or delete a document formatter. Working with Document Formatters 10. reate, modify, or delete an information transmitter. 11. tart or stop an individual distribution manager and scheduler. onfiguring nformation ransmitters Managing Distribution Managers 12. tart or stop an execution engine. Managing xecution ngines 13. tart the arrowcast erver system. onfiguring a arrowcast erver ystem 14. et the administrative notification. onfiguring a arrowcast erver ystem ystem administrator task flow xix

20 xx ystem Administrator verview

21 ystem Administrator oncepts 1

22 2 ection ystem Administrator oncepts

23 1 architecture HAR 1 1.Microtrategy arrowcast erver his chapter explains how the architecture and object model of arrowcast erver enable the features and benefits described in the arrowcast erver Getting tarted Guide. his chapter explains how each of the administration objects impacts the behavior of a arrowcast erver system and what a system can do. About the arrowcast erver system A arrowcast erver system is a computer application that generates and delivers personalized messages containing analytical content to subscribers. t provides a web-based interface so that recipients can control which messages they get, how often, with what content, and through what technology medium. he arrowcast erver system is composed of a collection of machines (hardware), components (software) and objects (data). he machines use the components to process the objects. A arrowcast erver system includes two major components: the Delivery ngine and the ubscription ortal. he objects that make up a system are divided into three categories: Administration objects: hese objects define the architecture, or hardware and software configuration, that arrowcast erver uses to generate and deliver personalized messages, and to provide a web site to recipients for subscription administration. hese objects specify where and how recipient data is acquired and stored, and how content is retrieved, formatted, and transmitted. hese objects are created and configured by the system administrator, and are stored in the Administration folder in arrowcast Administrator. ertain components and administration objects can be set up to exist on two or more machines in a clustered machine configuration, although you can run the entire system on one machine. For more information about clustering, see lustering. 3

24 Application objects: hese objects define the generation frequency, content, and personalization of the messages produced by the system for recipients. At the highest level, an application object called a service defines what end users can subscribe to. he definition of a service is based upon a set of other objects that control when the service is executed to generate messages (schedules), what content is produced in those messages (publications), and which end user addresses receive the messages (subscription sets). hese objects are stored in the Applications folder in arrowcast Administrator. For more information on creating services and other application objects, see the arrowcast erver Application Designer Guide. ortal objects: hese objects define the appearance and behavior of the ubscription ortal for end users. hese objects also specify the hardware locations of the components that comprise the ubscription ortal. For more information on creating portal objects, see the arrowcast erver Application Designer Guide. ystem administrator responsibilities ystem administrators for arrowcast erver systems typically perform the following: rovide and maintain a usable network environment. his includes ensuring that the right network configuration, system resources such as relational databases and web servers, and security controls are in place. Define the arrowcast erver architecture and configuration. he ystem onfiguration Wizard in arrowcast Administrator guides you through setting up and registering your system, and creating and configuring the administration objects needed to support the system. Grant system access to other arrowcast Administrator users such as subscription administrators and application designers. Monitor and maintain the system to ensure correct, efficient operation. he information you need to fulfill these responsibilities is provided in this guide. ystem creation and identification You can create arrowcast erver systems using the ystem onfiguration Wizard, and through the utorial configuration process which is outlined in the arrowcast erver nstallation and onfiguration Guide. When a new arrowcast erver system is created, several tables are created in the specified bject Repository database. n addition, a number of sample services are added to the arrowcast erver system if the 4 hapter 1 Microtrategy arrowcast erver architecture

