Product:
Cognos Planning 10.1.1
Windows 2008 R2 server
Microsoft SQL 2008 R2

Symptom:
Error when starting cognos service after new install of Cognos Planning 10.1.1
No errors in windows event log or cogserver.log file are created.

Error message:
CLASS NOT REGISTERED

Solution:

Register CFGAPICOM.dll from the /bin directory of Cognos 10 :
– In Windows Explorer, go to c:\windows\system32,
– Right-click “cmd.exe” and select “Run as Administrator”
– Go to folder ..\program files (x86)\ibm\cognos\c10\bin\
– Run the DOS command:
regsvr32.exe CFGAPICOM.dll

If that does not help, try below:

Log on to Windows server as local administrator
Go to folder ..\cognos\c10\bin
Create a text file and enter the following line:

FOR %%1 IN (*.DLL) DO REGSVR32 /S %%1

Save the file as regdll.cmd
Start a commando prompt by right click on command prompt and select run as administrator
change to the ..\bin folder
enter regdll to start the script
(it will now registered all the dll files in that folder again)
Wait a few minutes until it is finished.

Then try again to start the Cognos services.

Product:
Cognos Planning 10.1.1
Cognos BI 10.1.1
Windows 2008 R2 server

Symptom:
In your environment, you have installed Cognos product in VMWARE servers, and now you want to make a test environment from you working Cognos product environment.
You have copied the Cognos Windows server image to a new VMWARE image on other VMWARE host machine. You have renamed the Windows server that run the Cognos products and give it a new IP address. When you start Cognos Configuration you get a error.
When you press OK, Cognos configuration exit.

Error message:
CAM-CRP-1280 An error occurred while trying to decrypt using the system protection key. Reason: javax.crypto.BadPaddingException: Given final block not properly padded

Solution:
Export a unencrypted cogstartup.xml file from the previous Cognos Configuration program in you original Cognos server.
Start Cognos Configuration on the old server.
Select File – Export As
Enter a name of the file e.g. backup_cogstartup.xml and save the file to d:\
Copy that backup_cogstartup.xml file to you new Cognos server, to folder c:\program files\ibm\cognos\c10\configuration.
Rename the none working the cogstartup.xml file to cogstartup_org.xml.
Replace it with the unencrypted cogstartup.xml file, by rename the backup_cogstartup.xml to cogstartup.xml
On the new Cognos Server, start Cognos Configuration.
When it start, you have to change server name to reflect the new server name inside Cognos Configuration. This to make it work in the new Cognos solution, and not point to old servers.
Also change Content Store connections, so they point to the new database server.

If above does not help to allow you to start Cognos Configuration, you can try this:
Delete the caSerial and cogconfig.prefs files in the configuration directory.
Also delete the three subdirectories: csk, encryptkeypair, and signkeypair.
Start IBM Cognos Configuration again.

If you copy a vmware image with Cognos installed, and change the name of the server, it is many places that need to be updated. So I recommend that you install a fresh Windows 2003 R2 server instead, and then if you have fast dedicated CPU and ram in your system, you install Cognos software again to the new server. That can be a fast way to setup a test environment.

Product:
Cognos Planning 10.1.1
Analyst on Microsoft Windows 7 64 bit

Symptom:
When you start ODBC Data source administrator to add ODBC connections to xls files you get a error on your brand new Windows 7 computer.

You need to add ODBC connection to be able to import xls files into Cognos Analyst for Planning. Inside Analyst how you selected New D-Link and then click on source, and selected ODBC (SQL) database. But then there are no connections to select, you have to create the connections in the ODBC tool.

Problem:
The setup routines for the Microsoft Excel Driver (xls xlsx xlsm xlsb) ODBC driver could not be found. Please reinstall the driver.

Cause:
In windows 7 the odbc icon in administrative tools are for 64 bit connections, and cognos planning use only 32 bit connections.

Solution:
Create a shortcut to the file c:\windows\syswow64\odbcad32.exe

Use this icon to edit the ODBC connection for Excel to be used in Cognos Planning.

