Dodeca Essbase Connector

This package contains all files needed to run and deploy the Dodeca Essbase Connector. Historically, this connector has also been referred to as the "Essbase servlet". As of version 8.4, this connector is now packaged as a combined build that contains both the "standalone" version of the Dodeca Essbase Connector in addition to files and tooling needed to build a WAR file that can be deployed in a servlet container such as Apache Tomcat or Oracle WebLogic.

You can choose to use either the standalone or the WAR version of deployment. They are functionally the same once deployed. Standalone:

Can be easily installed as a Windows or Linux service
Outputs logs to a single location (/logs/)
Runs by default on port 8252

The traditional WAR deployment:

Can be placed into an Apache Tomcat or Oracle WebLogic instance
The servlet container handles logging
Requires you to build a .war file for your version of Essbase
Runs on the port that your servlet container uses (usually 8080 or 9000)

Building a .WAR File

At a minimum, you need to decide which version of the Essbase Java API files to use. The connector ships with several to choose from, and additional ones can be added as needed. Versions include 11.1.2.4.048, 21.5.1.0.0.016, and more. Each version must have its own folder in the drivers folder.

Then, using a command prompt, navigate in to the /tools subdirectory of in the connector distribution. Run the following command to build a .war file for your version of Essbase:

java -jar dodeca-essbase-packager.jar create --version 11.1.2.4.048

The packager will then create a .war file named dodeca-essbase.war in the same folder. You can deploy this file as normal to your Tomcat/WebLogic instance.

Adding Additional Essbase Media

Simply create a folder in the drivers folder named for the exact version of Essbase media you want to use. For example, if there is a new patch to the 11.1.2.4 series such as 11.1.2.4.099, create a folder named that and place the Essbase JAR files in there. At a minimum, you need to have an ess_japi.jar file, although depending on your usage you may need the related ess_es_server.jar, cpld.jar, ojdl.jar and other files.

Deploying the Standalone Version of the Connector

a standalone version of the Dodeca Essbase connector, meaning that it runs as its own service and does not require being dropped into an existing Tomcat/WebLogic instance. Steps to setup:

You must choose a version of the Essbase Java API files to use. Generally you should match up your version of Essbase files to your exact server. For example, if you are running an 11.1.2.4.042 server, then you would choose the corresponding files from the /drivers folder. In order to set your version of the Essbase Java API, copy the entire folder you want to use, then rename it to current. For example, you should end up with a folder inside of drivers named current that contains the proper Java jar files. E.g. your drivers/current folder will contain ess_japi.jar, ess_es_server.jar, cpld.jar, and ojdl.jar if you started with the 11.1.2.4.042 folder. Other version sets may have slightly different sets of files.

Confirm that Java version 8 is on the PATH, by running java -version on the command line. You should see output like the following:

 C:\Users\test>java -version

 openjdk version "1.8.0_242"
 OpenJDK Runtime Environment (Zulu 8.44.0.11-CA-win64) (build 1.8.0_242-b20)
 OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (Zulu 8.44.0.11-CA-win64) (build 25.242-b20, mixed mode)

You should now be able to navigate to the /bin folder and run dodeca-essbase-connector.bat console (if using Windows) or the non-suffixed file if on Linux. You should see the connector startup. When the connector starts up, you can confirm that it is running by visiting this URL:
```
 http://localhost:8252/dodeca-essbase/Servlet
```
You can confirm that the service is accessible from remote computers by attempting to access the same URL, substituting the server name for localhost.
After confirming that the service starts successfully in console mode, you may wish to install as an actual Windows service. To do so, open up a Command prompt in Administrator mode (e.g. search for cmd, then right-click and select Run as Administrator, then navigate to the bin folder in your Dodeca Essbase connector location and type the following:
```
 dodeca-essbase-connector install
```
This should install the service (you can confirm by looking at your list of Windows Services and seeing a new entry for Dodeca Essbase Connector). You can start it from there or use this command to start the service from the command line:
```
 dodeca-essbase-connector start
```