Kubespray & RKE Kubernetes deployments. Differences and compassion.
The Linux version of Sisense uses Kubernetes to orchestrate containers which run our services. Kubernetes has many options for provisioning and managing clusters. Starting from version L2022.8 Sisense moved from Kubespray K8s implementation to RKE K8s implementation. In this article we will review the main difference between these two types of deployments.Setting up Docker Registry for Sisense Offline Installation
An offline, or air-gapped, Sisense environment provides higher security than online, connected environments. As the offline environment has no outside communication, the only method to install Sisense in this environment is by using removable media, such as USB drives. The system must have the following in place to complete an offline installation: A Bastion host with Docker installed (Recommended) A secured Docker registry that is accessible to the offline environment The Registry is a stateless, highly scalable server side application that stores and lets you distribute Docker images. In case of Sisense offline installation Docker Registry is used to distribute the Sisense images within an isolated network. Next article provides steps on how to install and configure the Docker registry.
How to Update Sisense Instance After License Changes
The purpose of this article is to provide the step-by-step actions necessary to allow changes to your license to be reflected in your Sisense instance. Use Cases This applies for all customers on Sisense versions prior to version 2021.5. On newer version of Sisense, the product has been updated to automatically sync with the license DB on license updates - Your CSM updated your license expiration date but the changes are not reflected in the Sisense application - You reset the password associated with your license user - Your CSM added new admin/designer/viewer role counts to your license but these are not reflected in the Sisense application - Your application is throwing an error saying that your license has expired For the changes to your license to be applied on your Sisense instance, please follow the instructions below on all the servers that use the updated license in question. Linux Deployment On each of your Sisense servers please do the following: Navigate to Admin tab of your Sisense Web site: Admin tab > License Utilization Click Change License Re-enter your license credentials and press Apply If you're behind a firewall and are unable to change the license details in the above way: Click Behind a Firewall Enter your Sisense license key. Click Apply. If an error is throw OR if after following the above steps the license information is still not updated, please file a support ticket for support to further investigate the issue. Windows Deployment On each of your Sisense servers please do the following: Within the Windows menu, search for Sisense Activation, then right click 'Run as Administrator' Take note of the email address your account is set up under (you will need the password when you log back in) Sign out of your Sisense account Close Sisense Activation Stop and Restart the Sisense.Oxygen service by doing the following, Open the Control Panel Administrative tools Services Locate the Sisense.Oxygen service and right click and select Stop to stop it Then, right click and select Start to start it Then reopen and log back in to Sisense Activation Verify that the account page reflects the license update change (if it is a license expiration extension, increase in number of users, etc). In this example, the license was extended by one year and the number of users was increased from 9 users to 20 users. You can also check additional license information in the Admin tab of your Sisense Web site: Admin tab > License Utilization Troubleshooting If after logging out, then attempting to log back in you run into the error "Your license has exceeded the user limit": Please take the following steps: Navigate to https://my.sisense.com/ and log in with the primary package owner email (typically the activation email address for Production). Locate the license name and click the license you wish to edit Below the license section, click the "Reset Activation" button to reset the servers you have authorized your license for Navigate to each server you have this license on and open Sisense Activation as an Admin Note the user you are logged in with Click on "Sign Out" Sign back in with that same user If you continue to run into issues with this, please create a ticket so our Support team can assist you.
Elevate Your Data Product’s Quality with Streamlined Version Control leveraging Our Git Integration
Elevate Your Data Product’s Quality with Streamlined Version Control Leveraging the Sisense Git Integration! In today's CI/CD ecosystems, efficient asset migration from development to production environments is crucial for delivering high-quality data products. Sisense being a leading embedded analytics technology offers a powerful Git integration that simplifies and enhances the migration process. In this blog, we will explore leveraging the Sisense Git Version Control to streamline asset migration, ensuring smooth transitions and maintaining data product integrity. To understand the value of Sisense Git Version Control it is important to understand what Git is. Git offers users (often developers and/or engineers) a structured and efficient approach to managing files, collaborating with others, and maintaining a clear history of changes. Git enhances team productivity, reduces errors, and provides a sense of control over projects. Teams who leverage Git ultimately benefit from better organization, teamwork, and effective management of files and projects. When building your data products in a technology like Sisense, there is massive value in integrating with your developer’s CI/CD workflow for continuity, quality, and time to delivery. Users who leverage the Sisense Git Version Control can collaborate on building data products, manage changes to products over time, and migrate assets across Sisense environments through remote Git repositories. The Sisense Git Integration is a feature that is offered out of the box with Sisense Linux Version(s) 2022.10 and up. To begin leveraging the Sisense Git Integration feature you can click on the Git Logo in the top right of your Sisense environment. The Git GUI will open in a separate browser tab and you will be asked to create a new project. After creating a new project your team will be prompted to name the project, name the default branch, and if you desire to connect to a remote Git repository (further instructions are included in Sisense Git Documentation depending on which Git repository your team leverages). After these steps are complete you can choose to invite others to collaborate with you on the project. If you choose collaborators or decide to lone-wolf a project you will be asked next if you’d like to “add assets” to the project. Do not worry lonely wolves, if you would like to invite collaborators down the road you can share the project after the fact. Assets