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Geek Stuff (EPM) - Undocumented Parameters EPM Diagnostics Utility

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Introduction

Since Oracle EPM 11.1.2.0 Oracle has introduced EPM Diagnostic Utility (validate.bat). For the newbies, the EPM diagnostic utility is a java based tool with the purpose to technically validate an EPM instance. Executing this utility results in two things: A full HTML diagnostics report, and a ZIP file containing all log files from the instance it was executed from. The Oracle EPM documentation related to this utility can be found here.

Since Oracle EPM 11.1.2.3, the EPM diagnostic utility is a good start when validating a installation or troubleshooting issues. However there are some minor downsides: It always performs all tests, always creates a ZIP file after completion and there is not option to selectively test... at least so I thought.

For an automation project, this default behavior was a problem. As such, I examined the java code related to the EPM diagnostic Execution and discovered that it excepts various command line parameters borrowed from the EPM installation utility wizard.


Background

You read it correctly, you have to execute the diagnostic utility per instance. So in a distributed environment, or when multiple instances are deployed you need to run the EPM diagnostic Utility from each server/instance.  Because of the default behavior mentioned earlier, it can be a lengthy process to run the diagnostic utility, which also has to be repeated for each EPM instance within the EPM environment. Especially the creation of the diagnostic ZIP file can be a lengthy process when an environment has been operational for a while (has to grab and compress multiple GB of log files). In most cased we are only interested in the report, not in the ZIP file.


Undocumented Parameters Explained

Tested only on EPM 11.1.2.4. The parameters mentioned below, can be used separately or can be combined. The parameters can be provided from the command line using validate.bat which can be found at "\Oracle\Middleware\user_projects\instance name\bin\validate.bat", or it can be included within the validate.bat batch file if you like.

-noPack
Prevents the creation of the diagnostic ZIP file after completion. Time saver, and prevents pollution of the systems filesystem with many (large) ZIP files. When included in the validate.bat, you can use ziplogs.bat instead located in the same folder as validate.bat when you want to create a ZIP file.

-silent
Prevents opening the HTML diagnostic report in the systems default browser after completion. Practical if you like to execute the Diagnostic utility from a automated process. Does not except a answer file.

-console
Like the EPM installation utility wizard, it presents an console based menu where you can select and deselect specific validation tests. It allows you to select or deselect complete products/components or its individual diagnostic tests. Sadly you cannot use the parameter -record to create an answer file to store your selection(s).

-test
Unclear what is does. It seems to be a test mode of some kind. I did not notice any behavior changes when using this parameter.


Final Notes

Using the parameters explained in this post may not be supported by Oracle. As such features can be removed, changed or it's behavior altered without notice. Still, it makes sense to use them in certain circumstances. Enjoy!

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