To use Cognos product documentation, you must enable JavaScript in your browser.

Deploying Cognos Portlets to a Plumtree Portal 5.0 and 5.5

You deploy Cognos portlets to the portal server so that end users can add the portlets to their pages.

You can deploy the following portlets:

Before you start deploying the Cognos portlets, ensure that Cognos 8, including Cognos Connection and Portal Services, is installed and configured.

For the Cognos Extended Applications portlet, Cognos 8 Software Development Kit must also be installed. If Cognos 8 Software Development Kit is not installed or not available, the portal administrator should disable the Cognos Extended Applications portlet after the Cognos portlet package file is imported .

For the Metric List and Metric History Chart portlets, Metric Studio must also be installed. If Metric Studio is not installed or not available, the portal administrator should disable the Metric List and Metric History Chart portlets after the Cognos portlet package file is imported .

You must first log on to the portal with administrator privileges.

The deployment process consists of the following tasks:

      starting the remote server
      importing the portlet package file
      connecting to the remote server
      customizing the content of Cognos portlets

After you deploy the portlets, you can configure security for your Plumtree Enterprise Portal environment .

For more information, see the Installation and Configuration Guide.

Notes

Portal Services in Cognos 8 supports Plumtree Portal 5.0 and 5.5. This document describes administrative tasks for version 5.0. The tasks may vary slightly for version 5.5.

Start the Remote Server

The remote server is a Cognos Web application that serves as an interface between the core Cognos 8 components and the Plumtree portal. The remote server application is the cps-pt.war file installed with Cognos 8 in the c8_location\cps\plumtree\gadgets directory.

By default, after Cognos 8 is installed, the remote server is not started. It must be started if you want to use Cognos portlets in a Plumtree portal.

You can deploy the remote server to another server. Ensure that the settings are configured properly so that the remote server can access a Cognos 8 gateway.

You can start the remote server in its default configuration state. However, the default remote server works only if the following conditions are met:

If these conditions do not apply to your installation, you must change the configuration settings for the remote server before you start it.

To start the remote server, you must deploy the remote server into an active webapps folder:

You can now import the Cognos Portlet Package File .

Reconfigure the Remote Server

If the default remote server configuration does not apply to your installation, or you want to change the configuration, you can change the configuration settings by modifying the cpspt.properties file. Then, you must rebuild the remote server (cps-pt.war), and start it by deploying it to an active webapps folder for your Web application server.

The following remote server parameters can be changed.

Parameter

Description

cps_endpoint

Specifies the URL to connect to the Cognos 8 server and extract the WSDL information.

The default value of http://localhost/cognos8/cgi-bin/cognos.cgi/wsrp/cps4/portlets/[package]?wsdl&b_action=xts.run specifies that the Cognos 8 gateway is configured on the same server as the remote server that it is running. In this situation, Cognos 8 can be accessed through a CGI gateway. If not, this parameter must be modified accordingly.

Here are a few more examples of values for this parameter:

  • http://myserver/servletgateway/wsrp/cps4/portlets/[package]?wsdl&b_action=cps.wsdl

    Specifies a Cognos 8 servlet gateway installation on the server named myserver.

  • http://myserver/ISAPIgateway/wsrp/cps4/portlets/[package]?wsdl&b_action=cps.wsdl

    Specifies a Cognos 8 ISAPI gateway installation on the server named myserver.

forward_cookies

Specifies the names of cookies that must be forwarded to the Cognos 8 server for single signon purposes.

If the single signon mechanism for the installation depends on a specific active credential cookie, it is necessary to pass this cookie from the Plumtree server to the Cognos 8 server.

Default: null

cps_auth_secret

Specifies the value of the shared secret key.

This parameter is optional. Use it only when your environment is configured to use the shared secret single signon mechanism. When this parameter is specified, the user's identity is sent to the Cognos 8 server through an HTTP header variable that is encrypted using the value of the shared secret.

The value of this parameter must be identical to the one specified in Cognos Configuration. For more information, see Configuring Security for Portal Services.

cps_auth_namespace

The namespace ID for the Custom Java Provider.

Steps

  1. Stop your application server, such as Tomcat, or stop the remote server application.

  2. Remove the existing remote server by doing one of the following:

  3. Open the cpspt.properties file.

    The file is located in the c8_location/cps/plumtree/webapps/gadgets/WEB-INF/classes directory.

  4. Change the settings as required and save the file.

  5. Rebuild the remote server by running the following batch file:

    The configuration settings for the remote server (cps-pt.war) are changed.

  6. Start the remote server .

You can now import the Cognos portlet package file .

Import the Cognos Portlet Package File

During the Cognos 8 installation, the Cognos portlet package file CognosPlumtree5PortletPackageC83.pte is installed as one of the Plumtree components. This file contains Web services, the remote server, and the definitions of the Cognos portlets .

When you import the Cognos portlet package file, you create one instance of a Cognos portlet server, and one instance of each portlet. The Cognos portlet server acts as a binding layer for the portlets. You can also supply your portal users with default portlets where the users can choose the content and layout.

Each portlet appears in a default state. The portlets do not contain any Cognos content, and the default access permissions are read and write for portal administrators, and read-only for portal users.

Steps

  1. At the top of your portal page, click Administration.

  2. Click Portal Resources.

  3. Click Create Object, and click Administrative Folder.

  4. Type a name, such as Cognos Portlets, and, if you want, a description for the group of Cognos portlets you want to import.

  5. Click OK.

  6. Click the folder you created.

  7. Click Select Utility and click Portal Resources - Import.

  8. Under Folder Information, click Browse.

  9. Select the folder you created to store the new resources, and click OK.

  10. Under General Info, click Browse to locate the CognosPlumtree5PortletPackageC83.pte file.

    This file is located in the c8_location/cps/plumtree/gadgets directory.

  11. Click Open, and then click Upload.

  12. Click Finish, and click OK.

The Cognos portlets appear in the Portal Services folder. You can now connect to the remote server .

Connect to the Remote Server

The remote server must be configured and started before you can connect to it.

Steps

  1. Click the folder that contains the Cognos portlets.

  2. Expand the Remote Server folder, and click Cognos Portal Services.

  3. In the Edit Remote Serverpage, in the Remote Server Properties box, change the Base URL from http://localhost:9300/ to the following, where gadget server is the name or IP address of the server that hosts the Cognos 8 remote server, and port is the port number used by the remote server.http://gadget_server:port

    The default port number is 9300.

    Here is an example: http://myserver:9300/

  4. Click Finish.

Customize the Content of Cognos Portlets

You can define the default content and appearance of portlets. When you customize a portlet instance, the settings become the default for all users who view this instance.

If the portlet is not locked for editing, users can customize the content for their instance of the portlet. Users retain their custom settings even if you reset the portlet. Users inherit the settings you configure only when they view the instance you configured, or when they reset the portlet using the reset button in the edit page of the portlet.

Applications that appear in the Cognos Extended Applications portlet may include editable application parameters with default values defined by the developer. To change the parameter values that users see as defaults, you must edit the applications.xml file. For information about changing application parameters, see the Developer Guide.

The configurable properties for the Cognos portlets vary. For more information, see User Reference Help for Portal Services.

Steps

  1. Go to the page where you added the Cognos portlets.

  2. Click the configure button for the portlet you want to configure.

  3. Edit the settings as required.

    These become the default settings for user instances of this portlet.

  4. Click Done.