OBIEE 11g: Oracle BI Add-in for Microsoft Office

This post explains how to install BI Add-in for Microsoft Office and configure it.

Environment:

OBIEE 11g (11.1.1.5.0)

Microsoft Office 2010

Windows 7 Ultimate 64bits

Note: 11.1.1.5 supports MS Office supports 2010, whereas 11.1.1.3.0 supports  MS Office 2003 and MS Office 2007.

Installation:

Download the installation file for the Oracle BI Add-in for Microsoft Office from the OBIEE Home page (http://yourservername:7001/analytics).

Get Started > Download BI Desktop Tools > Oracle BI for MS Office.

Run the executable that you have downloaded and follow the wizard to complete the installation.

Configuration:

1. Open Microsoft Power point or Microsoft Excel (The connection information is shared, therefore you can enter it through either application and it is available to both.), click OK.

2. Preferences window opens. On the Connections tab, select New.

3. In the New Connection window, fill the following fields

• Server Name: Give any  name (e.g. oracle BI Office)
• BI Office Server: Enter the URL for the BI Office Server (e.g. oracle.oracle.com). You can enter “localhost” if the BI Office Server is installed on your local machine.
• Application Name: bioffice (deault)
• Port: 7001 (default is 80)

4. Click on Test connection. It should show the following screen, if not check the connection details and correct them.

Note: This does not test the connection between the BI Office Server and Presentation Services.

5. Notice that the Oracle BI Menu has been shown.

6. Click Login to login to Presentation Services using the appropriate username and password.

You will get the “Login failed. Please check the username, password and Oracle BI Office server availability.” It is because in the bioffice.xml (C:\OBI11g\user_projects\domains\bifoundation_domain\servers\AdminServer\tmp\_WL_user\bioffice_11.1.1\hsq62b\war\WEB-INF\) SawBaseURL is pointing to 9704 port. Change it to 7001 and then save the file. Restart the services from EM (http://yourservername:7001/em) and try login again, it should work.

7. Once you are logged in, you will see the BI Catalog on the right pane of Microsoft Power point.