How to configure your Deltek Cobra n-Tier deployment for integration with Primavera P6
For larger deployments of Deltek Cobra, the n-Tier configuration capability provides many benefits including easier distribution, better performance through load balancing and easier upgrade and maintenance options to name a few.
However, the question recently came up regarding Cobra’s Integration Wizard (IW) and how to get it to connect to a P6 database from within an n-Tier deployment; specifically where should the ODBC data source and Primavera Integration API be installed to get this working.
The answer is the ODBC data source and Integration API should be installed on the Cobra application tier’s server.
Let’s now look at the details for this answer starting with the following diagram.
As you can see in the above figure, the Integration Wizard connects to the Primavera P6 database using two elements:
- ODBC Data Source
- The Primavera Integration API
The ODBC data source must be configured on the application server and pointed at the P6 database. This is the minimum configuration required to integrate Cobra with P6. The ODBC portion of the Integration Wizard provides the bulk of the connectivity required to integrate with P6.
If you intend to use the ‘Load daily time-phase data’ option, you will also need to install the Integration API on the Cobra application server and configure this to point to the P6 database also. This option is only required if your projects employ profiled resource loadings across work packages; i.e. the spread of resources is not even along the duration of a work package. The ODBC option will only load resources in an even spread along the work package duration, regardless of its profile in P6.
Connecting to P6 installed on an Oracle Database
If your P6 installation is sitting on an Oracle 10g or 11g database, you will need to install one of the Oracle client options on this server to get a working ODBC connection.
There are various Oracle client options available and you will need to choose the one that best suits your environment. Firstly, you need to determine if the application server is running a 32-bit or 64-bit OS, and be sure you download a client for that environment. You should also make sure that the Client you are installing includes an ODBC driver. Some of the lighter Oracle instant clients don’t include ODBC drivers so check the components included on Oracle’s web site prior to downloading.
Above: sample of Oracle download site with Oracle Data Access Components (ODAC) included drivers and options listed.
Examples of client options are:
ODAC downloads for 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows operating systems available from this location: (We found the ODAC option was the lightest install. The full Oracle Client requires the Administrator installation option to get the ODBC drivers installed.)
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/windows/downloads/index-090165.html
Oracle 10g and 11g Clients for 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows operating systems available at this location:
Once the installation is completed, you will see the Oracle driver in the ‘Create new data source’ dialog as shown in the following example.
See our blog Setting up an Oracle ODBC driver for further detail of this process.
Once you have created an Oracle ODBC data source on the Cobra application server, you will see the data source offered as an option in the Integration Wizard’s Edit Connection dialog.
Possible Issues: Project Lookup is Blank
If your project list is blank in the Connection Info dialog, then you have not created the ODBC data source with a user that has sufficient database access. Reconfigure the Oracle ODBC data source with a more privileged user to correct this problem.
Note: make sure to create the ODBC data source with a user that has administrative access to the Oracle database. You should then connect to the database in the Edit Connection dialog using a privileged user such as privuser.
To read more Deltek Cobra articles click here
To read more Oracle Primavera P6 articles click here