Symptom
Cognos 8 will not start

Problem
You may not be able to start the IBM Cognos 8 service or process if one of the default ports is used by another process.

Cause
Another application is running under default port 9300. Or Cognos was not stopped correctly and the old tomcat instance is keeping port 9300 occupied.
Tip: To view the current network TCP/IP network connections, use the netstat command.

Solution
Reboot server to free port 9300
or
Use task manager to kill the running tomcat processes to free port 9300
or
Use IBM Cognos Configuration to change the default port that IBM Cognos 8 uses.
When you change the port used by the local dispatcher, you must change the value of the Dispatcher URI properties. Because the change affects all the URIs that are based on the local dispatcher, you must change the URIs of all local components. By default, local components contain localhost in the URI.
For example, if you install all components on one computer and you want to change the dispatcher port, replace 9300 in all dispatcher and Content Manager URIs with the new port number.

Steps to Change the Default Port
1. Start IBM Cognos Configuration.
2. In the Explorer window, click the appropriate group or component:
3. To access the port number in the dispatcher and Content Manager URIs, click Environment.
4. To access the port number for the local log server, under Environment, click Logging.
5. To access the shutdown port number, under Environment, click IBM Cognos 8 service, IBM Cognos 8.
6. To access the port number for the location of the applications.xml file used by Portal Services, under Environment, click Portal Services.

In the Properties window, click the Value box next to the property that you want to change.

Change the value from 9300 to the new value.
Ensure that you change the ports in all URIs that contain localhost:9300.
From the File menu, click Save.
From the Action menu, click Start.