Fix "Configuration Error" on 64-bit OBIEE 11.1.1.6.5 Client Tools

Ever since upgrading to 11.1.1.6.5, I was unable to use the 64bit version of the newly installed client tools. The program would always error out on launch. Oddly enough, if I installed the 32bit version, things would work *mostly* fine, well at least no errors on start-up. But then I had to update the 32bit ODBC entries, and it overall was just a hassle to manage.

So I did a little digging, and found that because it installs into Program Files, it creates it's own bi_init.bat file, which sets up it's own ORACLE_HOME, ORACLE_INSTANCE, etc.

And guess what, this doesn't work!

Continue on to read what I did to change both the bi_init.bat and adjust some of my environment variables.

First things first, navigate to where you installed the 64 bit client tools. For me this was:

C:\Program Files\Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition Plus Client

Now, navigate to where the bi_init.bat file is stored:

oraclebi\orahome\bifoundation\server\bin

Open up the file bi_init.bat in TextPad, Notpad++, or your favorite editor. Replace the contents with:

set ORACLE_HOME=C:\ofmw\obiee11g\Oracle_BI1
set ORACLE_INSTANCE=C:\ofmw\obiee11g\instances\instance1
set ORACLE_BI_APPLICATION=coreapplication
set JAVA_HOME=C:\ofmw\obiee11g\Oracle_BI1\jdk
set ESSBASEPATH=%ORACLE_HOME%\clients\epm\Essbase\EssbaseRTC

call %ORACLE_INSTANCE%\bifoundation\OracleBIApplication\%ORACLE_BI_APPLICATION%\setup\user.cmd

if NOT "%1" == "" set COMPONENT_NAME=%1

set PATH=%ORACLE_HOME%\bifoundation\server\bin;%ORACLE_HOME%\bifoundation\web\bin;%ORACLE_HOME%\bin;C:\Program Files\Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition Plus Client\jre\bin;%windir%;%windir%\system32;%PATH%

if NOT "%2" == "" %2

Note: You will need to change the location to your fusion middleware directory. For me this is:

C:\ofmw\obiee11g

Change this to where ever your fusion middleware directory is.

At this point, you should be able to launch the new 64-bit 11.1.1.6.5 client tools from the shortcut in your Start menu.

If you want to be able to launch when double clicking on an RPD, without having to first open the Admin Tool, all you need to do is set your environment variables as they are configured in the script. If you don't already have the following, add them as environment variables:

ORACLE_HOME
ORACLE_INSTANCE
ORACLE_BI_APPLICATION

and set them to the same values that you have referenced in the script above.

Note: By changing the environment variables, you are impacting all programs on your system. Part of the reason they are locally defined in a script before the launch of the Admin Tool is that those variables are only set for the program launched after the script. Always be cautious while changing environment variables.