Product:
Cognos Planning 10.2.1 PLANADMIN_version=PLANADMIN-AW32-ML-RTM-10.2.1000.1-0
Microsoft Windows 2016
Microsoft SQL 2016 server

Issue:
Can not start Cognos Planning client programs on new computer where the new Client software is installed for Cognos Planning.

Download cognos planning from here:
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24043953

Error message:

A fatal error has occured in the startup section of the application.

The application will be terminated.

Please report the following information:
Section: Message Init
Could not create or read file:  c:\program files (x86)\ibm\cognos\c10\bin\Language\English\MESSAGES.AMC

ep1

ep2

Solution:
The user that start the planning programs first time, they need to have write access to the folder where the program is installed. Because the program will create a file called MESSAGES.AMC.

On the client computer go to the folder c:\program files (x86)\ibm\cognos\c10 and right click.
Select Properties.
Select Security tab.
Select Users in list and click Edit.
Select Users and click in Modify at the Allow column.
Click OK.
Click OK.

This should give all users on that computer write access to the folder C10, try to start your Cognos Configuration or Cognos 10 Planning Analyst program again.

More info:
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21635667

Product:

Cognos Planning 10.2

Windows 2012 server

Issue:

How install the new Cognos planning on windows server?

Some help:

Use of this information should help you get it right, ensure this things are done before you test the installation.

To integrate with Cognos BI try this  tips from ”How can I install IBM Cognos Planning in the same environment as 64-bit IBM Cognos Business Intelligence”

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21501838

Error when start Planning Analyst and other tools ”cannot find files”
Ensure to do this:

renamed adminbifs.amf to adminbif.AMF
renamed adminodbc.AMF to adminodb.AMF
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21635667

Windows supports long file names up to 255 characters in length. Windows also generates an MS-DOS compatible short file name in 8.3 format to allow MS-DOS based or 16-bit windows based programs to access these files. When the 8.3 setting is enabled only short file names are generated. Therefore the long file name of adminbifs.AMF is shortened to adminbif.AMF and adminodbc.AMF is shortened to adminodb.AMF and this causes the error on startup as the file cannot be located as it does not exist under that name and Analyst is a 32-bit program and works off the long file name only.
Error when starting Planning Analyst of type ”cannot connect libraries”
Ensure to do this:

1. Launch MSCONFIG by from the Run menu.

2. Click on the Tools tab. Scroll down till you find “Disable UAC” . Click on that line.
3. Press the Launch button.
4. A CMD window will open. When the command is done, you can close the window.
5. Close MSCONFIG. You need to reboot the computer for changes to apply.

OR

Alternate Solution:
1. Give the everyone group full control to the folder where the libraries are located.

OR
Alternate Solution: If User Account Control resolution above does not resolve issue:
1. Right-click the Analyst shortcut
2. Select Properties > Compatibility tab
3. Check the box: Run this Program as Administrator
4. Now open Analyst as the user who is receiving the error.

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21380414

To have access to the folders on the SQL server you need to do this:
Install the SQL Server Client tools (if this has not already been done).

NB For SQL Server 2005 you need to have the full SQL Client installed (comes with SQL Express) as the Native Client does not install all of the required .dll files.
For SQL Server 2008 full client tools required.

Once the SQL Server Client tools are installed, ensure that the Contributor user account used to connect to SQL Server has EXEC permissions to the following Extended Stored Procedures in the Masters Database:

xp_availablemedia
xp_subdirs
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21343839
Contributor Datastore server connection check Trusted Connection instead of login with an account

Depending on the setup you should use Trusted or SQL account login. Try the other if you have issues like “Subscript out of range”
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21986012

There are more things to configure — search google.com if you get issues.

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21991365&myns=swgimgmt&mynp=OCSSPN2D&mync=R&cm_sp=swgimgmt-_-OCSSPN2D-_-R

https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSPN2D_10.2.0/com.ibm.swg.ba.cognos.cp_inst_cr_winux.10.2.0.doc/c_installingcognos8planningwithcognos8businessintelligence.html

Product:

Cognos Planning 10.1.1

Cognos Insight

Windows 2008 R2 server

Windows 7 client

 

Problem:

How install Cognos Contributor client or Cognos Insight with a Powershell script ?

