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Configuring Single Computer Installations

If you install all Cognos server components on one computer, some configuration tasks are required so that those components work in your Cognos environment.

Additional configuration tasks are required if the Windows modeling tools, Framework Manager, Cognos 8 Transformer, or Metric Designer, are installed on a separate computer.

If you change the value of a property, you must save the configuration and then restart the Cognos 8 service to apply the new settings to your computer.

Before you configure Cognos 8, ensure that

Use the following checklist to guide you through the required configuration tasks:

      Set the database connection properties for the content store
      Configure a mail server account
      

Update file location properties, if required

      Start the Cognos 8 services
      Test the installation and configuration
      

Create a metric package, if required

      Finish the configuration

After you complete these configuration tasks, you can change the default behavior of Cognos 8 to better suit your Cognos environment. You can also configure the Windows modeling tools, Framework Manager , and Metric Designer .

Set Database Connection Properties for the Content Store 

For all installations not using Cognos Content Database, you must specify the database server information to ensure that Content Manager can connect to the database you use for the content store. Content Manager uses the database logon to access the content store. After you set the database connection properties, you can test the connection between Content Manager and the content store.

Ensure that you used one of the supported database servers to create the content store.

Note: Some database servers are available with advanced features. When you select an advanced database, Cognos 8 uses features of the database server to manage the connection. If you select the advanced Oracle database, for example, Cognos 8 uses enterprise-oriented Oracle features to select a listener, switch to another listener if the first listener fails, automatically reconnect to the database if the connection fails, balance connection requests among listeners, and balance connection requests among dispatchers.

Cognos 8 requires the TCP/IP protocol to access data and the content store. Ensure that the database server has the protocol set to TCP/IP.

If you are upgrading from ReportNet, configure Cognos 8 to point to the existing content store. After you save the configuration and start the Cognos 8 service, the content store is automatically upgraded and cannot be used by ReportNet. If you keep ReportNet running, you must configure Cognos 8 to point to a new content store.

Steps for Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, and Sybase

  1. On the computer where you installed Content Manager, start Cognos Configuration.

  2. In the Explorer window, under Data Access, Content Manager, right-click Content Store and click Delete.

    This deletes the default resource. Content Manager must be configured to access only one content store.

  3. Right-click Content Manager, and then click New resource, Database.

  4. In the Name box, type a name for the resource.

  5. In the Type box, select the type of database and click OK.

    If you are upgrading and want to use an existing content store, ensure that you select the type of database you use for the older version of ReportNet.

    If you installed more than one version of Cognos 8, you must use a different content store for each version. When a content store is used by a new version of Cognos 8, it cannot be used by an older version of ReportNet.

    Tip: If you want to use Oracle Net8 keyword-value pair to manage the database connection, select Oracle database (Advanced).

  6. In the Properties window, provide values depending on your database type:

  7. If you want to change the logon credentials, specify a user ID and password:

  8. From the File menu, click Save.

    The logon credentials are immediately encrypted.

  9. Test the connection between Content Manager and the content store.

    Tip: In the Explorer window, right-click the new database and click Test.

    Content Manager connects to the database, checks the database permissions, and creates and populates a table. The table is not deleted and is used each time that the test is repeated.

Content Manager can now create the required tables in the content store when you start the Cognos 8 service for the first time. If the connection properties are not specified correctly, you cannot connect to Cognos Connection.

If you are upgrading from ReportNet, Content Manager can now access the required tables in the content store that you used for the older version.

Specify a Mail Server Account and Notification Database  

If you want to send reports by email, you must configure a mail server account. You must also specify the location of the database that is used by the notification server to store job and schedule information.

If you use a distributed installation (for example, for load balancing), you must configure all Content Manager and Application Tier Components computers to use the same database for notification.

By default, the notification server uses the same database that Content Manager uses for the content store. You can use a separate database for notification in situations where you run large volumes of batch reports and email. If so, ensure that the notification database exists and that there are no requests waiting to run. Queued requests will not be moved. All Content Manager computers must be configured to use the same notification database.

When you finish configuring a mail server account and notification database, you can test the connections to the mail server and notification database.

