Best Practices Guide
This document is a collection of a few recommended guidelines that would help users deploy or evaluate Zoho Analytics.
- Getting started
- Startup and shutdown procedure
- Accessing Zoho Analytics web-client
- Applying a valid SSL certificate
- Email Configuration
- License Management
- Periodic Backup and Crash Recovery
- Performance Fine Tuning
- Upgrading to the latest version
- Useful Resources
Getting started
This video introduces you to a number of useful functions and concepts that will help you get started with Zoho Analytics. Learn how to connect your data, edit settings and start building reports and dashboards.
Startup and shutdown procedure
Windows installations
Zoho Analytics installs the Zoho Analytics windows service on the host server. To start Zoho Analytics, open your Windows Services and navigate to the Zoho Analytics service. Right click the service name and select Start or Stop, to start and stop the application accordingly. Refrain from setting the startup mechanism of this services to Automatic.You can also start the application from the command prompt by executing the run.bat file found under the <Zoho Analytics home>\bin folder.
Linux installations
Navigate to the directory where Zoho Analytics is installed in your computer or server. Launch a terminal from the <Zoho Analytics home>/bin folder, and use the following commands to start and stop the application:
- Start the application by executing these commands (from the command prompt/terminal): sh app_ctl.sh run or sh run.sh
- Stop the application by executing these commands (from the command prompt/terminal): sh app_ctl.sh StopServer or sh StopServer.sh
Accessing Zoho Analytics web-client
Zoho Analytics can be accessed from the server on which it is installed or from other workstations on the network using one of the recommended web browsers (refer system requirements).
URL format to access the application: https://<hostname>:<port number>
- Replace <hostname> with the host name of the server on which Zoho Analytics is installed.
- Replace <port number> with the port number on which Zoho Analytics is installed.
- The default port number is 8443, unless changed at the time of installation.
Applying a valid SSL certificate
The Zoho Analytics web-client can be accessed only over an HTTPS connection. Your browser may issue a security warning when you access the application due to a self-signed certificate. It is perfectly safe to bypass the security warnings and access the web-client.
Apply an SSL certificate to permanently avoid such security warnings. Click here for steps to apply a certificate.
Email Configuration
The email server setting is one of the first few configurations you should set up. A working email server configuration is essential to -
- Adding new users into the application.
- Sharing visualizations.
- Resetting or retrieving forgotten passwords. You can retrieve forgotten passwords only through email.
To configure email server go to, Settings → Mail configuration.
License Management
A fresh installation of Zoho Analytics comes with a 30 day trial period. A license extension for a period of 15 days is provided to evaluators on request. Please contact sales@zohocorp.com or our local resellers/partners for extensions.
To access your license information, go to Settings → License Management. This page can be used to track usage summary and apply new licenses.
Periodic Backup and Crash Recovery
It is recommended to take a regular backup of your Zoho Analytics data and configuration.
Backup procedure
- Stop the Zoho Analytics service.
- Open the command prompt (as administrator) and change the directory to <Zoho Analytics home>\bin
- Run the command backupDB.bat and wait for the script to take a complete backup of your installation.
- A compressed ZIP file will be created in the location <Zoho Analytics home>\Backup
The following are some additional parameters that can be included with the backupDB command:
- -t b : By including this parameter with the backupDB.bat command, you can specify the backup to be a binary file.
- -f : This parameter allows you to provide a name for the backup file.
- -d : This parameter allows you to specify the directory that the backup file has to be saved in.
- -p : This allows you to specify a password for the backup file.
Here are some examples of the above scripts:
backupDB -f test -d ../Backup -t b -p Test123
backupDB -p Test123
backupDB -f test
Restore procedure
- Install a new copy of Zoho Analytics. The new copy should be of the same build number as your original installation.
- Start the Zoho Analytics service and make sure the application is accessible.
- Stop the Zoho Analytics service.
- Open the command prompt (as administrator) and change the directory to <Zoho Analytics home>\bin
- Run the command restoreDB.bat <full directory path of your backup ZIP file>
Note:
By default, Zoho Analytics assigns a password to the backup file. For builds 4550 and above, the default password is 'Analytics'. For older versions, the default password is the reverse of the backup file name. For example, a backup file named 'Test123' would have a default password of '321tseT'. This default password can be modified while taking a backup, using this command.
Therefore, while restoring a backup, the following command has to be included with the restoreDB command:
- -p : This parameter, followed by the password, allows you to restore the password protected backups.
Here are some examples:
restoreDB test.ezip -p Analytics
restoreDB OfflineBackup235161 -p Analytics
restoreDB test.ezip -p 321tseT
Once the restoration is complete, start the Zoho Analytics service.
Performance Fine Tuning
In most cases, you wouldn't need to increase the memory used by the Zoho Analytics processes. But if you feel the application is slowing down, you can increase the heap memory allocated to it.
Open the Wrapper.conf file present in the <Zoho Analytics home>\reports\conf directory and search for the string Maximum Java Heap Size (in MB). Change the value of wrapper.java.maxmemory= from 1024 to a maximum of 4096. This allocates 4GB of memory to the Zoho Analytics processes.
Make sure that you do not allocate all available memory on the server to Zoho Analytics.
Upgrading to the latest version
- It is recommended to upgrade to newer versions of the software at least once every 2 months. For announcements on latest versions, click here.
- To upgrade to the latest version, stop Zoho Analytics, take a folder backup of the Zoho Analytics installation directory and then run UpdateManager.bat file present in the <Zoho Analytics home>\bin directory.
Important Note: Open the command prompt as administrator and then run the UpdateManager.bat script to avoid upgrade failures due to insufficient permissions.
Useful Resources
- Online Demo: https://demo.zohoanalytics.com/ZDBHome.cc
- Compare Editions: https://www.zoho.com/analytics/onpremise/compare-on-premise-editions.html
- Zoho Analytics Assist Program: https://www.zoho.com/analytics/onpremise-zoho-analytics-assist-program.html