Troubleshooting Cognos validation problems

Troubleshooting Cognos validation problems

If we encounter validation problems while you install IBM Cognos Business Intelligence or use the Metrics application, verify the details of the Cognos administrator and server are correct. If we supply incorrect values during installation, the validation might fail; however, we can continue with the installation and correct the information afterward.
Table 1 lists validation problems that can occur with the Metrics application, and Cognos.
Problem Solution

Validation fails in Cognos panel during installation even when the correct values were selected for the Cognos server host, port, and context root.

Ensure the Cognos BI Server is started and the network connection between the dmgr and the Cognos node is accessible.
When you run the cognos-configure.bat|sh script during installation, the following exception occurs 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.
We can also view the error message in the in cognos-configure.log file.
Check the cognos.contextroot value in the cognos-setup.properties file. If the value includes a forward slash (/), choose another context root without a slash (/) because Cognos does not support a context root that includes (/).

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

Update the context root in WebSphere Application Server with the new value for the Cognos application.

Restart the Cognos server.

Rerun the cognos-configure.bat|sh file.
Communities metrics cannot be updated.

You might have provided the wrong LDAP account for the Cognos administrator during installation. Update the Cognos administrator credentials stored in Connections ...

Log in to the WAS console on the dmgr.

Click Global security > JAAS - J2C authentication data.

Select cognosAdmin.

Update the Cognos administrator user name and password.

Click OK.

Save the changes to the master configuration by clicking Save in the Messages box.

The Communities metrics update process ended prematurely and no more than one report can be updated. The report update needs more time to complete because the Cognos server is running slowly. Change the value of the cognos.secsPerRequest parameter in metrics-config.xml to match the capacity of the server. Begin by changing this value to a high value such as 3600. When the Communities metrics update is working correctly, assign a lower value that is based on the actual time it takes to generate a set of reports for a community. For detailed information about changing this value, see the Modify configuration properties and Metrics configuration properties. in the Administering Metrics section.

Metrics features are not working. The Metrics UI indicates the Cognos server is not available.

You might have provided the wrong host name, port, or context root during installation. We can change these host settings by following the instructions in the Update web addresses in IBM HTTP Server. Update the Cognos entry, which is indicated by serviceName="cognos".
When you run the cognos-configure-update.bat|sh file during installation or an update, the following error is returned in the cognos-configure.log file:
CM-REQ-4159 Content Manager returned an error in the response header. The error &quot;cmAuthenticateFailed 
CM-CAM-4005 Unable to authenticate. Check the security directory server connection and confirm the credentials entered at login.&quot; can be found in the response SOAP header.
If we disabled anonymous access to the Cognos server, enable it now because the script that updates the configuration requires that anonymous access be enabled. There are 2 ways to enable anonymous access:

We can run the Cognos Configuration tool.

If the Cognos server runs on AIX or Linux and does not provide a graphical user interface, we can enable anonymous access manually.
Parent topic:
Troubleshooting Cognos Business Intelligence components

Problem	Solution
Validation fails in Cognos panel during installation even when the correct values were selected for the Cognos server host, port, and context root.	Ensure the Cognos BI Server is started and the network connection between the dmgr and the Cognos node is accessible.
When you run the cognos-configure.bat\|sh script during installation, the following exception occurs 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. We can also view the error message in the in cognos-configure.log file.	Check the cognos.contextroot value in the cognos-setup.properties file. If the value includes a forward slash (/), choose another context root without a slash (/) because Cognos does not support a context root that includes (/). Replace the cognos.contextroot value in the cognos-setup.properties file with cognos or another single word. Update the context root in WebSphere Application Server with the new value for the Cognos application. Restart the Cognos server. Rerun the cognos-configure.bat\|sh file.
Communities metrics cannot be updated.	You might have provided the wrong LDAP account for the Cognos administrator during installation. Update the Cognos administrator credentials stored in Connections ... Log in to the WAS console on the dmgr. Click Global security > JAAS - J2C authentication data. Select cognosAdmin. Update the Cognos administrator user name and password. Click OK. Save the changes to the master configuration by clicking Save in the Messages box.
The Communities metrics update process ended prematurely and no more than one report can be updated.	The report update needs more time to complete because the Cognos server is running slowly. Change the value of the cognos.secsPerRequest parameter in metrics-config.xml to match the capacity of the server. Begin by changing this value to a high value such as 3600. When the Communities metrics update is working correctly, assign a lower value that is based on the actual time it takes to generate a set of reports for a community. For detailed information about changing this value, see the Modify configuration properties and Metrics configuration properties. in the Administering Metrics section.
Metrics features are not working. The Metrics UI indicates the Cognos server is not available.	You might have provided the wrong host name, port, or context root during installation. We can change these host settings by following the instructions in the Update web addresses in IBM HTTP Server. Update the Cognos entry, which is indicated by serviceName="cognos".
When you run the cognos-configure-update.bat\|sh file during installation or an update, the following error is returned in the cognos-configure.log file: CM-REQ-4159 Content Manager returned an error in the response header. The error "cmAuthenticateFailed CM-CAM-4005 Unable to authenticate. Check the security directory server connection and confirm the credentials entered at login." can be found in the response SOAP header.	If we disabled anonymous access to the Cognos server, enable it now because the script that updates the configuration requires that anonymous access be enabled. There are 2 ways to enable anonymous access: We can run the Cognos Configuration tool. If the Cognos server runs on AIX or Linux and does not provide a graphical user interface, we can enable anonymous access manually.