Tip: To be able to open reports that are sent by email, you must change the host name portion of the Gateway URI from localhost to either the IP address of the computer or the computer name. Otherwise the URL in the email will contain localhost and remote users will not be able to open the report.

If you are upgrading from ReportNet, Cognos 8 uses the mail server account and settings that were set up for ReportNet.

Steps

  1. On each computer where Content Manager is installed, start Cognos Configuration.

  2. In the Explorer window, under Data Access, click Notification.

  3. In the Properties window, for the SMTP mail server property, type the host name and port of your SMTP (outgoing) mail server.

  4. Click the Value box next to the Account and password property and then click the edit button when it appears.

  5. Type the appropriate values in the Value - Account and password dialog box and then click OK.

    Tip: If logon credentials are not required for the SMTP server, remove the default information for the Account and password property. When you are prompted for confirmation to leave this property blank, click Yes. Ensure that the default user name has been removed. Otherwise, the default account is used and notifications will not work properly.

  6. In the Properties window, type the appropriate value for the default sender account.

    Tip: If you use the default notification database, you do not have to perform the following two steps.

  7. Identify the database that is used for notification:

  8. In the Properties window, enter the values for the notification database resource.

    For a Microsoft SQL Server database, you can choose to use a port number, such as 1433, or a named instance as the value for the Database server with port number or instance name property.

    To connect to a named instance, you must specify the instance name as a JDBC URL property or a data source property. For example, you can type localhost\instance1. If no instance name property is specified, a connection to the default instance is created.

    Note that the properties specified for the named instance, along with the user ID and password, and database name, are used to create a JDBC URL. Here is an example:

    jdbc:JSQLConnect://localhost\\instance1/user=sa/more properties as required

  9. From the File menu, click Save.

  10. Test the notification and mail server connections. In the Explorer window right-click Notification and click Test.

    Cognos 8 tests the database connection and tests the mail server connection.

    If you have been using the content store database for notification, the schedules will be replicated in the tables of the new notification database.

Important: Ensure that the values used to identify the notification database resource are the same on all Content Manager computers. To use the default notification database, you do not have to edit the values in the Properties window.

Update File Location Properties

If you install Cognos 8 on Windows Vista, you must change file locations properties in Cognos Configuration so that Cognos 8 can use a single data location for all users.

Windows Vista has a security enhancement that restricts multiple users from sharing data locations. You can define environment variables and use them in Cognos Configuration when specifying file locations. This allows you to direct applicable files to an area that will be accessible by Cognos 8 users. On Windows, two environment variables are preset for users: one for all users and one for the specific user

Because the environment variables represent system root locations, we recommend that you also include the root directory name of the installation location when you specify file locations in Cognos Configuration. The default root directory for Cognos 8 is c8.

Steps

  1. Start Cognos Configuration.

  2. In the Explorer window, click Environment.

  3. In the Properties window, click Deployment files location.

  4. Replace the relative path element, "..", with the appropriate environment variable and root directory, using the following suggested environment variables:

    For example,

    To set a single file location per user, specify the path %LOCALAPPDATA%/c8/deployment.

  5. Repeat step 4 for the following properties:

  6. From the File menu, click Save.

The environment variables are resolved when the file locations are accessed during system activities.

Start the Cognos 8 Services

To register the Cognos 8 service so that users can access it through Cognos Connection, you must start the services. Before you start the services, test the configuration by using the test feature in Cognos Configuration.

Before you can use Framework Manager, Cognos 8 Transformer, or Metric Designer, you must start the Cognos 8 service. On Windows, the Cognos 8 service is configured to start automatically by default. On UNIX and Linux, to start the Cognos 8 process automatically, you must configure the process as a daemon. For more information, see your operating system documentation.

You must install and configure both the server components of Cognos 8 and Framework Manager before you can use Cognos 8 for reporting.

Note: Cognos 8 cannot access any reporting data unless the data is first packaged in and published from Framework Manager.

Steps

  1. Start Cognos Configuration.

  2. Ensure that you save your configuration, otherwise you cannot start the Cognos 8 service.

    If you are upgrading, a message appears indicating that configuration files were detected and upgraded to the new version.

  3. From the Actions menu, click Test.

    Cognos Configuration checks the CSK availability, tests the namespace configuration, and tests the connections to the content store and logging database.