25 Microtrategy utorial for arrowcast erver has been installed. Finally, the system is given a name so that it can be easily identified and recognized. A arrowcast erver system name is used to identify a system once it has been registered. his name is displayed in arrowcast Administrator as the root in the Location box and in the Folder List pane. When registering a system during system configuration, if an existing system is chosen, the system is presented using the system prefix. For this reason, it is important to record arrowcast erver systems by both the system name and the system prefix specified when the bject Repository is created. his enables you to identify each system later when you register it using the ystem onfiguration Wizard. Best practices for folder use and maintenance When working with device and application folders, it is important to consider the impact that creating new folders and saving objects to various folders can have on your application. Use a folder structure that makes it easy for you and other users to find the objects you create. f a folder is published on a ubscription ortal site as a channel, any services or folders that you create inside that folder are also shown automatically on the ubscription ortal. f a device folder is selected for a device type using the ortal Administration Wizard, and you add a device to that folder, that device is available automatically on the ubscription ortal. About the Delivery ngine A Delivery ngine generates and delivers personalized messages with analytical content to recipients. t is composed of a collection of machines, components, and objects. ystem administrators administer the administration objects that the Delivery ngine needs for proper operation, and specify the hardware used by distribution managers, execution engines, and the Microtrategy Logging erver. hey also administer the hardware on which the Delivery ngine software runs. About the Delivery ngine 5

26 About the ubscription ortal A ubscription ortal is the portion of a arrowcast erver system that provides a website for end users to administer their addresses, preferences, and subscriptions. t is a collection of machines, components, and objects. hese objects control how the website behaves when users interact with the ubscription ortal. ortal objects reside in the ortal Repository and are manipulated with the ortal Administrator Wizard. For more information about understanding the functionality of the ubscription ortal, see User elf ubscription in the arrowcast Application Designer Guide. ystem administrators typically maintain the administration objects that the ubscription ortal needs for proper operation, and specify the hardware used by the ubscription ortal website. Administrators also maintain the hardware on which the ubscription ortal software runs. Administration objects Administration objects are the components of a arrowcast erver system that control system capabilities such as specifying what hardware the system uses, where system information is stored, how and from where content information is retrieved, how content information is transformed into messages, and how those messages are transmitted to recipients. ubscription Book he ubscription Book is an administration object that contains all the users, addresses, and subscriptions for the arrowcast erver system. t is stored in the ubscription Book Repository. 6 hapter 1 Microtrategy arrowcast erver architecture

27 he ubscription Book performs the following tasks when processing a arrowcast service: Divides the set of subscriptions to a service, called a subscription set, into segments for efficient processing. he number of subscriptions in each segment is called the segment size, and can be configured separately for each service from either the ervice Wizard or the ervice ditor. he Delivery ngine uses segments to control and limit the number of subscriptions that are processed simultaneously, thus ensuring that the memory resources available on an execution engine are not overwhelmed when a service with a large number of subscriptions is run. egmenting a subscription set takes place on the distribution manager machine. t involves identifying the D of the first and last subscription in each segment. Determines the subscriptions within a segment. his includes information about who will receive the service and any associated personalization instructions. his action is requested by the execution engine and takes place on the execution engine machine. nly one ubscription Book is allowed per system. You create it through the ystem onfiguration Wizard. For information about creating a ubscription Book using the ystem onfiguration Wizard on the ystem onfiguration Wizard, see ubscription Book configuration in the arrowcast erver nstallation and onfiguration Guide. More detailed information about the ubscription Book is included in the arrowcast erver Application Designer Guide. ubscription Book Module he ubscription Book is implemented as the component object model (M) component ubscription Book Module (BM). his component can be replaced by a custom component that implements the ubscriptionbook programming interface. A software developer can write such a M component and register it with arrowcast Administrator to provide a custom source for recipient information. For information about the ubscriptionbook programming interface, see the arrowcast erver DK Guide. ubscription Book Repositories When a new ubscription Book Repository is created, a number of tables with an optional prefix are created in the specified database. n addition, a number of sample users, addresses, and subscriptions are added to the ubscription Book Repository if the sample Microtrategy utorial Administration objects 7

