OBIEE Publisher

This article outlines the integration with the OBIEE Publisher connector, enabling streamlined metadata management through features such as crawling, and lineage building (both automatic and manual).

Overview

Connector Details

Connector Category	Reporting Tools
Connector Version	Release6.3
Releases Supported (Available from)	Release6.2.1
Connectivity [How the connection is established with OBIEE Publisher]	SOAP Services

Connector Features

Feature	Availability
Crawling	✅
Delta Crawling	NA
Profiling	NA
Query Sheet	NA
Report Preview	❌
Auto Lineage	✅
Manual Lineage	✅
Secure Authentication via Credential Manager	✅
Data Quality	NA
DAM (Data Access Management)	NA
Bridge	❌

'NA' indicates that the respective feature is 'Not Applicable.'

Metadata Mapping

The following objects are crawled from OBIEE Publisher and mapped to the corresponding UI assets.

OBIEE Publisher Object	OBIEE Publisher Property	OvalEdge Attribute	OvalEdge Type	OvalEdge Category
Folders	Top Level Folders	Report Group	Report Group	Reports
Folders	Sub Folders	Report Group	Report Group	Reports
Folders	Folder Type	Report Group Type	OBIEEPublisher	Reports
Data Model (.xdm)	relative path between domain root and “%2exdm”	Report	Report Name	Reports
Data Model (.xdm)	literal “Data Model”	Report Type	Data Model	Reports
Publisher Report (.xdo)	relative path between domain root and “%2exdo”	Report	Report Name	Reports
Publisher Report (.xdo)	literal “Publisher Report”	Report Type	Publisher Report	Reports

Set up a Connection

Prerequisites

The following are the prerequisites to establish a connection.

Whitelisting Ports

Whitelist the inbound port to allow OvalEdge to connect to the OBIEE Publisher database.

When a port is configured, specify the required port number during connection setup, whitelist the port, and establish proper communication between the system and the OBIEE Publisher.

Service Account User Permissions

It is recommended to use a separate service account to establish the connection to the data source, configured with the following minimum set of permissions.

👨‍💻Who can provide these permissions? These permissions are typically granted by the OBIEE Publisher administrator, as users may not have the required access to assign them independently.

Objects	Permissions
Connector Validation	Read access to Publisher root folder path on filesystem
Crawling	Read/execute on Publisher base path (…/root/shared) and all nested folders/files
Lineage	Read access to .xdm/.xdo files
Delta Crawl	Read/execute on Publisher base path (…/root/shared) and all nested folders/files
Domains (Folders)	Read/execute on publisher path …/root/shared
Data Models (.xdm)	Read on all nested files under a domain; ability to traverse directories
Publisher Reports (.xdo)	Read on all nested files under a domain; ability to traverse directories
Source Code (Data Model/Publisher Report)	Read file content

Connection Configuration Steps

Users are required to have the Connector Creator role in order to configure a new connection.

1. Log into OvalEdge, go to Administration > Connectors, click + (New Connector), search for OBIEE Publisher, and complete the required parameters.

Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory for establishing a connection.

Field Name	Description
Connector Type	By default, "OBIEEPUBLISHER" is displayed as the selected connector type.
Credential Manager*	Select the desired credentials manager from the drop-down list. Relevant parameters will be displayed based on the selected option. Supported Credential Managers: OE Credential Manager AWS Secrets Manager HashiCorp Azure Key Vault
License Add Ons	Auto Lineage Supported Data Quality Not Supported Data Access Not Supported Select the checkbox for Auto Lineage Add-On to build data lineage automatically.
Connector Environment	Select the environment (Example: PROD, STG) configured for the connector.
Connector Name*	Enter a unique name for the OBIEE Publisher connection (Example: "OBIEEPublisherdb").
Host Name*	Enter the host name or IP address of the server where OBIEE Publisher is installed.
Port*	Enter the port number used by the OBIEE Publisher instance for communication.
Username*	Enter the OBIEE Publisher account name or domain user name with access to the Reporting Services instance.
Password*	Enter the password associated with the specified OBIEE Publisher account used for authentication.

Default Governance Roles

Default Governance Roles*	Select the appropriate users or teams for each governance role from the drop-down list. All users configured in the security settings are available for selection.

Admin Roles

Admin Roles*	Select one or more users from the dropdown list for Integration Admin and Security & Governance Admin. All users configured in the security settings are available for selection.

No of Archive Objects

No Of Archive Objects*	This shows the number of recent metadata changes to a dataset at the source. By default, it is off. To enable it, toggle the Archive button and specify the number of objects to archive. Example: Setting it to 4 retrieves the last four changes, displayed in the 'Version' column of the 'Metadata Changes' module.

Bridge

Select Bridge*	If applicable, select the bridge from the drop-down list. The drop-down list displays all active bridges that have been configured. These bridges facilitate communication between data sources and the system without requiring changes to firewall rules.

1. After entering all connection details, the following actions can be performed:

   1. Click Validate to verify the connection.

   2. Click Save to store the connection for future use.

   3. Click Save & Configure to apply additional settings before saving.

2. The saved connection will appear on the Connectors home page.

Manage Connector Operations

Crawl

To perform crawl operations, users must be assigned the Integration Admin role.

The Crawl/Profile button allows users to select one or more schemas for crawling.

1. Navigate to the Connectors page and click Crawl/Profile.

2. Select the schemas to crawl.

3. The Crawl option is selected by default.

4. Click Run to collect metadata from the connected source and load it into the Data Catalog.

5. After a successful crawl, the information appears in the Data Catalog > Report / Report Column tab.

Other Operations

The Connectors page provides a centralized view of all configured connectors, along with their health status.

Managing connectors includes:

• Connectors Health: Displays the current status of each connector using a green icon for active connections and a red icon for inactive connections, helping to monitor the connectivity with data sources.

• Viewing: Click the Eye icon next to the connector name to view connector details, including databases, tables, columns, and codes.

Nine Dots Menu Options:

To view, edit, validate, build lineage, configure, or delete connectors, click on the Nine Dots menu.

• Edit Connector: Update and revalidate the data source.

• Validate Connector: Check the connection's integrity.

• Settings: Modify connector settings.

  • Crawler: Configure data extraction.

  • Access Instructions: Add notes on how data can be accessed.

  • Business Glossary Settings: Manage term associations at the connector level.

  • Lineage: Select server dialects for parsing and setting connector priority for table lineage.

  • Others: Configure notification recipients for metadata changes.

• Build Lineage: Automatically build data lineage using source code parsing.

• Delete Connector: Remove a connector with confirmation.

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