Symptom
Prompt for the data

Problem
The implemented enhancement provides the ability to have SSO to the datasource without the presence of an SAP Namespace in Cognos 8. This allows the users to avoid having to authenticate to multiple namespaces to run certain reports based off of SAP datasources. (ie. a situation where not all users have an SAP logon, but all users have an AD logon. When a SAP user wants to run a report, authentication to the portal occurs via AD, and the existing MYSAPSSO2 ticket is utilized for the actual datasource)

Environment
Requires at least Cognos 8.3.83.1115 (OP 8.3.833+)

Solution
1.  MYSAPSSO2 ticket must exist for the user's session. In most cases this will occur by accessing Cognos 8 via the Netweaver EP.
2.  All URIs need to be fully qualified (host.domain.com). This includes the Cognos 8 configuration as well as the Iview configuration within SAP EP (ie. CPS Connection Server URI)
3.  Advanced parameter added to report service : RSVP.QUERYREQUEST.EXTRAINFO  = TRUE

From Cognos Connection
1. select Launch --> Cognos Administration.
2. Select the Configuration tab
3. Select Dispatchers and Services
4. Under the Name column, select the dispatcher
5. To the far right of the Report Service, under the actions column, select the properties icon
6. Select the Settings tab
7. Within the Environment Category, to the far right under the value column, select edit. This will bring you to the advanced properties.
8. Check the box that states "Override the settings acquired from the parent entry
9.  Enter the parameter here (Parameter: RSVP.QUERYREQUEST.EXTRAINFO ; value:  TRUE)


Note: The datasource connection to SAP should be configured to use a non-existent signon object

Known limitations :

- Scheduling: since no credentials are stored, and Cognos 8 looks for the MSAPSSO2 ticket first, scheduling is not possible
- 'All or nothing': with the advanced parameter in place, the SSO credentials (MYSAPSSO2 ticket) will have precedence for every SAP datasource, regardless of whether there is a valid signon object. This can cause issues, if the credentials of the authenticated user do not permit access to a particular datasource required to run a report - it isn't possible to override the user's credentials with a static signon object.  Obviously this scenario can be overcome to a degree in a multi-server scenario by setting up dispatcher routing

www.cogknowhow.com

Symptom
CAM-AAA-0022 The provider D:\Program Files\cognos\c8_64\./bin64\CAM_AAA_AuthSAP.dll; could not load.

Problem
Create a SAP namespace in Cognos 64 bit IBM Cognos 8.4.1, try to test the SAP namespace generating the error CAM-AAA-0022 The provider 'D:/Program Files/cognos/c8_64\./bin64\CAM_AAA_AuthSAP.dll' could not load.

Cause     
Need to have 64 bit SAP RFC library loaded in the environment

Environment   
64 bit windows 2003, windows 2008

Solution
For the Cognos 8.4.1 (64-bit) on Windows 2008 R2 (64-bit) the following requirements must be fulfilled:

- Download classic RFC SDK (see SAP Note 27517- Installing RFCSDK) for MS-Windows (32-bit) as well as for Windows 2008 R2 (64-bit).
- Install the RFC libraries as required by SAP.
- Copy the librfc32.dll (32-bit) into the \bin and the librfc32.dll (64-bit) into the \bin64 directory.
- Restart the Cognos services and retest SAP Namespace as well as SAP  data source connections.

www.cogknowhow.com

Installation Instructions

www.cogknowhow.com

Product:
Cognos BI and Planning version 8.x

Symptom:
The Cognos service for planning or BI does not start, when you click on start in Cognos configuration

Error Message:
[Logging]
1. [ ERROR ] IPFTEST-006 Logging failed to connect to Database:jdbc:JSQLConnect://Server_Name:1433/Database_Name

Cause:
The SQL login created for the Cognos Audit or Planning Store are set to change password at first login.

Solution:
In SQL server management studio, right click and select properties for the SQL login used.
Uncheck “User must change password at next login”
Click OK

Now start the Cognos services from Cognos configuration.

www.cogknowhow.com

Product:
Cognos BI version 8.4.1

Symptom:
Can not start the Cognos BI service from Cognos Configuration

Error Message:
09:52:45, 'AuditDatabaseConnection', 'Execute', 'Success'.
09:52:45, 'ContentManager', 'getActiveContentManager', 'Failure'.
DPR-CMI-4006 Unable to determine the active Content Manager. Will retry periodically.
[ ERROR ] CFG-ERR-0106 IBM Cognos Configuration did not receive a response from the IBM Cognos 8 service in the time allotted.
Check that IBM Cognos 8 service is available and properly configured.

