EOL: Bi xPress reached its end of life date on June 15, 2022. See the Solarwinds End of Life Policy for more information.
Installing BI xPress
Note: By installing the SentryOne Workbench, you are installing all features of BI xPress, DBA xPress, and DOC xPress. These features only become available if you have purchased a license for the product you are trying to use.
After ensuring that you meet the hardware and software requirements for BI xPress, you can start the installation process. Complete the following steps to install BI xPress to your machine:
1. Run the SentryOne Workbench Installation file to display the Installation wizard.
2. Select I agree to the License terms and conditions, and then select Next to continue the installation.
Note: Send feature usage statistics to SentryOne is selected by default. Deselect the checkbox if you want to opt out of telemetry.
Typical Setup
3. Select the Typical setup type to begin the installation. Select the version(s) of Visual Studio that where you want to install the BI xPress extension, and then select Install.
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Note: The Typical setup type is recommended for most customers.
4. Select Finish to complete the installation. 
Custom Setup
3. Select Custom setup to open shortcut selection. Select the checkboxes where you want to install the BI xPress shortcut, and then select Next to Continue.
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4. Select the components of the SentryOne Workbench that you want to install, and then select Install to begin the installation. 
Note: You can expand BI xPress and select the versions of Visual Studio where you want to install the BI xPress add-on. You can also select to include DBA xPress, DOC xPress, LegiTest and the optional prerequisites for DOC xPress and BI xPress BI Compare.
5. Select Finish to complete the installation. 
Success: Your BI xPress installation is ready to use!
Note: The trial period offers you an extensive look into all of the features in BI xPress. The following limitation are placed on the BI xPress trial:
- Auditing Framework allows the application and removal of up to five SSIS packages.
- Deployment can only deploy a maximum of four items at a time.
- Notification allows the application and removal of up to five SSIS packages.
Always On Availability Group Considerations
If you want to install the BI xPress Database to an Always On Availability Group as an availability database, consider the following:
Important: The following section isn’t intended to be a guide for configuring an Always On Availability Group. This guide is assuming that an Always On Availability Group has already been properly configured and you want to add the BI xPress Database to an existing availability group as an availability database.
Client Installation
The SentryOne Workbench doesn’t require any additional setup instructions before configuring Workbench's databases to work within an Always On Availability Group.
Once the SentryOne Workbench is installed, you can create the BI xPress Database through the Workbench UI. When you create a BI xPress Database, configure its server settings to point to the availability group listener. After the database has been created, continue to Adding the Databases to the Availability Group below.
Important: If you want to use an existing BI xPress Database, you can execute a full recovery back up of your database and restore it on your primary availability replica before continuing to add the database to an availability group.
Adding the Databases to the Availability Group
After creating your metabase, you can add it as an availability database to the availability group. The following process is the same way you would add any other database to an availability group:
- Within the database properties, set the databases' recovery model to Full.
- Create a network share that each availability replica has permissions to access.
- Create a full back up of each database on the network share created in Step two.
- Expand AlwaysOn High Availability within Management Studio's object explorer. Right-click on the availability group that you want to add the database(s) to and then select Add Database...
- Walk through the steps within the Add Database to Availability Group wizard, ensuring the database(s) selected meet all of the prerequisites. On the Select Data Synchronization page, select Full and specify the network share created in Step two as the location accessible by all replicas.
Once the BI xPress Database has been added to the availability group as an availability database, connect to the metabase through the availability group listener.
Visual Studio Integration
| Icon | Description |
|---|---|
 | BI xPress offers an add-in for Visual Studio that makes all of its features readily available in the development environment. It is also customizable to suit your needs. |
Important: BI xPress Version 2020.1.1 adds support for Visual Studio 2019. BI xPress no longer supports versions of Visual Studio older than 2015.
BI xPress Visual Studio Options
Select SentryOne > BI xPress from the Visual Studio toolbar to open the BI xPress Visual Studio Integration options. The following options are available:
| Menu Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Add/Remove Auditing Framework | Open the Auditing Framework Wizard. |
| Add/Remove Notification Framework | Open the Notification Framework Wizard. |
| Analyze for Best Practices | Open the Best Practice Analyzer. |
| Compile Script Tasks/Components | Open the Script Task Compiler. |
| Deploy SSIS Package | Open the Package Deployment Wizard. |
| Expressions | Open the Expression window. |
| Package Builder Wizard | Open the Package Builder Wizard. |
| Package Configurations | Open the Configuration Wizard. |
| Quick Config Edit | Open the Configuration Editor. |
| Scan Variable Usage | Open the Variable Parameter scanning options window. |
| Monitoring Console | Open the Monitoring Console. |
| Pragmatic Workbench | Open the SentryOne Workbench. |
Open the Solution Explorer in Visual Studio, and right click a package to open the BI xPress context menu options.
| Menu Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Add/Remove Auditing Framework | Open the Auditing Framework Wizard. |
| Add/Remove Notification Framework | Open the Notification Framework Wizard. |
| Analyze for Best Practices | Open the Best Practice Analyzer. |
| Compile Script Tasks/Components | Open the Script Task Compiler. |
| Deploy SSIS Package | Open the Package Deployment Wizard. |
| Expressions | Open the Expression window. |
| Package Builder Wizard | Open the Package Builder Wizard. |
| Package Configurations | Open the Configuration Wizard. |
| Quick Config Edit | Open the Configuration Editor. |
| Scan Variable Usage | Open the Variable Parameter scanning options window. |
| Monitoring Console | Open the Monitoring Console. |
| Pragmatic Workbench | Open the SentryOne Workbench. |
