, some configuration tasks are required. For
example, you must configure your Web server and specify the database
connection properties to the content store.After you install one or more Cognos 8 components on your computer, you must configure them to work in your Cognos environment. Initially, default property settings chosen by Cognos are used to configure the components. However, you may want to change these default settings if existing conditions make the default choices inappropriate, or to better suit your environment.
For all Windows and most UNIX and Linux installations, use Cognos Configuration to configure your settings. However, if the console attached to the UNIX or Linux computer on which you are installing Cognos 8 components does not support a Java-based graphical user interface you must manually edit the cogstartup.xml file in the c8_location\configuration directory, and then run Cognos Configuration in silent mode.
For all types of installations , some configuration tasks are required. For
example, you must configure your Web server and specify the database
connection properties to the content store.
If you distribute Cognos 8 across several computers, some additional configuration tasks are required to ensure that the components can communicate with each other. The order in which you configure and start the components is also important.
Other configuration tasks are optional and depend on your Cognos environment. Use these optional configuration tasks to customize your configuration so that Cognos 8 easily integrates into your existing environment. For example, you can configure features for Cognos Application Firewall or specify the amount of resources Cognos 8 uses. Also, you can deliver Cognos content using a third-party portal by configuring Portal Services.
You can configure Cognos 8 to use other resources, such as using an authentication provider and then enabling single signon for the database connection and the users.
If you use a load-balancing scheme in your environment, you can change settings to improve performance. For example, you can balance requests among dispatchers by changing their processing capacity or by setting the minimum and maximum number of processes and connections. For more information about tuning server performance, see the Administration and Security Guide.
If you are upgrading from ReportNet, you have several configuration options depending on if you want to continue to use your existing installation. For information about upgrade options, see Upgrading from ReportNet, Metrics Manager, or Earlier Versions of Cognos 8.
