OBIEE 11.1.1.9 – BI Publisher Set Up Fails on Windows Server 2012

The journey of discovery continues. I can report a successful install of Oracle Business Intelligence 11.1.1.9 on Microsoft Windows 2012 R2, but I encountered one last bug and set of supplemental instructions worth sharing.
During the Configuration Progress step of the Enterprise Install the “Setting Up BI Publisher” step never completed. From the screenshot below you can see that I let the installer run for quite a while, over 90 minutes, and still no progress. This step normally takes less than a minute so something was definitely wrong.

I opened the log file shown in the screenshot above, but it didn’t include any detail. Fortunately, the related .OUT file (same file name as the .LOG file, but with different extension) held the details about the problem

 updateBIPConfigFiles: Problem invoking WLST - Traceback (innermost last): updateBIPConfigFiles: File "D:\Middleware\Oracle_BI1\bifoundation\install\updateBIPConfigFiles.py", line 15, in ? updateBIPConfigFiles: File "D:\Middleware\wlserver_10.3\common\wlst\modules\jython-modules.jar\Lib/javaos$py.class", line 334, in system updateBIPConfigFiles: File "D:\Middleware\wlserver_10.3\common\wlst\modules\jython-modules.jar\Lib/popen2.py", line 235, in system updateBIPConfigFiles: File "D:\Middleware\wlserver_10.3\common\wlst\modules\jython-modules.jar\Lib/popen2.py", line 72, in __init__ updateBIPConfigFiles: File "D:\Middleware\wlserver_10.3\common\wlst\modules\jython-modules.jar\Lib/javashell.py", line 64, in execute updateBIPConfigFiles: OSError: (0, 'Failed to execute command ([\'sh\', \'-c\', \'java -classpath D:\\\\Middleware\\\\Oracle_BI1/clients/bipublisher/xdo-server.jar oracle.xdo.install.UpdateConfigFiles 9704 9703 9710 jdbc/mds/owsm D:\\\\Middleware\\\\user_projects\\\\domains\\\\bifoundation_domain\']): java.io.IOException: Cannot run program "sh": CreateProcess error=2, The system cannot find the file specified') updateBIPConfigFiles: java.lang.Exception: WLST Script task failed with status 1

After some digging on Oracle Support I ran across the following Bug Report.

Bug 21187922 : OBIEE 11.1.1.9 INSTALL FAILED AT CONFIGURATION STEP : WINDOWS SERVER 2012

There is no direct solution to this problem, but the following support document points to a workaround. 

OBIEE 11g: Error: “UpdateBIPConfigFiles: Problem invoking WLST – Traceback (innermost last)” BI Publisher Set Up Fails on Windows Server 2012 when Running the Configuration Assistant (Doc ID 1580583.1)

The solution involves updating the javashell.py file within the jython-modules.jar file. To leverage this fix we have to interrupt the Oracle BI installation, modify the appropriate file, then continue the installation. The detailed process is below.

1. Download and install Oracle WebLogic Server 11gR1 (10.3.6) Generic and Coherence [V29856-01]
   1. Step 2 requires that Oracle WebLogic Server be installed in advance
   2. Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3.6 is required for Oracle Business Intelligence 11.1.1.9
2. Perform a Software Only Install of Oracle Business Intelligence 11g (11.1.1.9.0) for Microsoft Windows (64-bit) [V76016-01]
3. Update the javashell.py file
   1. Open a Command Prompt
   2. Navigate to the [Middleware Home]\wlserver_10.3\common\wlst\modules directory
   3. Extract the javashell.py file with the following command: [JDK Home]/bin/jar xf jython-modules.jar Lib\javashell.py
   4. Use a text editor to modify the [Middleware Home]\wlserver_10.3\common\wlst\modules\Lib\javashell.py file
      1. Search for the first incidence of _osTypeMap in the file
      2. Add ‘Windows Server 2012’ to the map for “nt” right after ‘Windows 7’ (see below for details)
   5. Import the javashell.py file with the following command: [JDK Home]/bin/jar uf jython-modules.jar Lib\javashell.py
4. Run the Oracle Business Intelligence 11.1.1.9 Configuration Assistant to continue your install as normal