One of the first things you will discover when migrating from XI 3.1 to BI4 is that the Import Wizard (IW) is gone (and there was much rejoicing). It has been replaced by a new tool called the Upgrade Management Tool (UMT). This is excellent news, since the UMT is a bit easier to use. However, there are a few things that are helpful to know to make your migrations go more smoothly.
The UMT is installed as part of the BI platform, not the client tools like Web Intelligence, etc. To launch the UMT, log into one of your BI4 servers and click Start > Programs > BusinessObjects > Upgrade Management Tools.
Increase the Heap
By default the BI 4.0 UMT uses 2 GB of memory (this has been increased to 8 GB on BI 4.1- see Ian Wilson’s article, UMT Revisited: 2015 is the Year for BI 4.1 Migrations). When I first started working with UMT, the performance was slow and the migration kept failing. It turned out that the point of failure was not the heap (more on that in a bit), but I did see a drastic improvement in performance after bumping the heap from 2 GB to 8 GB. Now my first step with UMT is to increase the heap size.
The setting is simple to change. Look in the Start menu and browse to SAP BusinessObjects BI platform 4 > SAP BusinessObjects BI platform. Right-click Upgrade management tool and select Properties.
Look in the target section for -Xmx2g. If you want to increase the heap to 8 GB, simply change the 2 to an 8. The heap can be set even higher if your server has the available RAM.
Example:
“C:\BusinessObjects\SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 4.0\win64_x64\jdk\jre\bin\javaw.exe” -Xmx8g -Djava.library.path=”..\..\..\..\win64_x64″ -jar upgrademanagementtool.jar
Temp Directory Redirect
As mentioned above, I ran into some issues the first time I used UMT. In this specific case, I was working with BI4 on a new proof-of-concept server. The server had Windows and BI4 installed on the primary drive with the FRS was redirected to the second drive. The primary drive had a few gigabytes free, but that was not nearly enough space even though the FRS was housed on a separate drive.
I learned that UMT copies all of the content that is being migrated to the Windows temp directory prior to copying it to the FRS. This means that not only do you need enough space in your FRS, but you also need free space in the Windows temp directory…
OR
…redirect the temp directory!
To redirect UMT’s temp directory, once again open the properties for the UMT shortcut. Add the following to the target right after javaw.exe” (It can go before or after the memory flag from above): -Djava.io.tmpdir=”TEMP PATH”
So, for example, if my new temp directory is located at e:\temp, I would add: -Djava.io.tmpdir=”e:\temp”
Example:
“C:\BusinessObjects\SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 4.0\win64_x64\jdk\jre\bin\javaw.exe” -Xmx8g -Djava.io.tmpdir=”E:\Temp” -Djava.library.path=”..\..\..\..\win64_x64″ -jar upgrademanagementtool.jar
Migrating Content
Complete vs. Incremental Migrations
Now that UMT is configured, you are ready to start migrating. The first prompt asks if you would like to do a Complete or Incremental Upgrade.
The complete upgrade will attempt to copy everything, while incremental will allow you to specifically select what to migrate. If you are migrating a small system, you could try a complete upgrade. However, I prefer incremental because it offers more flexibility and can help identify points of failure if there are problems.
Live or BIAR?
Next, you can specify how you want to migrate. Do you want to migrate directly from a live system to another live system, or do you first want to migrate to a BIAR. Your network’s bandwidth and server’s storage will likely influence your decision.
If you selected the complete upgrade option, there’s not much left to do after specifying the server/BIAR settings. Click Start, and wait for it to finish.
However, if you are doing an incremental upgrade, there are just a couple more steps.
Instances
When performing an incremental upgrade, the next decision will be whether or not you should migrate instances. Instances are not always needed, and you may simply be able to back them up to a BIAR for archival purposes. Most organizations will likely want them in a production environment; however, this decision will vary from company to company. Just know that exporting instances will result in a larger migration.
Object instances are migrated by default. To not migrate instances, click Options, and select “Do not export object instances.”
Finishing the Migration
At this point, select the content that you want to migrate, click start, and grab a cup of coffee. Depending on the amount of content being moved, this could take a while. Once it is finished, you will get a message stating that the upgrade is complete.
Additional Resources
- SAP KB 1904814 – Best practices for a successful migration to BI4 using the Upgrade Management Tool (S-ID required)
- UMT Revisited: 2015 is the Year for BI 4.1 Migrations
Are BI installation is on Linux platform. UMT command line invoke doesn’t allow incremental upgrades.
1. Is the only option for incremental migration to do a BI server installation on a Windows machine?
2. If the above is yes, do I have to do a full installation or simply Adminstrator tools to install UMT?
3. If I copied upgrademanagementtool.jar application and supporting files to a Windows machine, can I invoke this through javaw.exe and get the application working?
Thanks.
I haven’t specifically tried it, but logic tells me if you have a spare windows box (must be a server), you *should* be able to do a custom install to get just the UMT out of it. I don’t have a machine handy to run this through on, though.