available to modify/track in Sisense Git Version Control are Data Models and Dashboards, or you can simply continue without if you intend to “Pull” Sisense assets from a remote repository. Once a team has created and defined a project, they can start working. Users familiar with Git will find continuity in terminology and functionality with the Sisense Git GUI and popular Git repositories. Dashboards and Models are compressed into JSON files, allowing users to review, commit, or discard changes. Teams can create branches, checkout branches, and revert changes if needed. When a project is ready to progress to the next stage, users can "Push" the assets/branches to the remote repository. The assets can be reviewed in their JSON format in the remote repository. If a CI/CD pipeline includes QA, Staging, or Production Sisense environments, users can leverage the Git GUI in those environments to "Pull" assets for review or publication. So let’s land this plane! The Sisense Git Integration is a tool that provides tremendous value to your developer/engineering team's workflow, while significantly improving your business with better data product quality and delivery. If your team already leverages Git, this tool will be easy to incorporate and drive value. For users unfamiliar with Git, we strongly recommend adopting this approach, as it only involves a minimal learning curve but offers improved version control, streamlined asset migration, and overall enhanced quality. We hope this information
EKS Kubernetes Version Upgrade
EKS Kubernetes Version Upgrade Below are steps on how to upgrade the Kubernetes version in AWS Kubernetes Service (EKS). First, ensure that the current version is compatible with the K8S version you will upgrade to. If not, upgrade the Sisense version compatible with the K8S version first! It is also strongly recommended to have the cloud_autoscaler feature enabled in your configuration yaml. Upgrade the control plane of the cluster, open the EKS page, and find your cluster. You should see the 'Upgrade now' link if a newer major K8S version is available. Click on that link and select the version (Please note, usually, only one version is available because you cannot jump over versions). Click the Update button, and you should see a similar information bar as the one below: The cluster is being updated: As the control plane upgrade is being completed, the cluster version should also update as well: If needed, the kubectl version (client binary file) should be updated manually. It should be one value more or less than the server version, e.g., for the cluster with EKS 1.23, you can use kubectl 1.22, 1.23, and 1.24. Please notice that the nodes are still running the previous Kubernetes version. Open the cluster page and go to the Compute tab. You should see the upgrade options for NodeGroups. Click on update for every node group and select "Force Update." The new nodes should appear while the old nodes are cordoned. Eventually, you should see only new nodes running: If you had the cloud_autoscaled feature disabled, run the installer with the new node names.Sisense Go-Live Checklist
Here is the Google Sheets version of the Checklist. Complete our go-live checklist to ensure you are going into production following all of the Sisense best practices! Ensure A Healthy Production Environment Complete Dev to Prod Migration Sisense assets have been migrated to your Production environment. Automation Backups, SSO, and other ongoing uses of the Sisense REST API have been automated. Asset Cleanup Unused dashboards and elasticubes have been archived, unused tables and columns have been removed. Unused Plugins Disabled Unused plugins are disabled to reduce the risk of code conflict and performance issues. Monitoring Tool Build times, systems resources, and other performance metrics are being monitored via Sisense Monitor. Complete Configuration Set-Up System Configuration System Configuration options are set for launch day, such as emails, end-user report scheduling, and enabling Usage Analytics. User and Group Configuration User and group configuration are complete. Row-Level Data Security Row-level data security rules for production assets are configured. Sharing Production elasticubes and dashboards have been shared with end users. Remote Access Sisense is accessible remotely for users. Build Schedules Elaticubes build schedules are set and live models are published with the latest changes. Build Alerts Builds alerts are set to notify admins about the outcome of a build process. White Labeling All aspects required to be re-branded have been configured, including emails, documentation links, etc. Perform Testing Data Validation Data integrity has been properly verified through the 10 Step Data Validation Guide. QA Testing All key functionality (access, emails, PDF exports, etc) work as expected and QA Testing is complete. UAT Testing Signoff from key end users via UAT Testing has been communicated. Load Testing The application has been tested under "standard conditions" for the deployment and Load Testing is complete. Drive End-User Adoption End-User Pulse Alerts Deployment with at least 1 Pulse alert is planned to drive adoption of the product. Release Announcement A release announcement to introduce and promote your new product is prepared. Support Strategy An ongoing support strategy is in place to support questions and requests. A good place to start is a FAQ page. End-User Training Contact your CSM for information on how to rebrand the Sisense online training assets or create your own training content. Development Roadmap Ongoing dashboard and feature releases are documented and tracked. On-Going Adoption Strategy An on-going adoption strategy is in place that includes product feedback from your key end users.Get License Key for Offline activation by an API call
There is an option to get an activation key using an API GET call to the Sisense licensing server rather than needing to log into the Sisense site to obtain this information. Use case: This method helps generating license keys in a batch when you need to offline-activate many Sisense instances. Mostly used by OEM vendors of Sisense. Please note that currently the offline activation is still performed using the standard installation GUI (manually). Process: To get an activation key, perform a GET call to: http://l.sisense.com/lc/get With the following parameters: email - the licensed user e-mail (not necessary the account owner) password - the user’s password mid - the machine id - as supplied in the activation UI, or by running the exe file. This file should be run in command prompt so you can see the output enc - true Javascript Example: 1 http://l.sisense.com/lc/[email protected]&password=mypassword&mid=AAAABBBCCCDDDEEE111223344&enc=true Authentication token: You will need to ask your Account Manager to deliver you your own authentication token. Add a header named: ‘Content-MD5’ with the token as a value, as part of each call. If the call is successful you should get a 200 OK return code and the activation key in the response body. Was this article helpful?
