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Remote Control for Execution Packages

Overview

There are cases where it is desirable for an organization to be able to run an execution package to update the data in the data warehouse and cubes without having to wait for the scheduled refresh. For example; at the end of the month, the finance team may post some additional transactions and want to refresh the data immediately, so that the data in the data warehouse is updated and reports can be run that reflect the additional transactions. This article will outline how to use the Remote Control utility to allow a business user to run a particular execution package.

We have two versions of Remote Control available for download. Choose the one that matches your version of the DWA platform. Remote Control works with both the 32- and 64-bit versions of the software.

Process

As a prerequisite for using the Remote Control functionality the client must be licensed for the Development Deployment Toolkit (included in the Premium package) and have a Production environment set up in the environment settings of the project repository. The Remote Control feature uses the Jet Data Manager Server service for communicating between the user's machine and the Jet Data Manager and this service is only available with multiple environments.

The Remote Control utility must first be installed on the user's machine and the installation files are provided in the bottom of this article in the Attachments section. Once the installation files have been run a green icon named "TXRemoteControl" will be added to the user's desktop.

Double-clicking this shortcut will start the utility which will reside in the system tray in the lower-right hand corner of the user's machine.

If desired, the Remote Control utility can be added to the Startup Applications on the user's machine so that it always starts with the user's machine. Right-clicking on the utility icon will present the user with a list of menu options. To configure the Remote Control utility the user should first select the Settings option from the list.

The user will then specify the name of the server on which the Jet  Data Manager Server service resides (typically the same server that the Jet Data Manager resides on) and must specify the Remote Port that the production environment was configured with. The Local Port is the port which will be used to send the command from the user's machine and is not typically relevant.

For reference, the Remote Port number to use in the Remote Control utility can be found in the Jet Data Manager by following the steps in the diagram below and referencing the Local Port that is specified in the Environment Properties window:

Once the server and ports have been specified in the Remote Control utility the user can click the Close button to exit the Connection window. The user will then need to setup the execution package to run by right-clicking on the Remote Control utility in the system tray and selecting Projects and Packages

The user will then click the desired execution package that should be run when using the utility, select Set as Default , and then click Close to save the changes and close the Projects and Packages window.

At this point the Remote Control utility has been properly configured. The user can then run the package by right-clicking the Remote Control utility icon from the system tray and clicking Start Update.

While the project is updating the Remote Control icon will become red to inform the user that the process is still running. It will turn green again once the process is finished.

Note: The number of people that use the Remote Control utility should be limited to 1 or 2 individuals in an organization. The color coding of the button is meant for on-demand executions run by the current user only and will not let the user know if others are running the same execution package. The utility is meant for infrequent, ad hoc updating of the data and should not be used as a replacement for more frequent scheduled updates throughout the day if that would be a more appropriate solution.

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