Troubleshooting the Cognos BI Server

Troubleshooting the Cognos BI Server

If we encounter problems while deploying or configuring the IBM Cognos BI Server component or while using the Metrics application, use this information to help resolve the problem.
Table 1 lists problems you might encounter with the Cognos BI Server component and suggests solutions.
Problem Solution
JDBC connection error occurs while running the cognos-setup.bat|sh script to install BI Server:
Performing validation check ...
JAR file(s) found in JDBC driver directory:
C:\Cognos_BI_install_path\CognosConfig\BI-Customization\JDBC 
Using cognos.locale: EN 
All properties provided for Cognos database 
All properties provided for Metrics database 
Failed to verify the JDBC connection to Cognos Content Store database. Check the error message.
Make sure the database server is configured to accept remote connections; consult the vendor documentation for the database product. In particular, Microsoft SQL Server does not accept remote connections by default and must be specifically enabled before we can install Cognos BI Server. For information on enabling remote connections for SQL Server, see the archived blog entry How to enable remote connections in SQL Server 2008? at the Microsoft site.
After SQL Server has been correctly configured, run the cognos-setup.bat|sh script again.
Cognos BI Server cannot be installed successfully on SUSE Linux and the following errors occur:

The log displays the following: Error while loading shared libraries:
Error while loading shared libraries: libXm.so.3: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory.

There are no Cognos folders in the Cognos install directory.

In the WAS's WAS console, there is no Cognos EAR file listed in the applications table.

This problem indicates that required patches were not installed before attempting to deploy Cognos, as instructed in the topic Install required patches on the Cognos BI Server system. Correct the problem with the following steps:

Determine whether a patch was installed ...
$ rpm –qa | grep <rpm package name>

To install the patch:
$ rpm -i <rpm package name>

To upgrade the patch:
$rpm -U <rpm package name>

Cognos BI Server will not start.

Check the cogroot.link value in the WebSphere server log SystemOut.log to see if it matches the Cognos BI Server installation path. If the installed path is different (for example, you moved the files or renamed the directory), we can update the Cognos BI application file to reference the correct path. For instructions, see Manually changing the install directory name affects installations running under an application server in the Cognos information center.

We need to stop (or restart) Cognos BI Server.

Whenever stop (or restart) Cognos BI Server, additionally stop the IBM WebSphere Application Server where Cognos is hosted. For best results, follow these steps:

Stop the WAS hosting the Cognos server.

Wait at least 1 full minute to ensure that all of the Cognos processes have completely stopped:

IBM AIX or Linux: cgsServer.sh and CAM_LPSvrprocesses

Windows: cgsLauncher.exe and CAM_LPSvrprocesses

Start the WAS.

Start the Cognos server.

When adding users or groups to the ConnectionsMetricsAdmin security role, you find the names tagged as folders instead of as users, and we cannot add them to the security role.

This indicates that users are mapped to the same object class as folders in the LDAP, and Cognos cannot differentiate between them, so it is treating users as folders. Correct this problem using the following steps to run the Cognos Configuration Tool and modify the object class mappings in the Connections namespace.

Consult the LDAP administrator to determine the object classes that should be used in the deployment.

Navigate to the /bin64 subdirectory of the Cognos BI Server install directory.
For example:

AIX or Linux: /opt/IBM/CognosBI/bin64/

Windows: C:.IBM\Cognos\bin64

Start the Cognos Configuration tool ...

AIX or Linux: ./cogconfig.sh

Windows: cogconfigw.exe

The Cognos Configuration tool provides a graphical user interface for defining LDAP properties. If the AIX or Linux server does not support a graphical user interface, see the topic Configuring LDAP settings manually for instructions on configuring these LDAP authentication settings manually.

Expand Local Configuration > Security > Authentication.

Edit the Connections namespace and set the object class for Folder mappings to a different value than the object class used for in Group mappings and Account mappings.

Click File > Save.

Exit the Cognos Configuration tool, making sure to select No at the following prompt:The service 'IBM Cognos' is not running on the local computer. Before we can use it the computer must start the service. Do to start this service before exiting?

Stop the IBMWebSphere Application Server hosting the Cognos server.
Wait at least 1 full minute to ensure that all Cognos processes have stopped:

AIX or Linux: cgsServer.sh and CAM_LPSvr processes

Windows: cgsLauncher.exe and CAM_LPSvr processes

Start WebSphere Application Server.

