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Summary

This article lists several common problems that people can encounter when setting up the Business Reporting Portal using Cognos, and provides steps to diagnose and correct these problems.

Synopsis

This article lists several common problems that people can encounter when setting up the Business Reporting Portal using Cognos, and provides steps to diagnose and correct these problems.

Discussion

Issue 1: Apache not configured for Windows Authentication

Symptom: The operator cannot log in to Cognos using their domain account but can connect using their FNMEA username and password. FNMP reports are not avaliable when logged in.

Cause: FlexNet Report Designer has been installed in FNMEA-only mode, which does not include configuration for Windows Authentication.

Resolution: When Installing FlexNet Report Designer, specify that FNMP will be used for authentication. You can do either of the followings to fix this:
  • Rerun the Report Designer installer in repair mode.
  • Open <Program Files>\Report Designer\Apache\conf\httpd.conf file and make sure the folloiwng contents are in this file and are not commented out:
AuthName "Enter domain credentials for FNMP"
AuthType SSPI
SSPIAuth On
SSPIPerRequestAuth On
SSPIOfferBasic On
Issue 2: User does not have Domain credentials
Symptom: The operator is denied access to Cognos. A message like the following is displayed: "Authorization Required"
Cause: The current operator cannot be authenticated with Active Directory
Resolution: Ensure that the operator that is trying to use the Cognos reports has an active account in Active Directory
Issue 3: FLEXnet.Properties file doesn?t contain correct information
Symptom: An error message like the following is shown: "Connection to FlexNet Manager Platform failed. Please make sure the FNMP admin server is up and running at http://{serverName}, and that the BusinessReportingAuthenticationService web service is correctly configured. Click cancel to login again."
Cause: The FLEXnet.Properties file stores information needed by the Cognos Authenticator to connect to FNMP and FNMEA. If this information is not correct, then the Authenticator will not be able to connect to FNMP or FNMEA.
Resolution: Open the FlexNet.Properties file (Typically under <Report Designer install directory>\c10\configuration) and make sure that the values specified are correct, and that the computers listed are accessible. The server.host property is used to connect to FNMEA and the platformserver.host property is used to connect to FNMP.
Issue 4: BusinessReportingAuthentication web service not configured correctly
Symptom: An error message like the following is shown: "Connection to FlexNet Manager Platform failed. Please make sure the FNMP admin server is up and running at http://{serverName}, and that the BusinessReportingAuthenticationService web service is correctly configured. Click cancel to login again."
Cause: The web service that the Cognos authentication connects to in order to retrieve the access rights for the user is not configured correctly.
Resolution: On the FNMP server, open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, and look for the BusinessReportingAuthentication web service. Ensure that the web service is set up for anonymous access, using an account that has access to the FNMP database. Try browsing to http://localhost/BusinessReportingAuthentication/BusinessReportingAuthenticationService.asmx and test the web service directly.
Issue 5: User does not have sufficient rights in FNMP
Symptom: An error message like the following is displayed: "FlexNet Manager Platform authentication failed. Please make sure that '{domain}\{userAccount}' has appropriate permissions. Click cancel to login again"
Cause: The operator that is trying to access Cognos does not have sufficient rights defined in FNMP to view Cognos reports.
Resolution: Open the FNMP Manage Access Rights dialog, and make sure that the operator that is attempting to access Cognos has appropriate rights to access the Business Reporting Portal. Also make sure that the operator is enabled. For 9.0 and later, make sure that you do not have more operators assigned to Cognos access rights than your FNMP license allows, you should also ensure that the compliance import has completed while running the "Business Intelligence Rights" procedure.
Issue 6: IBM Service account not correct
Symptom: The user sees the following while trying to view the dashboard or a report: "An attempt to connect to the data source failed"
Cause: To connect to the Cognos data sources created by FNMP, the IBM Cognos service must be configured to run as an account that has access to those databases.
Resolution: On the machine where Report Designer is installed, load services.msc. Right click on the ?IBM Cognos? service and choose ?Properties?. Under the Log On tab of the properties dialog, provide the credentials of an account that has access to the databases that are being used as data sources. The data sources are both the data warehouse database and the regular FNMP database.
Issue 7: Version of FNMP and version of Cognos report designer are not compatible

Symptom: An error message like the following is shown: "Connection to FlexNet Manager Platform failed. Please make sure the FNMP admin server is up and running at http://{serverName}, and that the BusinessReportingAuthenticationService web service is correctly configured. Click cancel to login again."

Cause: The wrong version of Report Designer is installed. The method used to communicate between Cognos and FNMP for authentication changed in version 9.0 of FNMP, and so later versions of FNMP are not compatible with older versions of Report Designer, and vice versa. This problem can be hit if a customer upgrades from FNMP 8.6, but does not also upgrade their report Designer install.

Resolution: When FNMP is upgraded from 8.6, Report Designer must also be upgraded.
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Last update:
‎May 17, 2012 07:56 PM
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