 

Script to save in notepad as a file named installrcp.ps1:

#MSI Configuration

#Variables

$computername = Get-Content ‘\\servername.domain.com\cognos102\response\plan\plan_contributor_client\computerTest.txt’

$sourcefile = “\\servername.domain.com\cognos102\response\plan\plan_contributor_client\*”

$para0= ” /i”

$para1= ” ALLUSER=1″

$para2= ‘ TARGETDIR=”c:\program files (x86)\ibm” ‘

$para3= ” NOUPDATE=Yes”

$para4= ” /qn /passive”

#

#This section will copy the software to computer in list

#

foreach ($computer in $computername)

{

$destinationFolder = “\\$computer\C$\download\cognos”

#This section will copy the $sourcefile to the $destinationfolder. If the Folder does not exist it will create it.

if (!(Test-Path -path $destinationFolder))

{

New-Item $destinationFolder -Type Directory

}

Copy-Item -Path $sourcefile -Destination $destinationFolder

}

#

#This section will install the software

#

$currentLocation = “c:\download\cognos\”

$msi = @(‘contributor.msi’, ‘cognosrcp.msi’)

foreach ($msifile in $msi)

{

##

## write-host is for debug to show result of variabled in powershell-ise

## write-host “$env:systemroot\system32\msiexec.exe” -ArgumentList $para0, $msifile , $para1, $para2, $para3 , $para4 -Wait -WorkingDirectory $CurrentLocation

 

## call the msiexec.exe with paratmeters and starts

##

Start-Process -FilePath “$env:systemroot\system32\msiexec.exe” -ArgumentList $para0, $msifile , $para1, $para2, $para3 , $para4 -Wait -WorkingDirectory $CurrentLocation

}

 

 

Solution:

Text files save as PS1 will be run and executed by the Power Shell engine in Windows OS.

 

To prepare above, you need to create a file share, \\servername.domain.com\cognos102\response\plan\plan_contributor_client

where you place the msi files to install and a text file;

contributor.msi

cognosrcp.msi

computertest.txt

 

The text file computertest.txt should contain the names of the workstations where you want to install the software.

 

The PS1 file should be on the share, and started from the client computer where you want to install.

 

In the script the variables are set in the beginning:

$computername = Get-Content ‘\\servername.domain.com\cognos102\response\plan\plan_contributor_client\computerTest.txt’

$sourcefile = “\\servername.domain.com\cognos102\response\plan\plan_contributor_client\*”

You need to change servername.domain to the path to your file share for this installation.

 

 

“\\servername.domain.com\cognos102\response\plan\plan_contributor_client\*”

The * at the end of the source file path means it will copy all files in this folder locally.

 

$para0= ” /i”

$para1= ” ALLUSER=1″

$para2= ‘ TARGETDIR=”c:\program files (x86)\ibm” ‘

$para3= ” NOUPDATE=Yes”

$para4= ” /qn /passive”

The parameters are for the installation of the MSI;

/i is to tell it to install

ALLUSER=1 is to make the program available to all users on the PC not only the one installing it. This mean it will write values to other paths in registry can CURRENT_USER.

TARGETDIR= is the path to where the software will be install, program files is better than in the windows user profile folder ( c:\user\%username%\AppData\Roaming\IBM\Cognos Insight)

NOUPDATE=Yes will prevent the client software from downloading and update itself when there is a new version of the client on the Cognos Server.

$para4= ” /qn /passive”

Will not show any prompts or error dialogs during the installation, only a progress bar.

 

foreach ($computer in $computername)

This is a loop function – for each item in the variable list, the steps in the parentheses below are done. Foreach take all items in the list, it does not do any conditional testing.

 

$destinationFolder = “\\$computer\C$\download\cognos”

This give the variable $destinationFolder the value in ” ” – in this case the contain of variable $computer and the path.

if (!(Test-Path -path $destinationFolder))

{

New-Item $destinationFolder -Type Directory

Above will check if path exist, if not it will create the folders.

