In version 11.1.2.2, Oracle delivered a new utility that can be used to put a Planning application in “maintenance mode” for batch processing. What about all of those clients that haven’t upgraded to the latest and greatest release yet? Don’t worry – eCapital Advisors has you covered with a utility we’ve been using at our clients for years called “ToggleMaintenanceMode”.

Why ToggleMaintenanceMode?

In versions prior to 11.1.2.2, the inability to lock users out of Planning makes it difficult to perform batch processing. The method we see most commonly used is to kill the connection between the Essbase server and the Planning server using MaxL. This serves to kill all of the active connections, but doesn’t stop users from logging in because the Planning application connects to Essbase using the Planning application owner’s credentials. For nightly processing this may be sufficient, but for running batch processing in the middle of the day you may run into issues and delays due to users being in the system. Users clicking save on data forms and executing business rules can delay batch processing  or cause it to error out entirely. Enter ToggleMaintenanceMode…

What is ToggleMaintenanceMode?

ToggleMaintenanceMode is an executable JAR (Java archive) file that can force a Hyperion Planning application into and out of maintenance mode (accepting logins from Administrators only). This program mimics the behavior of an Administrator going to the “Application Settings” form under the “Administration” menu in Planning, and setting the value for “Enable use of the application for:” to “Administrators”.

Where do I implement this?

On any server or workstation that can navigate to the Planning server’s login screen. This server or workstation can be either Windows or UNIX/Linux based, but must meet the minimum requirement of having the 1.6 Java Runtime Environment (or greater) installed. This runtime is installed on most machines, but can be downloaded here if you don’t have it.

Things to know before implementing

This program will disable (or enable) logins for users trying to get into the system, but users already in the system working will not immediately see that they have been disconnected. If users are working in the system when the system goes into maintenance mode, they will be brought to the login screen on the next page refresh (“Save” button click, “Go” button click, opening of new form) and notified that the application is not currently accepting logins. As this can be frustrating for users who have forms open with unsaved work on them, the best practice to be followed should be to send out an application “Broadcast Message” a reasonable time period prior to the change, notifying the user of the change and advising them on what they should do to avoid loss of unsaved data.

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