in
the user interface.User authentication in Cognos 8 is managed
by third-party authentication providers. Authentication providers
define users, groups, and roles used for authentication. User names, IDs,
passwords, regional settings, personal preferences are some examples
of information stored in the providers. If you set up authentication
for Cognos 8, users must provide valid credentials, such
as user ID and password, at logon time. In Cognos 8 environment, authentication
providers are also referred to as namespaces, and they are represented
by namespace entries in
the user interface.
Cognos 8 does not replicate the users, groups, and roles defined in your authentication provider. However, you can reference them in Cognos 8 when you set access permissions to reports and other content. They can also become members of Cognos groups and roles.
The following authentication providers are supported in this release:
Active Directory Server
Cognos Series 7
eTrust SiteMinder
LDAP
NTLM
SAP
You configure authentication providers using Cognos Configuration. For more information, see the Installation and Configuration Guide.
If multiple namespaces are configured for your system, at the start of a session you must select one namespace that you want to use. However, this does not prevent you from logging on to other namespaces later in the session. For example, if you set access permissions, you may want to reference entries from different namespaces. To log on to a different namespace, you do not have to log out of the namespace you are currently using. You can be logged on to multiple namespaces simultaneously.
Your primary logon is the namespace and the credentials that you use to log on at the beginning of the session. The namespaces that you log on to later in the session and the credentials that you use become your secondary logons.
When you delete one of the namespaces, you can log on using another namespace. If you delete all namespaces except for the Cognos namespace, you are not prompted to log on. If anonymous access is enabled, you are automatically logged on as an anonymous user. If anonymous access is not enabled, you cannot access the Cognos Connection logon page. In this situation, use Cognos Configuration to enable anonymous access.
You can preserve namespaces and all their contents in the content store even if they are no longer configured for use in Cognos 8. When a namespace is not configured, it is listed as inactive in the directory tool.
An inactive namespace is one that was configured, but later deleted in Cognos Configuration. The namespace can be deleted from the content store by members of the System Administrators role. You cannot log on to an inactive namespace.
If a new version of Cognos 8 detects a previously configured namespace that is no longer used, the namespace appears in the directory tool as inactive. You can configure the namespace again if you still require the data. If the namespace is not required, you can delete it.
When you delete a namespace, you also delete all entries in My Folders that are associated with that namespace, and their contents.
An active namespace cannot be deleted, but can be updated.
To recreate a namespace in Cognos Configuration, you must use the original ID of the namespace. For information about configuring and recreating namespaces, see the Installation and Configuration Guide.
If a namespace was removed from Cognos Configuration and is no longer required, a member of the System Administrators role can delete it permanently in the directory tool. Deleting a namespace also deletes all the entries in My Folders that are associated with the namespace.
To access the directory administration tool, you must have execute permissions for the directory secured feature and traverse permissions for the administration secured function.
In Cognos Connection, in the upper-right corner, click Launch, Cognos Administration.
On the Security tab, click Users, Groups, and Roles.
If the namespace you want to delete does not have a check mark in the Active column, it is inactive and can be deleted.
In the Actions column, click the delete button.
If the namespace is active, the delete button is not available.
The namespace is permanently deleted. To use the namespace again in Cognos 8, you must add it using Cognos Configuration.