Start the Cognos server.

We need to update Cognos BI Server with a fix pack.

Follow the instructions in Update the Cognos server.

The Cognos Content Store database is available but we cannot access the following URL: http://Cognos WAS server host name:port/Cognos_context_root/servlet

There are several different potential causes for this error message:

Verify the context root value specified for the Cognos application in WebSphere Application Server matches the value specified in the cognos.contextroot setting of the cognos-setup.properties file.

Log into the WAS console as the WebSphere administrator.

In the navigation tree, click Enterprise Applications > Cognos_application_name.

In the list of applications, check the value in the Context Root For Web Modules field and update it if necessary to match the setting used in the properties file.

Click Apply, and then click OK.

Save the change to the master configuration by clicking Save in the "Messages" box.

Verify the Cognos Content Store database is available and accessible (check the Cognos BI Server system log for database connection errors.

For IBM DB2 , verify the maximum number of concurrent databases is large enough for the deployment (this value should be set to a value greater than 15).

The Cognos BI Server is available but we cannot access the following URL: http://Cognos_WAS_server_host_name:port/Cognos_context_root/servlet/dispatch/ext

This problem can indicate the Cognos Content Store database is not available or the BI Server’s Dispatch settings are incorrect.

Verify the Cognos Content Store database is available.

Use the Cognos Configuration tool to verify the following settings in the Cognos BI configuration specify the correct host name and port for the BI Server:

Dispatcher URIs for gateway

External dispatcher URI

Internal dispatcher URI

Dispatcher URI for external applications

Content Manager URIs

Unable to log in to the Cognos BI Server using the following URL after setting up authentication and disabling anonymous access: http://Cognos_WAS_server_host_name:port/Cognos_context_root/servlet/dispatch

This might indicate a problem with the namespace configuration. Verify the Connections namespace is configured correctly with the authentication provider.
The namespace is specified by the cognos.namespace property in the cognos-setup.properties file; Connections is the default value.

Verification failed when accessing the following URL: http://Cognos_WAS_server_host_name:port/Cognos_context_root/servlet/dispatch/ext
The following message is displayed: CAM-AAA-0135 The user is already authenticated in all available namespaces

There are many different potential causes for this error message, but the most likely problem is incorrect Dispatcher settings for the Cognos BI Server.

Use the Cognos Configuration tool to verify the Dispatcher URIs for gateway setting in the Cognos BI configuration specifies the correct host name and port for the BI Server.

If we still cannot access the URL, refer to the following IBM technote for additional information: .**Troubleshooting** error message when logging into Controller CAM-AAA-0135 The user is already authenticated

The following error message is displayed in the window that opens when we click the Help link in the product header: com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp logServletError SRVE0293E: [Servlet Error]-[CMServlet]: java.security.AccessControlException: Access denied (java.lang.RuntimePermission createClassLoader)

This message indicates a security issue where user verification has failed. We can resolve this problem by disabling Java 2 security on the Deployment Manager with the following steps:

Log into the WAS console as the WebSphere administrator.

Click...
Security | Global Security

Look under "Java 2 security" and clear the selection for...
Use Java 2 security to restrict application access to local resources

Click Apply, and then click OK.

Save the change to the master configuration by clicking Save in the "Messages" box.

Build all data fails when running ./build-all.sh.
In trxschelog.log
UDA-SQL-0569 Unable to load the driver manager library(libdb2.so)

UDA-SQL-0571 The operating system returned an error message(./libfreebl3.so: version 'NSSRAWHASH_3.12.3' not found ( required by /lib/libcrypt.so.1))End processing 0 records from date source

'D_SOURCE~1'.(TR3703) The user ID or password is either missing or invalid. Please re-enter the credentials.

Run to preload the libraries needed: export LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libfreebl3.so.

After running ./cognos-setup.sh, /opt/IBM/Cognos/bin is a file, not a directory.

Uninstall Cognos and run ./cognos_setup.sh again.
During the Cognos installation, after running the cognos-configure.bat|sh script, the following exception occurs in the cognos-configure.log and the installation fails:
Err,com.cognos.crconfig.data.DataManagerException: Unable to save the configuration file.
The parameter named 'External dispatcher URI' located in 'Environment' is currently invalid.
Check the cognos.contextroot value in the cognos-setup.properties file. If the value includes a forward slash (/), choose another context root without a forward slash since Cognos does not support a context root that includes (/).