28 project for arrowcast erver is installed. ubscription Book Repositories can be created using the ystem onfiguration Wizard or in arrowcast Administrator by right-clicking the ubscription Book icon. For more information on the configuration process, see the arrowcast erver nstallation and onfiguration Guide. For more information on the ubscription Book Repository, see ubscription Book Repository in this chapter. Distribution managers he distribution manager (DM) is the software component that controls system operations. ustomers with the nterprise dition of the software can have more than one machine running the distribution manager in a arrowcast erver system. nly one of these machines serves as the primary DM. he primary DM performs the following: Receives requests to execute services from either the Delivery ngine A or from scheduler ends the subscription set definition to the ubscription Book Module to determine the subscription D boundaries of each service segment Distributes service segments to the execution engines for execution and designates backup execution engines for failover racks the state of execution engines in the system and corrects problems caused by failed software components or hardware he primary DM constantly updates the backup DMs with its segment processing status, so that if the primary DM machine fails, one of the backup DM machines can take over processing at the point where the primary DM machine failed. After a distribution manager is started, its Windows ervice startup type is switched to automatic. When a distribution manager is stopped, its Windows ervice startup type is switched back to manual. An individual distribution manager can be started/stopped either from the Windows ervice ontrol anel or from arrowcast Administrator. arrowcast Administrator gives you the ability to start or stop the whole arrowcast erver system in addition to individual distribution managers. he ability to control a single machine is particularly useful for performing scheduled maintenance on a single distribution manager machine without disrupting system operation. he ability to control the entire system is essential for system shutdown; otherwise, a backup DM simply takes over system control when the primary DM is shut down. 8 hapter 1 Microtrategy arrowcast erver architecture

29 You can set up the distribution manager using the ystem onfiguration Wizard or the Distribution Manager onfiguration dialog box in arrowcast Administrator. o set up the distribution manager using the ystem onfiguration Wizard, see pecify Distribution Managers in the arrowcast erver nstallation and onfiguration Guide. For steps to set up the distribution manager using the Distribution Manager onfiguration dialog box, see Managing Distribution Managers xecution engines An execution engine () is a software component that controls service segment processing. he distribution manager receives the segment definitions for a service from the ubscription Book Module, then sends these and the service definition to execution engines. ach execution engine then spawns a segment executor that performs the following actions: he segment executor sends each received segment definition and the service definition to the ubscription Book Module. he ubscription Book Module then retrieves and returns the set of subscriptions within the segment. his subscription set includes the list of recipients for the segment as well as their address, subscription, and personalization information. Using the service definition and the address, subscription, and personalization information received from the ubscription Book Module, the segment executor determines what information requests need to be made to information sources to retrieve the required content for the service. he segment executor instantiates information source modules as needed, and makes requests for dynamic content to them. he segment executor receives the results from the information source modules and forwards that information to the appropriate document formatting modules. he segment executor receives the formatted content from the document formatting modules in the form of documents. he segment executor temporarily stores each personalized document until all of the subscriptions that need it have been fulfilled. When all of the documents for a particular subscription are complete, those documents are forwarded to the appropriate information transmission module where they are transmitted to the address used by that subscription. Administration objects 9

30 When each message is transmitted, the segment executor receives a message transmission notification from the information transmission module. he segment executor notifies the failover or backup execution engine that a message was sent for the related subscription, and records transmission information to the ubscription Book Repository. he segment executor notifies the distribution manager when a given segment has been processed. n a clustered environment, before an execution engine begins to process a segment, it passes a complete copy of the subscription set to its backup execution engine machine. As each personalized message is delivered, the execution engine notifies its backup execution engine of the completion status of the service execution segment, so that both execution engine machines have the most up-to-date information. his ensures that messages are not duplicated or lost if a hardware or software problem occurs on one of the execution engines in the cluster. Depending on the quantity and type of services you plan to run, your arrowcast system may require more than one execution engine machine. f your system requirements include high availability, you should use at least two execution engine machines for backup purposes. he ability to have multiple execution engine machines is available only with the nterprise dition of the software. xecution engine machines with adjacent rank numbers, for example, 1, 2, and 4, 5, should be comparable in workload capacity. his ensures that execution recording and failure recovery are relatively balanced, so that the work being performed by a machine with a higher workload capacity never has to be taken on by a machine with less capacity. he startup type of an execution engine Windows ervice should remain manual. Also, execution engines should not be started/stopped directly from the Windows ervice ontrol anel. he life cycles of the execution engines are controlled by the primary distribution manager. Because of the failure recovery technology in the product, if you attempt to shut down an execution engine using the Windows ervice ontrol anel, the primary distribution manager starts it up again. You can set up the execution engine using the ystem onfiguration Wizard or the xecution ngine onfiguration dialog box in arrowcast Administrator. o set up the execution engine using the ystem onfiguration Wizard, see pecify xecution ngine in the arrowcast erver nstallation and onfiguration Guide. For steps to set up the execution engine using the xecution ngine onfiguration dialog box, see Managing xecution ngines. 10 hapter 1 Microtrategy arrowcast erver architecture