 

Copy-Item -Path $sourcefile -Destination $destinationFolder

This will copy all files from $sourcefile folder to the $destinationfolder catalog.

 

$currentLocation = “c:\download\cognos\”

This will set variable where the MSI files to install are.

 

$msi = @(‘contributor.msi’, ‘cognosrcp.msi’)

Here you list the msi files to install, you can add more like cognosinsight.msi or performancemodeler.msi ( this files are found in folder \ibm\cognos\tm1_64\webapps\pmpsvc\rcp_installs\ on the TM1 server)

 

foreach ($msifile in $msi)

Will process the code block below for each file in the list.

 

Start-Process -FilePath “$env:systemroot\system32\msiexec.exe” -ArgumentList $para0, $msifile , $para1, $para2, $para3 , $para4 -Wait -WorkingDirectory $CurrentLocation

Start-process will call the EXE file and start it with the parameters added ( $para1) and so one. The -workingdirectory is where they will be run, so the $currentlocation should be the folder where the MSI files are stored on the local workstation.

Parameters are separated with comma, and can be any number that the exe file supports.

In our case the second parameter is the name of the MSI file to install, so all parameters after the $smifile parameter, are parameters that is for the MSI file.

 

Hopefully can you improve this script to make it work for your organization.

A other way to run the install in power shell could be with this command

Invoke-Command -ComputerName $computer -ScriptBlock { & cmd /c “msiexec.exe /i c:\download\cognos\cognosrcp.msi” /qn ADVANCED_OPTIONS=1 CHANNEL=100}

A way of populate the variable with current location would be this command

$CurrentLocation = Split-Path -Parent $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path;

A other way to run the install without parameters more than msi file name is command

Start-Process -FilePath “$env:systemroot\system32\msiexec.exe” -ArgumentList “/i `”$msifile`” /qn /passive” -Wait -WorkingDirectory $CurrentLocation

 

To debug the variables, you can show them in power shell editor by remove remark for this line

## write-host is for debug to show result of variable in powershell-ise

write-host “$env:systemroot\system32\msiexec.exe” -ArgumentList $para0, $msifile , $para1, $para2, $para3 , $para4 -Wait -WorkingDirectory $CurrentLocation

write-host is command to display text and variables on screen.

power shell can be case sensitive in the commands, you need to pay attention to the small caps.

 

More Information

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa372024%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa367559%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

Product:
Cognos Planning 10.1.1
Windows 2008 R2 server
Oracle database

Problem:
You can not create new Cognos Planning Applications from Cognos Administration Consolde (CAC) and get an error about the password.

{1F3E2C63-11E3-4091-917B-537CFAF5D155} 7 2014-08-18 18:49:20.449 UTC +120 EAdminUI_10 10.1.4074.0 MTSEAdminDB MTSCreateAndPopulateApplication 140 Oracle Automation 440 Unable to execute statement. 28003 ORA-28003: password verification for the specified password failed~ORA-20009: Password must contain at least one digit, one character~~~~~The SQL was:~~CREATE USER go_expenses_contributor IDENTIFIED BY PASSWORD DEFAULT TABLESPACE USERS TEMPORARY TABLESPACE TEMP QUOTA UNLIMITED ON USERS QUOTA UNLIMITED ON USERS QUOTA UNLIMITED ON USERS~~~~The Connect String was:~~Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;Data Source=servername.COM;User ID=PLANADM;Password=*********;~~~~SQL execution error, ORA-28003: password verification for the specified password failed~ORA-20009: Password must contain at least one digit, one character~

The issue is that the Oracle Database DBA have applied a strong password policy.
Possible Solution:
Change the default password used by Cognos Planning during creation of the Planning application schema.
Go to the Cognos Planning Admin server. Open the file C:\Program Files (x86)\ibm\cognos\c10\bin\ epEAdminORA8Resources.xml in notepad.
Change the row <![CDATA[CREATE USER %1 IDENTIFIED BY PASSWORD
DEFAULT TABLESPACE %4
TEMPORARY TABLESPACE %5
To a new row with a new password that contain a combination of a-z and numbers (0-9)
<![CDATA[CREATE USER %1 IDENTIFIED BY donaldduck747

Save the file. The new default password is now donaldduck747.
Log in to CAC again and test again.

