We frequently customize the SAP BusinessObjects Launch Pad to brand it according to organizational standards and to make it simpler to use. We can improve the Mobile BI experience as well by taking just a few minutes to set up the Configuration Server in the MOBIServer web application.
To begin, copy the MOBIserver default server.properties file to the adjacent custom directory, then open the copied file in your favorite text editor.
Next, define a connection for the mobi.connections property, using commas to separate multiple BI landscapes. Next, define the required parameters for each connection. Don’t be afraid to use spaces for the DisplayName to improve readability. The BOBJ_MOBILE_URL should point to the root of your web application server (or load balancer, if one is in use). BOBJ_MOBILE_CMS should be set to the CMS name and BOBJ_MOBILE_AUTH_METHOD should specify the preferred default authentication type. I’ve used secEnterprise here but use secWinAD or secLDAP if appropriate. Ideally this should be the same default used in your BIlaunchpad.properties for the BOE app.
# C:\[Install Directory]\tomcat\webapps\BOE\WEB-INF\config\custom # then copy to # C:[Install Directory]\SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 4.0\warfiles\webapps\MOBIServer\WEB-INF\config\custom mobi.connections=Development, Test, Production Development.DisplayName=BI 4.2 SP3 (Development) #Development.BOBJ_MOBILE_USER_NAME=Sample Development.BOBJ_MOBILE_URL=https://dev.yourdomain.com:8080 Development.BOBJ_MOBILE_CMS=DEVCLUSTER:6400 Development.BOBJ_MOBILE_AUTH_METHOD=secEnterprise Test.DisplayName=BI 4.2 SP3 (Test/QA) #Test.BOBJ_MOBILE_USER_NAME=Sample Test.BOBJ_MOBILE_URL=https://test.yourdomain.com:8080 Test.BOBJ_MOBILE_CMS=DEVCLUSTER:6400 Test.BOBJ_MOBILE_AUTH_METHOD=secEnterprise Production.DisplayName=SAP BI 4.2 SP3 #Production.BOBJ_MOBILE_USER_NAME=Sample Production.BOBJ_MOBILE_URL=https://production.yourdomain.com:8080 Production.BOBJ_MOBILE_CMS=DEVCLUSTER:6400 Production.BOBJ_MOBILE_AUTH_METHOD=secEnterprise
Restart Tomcat, then confirm the results from MobileBI (I’m currently using Mobile BI 6.4). Tap on the gear icon then tap Application Settings then Import Existing Connections . From the Import Connections screen (shown below), tap Configuration Server.
Next, enter the configuration server URL. If your BI Launch Pad link is https://yourbi.yourdomain.com:8080/BOE/BI, you’ll want to enter https://yourbi.yourdomain.com:8080 then click Import.
You should see a list of the connections from the MOBIserver app. Verify that the connection names appear as desired and that each connection works properly.
I’ve defined all of the landscapes in the content lifecycle (Development, Test, and Production), which is appropriate for non-production landscapes. For production landscapes, I recommend that you display only a single connection. In other words, don’t provide your users with a list of confusing environments that you won’t want them to access.
Once a user accepts your connection definition, he or she can easily share the connection using the Mobile BI share feature, which emails a QR code. It’s unfortunate that BI administrators can’t display this QR code to users from the BI Launch Pad (You can vote for this idea on the SAP Idea Place). But by taking a little extra time to configure the MOBIserver app, we can provide our Mobile BI users with a friendlier configuration process that doesn’t require them to type (or mistype) confusing system parameters.
What tricks have you used to make the Mobile BI experience better?