Installing BMC Remedy Smart Reporting

If you have not already done so, prepare to install Remedy Smart Reporting. To reduce installation time significantly, do not install the products over a WAN.

Before you begin

To install BMC Remedy Smart Reporting, ensure the following:

• (Unix non-root mode) You must have write access to \etc, \opt\bmc folder, and the install location.
• (Windows non-admin mode) You must have write access to the install location, and %windir% directory.
• The AR System server host name and the BMC Remedy Smart Reporting server host name must be added to the /etc/hosts file. Any issues with IP host resolution will cause BMC Remedy Smart Reporting onboarding to fail.
• For Smart Reporting to work correctly, make sure that Smart Reporting and AR System server are on the same version.

• Before installing Smart Reporting, you must update the context.xml file. For the list of supported Tomcat versions, see BMC SOLUTION AND PRODUCT AVAILABILITY AND COMPATIBILITY UTILITY (SPAC). Also check the default port numbers before you install Smart Reporting. For more information, see Network-ports.

To install BMC Remedy Smart Reporting with SQL database using Windows authentication

When installing BMC Remedy Smart Reporting with SQL database using Windows authentication, you must fulfill the following prerequisites: 

When installing a service to run under a domain user account, the account must have the right to log on as a service on the local computer. This right strictly applies only to the local computer and it must be granted in the Local Security Policy.

To edit the Local Security Policy of the Windows computer on which you want to define the log on as a service permission:

1. Log on to the computer with administrative privileges.
2. In Control Panel, select System and Security > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy.
   The Local Security Policy window is displayed.
3. Under Security Settings, expand Local Policies and then click User Rights Assignment.
4. In the right-pane, right-click Log on as a service and then click Properties.
   The Log on as a service Properties dialog box is displayed.
5. Click Add User or Group.
   The Select Users, Computers, Service Accounts, or Groups dialog box is displayed.
6. In the Enter the object names to select box, type an object name and then click OK.
7. In the Log on as a service Properties dialog box, click OK.
   Your changes are saved.

Click the following video for a quick overview of the BMC Remedy Smart Reporting installation.

To update the context.xml file

Perform the following steps before installing Remedy Smart Reporting:

1. Go to the <tomcat installation directory>\conf\ context.xml.

2. Set the xmlBlockExternal to false in the Context parameter. For example:

   <Context xmlBlockExternal="false">

   Do not add a new Context xmlBlockExternal tag. You must update the existing tag as shown in the following table:

   Before updating
   Recommended
   To be avoided

3. Save the file.

4. If you have installed the external Tomcat as a service, you must use two servers with the following Java heap size for each server:

   • Minimum: 12 GB
   • Maximum: 16 GB
     

   You may need to increase this configuration based on the usage and the load on the server.

To install BMC Remedy Smart Reporting

1. If you have not already done so, download the BMC Remedy AR System installer from the Electronic Product Download (EPD) site, or navigate to the installation directory on the DVD.
2. Unzip the suite installer (for example, ARSuiteKitWindows.zip or ARSuiteKitLinux.zip).
3. Navigate to the Disk 1 folder.
4. Start the installer:
   
   • For Windows, run setup.exe.
   • For UNIX, run setup.bin.
5. In the lower-right corner of the Welcome panel, click Next.
6. Review the license agreement, click I agree to the terms of license agreement, and then click Next.
7. On the Products selection panel, perform the following actions:
   1. Select Install.
   2. Select BMC Remedy Smart Reporting and clear the other options.
      The installer validates the system resources of your computer and displays a list of available features.
   3. Navigate to the directory in which you want to install the BMC Remedy AR System application.
      The default locations are C:\Program Files\BMC Software\ARSystem\SmartReporting (Windows) and/opt/bmc/ARSystem/SmartReporting (UNIX or Linux).
   4. Click Next.
8. On the User Inputs panel, enter the Reporting Admin User ID and password.

9. On the Tomcat Deployment Directory Information panel, navigate to the folder where you have installed Apache Tomcat. For a Windows machine, wait for the Tomcat Service Name to get populated automatically, and click Next.

   Note

   If the Tomcat Service Name is not automatically detected, ensure that the Tomcat service is created and running. Tomcat must be registered as a service for the installer to detect it.

   For more information about installing the Tomcat services, see  https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-8.5-doc/windows-service-howto.html in the Apache Tomcat documentation.

10. Enter the values from the installation spreadsheet for the features that you want to install.

    After you have entered the required information, the installer validates your input. The Installation Preview panel then appears, listing the product and features that will be installed.

    Note

    • If you are using the SQL database for BMC Remedy Smart Reporting, make sure you complete the Microsoft SQL database configuration as described in the Configuring-the-Microsoft-SQL-Server topic. The database validation fails if the database is configured incorrectly.
    • Ensure that you drop all the tables from the existing Smart Reporting database. This will clear all the duplicate entries and the installation is completed without any errors. For example, in the Configuration table, the DEFAULTENTRYPAGE entry occurs multiple times.
    • Do not use comma (,) or double quotes (") while setting a new password for the super admin user at the time of installation. However, you can use comma (,) or double quotes (") if you are changing the password of the super admin user after installation.
11. Click Next.
    The installer installs the feature. After post-installation cleanup, a summary of the installation appears.
12. Click View Log to review any SEVERE error messages or warnings in the product installer log.
    See whether errors are due to network, host, or other environment-related issues. You can view a log file of the installation: 
    • C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Temp\arsystem_install_log.txt
    • <install_directory>\SmartReporting\smartreporting-<yy/mm/dd>.log 
13. When you are finished reviewing the log, close it.
14. Click Done to exit the AR System installer.

(Optional) Installing BMC Remedy Smart Reporting in silent mode

To install BMC Remedy Smart Reporting in silent you have to run the AR installer in silent mode. For instructions, see Running-the-installer-in-silent-mode and Example-options-txt-file.

Connecting AR System data source with a replicated read-only AR database

If you want to keep the AR production database unaffected and yet allow BMC Remedy Smart Reporting users to continue with the reporting operations, you must connect your AR System data source with a read-only replicated AR database.

To avoid license update related issues, you must complete the user onboarding process by connecting with a read/write AR production database. After completing the user onboarding process, perform the following steps to connect your AR System data source with a read-only replicated AR database.

1. Log in to Remedy Mid Tier as BMC Remedy Smart Reporting administrator.
2. Navigate to Applications > BMC Remedy Smart Reporting > BMC Smart Reporting console.
3. On the BMC Remedy Smart Reporting console, navigate to Administration > Admin console > Data sources.
4. Click AR System connection.
5. Under the Connection section, in the Host field, enter the AR Server host name which is connected to the read-only replicated AR database.
6. Under the Test Connection section, click Click here to test connection to check if the connection works. 
7. Click Save to complete the connection setup.

Where to go from here

Related topics

Troubleshooting-Remedy-Smart-Reporting-Installation-and-Upgrade-issues

Changing the Remedy Smart Reporting super admin password after installation