Configuring the report server: Tasks for Microsoft SQL Server

Windows Set up the Java™ Runtime Environment, configure Microsoft® SQL Server as the Cognos® content store, configure the IBM® WebSphere® Application Server instance to host the report server, build and deploy the enterprise archive (EAR) files, install the EAR files, and create the data warehouses.

About this task

The following list gives the steps to configure the report server. If you chose the automatic method for the installation, step 1 is not needed.

Procedure

  1. Create a content store database. Ensure that you, as the current user, have the necessary administrative privileges to create databases and their components. The current user is the one that can connect at run time to the Cognos content store. If you want other users to connect at run time to the Cognos content store, see the IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence Installation and Configuration Guide for instructions.
    1. If you have an existing content store from a previous installation, delete it.
    2. Go to the C:\Program Files\IBM\RCPR\reportal\contentstore directory.
    3. Run the install.bat batch file.
    4. When prompted, specify the parameters for the content store. To see a list of parameters and their explanations, see the related links at the bottom of this page.
  2. Create a new content store in Cognos to reference the content database.
    1. Launch the IBM Cognos Configuration tool by clicking Start > All Programs > IBM Rational Common Reporting > IBM Cognos 8 > IBM Cognos Configuration.
    2. Click Data Access > Content Manager, right-click Content Store, and click New Resource > Database.
    3. In the Database name field, enter the name of the database created in step 1.
    4. Select the User ID and password row, click the Edit icon, and enter a user name and password that can be used to access the database content store created at step 1.
    5. Select Local Configuration, and click Save configuration.
  3. Create a new WebSphere Application Server instance to host the report server. This step is not needed if you installed WebSphere Application Server through the Rational® Common Reporting installer.
  4. Configure the WebSphere Application Server instance to host the report server.
    1. Open the WebSphere Application Server administrative console (open a browser to point to http://localhost:9060/ibm/console/).
    2. Replace port 9060 with another port number if it differs from what you recorded from the WebSphere Application Server Profile Management tool.
    3. Log on to the WebSphere Application Server administrative console (point the browser to http://localhost:portnumber/ibm/console/login.do, and enter your user name and password. By default, the user name is blank).
    4. Expand the Servers node on the left sidebar, and select Application servers.
    5. Click the server1 link, and expand the Java and Process Management node.
    6. Click the Process Definition link, and click the Java Virtual Machine link.
    7. Enter the initial and maximum JVM heap size as 256 and 768.
    8. Click Apply (at the bottom of the page), and click the Save link.
    9. Click the Environment Entries link.
    10. Click New, and add the following property:
      LD_LIBRARY_PATH=[INSTALLDIR]\cognos\bin
    11. Make sure the following property is defined:
      PATH=[INSTALLDIR]\cognos\bin
    12. Click Apply, and click Save.
    13. Open the Windows® Services control panel and restart the IBM WebSphere Application Server V6.1 – Rational Common Reporting service.
  5. Build and deploy the report server EAR file.
    1. Launch the IBM Cognos Configuration tool by clicking Start > All Programs > IBM Rational Common Reporting > IBM Cognos 8 > IBM Cognos Configuration.
    2. Select Environment, and change all the ports from 9300 to the port number of the WebSphere Application Server profile.
    3. Select Portal Services, and change all the ports from 9300 to the port number of the WebSphere Application Server profile.
    4. Click Save, and click Close.
    5. Select Actions > Build Application Files.
    6. Click Next, accept the default values, and click Next.
    7. Click Finish, and click Close.
  6. Install the report server EAR file.
    1. Log on to the WebSphere Application Server administrative console (point the browser to http://localhost:portnumber/ibm/console/login.do, and enter your user name and password).
    2. Expand the Applications node on the left sidebar, and select Install New Application.
    3. Click Browse, go to the [Rational_Common_Reporting_installation_directory]\cognos folder, and select the p2pd.ear file.
    4. Accept the default options and click Next. Do this step four times.
    5. Click the Save link, click Enterprise Applications in the left sidebar, and if the Default Application is listed, uninstall it.
    6. Select the IBM Cognos 8 application, and click Start. The application takes a few minutes to load fully and to start.
    7. Open a browser and point it to http://server:port/insight/servlet. If Cognos Content Manager is working correctly, you see something similar to the following text on the Web page:
      IBM Cognos 8
      
      Content Manager
      
      Build: 8.4.2519.0
      
      Start time: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 3:00:41 PM PST
      
      Current time: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 3:01:25 PM PST
      
      State: Running.
    8. Point the Web browser to http://server:port/insight. You should see the home page of the Rational Common Reporting portal.
  7. Import the Rational Common Reporting sample reports.
    1. Copy the [Rational_Common_Reporting_installation_directory]\reportal\deployment\Rational_Example_Reports.zip file to the [Rational_Common_Reporting_installation_directory]\cognos\deployment\ directory.
    2. Open the Cognos Web application at http://host/cognos8/cgi-bin/cognos.cgi.
    3. Open the Cognos administration page (Launch > IBM Cognos Administration).
    4. Click Configuration.
    5. Click Content Administration, click the New Import icon.
    6. Ensure that your product archive is listed as a deployment archive, and click Next.
    7. In the Name field, change the name from Rational_Example_Reports to Rational_Reports, and click Next.
    8. To import all packages and folders, select the box in the table header, and click Next four times.
    9. Click Finish.
    10. Click Run.
    11. Click OK.
    12. Click the Home icon.
    13. Verify that all packages and folders are listed in Public Folders.
  8. Test the data source connections for the data warehouse and the supported products.
    1. Open the Rational Common Reporting Web application at http://server:port/insight.
      Note: If you do not know the URL, see [Rational_Common_Reporting_installation_directory]\AppServer\profiles\[Rational_Common_Reporting_installation_directory]\logs\AboutThisProfile.txt
    2. Open the Cognos administration page (Click IBM Cognos Administration, or if you are at the default home page of Rational Common Reporting, click the Administration link in the banner).
    3. Click Configuration > Data Source Connections > RIDW.
    4. Click the Set properties action for the RIDW data source.
    5. Click the Connection tab.
    6. Click Test the connection.
    7. Click Test.
    8. Click Close twice, and then click OK.
    9. Click Configuration > Data Source Connections > RQM.
      Note: To return to the list of data source connections, you might need to click Cognos above the Name field.
    10. Click the Set properties action for the product data source; for example, ClearQuest.
    11. Click the Connection tab.
    12. Click Test the connection.
    13. Click Test.
    14. Click Close twice, and then click OK.
  9. Test-run the Rational Common Reporting sample reports.
    1. Open the Cognos Web application at http://server:port/insight.
    2. Click your product folder.
    3. Run the reports.
  10. Create a user for accessing the data source.
    1. Open the Cognos administration page (Click IBM Cognos Administration or if you are at the default home page of IBM Cognos, click Launch > Administer IBM Cognos Content).
    2. Click Configuration > Data Source Connections > RIDW.
    3. Click RIDW.
    4. Click New Signon, enter a name, and click Next.
    5. Enter the user ID and password to access the data source. To run reports, a user should have at least read privileges to the data source.

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