Manually process IT Analytics for Symantec Management Platform (SMP) cubes

Products

• IT Analytics
• IT Management Suite
• Server Management Suite
• Client Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

Cube processing initiated via the Symantec Management Console under Settings > Notification Server > IT Analytics Settings > Processing provides no real-time updates or indication of success or failure in the IT Analytics Event Viewer.

Environment

Build: All

Component: Cubes

Resolution

IT Analytics (ITA) cube processing can be initiated directly in SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS). If desired, a SQL Server Agent job can also be created to run cube processing on a schedule.

Cube Processing

To manually process the ITA cubes directly in SSAS, follow this procedure:

1. Using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), connect to the Analysis Services server hosting the ITA cubes
2. In Object Explorer, navigate to Databases > IT Analytics > Cubes and select the Cubes folder
3. From the View menu, select Object Explorer Details
4. In Object Explorer Details, select the full list of cubes by pressing CTRL+A, or by selecting the first cube in the list while holding the SHIFT key and then selecting the last cube in the list
5. Right-click the highlighted list and select Process
6. In the Process Object(s) window, select the full list of cubes by selecting the first cube in the list while holding the SHIFT key and then selecting the last cube in the list
7. Right-click the highlighted list and select Add Related Dimensions
8. Confirm the Process Options column shows Process Update* for the dimensions and Process Full for the cubes:
   
   
9. In the Process Object(s) window, click the Change Settings... button
10. In the Change Settings window, check the box labelled Process affected objects
11. Click the OK button
12. In the Process Object(s) window, select the menu under the Script button
13. Select Script Action to New Query Window
14. Click the OK button to begin processing

* Dimensions must be set to Process Full the first time they are processed, but subsequent processing jobs must be set to Process Update. If you are manually processing cubes that have never been processed, step 8 must be adjusted accordingly. Steps 12 and 13 should be postponed until a second manual processing run in which the dimensions are set to Process Update.

Job Creation

To create a SQL Server Agent job to run cube processing on a schedule, follow this procedure:

1. Using SSMS, connect to the database engine hosting the Symantec_CMDB database
2. In Object Explorer, navigate to SQL Server Agent > Jobs
3. Right-click the Jobs folder and select New Job...
4. In the New Job window on the General page, provide a name, category (optional), and description (optional) for the job
5. On the Steps page, click the New... button
6. Provide a step name
7. For the step Type, select SQL Server Analysis Services Command
8. For the Run as account, select the SQL Server Agent Service Account
9. For the Server, provide the hostname and instance name (if a named instance is used) of the SSAS server hosting the ITA cubes (e.g., <ssas_server>[\<instance_name>])
10. Copy the content of the query editor window created in step 13 of the processing procedure (above) and paste it in the Command field
11. Click the OK button
12. In the Job Properties window, select the Schedules page
13. Click the New... button
14. In the New Job Schedule window, provide the schedule a name and configure the frequency and duration according to your requirements
15. Click the OK button
16. Click the OK button to close the Job Properties window

Additional Information

This same procedure can be used to manually process and schedule cube processing jobs for the standalone IT Analytics product (IT Analytics Solution for DLP, IT Analytics Solution for SEP).