Product:
Cognos Planning 10.1.1
Windows 2008 R2 server
Oracle database

Problem:
You get an error message when you try to add an existing application to the Planning store from inside Cognos Planning Administrator Console.
And the Cognos 10 Planning service is shut down on the Planning Admin Server. You need to restart the Windows Cognos 10 Planning service to continue to work in CAC.
Error message:
An error occurred during the in-place upgrade of your Cognos Planning Application.
Please see the Cognos Planning error log for details on the error.
In the Planningerrorlog.csv file (on the Cognos planning server) you will find;
{B581E2FC-7A35-439C-87D4-FE9AD820842D} 2 2014-08-18 10:44:27.256 UTC +120 AppModelAdmin_10 10.1.4074.0 Admin ApplicationStateWriteDevelopmentDefinitionUsingConnection 240 Microsoft Cursor Engine -2147217864 Unable to update the recordset with SQL of: SELECT definition, definitiondt, appstateguid ~~FROM PSC_ADMIN.applicationstate ~~WHERE appstateguid='{520980BF-780D-46E3-9542-AA695B383343}’~~~~The BLOB with 30418 characters was being written to field ‘PSC_ADMIN.applicationstate.definition’.~~~~Row cannot be located for updating. Some values may have been changed since it was last read.
Other errors you can get as a follow up error are;
{04E4AF77-106D-4829-9129-6C9E4FE34EB7} 1 2014-08-19 08:45:17.655 UTC +120 epsTransport 10.1.4074.0 default OSStub.cpp invokeRemoteMethod 180 epsTransport::default::OSStub.cpp::invokeRemoteMethod::180 -2147467259 general exception in try block
{8BD66C73-3272-4073-A8F5-AA5953A4EB70} 5 2014-08-18 19:32:21.256 UTC +120 UpgradeEng_10 10.1.4074.0 Upgrader InPlaceApplicationUpgrade 110 DebugTools_10 -2147417848 Unable to collect error information from underlying component
{459D64CA-9D0D-46F7-846F-E89B5C9AA5C4} 2 2014-08-19 08:37:55.472 UTC +120 ModelHelper_10 10.1.4074.0 Helper UnPackModel 190 ACE2_10.Model -2147352567 Unable to set the EnvironmentID on the Model, this may be because the J Server is not registered.~~~~Unknown error
Possible solution:
The Oracle driver is not correct installed on the Cognos Planning server.
It can be missing components, like Oracle Data Access Components, in the Oracle client install.
Stop the Cognos Planning and Cognos BI services.
Uninstall the Oracle driver, and manually install a new Oracle driver.
Open Cognos Configuration, save and start the Cognos services again.
Test if you can link to existing application again.
In some cases you may need to erase the fields for the PAD connection inside the Cognos planning application database before you can attach the Application to the pad again.
Open Oracle SQL Developer, log in as a super user account for Cognos Planning, and expand you planning application schema ( for example GO_CAPEX_CONTRIBUTOR).
Open the tables and open the data for ADMINOPTION table.
Clear the optionvalue for PAD_NAME, PAD_GUID and PAD_NAMESPACE.
Commit and exit SQL developer.
Run the test again in Contributor Administration Console (CAC).

Product:

Cognos Planning 10.1.1

Windows 2008 R2 Server

Oracle Database

 

Symptom:

Have setup new servers, and try to from inside Cognos Planning Contributor Administration Console (CAC) add new JOB SERVERS to your job server cluster, you get a error.

