Quick Tip: Starting OHS 12 in a distributed Hyperion environment

This ought to be a simpler post than what I usually write.

The topic of how to start Oracle HTTP Server ("OHS") 12c in Hyperion / Oracle EPM 11.2.x comes up frequently.  I've previously posted about the little trick, buried within the EPM 11.2.x install/config guide, on how to save the WebLogic password for OHS so you aren't prompted every time you try to start up OHS.

"But hey! Dave, how do we start and stop OHS in a distributed MS Windows Server environment when OHS doesn't have its own Windows service anymore?  The good old NSSM trick we use for WebLogic Admin Server doesn't work for OHS!"

An excellent question.

Login to each OHS host server in your distributed environment as your EPM network service account.  Run the "storeuserconfig" trick to save epm_admin's password in your network service account's profile on the C drive.  Search the install/config guide for the text "storeuserconfig" and it'll take you directly to the needed command syntax.  Every member on your Hyperion support team who wants to start/stop services using their own distinct userID needs to perform this step.  This is a one-time-only step until such time as your security team forces you to change the WebLogic epm_admin password.

Now on your OHS server(s) foreign to where you run your master start/stop scripts from (you are running custom start/stop scripts, yes?), create a simple little DOS batch script like this:

sc start "Oracle Weblogic ohs NodeManager (D_Oracle_Middleware_ohs_wlserver)"  

start "StartOHS" /wait /i cmd /c %EPM_INSTANCE_HOME%\httpConfig\ohs\bin\startComponent.cmd ohs_component

Replace D_Oracle in that first command with the drive letter where you installed.  e.g. E:_Oracle, F:_Oracle or whatever is appropriate.  The drive letter is unfortunately embedded within the Oracle Node Manager 12c Windows service name.

Replace %EPM_INSTANCE_HOME% with the fully qualified path to your Oracle EPM Instance, which is DRIVE:\Oracle\Middleware\user_projects\epmsystem1 by default.

Note: the final line beginning with start "StartOHS" is all one line all the way through ohs_component.  Blogger is linewrapping it in an undesirable way.

Save this script as DRIVE:\scripts\startohs.bat or whatever you want.

Replace startComponnent.cmd with stopComponent.cmd and now you have your stopohs.bat script as well!

Finally, use this to invoke it remotely from your master start/stop scripts:

wmic /node:%FDNHOST2% process call create "DRIVE:\Scripts\startohs.bat"

wmic is a built-in Windows command.  Provided your userID is an administrator on the foreign server, you may use this syntax to invoke any batch file, command, or executable you wish.

Replace the variable %FDNHOST2% with the hostname of your 2nd OHS server that you're clustering for load balancing.  Repeat as needed if you have more than 2 OHS servers.

Simple & easy.  You're welcome!  👍