Product:
IBM Cognos Planning 10.1.1
Windows 2008 R2 server

Symptom:
When you start Cognos Analyst you get a login message from the IIS server.
You have setup to use SSO together with Active Directory in Cognos Configuration on the Cognos server.

You have created a global security group for you Cognos Planning users in your Microsoft Active Directory, that you call GlobalCognosUsers.
You have added the GlobalCognosUsers group to the Planning Rights Administrators group in Cognos Connection.
You have also try to add this GlobalCognosUsers group to the System Administrators group in Cognos Connection.

Message:
Windows Security
connecting to servername
user:
password:
domain: corp
remember my credentials
OK CANCEL

Possible Solution:
The cognos planning user does not have rights to the cognos planning folder on the windows IIS server. Do this steps to solve the issue.

Start Internet information Service Manager
Click on default web site in the left side
Click on authentication in the middle
Ensure only “Windows Authentication” and “Anonymous Authentication” are enabled.

Click on IBMCOGNOS in the left side in Internet Information Service Manager.
Click on authentication in the middle
Ensure only “Windows Authentication” are enabled.

Start Windows Explorer
Go to the INETPUB folder on the hard disk
Right click on the folder and select properties
Click on the Security tab
Click EDIT button
Click ADD button
Enter GlobalCognosUsers at “Enter the object names to select ” and click on check names
Click OK
Now you have added the ad group with cognos users to the folder
Click OK
Click OK

Go to the COGNOS folder on the hard disk (where the cognos planning program is installed)
Right click on the folder and select properties
Click on the Security tab
Click EDIT button
Click ADD button
Enter GlobalCognosUsers at “Enter the object names to select ” and click on check names
Click OK
Now you have added the ad group with cognos users to the folder
Click OK
Click OK

Try to start the analyst client again.

Try to surf to the windows server (Http://servername) from Internet Explorer to find if that connection is working at all first. This need to be working before Planning Analyst will work.

Product:
Cognos Planning 10.1.1
Windows 2008 R2 server

Symptom:
You want to move Cognos planning deployment files (macro) from one server in test to another server in prod environment. You have copied the macro folder to the new servers deployment folder. When you have many Cognos servers in the same environment it is recommended to have them all point to the same file share for deployment files.
When you run the Cognos planning deployment wizard get error when you select import.

Error message:
There was a problem running the Deployment Wizard.
null

There was a problem running the Planning Network Transfer Wizard. Please see the error log for more information.

Cause:
Strange characters like – and space are not allowed in server name or share name (folder name) for the deployment folder.

You can test if the servername is bad, by change in Cognos Configuration to use the IP address instead of the servername in the field for deployment.

E.g. \\192.168.1.10\deployment

If the IP address works, then you know it is the planning server name that make the deployment not to work.

Solution:
Go in to Cognos Configuration
Select Environment
Go to value for Deployment files location in Environment – Group Properties.
Change from \\server-name\deployment to
\\192.168.1.10\deployment

(default value is ../deployment)
(default value will look for the cognos planning files in folder c:\program files (x86)\ibm\cognos\c10\deployment.)

Click on Save
Click Stop on services
Click Start on services (check Details for error messages, should not be any).
Exit Cognos Configuration

or place the share on a windows server that have a short name with only letters in it.

Product:
Cognos Planning 10.1.1
Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 server
SQL 2008 server

Symptom:
When user try to open Cognos Planning Contributor node they get error message:

The application is now unavailable

Cause:
You must make the Cognos Planning application online inside Cognos Administration console after a GTP or a upgrade. This is different behavior than in previous versions of Cognos Planning.

Solution:
Log in to Cognos Planning Administration Console (CAC)
Mark you application in the left side.
Click on SET ON-LINE icon on the top left side.

Now you can ask the users to test to access the application again.

Product:
Cognos Planning 10.1.1
Windows 2008 R2 Server

Symptom:
When you start Cognos Planning Administrator you get a error message.
This is a new installation of Cognos Planning.

Error Messages:
An error has occurred while starting IBM Cognos Planning – Administrator
Main Form failed to initialize
Error Details:
ActiveX component can’t create object.