    If you are using the notification database and the mail server, they are tested as well.

    Tip: If Test is not available for selection, in the Explorer window, click Local Configuration.

  4. If the test fails, reconfigure the affected properties and then test again.

    You can test individual services by right-clicking the service in the Explorer panel and selecting Test.

    Do not start the service until all tests pass.

  5. From the Actions menu, click Start.

    It may take a few minutes for the Cognos 8 service to start.

    This action starts all installed services that are not running. If you want to start a particular service, select the service node in the Explorer window and then click Start from the Actions menu.

Test the Installation and Configuration 

You can test your configuration settings by running the test feature as you configure Cognos 8. After you have completed the configuration and started the services, you can test the installation by opening Cognos Connection. If you installed Framework Manager or Metric Designer, you can test it by starting the application and creating a project.

If you installed Metric Studio and you have created a package, you have already tested your installation and configuration. You can create a metric package only if Metric Studio is installed and configured properly.

Steps

  1. Open a Web browser.

  2. Test the availability of the dispatcher by typing

    http://host_name:port/p2pd/servlet

    If the response includes the string State: Running, the dispatcher is available.

  3. Open Cognos Connection by typing one the following, where cognos8 is the virtual directory you created when you configured the Web server.

    It may take a few minutes for the Web page to open. If you see the Welcome page of Cognos Connection, your installation is working.

Step for Framework Manager
Step for Cognos 8 Transformer
Step for Metric Designer

Create a Metric Package

Before users can use Metric Studio, you must create at least one metric package using the New Metric Package wizard. A metric package is a Cognos Connection representation of a Metric Studio application. A metric package contains connection information, reports, and metric management tasks for that application. The metric package content is stored in a metric store.

You open the New Metric Package wizard from the toolbar in Cognos Connection. Use the wizard to define the metric package name and the data source connection to the metric store. For a new metric store, you also provide the information necessary to initialize the database, including the start and end dates of the fiscal year. If the database was used with an earlier version of Metric Studio 8.1 or later, you can use the wizard to upgrade the metric store.

Before you can use the New Metric Package wizard, you must have access to a metric store used with Metrics Manager version 2.0 or later or you must create a database for a new metric store .

Steps

  1. Start Cognos Connection.

  2. Click the New metric package button .

  3. Type a name and description for the Metric Studio application to represent this metric package, and click Next.

  4. Click New data source.

  5. Type a name and description for the data source connection for the metric store that contains the content for this metric package, and click Next.

  6. In the Type box, click the database type.

  7. Select the isolation level, and click Next.

  8. Specify the information required for your database type:

    Tip: To test whether the parameters are correct, click Test.

  9. Click Next and then click Finish.

  10. Click the new data source and click Next.

  11. Click Next and follow the prompts to provide the information necessary to initialize the database. When you see the page that summarizes the data source details and the metric store settings, click Initialize.

  12. Select Open this package with Metric Studio after closing the wizard and then click Finish.

Metric Studio opens and the new metric package is displayed in Cognos Connection. For information about managing the metric store, including how to load data, see the Cognos 8 Administration and Security Guide.

Steps Using an Existing Metric Store

  1. Start Cognos Connection.

  2. Click the New metric package button .

  3. Type the name and description for the Metric Studio application to represent this metric package and click Next.

  4. Click New data source.

  5. Type the name and description for the data source connection for the metric store that contains the content for this metric package, and click Next.

  6. In the Type box, click the database type and click Next.

  7. Specify the information required for your database type:

    Tip: To test whether the parameters are correct, click Test.

  8. Click Next.

  9. Select Open this package with Metric Studio after closing the wizard and then click Finish.

    Metric Studio opens and the new metric package is displayed in Cognos Connection.

  10. Click the new data source and click Next.

  11. Click Upgrade.

    The wizard updates the database schemas and other information.

For information about managing the metric store, see the Administration and Security Guide.

Finishing the Configuration 

After you complete the required configuration tasks, you can perform some additional configuration tasks to customize the behavior of Cognos 8 components to better suit your Cognos environment . You can also add resources, such as configuring Cognos 8 components to use an authentication provider .

We recommend that you specify the amount of resources the Cognos 8 service uses to ensure that performance is optimized.