 

Error message:

Errors occurred while trying to communicate with each of the following

servers:   xxxxx

 

Communication failure could result from:

-The server is not running

-Planning is not installed on the server

-The servers firewall is blocking requests

xxxxx

 

Error in planningerrorlog files:

{4904905A-9BAF-4B99-B054-E41891C9E36C} 2 2014-05-08 19:33:44.433 UTC +120 EAdminDB_10 10.1.4074.0 JobServer GetEnabledAndNameLocal 100 Factory_10 70 Unable to create the object with ProgID ‘epPlanningService_10.JobExecManager’ (request was for ‘epPlanningService_%v.JobExecManager’)~~~~Permission denied domain\serviceaccount domain\servername domain\serviceaccount domain\servername  1744 5020

 

Error in windows event log:

Log Name: System

Source: Microsoft-Windows-DistributedCOM

Date: 5/8/2014 6:46:16 PM

Event ID: 10016

Task Category: None

Level: Error

Keywords: Classic

User: domain\serviceaccount

Computer: servername

Description:

The machine-default permission settings do not grant Local Activation permission for the COM Server application with CLSID

{7B59D7CC-3FD8-41A4-9F2A-40D2D6B5590A}

and APPID

{324E655C-61EF-4500-85D1-2791358B531E}

to the user domain\serviceaccount SID (S-1-5-21-3598516276-3377520961-430964465-92766) from address LocalHost (Using LRPC). This security permission can be modified using the Component Services administrative tool.

Event Xml:

<Event xmlns=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event”>;

<System>

<Provider Name=”Microsoft-Windows-DistributedCOM” Guid=”{1B562E86-B7AA-4131-BADC-B6F3A001407E}” EventSourceName=”DCOM” />

<EventID Qualifiers=”49152″>10016</EventID>

<Version>0</Version>

<Level>2</Level>

<Task>0</Task>

<Opcode>0</Opcode>

<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>

<TimeCreated SystemTime=”2014-05-08T16:46:16.000000000Z” />

<EventRecordID>14320</EventRecordID>

<Correlation />

<Execution ProcessID=”0″ ThreadID=”0″ />

<Channel>System</Channel>

<Computer>servername</Computer>

<Security UserID=”S-1-5-21-3598516276-3377520961-430964465-92766″ />

</System>

<EventData>

<Data Name=”param1″>machine-default</Data>

<Data Name=”param2″>Local</Data>

<Data Name=”param3″>Activation</Data>

<Data Name=”param4″>{7B59D7CC-3FD8-41A4-9F2A-40D2D6B5590A}</Data>

<Data Name=”param5″>{324E655C-61EF-4500-85D1-2791358B531E}</Data>

<Data Name=”param6″>domain</Data>

<Data Name=”param7″>serviceaccount</Data>

<Data Name=”param8″>S-1-5-21-3598516276-3377520961-430964465-92766</Data>

<Data Name=”param9″>LocalHost (Using LRPC)</Data>

</EventData>

</Event>

Solution:

The service account set to run the IBM Cognos Planning service on the Microsoft Windows 2008 Server is not set to be local admin on the server.

Go to Manage – Configuration – Local user and groups – Groups

Click on Administrators

Click ADD to add the windows service account to this group on your Planning server.

Save and restart the Cognos Planning servers.

Then you can test again.

 

You can also test this with change back to local system to run the Cognos Planning service, if it works then to add as job server then it is the rights for the windows service account that is the case.

Product:
Cognos Planning 10.1.1 fix pack 3
Windows 2008 R2 server
Oracle Database

Problem:
There is a difference in time to do import of deployment packages in the Cognos Planning PROD and DEV environments. In Production it takes 1 minute, in Development servers it take 40 minutes.
On the Cognos Planning server there is little use of CPU or Memory, also on the Oracle server there is little use of CPU and Memory. It looks like it is waiting.
The time between the step “Creating…” and “Created…” in CAC Monitor Console Deployments is the one that take time because of this.
Because:
In the file SQLNET.ORA the search order is defined to access the Oracle database.
If there are firewalls between the DEV servers and the PROD DNS/LDAP servers, then this can happen if the LDAP is first in the list. The Oracle client need to time out before it will look into the TNSNAMES file on the server to find the Oracle database.

