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Set Up an Unattended Installation

Use a transfer specification file (.ats) to copy Cognos 8 components, including Framework Manager or Metric Designer, to your computer without being prompted for information.

By default, each time you install Cognos 8 components using the installation wizard, the options you select are recorded in a transfer specification file. Therefore, if you already installed Cognos 8 components on a sample computer, you can use the generated transfer specification file as a template for unattended installations on different computers.

If you do not use the installation wizard to install components, you can use the default transfer specification file named response.ats that is available on the CD. You must modify the response.ats file for your environment before you can use it for an unattended installation.

You can check if the unattended installation was successful by checking the return status. A value of zero (0) indicates success and all other values indicate that an error occurred.

Steps Using a File Generated by a Previous Installation

  1. Use the installation wizard to install Cognos 8 components on your computer.

  2. Go to c8_location/instlog.

  3. Locate the transfer specification file (.ats) that was generated:

  4. Copy the transfer specification file to the computer where you plan to install Cognos 8.

  5. On the computer where you plan to install the software, insert the appropriate CD and copy the contents of the CD to your computer.

  6. Install Cognos 8:

If a return status other than zero (0) is returned, check the log files for error messages. Errors are recorded in the installation directory in the following log file:

If errors occur before sufficient initialization occurs, log messages are sent to one of the following log files in the Temp directory:

Also ensure that the installation directory is protected from unauthorized or inappropriate access.

After all errors are resolved, you can set up an unattended configuration.

Steps Using the Response.ats File

  1. On the target computer, insert the CD and copy the contents to your computer.

  2. Go to the win32 directory and open the response.ats file in a text editor.

    Each section in the response.ats file corresponds to a dialog box in the installation wizard.

  3. Type the installation location of the program files for Cognos 8 in APPDIR=location.

    Tip: There should be no space on either side of the equal sign, (=).

  4. For the server components of Cognos 8, in the section named [Component List], next to each component:

    Note: You do not select components for Framework Manager or Metric Designer. All required files are installed.

  5. For a Windows installation, for the APPFOLDER= property, type the name of the Start menu folder that contains your program shortcuts.

    Tip: To ensure that the shortcut folder is visible to all users, type 1 for the ALLUSERS_FLAG= property.

  6. For the install information in the [Install Conditions] section:

  7. Save the response.ats file to a local directory after you make the necessary changes.

  8. Go to the win32 directory.

  9. At the command prompt type the following command, where location is the directory where you copied response.ats:

If a return status other than zero (0) is returned, check the log files for error messages. Errors are recorded in the installation directory in the following log file:

If errors occur before sufficient initialization occurs, log messages are sent to one of the following log files in the Temp directory:

Also ensure that the installation directory is protected from unauthorized or inappropriate access.

After all errors are resolved, you can set up an unattended configuration.