Monday, February 13, 2012

How to Create a New Financial Management (HFM) Cluster and Configure Access From Workspace



How to Create a New Financial Management (HFM) Cluster and Configure Access From Workspace [ID 1254300.1]
 Modified 09-FEB-2011     Type HOWTO     Status PUBLISHED 

Applies to:

Hyperion Financial Management - Version: 9.3.1.0.00 to 11.1.2.0.00 - Release: 9.3 to 11.1
Information in this document applies to any platform.

Goal

The goal of this document is to explain how to create a new Hyperion Financial Management (HFM) cluster and explain how to configure user access to the new HFM cluster from Workspace.

Solution

General Information

Hyperion Financial Management (HFM) allows for the grouping of one or more HFM application servers behind a “friendly” cluster name. Advantages of using an HFM cluster over an explicit HFM application server by name is that the HFM cluster allows you to add and remove servers without end users having to make any changes. When more than one HFM application server is added to an HFM cluster, new user sessions randomly pick one of the HFM application servers to connect. If the HFM application server that was randomly selected is currently not online the then user session automatically directed to another HFM application server. HFM clusters do not allow for automatically failover of active user sessions. When a user makes multiple connections to an application using an HFM cluster, Sticky Server feature ensures that all user sessions are directed to the same HFM application server.

Hyperion Financial Management (HFM) allows for creating more than one HFM cluster to allow for specific HFM application server(s) be accessed by specific users. The most common configuration uses 2 HFM clusters. The first HFM cluster is accessed by the majority of users to run reports, data grids and smart view and the second HFM cluster is used primarily by HFM application administrators to run consolidations. Most new installations will start off with a single HFM cluster. The need for a dedicated consolidation server usually arises when end users notice slower running reports or longer running refreshes while consolidations are running. Depending on how many HFM application servers exist in the current HFM cluster, a second HFM cluster can be created by moving a existing server(s) or by adding new HFM application server(s) to a second HFM cluster.


In System 9, you must be running 9.3.1.3 or later to prevent issues when using more than one HFM application cluster - unpublished Bug 7627614.

Important points to be aware of

  • You cannot choose which HFM application(s) run on a specific HFM application server or HFM cluster. All HFM applications defined in the database repository, that the HFM application server is configure to access, can run on that server.
  • You cannot prevent a user from accessing a specific HFM application server or HFM cluster.
  • All HFM applications servers in a HFM cluster must point to the same database schema. In System 9 this is configured manually in the UDL file and in System 11 the database connection string is configured in the EPM System Configurator.
  • If the goal is to separate HFM applications and limit which HFM applications run on which HFM application servers then you must configure HFM application server(s) or cluster(s) to access a different schema. This document will primarily focus on accessing the same HFM application from different HFM clusters from Hyperion Workspace but a brief explanation is also included to explain accessing different HFM applications that reside in different HFM clusters from Workspace.
In the case of adding a second HFM cluster to an existing environment, if an existing HFM application server is to be moved to the new cluster it must first be removed from the existing cluster. HFM application server can belong to only one cluster at a time.

Steps for removing an existing HFM application server from a HFM cluster

System 9

  1. On any HFM application server, run the Server and Web Configuration utility. This can be done on any HFM application server as these updates occur in the database.
  2. Select the Application Server Cluster tab.
  3. In the Servers that will participate in the Cluster window, select the server to be removed.
  4. Select Remove Server.
  5. Select Apply.
  6. Select OK to close utility.

System 11

  1. On any HFM application server, run the EPM System Configurator utility. This can be done on any HFM application server as these updates occur in the database.
  2. Under Financial Management, put a check next to Configure Application Cluster.
  3. Select Next.
  4. On the Configure Financial Management – Server /Cluster screen, select the server to be removed from the cluster under Servers in Cluster.
  5. Select Remove.
  6. Select Next.
  7. Select Next.
  8. Select Finish to close utility.

Steps for creating a new HFM cluster and adding a HFM application server

System 9

  1. On any HFM application server, run the Server and Web Configuration utility. This can be done on any HFM application server as these updates occur in the database.
  2. Select the Application Server Cluster tab.
  3. Select Add Cluster.
  4. Type in a Cluster Name.
  5. Select OK.
  6. Select Add Server.
  7. Enter the Hostname of the HFM application server.* Do not use Fully Qualified names here as Sticky server feature will not work - Unpublished Bug 7704770.
  8. Select OK.
  9. Select Apply.
  10. Select OK to close utility.
*Note that there is no validation here so if you incorrectly type the server name you will not be able to register this new cluster.