Unable to execute EAdminIU_10.frmMain.mnuLogonAs_Click
At line 0

There was a problem logging on. Please ensure you can access IBM Cognos Connection using the Gateway URI specified in IBM Cognos Configuration.

Possible Solutions:

Ensure that the URL to cognos connection are part of local intranet zone in Internet Explorer for the user that start cognos planning.

Change to use cognosisapi.dll instead of cognos.cgi in cognos configuration. IIS on the Windows 2008 R2 server is maybe setup to only allow ISAPI instead of CGI.

Ensure that the IBM Cognos Planning service is run by a windows domain account and not local system.

Apply the latest Cognos FixPack for Cognos Planning 10.1.1

Product:

Cognos Planning 10.1.1

Windows 2008 R2 server

Microsoft SQL 2008 R2

Symptom:

Can not load data into cognos planning application, where you use SQL alias to the datastore.

Error in PlanningErrorLog.csv file:

{DD2EF639-179C-4470-9F75-BF59A01CD86A}    6          2012-06-05 14:35:18.688 UTC +180       EAdminUI_10 10.1.3008.0     pgImportData             cmdLoad_Click            130      EAdminSQL7_10.SQL7.CheckOutputForErrors      -2147220469            Unable to Bulk Load the data.~~~~Error found in output.~~~~SQLState = 08001, NativeError = 53~~Error = [Microsoft][SQL Server Native Client 10.0]Named Pipes Provider: Could not open a connection to SQL Server [53]. ~~SQLState = 08001, NativeError = 53~~Error = [Microsoft][SQL Server Native Client 10.0]A network-related or instance-specific error has occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. Server is not found or not accessible. Check if instance name is correct and if SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. For more information see SQL Server Books Online.~~SQLState = S1T00, NativeError = 0~~Error = [Microsoft][SQL Server Native Client 10.0]Login timeout expired      CNS\CNSMANER            CNS\FIHECNS110AS            CNS\CNSMANER      CNS\FIHECNS110AS            4400    5056

 

Possible Solution:

If you are using SQL server alias to access the Microsoft SQL 2008 server, then you need to create the alias in both 32 bit and 64 bit drivers.

On the Cognos Planning server start SQL Server Configuration Manager

Expand SQL Native Client 10.0 Configuration

Right Click on Aliases and select New Alias.

Enter a alias name  (e.g. cognosds)

Enter the port no, if you do not know port number enter the instance name in the server name field ( servername\instancename )

Enter the Server name, (e.g. name of the SQL server)

Click OK

 

Repeat above for SQL Native Client 10.0 Configuration (32bit).

Product:
Cognos Planning 10.1.1

Symptom:
In Cognos connection you get error when viewing a Cognos planning application.

Error message:
CPS-PAG-4801 ………….
PRS-OBJ-0606 …………
PRS-BLK-0667 ………………..

Solution:
In the properties to the HTML viewer the URL link to the application is specified with server name only and you need to specified it with FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name).

To change;
Click on edit icon to the right of the HTML page pane.
Below the bookmarks change the URL for the links.
From http://servername:80/ibmcognos/cgi-bin….
To http://servername.domain.com:80/ibmcognos/cgi-bin….

Click OK
Try again.

Product:
Cognos Planning 10.1.1
Windows 2008 R2 server

Symptom:
Error message when starting up Cognos Analyst or Cognos Planning Administration Console.

Error message:
An error has occured while starting IBM Cognos Planning – Administrator.

Main form failed to initialize.

Error Details:
Could not logon. Please ensure you can access Cognos Connection using the Gateway URI specified in Cognos Configuration.

Possible Solution:

Change to not use FQDN in Cognos Configuration, and use only server name in environment tab.
(above will work if you are on the Cognos Planning server itself)

Change from http://servername.domain.org:80/ibmcognos to http://servername:80/ibmcognos
in cognos configuration on all existing places.

or add the Cognos URL FQDN to your Internet Explorer local intranet zone.

select internet options
select security
select local intranet
click on sites
click on advanced
enter the web site e.g. http://servername.domain.org/ibmcognos
click add
click close
click OK
click OK

Close Internet Explorer and test again to login.