Solution:
Open the file C:\orarun\tnsadmin\sqlnet.ora on the Cognos servers
And change
NAMES.DIRECTORY_PATH= (LDAP, TNSNAMES, EZCONNECT, HOSTNAME)
To
NAMES.DIRECTORY_PATH= ( TNSNAMES, EZCONNECT, HOSTNAME)
Save the file.
Test to use the deployment import again in Cognos Planning.
Then it should be faster.

Product:
IBM Cognos Planning 10.1.1
Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 Server

Problem:
How change the TEMP variable for a service account, without logging in as the user on the Windows Server?

Solution:
Create the service account in the Domain.
Ensure the service account is part of the local administration group on the planning server.
Go to the Administration tools – services.
(you can start it by type services.msc in Run dialog)
Double Click on your IBM Cognos 10 Planning service and select Log On tab.
Select this account and browse to your service account, in our example named cogplan.
Enter Password and click OK to save the change.
Click OK on message that the account have been added to “log on as a service” function.
Right Click on the service IBM Cognos 10 Planning and select RESTART.
Ensure that Cognos planning service have started.

The planningerrorlog.csv file is created in folder \users\cogplan\appdata\local\temp

Start REGEDIT
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
Check the last number in list – it is possible your service account.
You should see it on the ProfileImagePath value who would be : C:\Users\cogplan
Note the number if the user down
Go to HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-2298123480-4089459362-31738xxxxx-1001\Environment
(the number should be the number of the user you found under ProfileList.)
Double click on TEMP to change the value from
%USERPROFILE%\APPDATA\LOCAL\TEMP
to
D:\TEMP
Click OK
Repeat the change for TMP
Close REGEDIT

Restart the Cognos Planning service.

Now the log file is in the D:\TEMP folder.

Product:
Cognos Planning 10.1.1. Fix pack 3 (version 10.1.6303.19-0)
Windows 2008 R2 Server
Oracle database

Symptom:
When you start Cognos Planning Administration Console on a client you get a error message.
When opening the CAC the following error occurs:
“An error has occurred while starting IBM Cognos Planning Administrator.
Main form failed to initialize.
Error Details:
Unable to determine if the Planning Tables exist in Content Manager. Please ensure the Planning Service is running.”

Unexpected: missing HRESULT parameter”

When opening Analyst the following error occurs:
“Analyst failed to communicate with the Content Manager database. This can happen if the Cognos 10 Planning service is not running. Please check that the service is running.”

Error was:

DISP_E_EXCEPTION
Failed HRESULT [0x80020009] Exception occurred.”
Cause:
The gateway url in Cognos Configuration is not the same as the gateway url on the Cognos BI server for authentication.

Solution:
Log on to the Cognos Planning BI server.
Start Cognos Configuration.
Copy the value for Gateway URI under environment section.
Go to the client computer where you have CAC and Cognos Planning Analyst installed.
Start Cognos Configuration
Paste the value for Gateway URI under Gateway settings.
Click on Save
Exit Cognos Configuration
Try to start the IBM Cognos Planning – Contributor Administrator Console.

Can also be other causes;
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21621002

Product:
Cognos Planning 10.1.1
Windows 2008 R2 server
Oracle database

Symptom:
When doing a GTP you get the PREPARE_ACCESS_BLOCKS to say QUEUING all the time. Why ?

Cause:
The Cognos Planning solution is setup with one JOB server and one ADMIN server.
The PREPARE ACCESS BLOCKS step is a change in the Cognos Planning application that is done from the job server. The other steps of a GTP is update of the Cognos Planning store database, that is accessed with the settings defined in Cognos Configuration. So Cognos Planning use different parts to access the databases.

Solution:
For access to oracle database to work you need to have a correct TNSNAMES.ORA file in your \oracle\client\network\admin folder on your Planning servers.

In this case the issue was solved by adding the tnsnames.ora file to the job server, there it was missing, the tnsnames.ora file was on the ADMIN server only, therefor some GTP task worked, that does not need a tnsnames.ora file.

Access defined in Cognos Configuration can be setup for oracle to direct define and access the server.