Actuate 8 and Maximo 6 Communications Overview
Overview : This document describes the communications required between Actuate 8, Maximo 6, and the
database for Actuate report server functionality when LDAP and SSO are not enabled.
This document is part of a multi document series of documents designed to help troubleshoot
Actuate 8 configuration issues with Maximo 6
KB DocID M05088- Actuate 8 Troubleshooting Procedures is the master document of this series
There are four main points of communication in the interface between MAXIMO, Actuate, and the
Database.
Ø The MAXIMO 6 application communicates with the Actuate 8 server using HTTP for report requests.
Ø The Actuate 8 server communicates with the Maximo application using RMI (Remote Method
Invocation).
Ø The Actuate 8 server communicates with the database using either Oracle Client (SQL*net/TNS/Net 8)
for Oracle or ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) for Microsoft SQL Server.
Ø The Actuate 8 server communicates with the database using JDBC.
A user requests a report in one of two ways.
1.) By selecting a report from a list of reports
2.) By clicking an icon to generate a predefined report
Troubleshooting
When troubleshooting reports not running problems, it is easiest to use method one above first to confirm
the various communications.
When a user requests a list of reports (Action/Run reports or Start Center/Reports), the following things
occur:
Ø The Maximo 6 application passes the users authorization and request to the Actuate 8 server using an
HTTP SOAP request.
Ø The Actuate server returns the requested report list to the Maximo 6 application to send to the user.
Ø The user selects a report from the list.
Ø The Maximo 6 application auto generates a request for the Actuate Request Page associated with the
report.
Ø The Actuate server returns the request page to the Maximo 6 application to send to the user.
Ø The user fills in the request page with the necessary parameters and clicks "Submit".
Ø The Maximo 6 application auto generates a request for a report with the parameters from the Actuate
Request Page.
Ø The Actuate 8 server receives the request for a report and initiates a connection to the database using
middle-ware (SQL*net or ODBC).
Ø The Actuate 8 server generates SQL required to obtain records using the database middle-ware.
Ø The database returns the requested records to the Actuate 8 server using the database middle-ware.
Ø The Actuate 8 server generates the report and returns the report to the Maximo 6 application using
HTTP
Ø The Maximo 6 application returns the report to the user requesting the report using HTTP.
When troubleshooting Actuate console login or encyclopedia import problems, an understanding of the
communications configuration files and relationships is necessary
When a user attempts to import an encyclopedia, the system will attempt to log into the Maximo 6
application to obtain the necessary privileges. If the Maximo 6 application is not running or the necessary
configuration files are not correct, the import will fail. The first thing that must be done before attempting
to import an encyclopedia is a successful login to the encyclopedia of the Actuate 8 console
(http://{servername}:8900/acadmin).
Ensure that the volume and not the System Administration option is selected from the drop down
menu.
Enter the username maxadmin.
Enter the password maxadmin.
When a user attempts to login to the encyclopedia in the Actuate 8 console
Ø The Actuate 8 server passes the username to the Maximo 6 application for authorization using RMI.
Ø The Maximo 6 application logs the user in and returns the authorization to the Actuate 8 server.
Ø The Actuate 8 server retrieves username information from the database using a JDBC (Java DataBase
Connectivity) connection.
Ø The Maximo 6 user is logged in to the Actuate 8 encyclopedia with the Maximo 6 authorizations.
In order for this communication to be successful, the rsse files must correctly configured.
You can look at each of these communications as a point of failure, however; realistically, if there is
dependable network communication, there are only a few things that need to be reviewed to establish a
properly working report system.
The communication for these links is configured using both the MXES application configuration files and
Actuate 8 configuration files.
The configuration of the Maximo 6 application is done using the following files:
Ø {Maximo_6_home}\applications\maximo\properties\maximo.properties
Ø {Maximmo_6_home}\applications\activeportal\WEB-INF\web.xml
The configuration of Actuate 8 is done using the following files:
Ø {Actuate_8_home}/etc/rsse_maximo.properties
Ø {Actuate_8_home}/bin/iserver.jar
Ø {Actuate_8_home}/servletcontainer\webapps\acrsse\WEB-INF\lib\actuatebo.jar
In the diagram shown below, the {Actuate_8_home}/etc/rsse_maximo.properties file is on the left
and points to the areas in the
{Maximo_6_home}\applications\maximo\properties\maximo.properties file that are related.