Replace the cognos.contextroot value with 'cognos' or another single word in the cognos-setup.properties file.

Update the context root in WAS with the new value for the Cognos application.

Restart the Cognos server.

Rerun cognos-configure.bat|sh.
Parent topic:
Troubleshooting Cognos Business Intelligence components

Problem	Solution
JDBC connection error occurs while running the cognos-setup.bat\|sh script to install BI Server: Performing validation check ... JAR file(s) found in JDBC driver directory: C:\Cognos_BI_install_path\CognosConfig\BI-Customization\JDBC Using cognos.locale: EN All properties provided for Cognos database All properties provided for Metrics database Failed to verify the JDBC connection to Cognos Content Store database. Check the error message.	Make sure the database server is configured to accept remote connections; consult the vendor documentation for the database product. In particular, Microsoft SQL Server does not accept remote connections by default and must be specifically enabled before we can install Cognos BI Server. For information on enabling remote connections for SQL Server, see the archived blog entry How to enable remote connections in SQL Server 2008? at the Microsoft site. After SQL Server has been correctly configured, run the cognos-setup.bat\|sh script again.
Cognos BI Server cannot be installed successfully on SUSE Linux and the following errors occur: The log displays the following: Error while loading shared libraries: Error while loading shared libraries: libXm.so.3: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory. There are no Cognos folders in the Cognos install directory. In the WAS's WAS console, there is no Cognos EAR file listed in the applications table.	This problem indicates that required patches were not installed before attempting to deploy Cognos, as instructed in the topic Install required patches on the Cognos BI Server system. Correct the problem with the following steps: Determine whether a patch was installed ... $ rpm –qa \| grep <rpm package name> To install the patch: $ rpm -i <rpm package name> To upgrade the patch: $rpm -U <rpm package name>
Cognos BI Server will not start.	Check the cogroot.link value in the WebSphere server log SystemOut.log to see if it matches the Cognos BI Server installation path. If the installed path is different (for example, you moved the files or renamed the directory), we can update the Cognos BI application file to reference the correct path. For instructions, see Manually changing the install directory name affects installations running under an application server in the Cognos information center.
We need to stop (or restart) Cognos BI Server.	Whenever stop (or restart) Cognos BI Server, additionally stop the IBM WebSphere Application Server where Cognos is hosted. For best results, follow these steps: Stop the WAS hosting the Cognos server. Wait at least 1 full minute to ensure that all of the Cognos processes have completely stopped: IBM AIX or Linux: cgsServer.sh and CAM_LPSvrprocesses Windows: cgsLauncher.exe and CAM_LPSvrprocesses Start the WAS. Start the Cognos server.
When adding users or groups to the ConnectionsMetricsAdmin security role, you find the names tagged as folders instead of as users, and we cannot add them to the security role.	This indicates that users are mapped to the same object class as folders in the LDAP, and Cognos cannot differentiate between them, so it is treating users as folders. Correct this problem using the following steps to run the Cognos Configuration Tool and modify the object class mappings in the Connections namespace. Consult the LDAP administrator to determine the object classes that should be used in the deployment. Navigate to the /bin64 subdirectory of the Cognos BI Server install directory. For example: AIX or Linux: /opt/IBM/CognosBI/bin64/ Windows: C:.IBM\Cognos\bin64 Start the Cognos Configuration tool ... AIX or Linux: ./cogconfig.sh Windows: cogconfigw.exe The Cognos Configuration tool provides a graphical user interface for defining LDAP properties. If the AIX or Linux server does not support a graphical user interface, see the topic Configuring LDAP settings manually for instructions on configuring these LDAP authentication settings manually. Expand Local Configuration > Security > Authentication. Edit the Connections namespace and set the object class for Folder mappings to a different value than the object class used for in Group mappings and Account mappings. Click File > Save. Exit the Cognos Configuration tool, making sure to select No at the following prompt:The service 'IBM Cognos' is not running on the local computer. Before we can use it the computer must start the service. Do to start this service before exiting? Stop the IBMWebSphere Application Server hosting the Cognos server. Wait at least 1 full minute to ensure that all Cognos processes have stopped: AIX or Linux: cgsServer.sh and CAM_LPSvr processes Windows: cgsLauncher.exe and CAM_LPSvr processes Start WebSphere Application Server. Start the Cognos server.
We need to update Cognos BI Server with a fix pack.	Follow the instructions in Update the Cognos server.