31 Microtrategy Logging erver and lients he Microtrategy Logging erver (ML) and the Microtrategy Logging lients (MLs) capture and store logging data such as statistical data, error messages, system events, and segmentation status. Both the ML and MLs run as Windows services, under the ystem account. he MLs capture logging data from the Delivery ngine components that reside on the ML machine and relay that data to the ML machine. he ML provides the messaging infrastructure needed to collect all the information in one location and then redistribute it to consumers of that information. he ML does this through a publish and subscribe architecture, in which one or more consumers can ask for various types of information (such as errors, statistics, or status) and levels of information (such as critical, high, medium, or low). arrowcast erver includes a consumer that you can use to log this information to the Windows vent Log, a set of text log files, or the ystem Message Viewer. arrowcast erver also includes a buffer port that you can use for sending messages to the buffer. hese messages are viewed by arrowcast Administrator. o learn more about using these features with the Logging erver, see onfiguring the Microtrategy Logging erver. o learn more about how custom modules can be implemented to subscribe to the Logging erver, see Logging Module Directory in the arrowcast erver DK Guide. You can specify the ML and ML machines when you configure a arrowcast erver system using the ystem onfiguration Wizard. For steps, refer to pecify Logging erver in the arrowcast erver nstallation and onfiguration Guide. For steps to set up the execution engine using the ystem onfiguration Wizard, see lustering. All distribution manager and execution engine machines must have the ML component installed and running, which the ystem onfiguration Wizard automatically accomplishes. he arrowcast Administrator machine also requires the ML component. Administration objects 11

32 nformation source modules and information sources arrowcast erver provides an open architecture that allows information to be gathered from external sources for use in arrowcast erver services. he system component that enables gathering information from external sources is called an information source. arrowcast erver provides several out-of-the-box information sources, one of which gathers reports from Microtrategy ntelligence erver. hese reports, as well as other information objects, can be gathered from any number of sources and added to service content. When a new information source is added to a arrowcast erver system, the information source informs arrowcast erver of the kinds of information objects it can provide. his list of information objects appear in arrowcast document editors, grouped by the name of the information source. For example, the Microtrategy nformation ource provides Microtrategy grid and graph report information objects. his section explains what information source modules and information sources are and how they can be used. For information about configuring information source modules and information sources in arrowcast Administrator, see onfiguring nformation ource Modules. he information source module (M) is an interface between Microtrategy Delivery ngine software and the various data sources you can access from your arrowcast system. he M receives information requests from the ubscription Book Module and execution engine, and retrieves the requested information from the appropriate source. he M then sends the results back to the ubscription Book Module or execution engine. Microtrategy arrowcast erver comes pre-packaged with four information source modules: he Microtrategy nformation ource Module, which can get reports and documents from Microtrategy projects. he User nformation Module, which can provide personal information for each subscription such as the recipient s first name or phone number. he ubscription nformation Module, which can provide subscription information such as the physical address, subscription D, and other information used by the Delivery ngine during service execution. he ystem nformation Module, which can provide system information such as service name, service D, execution time or date. 12 hapter 1 Microtrategy arrowcast erver architecture