Cause:
A possible cause can be that the port is set to wrong value in Cognos Configuration

Can be when you install two Cognos BI instances on the same server.

Solution:
On Cognos Application server, start Cognos Configuration
Check that port number is correct at:

•    the shutdown port number under 'Cognos 8 Service'
•    the 4 port numbers under the "Environment" link (all URI's except the gateway)
•    the portal port number under the 'Cognos Portal Services'
•    the ‘local log server port number’ under the “Environment” and “Logging”.

Change the port numbers to be uniq and not the same as other Cognos installation on same server.

Standard port for Cognos dispatcher is 9300
Standard port for Cognos logging is 9362
Standard port for Cognos shutdown is 9399
Standard port for Cognos Portal is 9300

Standard port for Microsoft SQL is 1433

www.cogknowhow.com

Symptom
Receiving error message "HTTP 500 - Internal server error"

Problem
These steps are required to enable the cognosisapi.dll ISAPI module to run on on Windows 2008 server 64-bit with IIS 7.0

Environment
Windows 2008 server 64-bit

Solution
The cognosisapi.dll ISAPI module is a 32-bit DLL, even when you installed the 64-bit version of Cognos 8.
On 64-bit Windows, 32-bit processes cannot load 64-bit DLLs, and 64-bit processes cannot load 32-bit DLLs. If you want to run 32-bit applications on 64-bit Windows, you have to configure IIS to create 32-bit worker processes.

By default IIS launches Common Gateway Interface (CGI) applications on 64-bit Windows, because CGI applications run in a separate process.

Configuring IIS to run 32-bit Web applications on 64-bit Windows IIS 7.0:

Before you configure IIS to run 32-bit applications on 64-bit Windows, note the following:

* IIS only supports 32-bit worker processes in Worker Process Isolation mode on 64-bit Windows.
* On 64-bit Windows, the 'World Wide Web Publishing' service can run 32-bit and 64-bit worker processes. Other IIS services like the 'IIS Admin' service, the 'SMTP service', the 'NNTP service', and the 'FTP service' run 64-bit processes only.
* On 64-bit Windows, the 'World Wide Web Publishing' service does not support running 32-bit and 64-bit worker processes concurrently on the same server.


Steps:

1. Open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager and select 'Application Pools'.
2. Select your application pool for the Cognos 8 Virtual Directories, or if you have not defined an application pool, select the 'DefaultAppPool' and on the right-hand side of the window click on ‘Set Application Pool Defaults’.
3. Under 'General' ensure that 'Enable 32-bit applications' is set to 'True'.
4. Restart IIS.
5. Continue to configure IIS 7.0 for the Cognos 8 Gateway

www.cogknowhow.com

Problem
How to recover a Framework Manager model from the content store in Cognos 8 (in case the Framework Manager project directory was corrupted or deleted ).


Environment
Cognos 8

Solution
It is possible to recover a model from the project store by creating a cqeconfig.xml file in the <C8Root>/bin directory, and accessing the deleted model within Cognos 8 Report Studio. The model will be saved within the <C8Root>/data/cqe/rtmodel directory.
Access the model by creating an empty model in Framework Manager, and overwriting the model.xml file with the xml file extracted from the content store.

Steps:
1. Create a cqeconfig.xml file and save under <C8ROOT>/configuration Place the following in the file. Due to this file the XML version of the model will be stored in the rtmodel directory as well:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<configuration company="Cognos" version="0.1" rendition="cer2">
<component name="CQE">
<section name="General Options">
<entry name="KeepModelXML" value="1" />
</section>
</component>
</configuration>

2. Stop 'Cognos 8' service and rename the <C8Root>/data/cqe/rtmodel directory, or delete all content. When a framework is opened the rtmodel version of the framework is copied there again.
3. Restart the 'Cognos 8' Service
4. Open Cognos 8 Report Studio, and create a new report based on the package you wish to recover. Run the report.
5. Check if a new <C8Root>/data/cqe/rtmodel directory has been created, and that an XML file has been added to the <C8Root>/data/cqe/rtmodel directory. Copy the XMl file which contain your framework content to another directory ie. c:\fm_rescue.
6. Rename or delete cqconfig.xml or delete it.
7. Restart the 'Cognos 8' Service again.
8. Open Framework Manager, and create a new, empty project. (Select the design language, and cancel out at the MetaData wizard step and save).
9. Close Framework Manager.
10. Goto the directory for the empty Framework Manager project.
11. Copy the generated xml file by Cognos 8 content query engine from the c:\fmrescue directory, into the framework Manager project directory.
12. In the Framework Manager project directory, delete the original model.xml file and rename the generated xml file to model.xml.
13. Open the restore model in Framework Manager and save it.

note: Don't forget to change the name for the publish package, if you want to publish the model without overwriting the original one.

www.cogknowhow.com

How do you move a IBM Cognos 8 BI application (framework/published reports) from one environment into another environment when they do not developed against the same databases?