System 11

  1. On any HFM application server, run the EPM System Configurator utility. This can be done on any HFM application server as these updates occur in the database.
  2. Under Financial Management, put a check next to Configure Application Cluster.
  3. Select Next.
  4. On the Configure Financial Management – Server /Cluster screen, select Add.
  5. Type in a Cluster Name.
  6. Select OK.
  7. Under Available Servers, select the server to be added to new HFM cluster. **
  8. Select Add
  9. Select Next.
  10. Select Next.
  11. Select Finish to close utility.
**Only HFM application servers that have been previously registered to Hyperion Foundation will appear under Available servers.

Steps for making new HFM cluster available to Workspace users

System 9

  1. On each HFM Web servers, run the Server and Web Configuration utility.
  2. Select the Server/Cluster Registration tab.
  3. Ensure the Use Automatic Load Balancing radio button is selected.
  4. In the field, type in the hostname of HFM application server belonging to the cluster you want to add. If the HFM cluster has more than one HFM application server then you can type in any of the server hostnames.
  5. Select Add.
  6. Select Apply.
  7. Select OK to close utility.

System 11

  1. On each HFM Web server, run the EPM System Configurator utility.
  2. Under Financial Management, put a check next to Register Application Servers / Cluster.
  3. Select Next.
  4. On the Register Financial Management – Server /Cluster screen, select the HFM cluster under Available Servers / Clusters.
  5. Select Add.
  6. Select Next.
  7. Select Next.
  8. Select Finish to close utility.

Steps for users to configure to access new HFM cluster

Which HFM application server or HFM cluster an HFM application opens on when a user selects the application is not directly visible to users. Unless a user follows the steps provided below to set an Application Startup Preference, the HFM application will open on the last HFM server or HFM cluster that the HFM application was registered against. In most cases, this is the same HFM server or HFM cluster that they HFM application creator specified when creating the HFM application. In the event that you find an HFM application not opening on the expected HFM cluster, you can re-register the HFM application at anytime without having to restart. See the section below on Steps to change where HFM application opens by default from Workspace for steps on changing the default HFM cluster. For users that need to access an HFM application on an HFM cluster that is not the default follows the steps outlined below. Note that this must be done on a per user basis and is also a per HFM application setting.

Setting Preference for HFM application startup

  1. For Workspace File Menu, select Preferences.
  2. On the left side, select Consolidation.
  3. Under List of Applications, select the down arrow to return all HFM applications available.
  4. Select an HFM application.
  5. Under List of Clusters, select down arrow to return list of all available HFM servers and HFM clusters. If you do not see the HFM Cluster expected then see the section above on Steps for making new HFM cluster available to Workspace users to register the HFM cluster on all HFM Web servers.
  6. Select Save.
  7. Select OK to acknowledge the warning prompt that re-login is necessary.
  8. Select OK to close Preferences.
  9. Log out of workspace for change to take effect.

Steps to change where HFM application opens by default from Workspace

The following can be skipped if the existing HFM cluster is known to be working correctly.

To register a Classic System 9 HFM application from Workspace

  1. From the Navigate menu select Administer.
  2. Select Classic Application Administration.
  3. Select Consolidation Administration.
  4. In the left hand side, expand Tasks.
  5. Expand Consolidation Administration.
  6. Select Register Application.
  7. At this point you will see a list of HFM servers and HFM clusters, you only see what has been registered on the HFM web server. If you do not see the HFM Cluster expected then see the section above on Steps for making new HFM cluster available to Workspace users to register the HFM cluster on all HFM Web servers.
  8. Select the HFM cluster you want to be the default. This would be the HFM cluster you want users without a Preference set to access when logging in to Workspace.
  9. Select the HFM application.
  10. Verify the entry in Cluster/Server Name field points to the correct HFM Cluster.
  11. Set the User Management Project to the correct project. This should be the same as originally set and can be verified by finding the application under Projects in the Hyperion Shared Services Console.
  12. Verify Financial Management Web Server URL for Security Administration points to the correct location, this point wither to http://<workspace>:<port>/hfm or to http://<HFM_WebServer>/hfm.
  13. Select Register.

To register a Classic System 11 HFM application from Workspace

  1. From the Navigate menu select Administer.
  2. Select Classic Application Administration.
  3. Select Consolidation Administration.
  4. Select Register Application.
  5. At this point you will see a list of HFM servers and HFM clusters, you only see what has been registered on the HFM web server. If you do not see the HFM Cluster expected then see the section above on Steps for making new HFM cluster available to Workspace users to register the HFM cluster on all HFM Web servers.
  6. Select the HFM cluster you want to be the default. This would be the HFM cluster you want users to access when logging in to Workspace.
  7. Select the HFM application.
  8. Verify the entry in Cluster/Server Name field points to the correct HFM Cluster.
  9. Set the User Management Project to the correct project. This should be the same as originally set and can be verified by finding the application under Projects in the Hyperion Shared Services Console.
  10. Verify Financial Management Web Server URL for Security Administration points to the correct location, this point wither to http://<workspace>:<port>/hfm or to http://<HFM_WebServer>/hfm.
  11. Select Register.
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