Server profiles

Server profiles store the information required for Analytics to connect to a server. You need to create a separate server profile for each server that you want to connect to.

You can also create more than one profile for a server, if you need to use different user accounts to access the server for particular data sources.

The Analytics Exchange server profile

If your organization is an Analytics Exchange customer, and if Analytics and AX Client are both installed on your computer, the server profile required to connect from Analytics to AX Server is created automatically. After you use AX Client to log in to AX Server for the first time, a profile called “Analytics Exchange” is automatically created in the list of server profiles in Analytics.

Sharing projects that use server profiles

If you want to share Analytics projects that include server tables that reference particular server profiles, each user must create a server profile with the same name and settings.

When you create an Analytics project with tables that are linked to server data, these tables are also linked to the server profile that was used to make the connection. Each user who wants to use this Analytics project must create a server profile with an identical name and settings. The server profile is stored in the Windows registry on each user’s computer.

The Prefix path specified in the server profile determines the default location where files are created on the server. Each user that specifies a particular Prefix location must have write access to that folder.

Create a server profile

Before you create a server profile, you need to get the required server settings from your system administrator.

If more than one user is sharing an Analytics project, you must make sure each of them uses the same profile name, and has the same host and port settings, for each server profile used in the project. Each user can specify their own login credentials in the server profile, but they must have the appropriate security rights assigned.

  1. Select Server > Server Profiles.
  2. Click New.
  3. In Add New Profile, complete the following steps:
    1. Enter a descriptive name in Profile Name.

      The profile name can have up to 50 alphanumeric characters, including spaces. If spaces are used, the profile name must be enclosed in quotation marks if you reference the profile name in an Analytics command.

    2. If you want to copy the settings from an existing profile to the new profile, select the appropriate profile from the Copy Settings From drop-down list.
    3. Click OK.
  4. Enter the connection details for the server by completing the following fields:

    Use Integrated Windows Authentication – If your organization is an Analytics Exchange customer, and AX Server is configured to use Integrated Windows Authentication, select this checkbox to use your Windows account information to automatically log in.

    User ID – The user ID required to log on to the server. This text box is disabled if Use Integrated Windows Authentication is selected.

    Password – (Optional) The password required to log on to the server. This text box is disabled if Use Integrated Windows Authentication is selected.

    Note

    You are not required to save your password with the profile. If you choose not to save your password, Analytics prompts you for it the first time you use the server profile each session. Analytics retains the password for the remainder of the session only.

    Prefix – The file path for your working directory on the server. For example: C:\ACL\MonthEndAnalysis

    Host Name – The hostname or IP address of the server to connect to. If you selected the Use Integrated Windows Authentication checkbox, you must specify the full hostname for the server. For example: ax.example.com

    Port – The port to use to connect to the server. The default value is 10000.

  5. If necessary, select either of the following options:

    Encryption – Encrypts network communications between Analytics and the server using a secure 32-bit encryption algorithm. This option is selected by default, but encrypting all data may noticeably slow down communications. Deselect this option if encrypted communication is not required.

    Compression – Compresses data sent between Analytics and the server. Compressing data speeds up transmission time, even if the data is encrypted. Depending on the type of data being transferred, compression may be as high as 10:1. However a compression ratio of 3:1 is characteristic of most data.

  6. Click Save.
  7. If you entered a password, click OK to save the password with the profile.
  8. Click Close.

    After you complete these steps you can connect to the server. If you are connecting to AX Server, you must create database profiles for any SQL Server, Oracle, or IBM DB2 databases you want to connect to using the server profile you have configured.

Modify a server profile

You can modify an existing server profile whenever settings such as your password or the location of the server change.

  1. Select Server > Server Profiles.
  2. Select the server profile you want to modify from the Profile Name drop-down list.
  3. Update the information in any of the following fields, as necessary:

    Use Integrated Windows Authentication – If your organization is an Analytics Exchange customer, and AX Server is configured to use Integrated Windows Authentication, select this checkbox to use your Windows account information to automatically log in.

    User ID – The user ID required to log on to the server. This text box is disabled if Use Integrated Windows Authentication is selected.

    Password – (Optional) The password required to log on to the server. This text box is disabled if Use Integrated Windows Authentication is selected.

    Note

    You are not required to save your password with the profile. If you choose not to save your password, Analytics prompts you for it the first time you use the server profile each session. Analytics retains the password for the remainder of the session only.

    Prefix – The file path for your working directory on the server.

    Host Name – The hostname or IP address of the server to connect to. If you selected the Use Integrated Windows Authentication checkbox, you must specify the full hostname for the server. For example: ax.example.com

    Port – The port to use to connect to the server. The default value is 10000.

    Encryption – Encrypts network communications between Analytics and the server using a secure 32-bit encryption algorithm.

    Compression – Compresses data sent between Analytics and the server.

  4. Click Save.
  5. If you entered a password, click OK to save the password with the profile.
  6. Click Close.

Delete a server profile

You can delete server profiles you no longer need. However, before you delete a server profile, you should ensure that none of the database profiles associated with the server profile are being used. Any database profiles that have the server profile you are deleting specified in the Server Profile drop-down list are also deleted.

If you want to retain a database profile linked to a server profile you are deleting, you need to link the database profile to a different server profile in the Database Profiles dialog box.

  1. Select Server > Server Profiles.
  2. Select the Server Profile you want to delete from the Profile Name drop-down list.
  3. Click Delete.
  4. Click OK in the confirmation dialog box.

    The server profile is deleted along with any associated database profiles.

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Analytics 14.1 Help