Create a connection to your test database, create the model and then publish a package.
If the test and production databases are identical, and the only difference is the server in which they reside, the only thing to do is edit the data source you created, and since the databases are identical the only thing you have to edit is the server name. If, however, the connection information is not the same for the production database then once again you would have to edit the data source connection and edit the user ID and password, server name, etc... If the schema is different then, in Framework Manager change Data Source. See Steps below in this article.
If you are moving from for example, an acceptance Cognos 8 BI server to a production server, you must do a deployment export from Acceptance and an Deployment Import on production of the same deployment file.

From the menu on the left, select Search and then enter the following string "deployment archive" (no quotes). From the results scroll down to the entry titled 'Export' and select it. This will bring up a page describing the steps to export a deployment archive and then details on what can be done with this file once it has been created.
Steps:
1.  When you change Data Source properties, change the following:
'Schema' if necessary. 'Content Manager Data Source'. This is the name of your data source connection in portal Cognos. Do not change the Name property as it is used in the Framework Manager model!
2.  Republish the package for the changes to take effect.

www.cogknowhow.com

Problem
What is a RTModel and can they be deleted?

Solution

RTModels (Run Time Models) are a compiled representation of the models pulled from the Content Store database.  When the package is updated or if there is no RTModel file available in the data directory, one is recompiled when the package is accessed. The previous version of the RTmodel file are not deleted

These files in this directory c8/data/cqe/ are local copies of the Run Time Model. In the configuration manager you can change this location under environment -> 'Data Files Location'. Restart Cognos 8 service and the RTModels will be created there.
RTModel files are created when the first user has accessed the published package. These files can be deleted, but will be recreated again once the package is accessed again.

www.cogknowhow.com

Symptom
Unable to access service at URL http://localhost/cognos8/cgi-bin/cognos.cgi?b_action=xts.run&m=portal/close.xts
or
Unable to access service at URL http://localhost/cognos8/cgi-bin/cognosisapi.dll?b_action=xts.run&m=portal/close.xts
Please check that your gateway URI information is configured correctly and that the service is available. For further information please contact your service administrator.

Solution

There are some possible solutions:
1.  If the virtual directory alias name is not c8 or the gateway is located on a remote machine. Make sure in Cognos Configuration, that the correct alias and machine name are specified under Local Configuration\Environment\Gateway URI.
For example, if the alias is called crnsap, you will need to change the gateway URL to: http://<localhost>:80/c8/cgi-bin/cognos.cgi
2.  If the settings are not saved in Cognos Configuration of the Framework Manager's machine's, the above error will be thrown when opening a new project. Therefore, be sure the settings you changed are saved in Cognos Configuration.
3.  Change the gateway URI to use the ISAPI gateway instead of CGI gateway. Simply change cognos.cgi to the isapi.dll in Cognos Configuration and restart the  service. There is no additional Web server configuration required to use ISAPI gateway.To access Cognos 8 components using ISAPI, in Cognos Configuration, change the cognos.cgi portion of the Gateway URI property to cognosisapi.dll. Then specify the ISAPI URI, <a href=http://host_name/cognos8/cognosisapi.dll>http://host_name/cognos8/cognosisapi.dll</a> in your browser.
4.  Use the Alias name or IP address instead of the machine name in Cognos Configuration.
5.  Ensure that the cognos.cgi or cognosisapi.dll is executable by the user id running the webserver.
6.  Ensure the user is logging in properly, especially when Single Signon is used in the environment. If you have doubts disable the SSO during this troubleshoot session.
7.  Verify that there is not a proxy server used in the Internet Settings for the Framework Manager PC. If a proxy server is used, select the "Bypass Proxy Server for local (Intranet) addresses" check box.
To change this in Internet Explorer:
Tools-->Internet Options
Click the "Connections" Tab
Click the "Lan Settings" button
Select the "Bypass Proxy Server for local (Intranet) addresses" check box

www.cogknowhow.com