The Cognos Content Store database is available but we cannot access the following URL: http://Cognos WAS server host name:port/Cognos_context_root/servlet	There are several different potential causes for this error message: Verify the context root value specified for the Cognos application in WebSphere Application Server matches the value specified in the cognos.contextroot setting of the cognos-setup.properties file. Log into the WAS console as the WebSphere administrator. In the navigation tree, click Enterprise Applications > Cognos_application_name. In the list of applications, check the value in the Context Root For Web Modules field and update it if necessary to match the setting used in the properties file. Click Apply, and then click OK. Save the change to the master configuration by clicking Save in the "Messages" box. Verify the Cognos Content Store database is available and accessible (check the Cognos BI Server system log for database connection errors. For IBM DB2 , verify the maximum number of concurrent databases is large enough for the deployment (this value should be set to a value greater than 15).
The Cognos BI Server is available but we cannot access the following URL: http://Cognos_WAS_server_host_name:port/Cognos_context_root/servlet/dispatch/ext	This problem can indicate the Cognos Content Store database is not available or the BI Server’s Dispatch settings are incorrect. Verify the Cognos Content Store database is available. Use the Cognos Configuration tool to verify the following settings in the Cognos BI configuration specify the correct host name and port for the BI Server: Dispatcher URIs for gateway External dispatcher URI Internal dispatcher URI Dispatcher URI for external applications Content Manager URIs
Unable to log in to the Cognos BI Server using the following URL after setting up authentication and disabling anonymous access: http://Cognos_WAS_server_host_name:port/Cognos_context_root/servlet/dispatch	This might indicate a problem with the namespace configuration. Verify the Connections namespace is configured correctly with the authentication provider. The namespace is specified by the cognos.namespace property in the cognos-setup.properties file; Connections is the default value.
Verification failed when accessing the following URL: http://Cognos_WAS_server_host_name:port/Cognos_context_root/servlet/dispatch/ext The following message is displayed: CAM-AAA-0135 The user is already authenticated in all available namespaces	There are many different potential causes for this error message, but the most likely problem is incorrect Dispatcher settings for the Cognos BI Server. Use the Cognos Configuration tool to verify the Dispatcher URIs for gateway setting in the Cognos BI configuration specifies the correct host name and port for the BI Server. If we still cannot access the URL, refer to the following IBM technote for additional information: .Troubleshooting error message when logging into Controller CAM-AAA-0135 The user is already authenticated
The following error message is displayed in the window that opens when we click the Help link in the product header: com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp logServletError SRVE0293E: [Servlet Error]-[CMServlet]: java.security.AccessControlException: Access denied (java.lang.RuntimePermission createClassLoader)	This message indicates a security issue where user verification has failed. We can resolve this problem by disabling Java 2 security on the Deployment Manager with the following steps: Log into the WAS console as the WebSphere administrator. Click... Security \| Global Security Look under "Java 2 security" and clear the selection for... Use Java 2 security to restrict application access to local resources Click Apply, and then click OK. Save the change to the master configuration by clicking Save in the "Messages" box.
Build all data fails when running ./build-all.sh. In trxschelog.log UDA-SQL-0569 Unable to load the driver manager library(libdb2.so) UDA-SQL-0571 The operating system returned an error message(./libfreebl3.so: version 'NSSRAWHASH_3.12.3' not found ( required by /lib/libcrypt.so.1))End processing 0 records from date source 'D_SOURCE~1'.(TR3703) The user ID or password is either missing or invalid. Please re-enter the credentials.	Run to preload the libraries needed: export LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libfreebl3.so.
After running ./cognos-setup.sh, /opt/IBM/Cognos/bin is a file, not a directory.	Uninstall Cognos and run ./cognos_setup.sh again.
During the Cognos installation, after running the cognos-configure.bat\|sh script, the following exception occurs in the cognos-configure.log and the installation fails: Err,com.cognos.crconfig.data.DataManagerException: Unable to save the configuration file. The parameter named 'External dispatcher URI' located in 'Environment' is currently invalid.	Check the cognos.contextroot value in the cognos-setup.properties file. If the value includes a forward slash (/), choose another context root without a forward slash since Cognos does not support a context root that includes (/). Replace the cognos.contextroot value with 'cognos' or another single word in the cognos-setup.properties file. Update the context root in WAS with the new value for the Cognos application. Restart the Cognos server. Rerun cognos-configure.bat\|sh.