Multi-Product Connection Plugin

Version Description

Application Scenarios

If you deploy FineBI, FineReport, and FineDataLink separately, you need to operate through different accesses. In this case, you may intend to achieve cross-platform SSO and access them through a unified portal.

The Multi-Product Connection plugin allows you to achieve this appeal. After configuration, you can directly switch among multiple platforms.

Plugin Installation

Click to download the plugin: Multi-Product Plugin.zip.

For details about installing plugins in Designer, see Designer Plugin Management.

For details about installing plugins in Server, see Server Plugin Management.

Where to Set

After installing the plugin, choose System Management > Product Connection to configure the Multi-Product Connection plugin.

Plugin Description

• The master server is the platform where the plugin is configured. Other platforms connected to the plugin are slave servers.

• You can only configure the plugin in FineReport or FineBI (the only two main servers). FineDataLink cannot be used as the master server to configure the plugin.

• Only the super admin can configure master and slave servers through this plugin with the same super admin accounts (usernames) of different platforms.

• Common users do not have the permission to configure master and slave servers, but can switch among platforms normally.

• The super admin needs to ensure that the names of common users are included in platforms so that they can switch among platforms normally after login.

• The plugin also helps to switch between the integrated platforms of FineReport and FineBI. For details about integration introduction, see FineBI and FineReport Integration Projects.

• There are no restrictions on projects during the plugin configuration. You can match projects freely (FineRreport as the master server with FineBI as the slave server, FineReport as both the master server and the slave server, FineBI as the master server with FineReport as the slave server, and so on)

• The master server cannot configure itself as the slave server. That is, it cannot be connected to itself.

• The Click Attack Protection and Prevent Content Sniffing Attack functions under Security Management > Security need to be disabled in both the master server and the slave server.

• Ajax cross-domain asynchronous single sign-on and iframe cross-domain single sign-on can be set in the slave server. For details, see Backend Single Sign-On Plugin. CAS single sign-on is not supported in the slave server.

• The slave server only supports the format as http://IP address:Port number/webroot/decision. (Only an IP address is not supported.)

• The protocol used in the master and slave servers needs to be the same. You cannot switch among servers with http and https, because the http requests within https pages are banned in browsers.

• Master servers cannot connect to slave servers across major versions. For example, FineReport V10.0 (the slave server) cannot be connected to FineReport V11.0 (the master server). FineReport V10.0 (the slave server) cannot be connected to FineBI V6.0 (the master server).

• If the main and slave servers are configured with the Nginx forwarding function, the access-control-allow-Origin domain (already in the plugin) is not needed in the nginx.conf file. (Browsers do not support duplicate configurations.)

• Access the master server through an IP address and configure the master and slave servers in the plugin. In this case, the automatically generated master server address in the slave server is the URL accessed through the IP address. After configuration, the master server can only be accessed through the IP address (not the domain name) to switch to the slave server.

• The filter single point interception cannot be configured in the slave server, otherwise platform switching will fail.

• Templates from the master server cannot be mounted in the slave server.

This document takes the FineReport local project as the master server and the FineBI local project and the FineDataLink project as the slave servers.

Preparations

1. The three projects (with the same super admin usernames) in the example are as follows:

• FineBI local project

• FineReport local project

• FineDataLink project

2. Start the three projects (all with the Multi-Product Connection plugin).

3. Disable Click Attack Protection and Prevent Content Sniffing Attack in the slave servers FineBI and FineDataLink, as shown in the following figure.

4. If you use Google Chrome to access the platform, disable the samesite attribute.

Connecting to Salve Servers

1. Log in to the FineReport decision-making system (the master server) as the super admin and choose System Management > Product Connection.

2. Enable As Master Server to start configurations. Enter the master server name, click Add a server to connect, and enter the connection address and name of FineBI slave server.

After finishing, click Test Connection and Save in the lower right corner. The FineBI slave server is connected successfully with a prompt: Successfully connected, saved, take effect after refresh, as shown in the following figure.

Note:

The slave server only supports the format as http://IP address:Port number/webroot/decision. (Only an IP address is not supported.)

3. The connected FineBI project is displayed on the configuration page and there are three buttons on the right — Test Connection, Edit, and Delete.

4. Click Add a server to connect to add another slave server FineDataLink project.

The two connected projects are shown in the following figure.

Switching among Platforms

Click the  icon in the upper right corner of the FineReport decision-making system to switch among different platforms, as shown in the following figure.

Note:

The filter single point interception cannot be configured in the slave server, otherwise platform switching will fail.

Encryption Description

The AES encryption key function (with the default value as a 16-character and randomly generated string) at the bottom of the configuration page is a bridge for AES encryption during connection.

Click Randomly generated and synced (only in the master server) to sync to slave servers.

Mounting FineReport Templates of Slave Servers

If there are FineReport projects in the slave servers, you can mount FineReport templates in the slave server to directories in the master server. The specific steps are as follows:

1. Choose System Management > Directory Management and click Add Template (From Slave Server).

2. Add templates in slave servers. For details, see Directory Management.

You need to note the following points:

Template parameter types (default type as string) are not displayed.

Available templates in Add Template (From Slave Server) are determined by Template Authentication configurations in slave servers.

In the master server, slave server templates can only be selected from Directory Management.

If user A is only in the master server (not in slave servers), an error (user not exist) occurs when the user A previews templates (no authentications) added from slave servers after logging in to the master server.

Update both the DataAnalyst app and the HTML5 plugin to V10.4.9.86 and later versions to view templates in the app.

Mounting FineBI Dashboards of Slave Servers

If there are FineBI projects in slave servers, you can mount FineBI dashboards in slave servers to directories in the master server with the Multi-Product Connection plugin V2.0 and later versions. The specific steps are as follows:

1. Ensure that both the master server and slave servers (with FineBI projects) have installed the plugin V2.0 and later versions.

2. Take FineReport (the master server) as an example. Choose System Management > Directory Management in the decision-making system, select a directory, and click BI Template (From Slave Server).

3. Select a dashboard in the FineBI server.

4. Follow default settings in Set Template and click OK.

5. Back to the directory. You can directly view the mounted dashboard.

You need to note two points:

The permission of the FineBI dashboard is consistent with that of the template authentication configured in slave servers. For details, see Template Authentication.

If the slave server is not FineBI, the dashboard list is empty.

Plugin Not Installed

Problem

For users whose master and slave servers are both Tomcat with the Multi-Product Connection plugin, a prompt window may pop up when establishing a connection: Connection error, please check whether the "FineBI and FineReport connection tool" plugin is installed on the connection server.

Solution

Check whether the command <http-method>OPTIONS</http-method> is included in the web.xml file under the path %Tomcat_HOME%\conf of the master server and the slave server.

If so, delete this command, restart the FineReport or FineBI projects, and test the connection again.