Silent Installation of Cognos 8

May 13, 2008 · Filed Under Cognos 8 

If you have many servers to install and configure, the unattended install feature of Cognos 8 can be a real time saver. It will save you from clicking through the installer multiple times and reduces the chances of missing a component. This feature is also useful when installing remotely, where the GUI will be slow, or in the case of Unix and Linux, when X-Windows is not available.

The installation of Cognos 8 product is divided into two steps: first, copying over the files from the installation package and second, configuring parameters with Cognos Configuration.

The first step is to get the install package on to your Unix server.

  1. Ftp the install package to the server.
  2. Extract it.
    1. gunzip c8bisrvr_solaris_8.1.108.33_ml.tar.gz
    2. tar –xvf c8bisrvr_solaris_8.1.108.33_ml.tar

If this is a Windows install, then use Winzip to extract the files to the local hard disk or to a shared location that will be available from the server.

The first phase of the installation will be automated with the use of an ats file (transfer specification file). These files are automatically generated in the c8/instlog directory whenever the Cognos software is installed. If you have already installed the software elsewhere, you can copy the ats file and use it again, provided the installation parameters are identical. If an ats file is not available, then a default one called response.ats is provided in the installation package. It is read only so you will have to make it writeable before editing it.

The contents of the response.ats file:

[Dialog1]
Title=Welcome to the Installation Wizard
DE=0
EN=1
FR=0
JA=0
[Dialog3]
Title=Installation Location
APPDIR=
BACKUP=0
[Dialog6]
Title=Shortcut Folder
APPFOLDER=Cognos 8
ALLUSERS_FLAG=1
[Component List]
C8BISRVR_APP=1
C8BISRVR_APPLICATION_TIER=1
C8BISRVR_GATEWAY=1
C8BISRVR_CONTENT_MANAGER=1
[Install Conditions]
RebootSystem=0

Edit the file to have appropriate responses for your environment. The shortcut folder is ignored for a Unix install, as this is a Windows only feature.

To launch the install with the ats, use this command:

Windows:

issetup –s location/filename.ats

Unix:

./issetupcc –s location/filename.ats

A return code of 0 indicates success.

There will be two logs written to the c8/isntlog directory: a complete record of the installation and another log containing only the error messages. The log files are identifiable by Cognos product name and a date time stamp. For example, an installation of the the BI Server produces these two log files:

tl-C8BISRVR-8.1-108.33-20060601_1143.txt

tl-C8BISRVR-8.1-108.33-20060601_1143_summary_error.txt

The second phase of any Cognos installation is the configuration, which is usually done manually with the Configuration Manager GUI. To set up the unattended configuration, you must export the configuration settings from a server with the same components, make any necessary changes, then apply this configuration. If you do not have another installation to work from, you can open up Cognos Configuration on the server (note for Unix/Linux: X-Windows is required and the JAVA_HOME must be set), save out the default configuration, edit this file and use it for the silent configuration. Editing this 1000+ line xml file can be error prone, so it is advised to use an xml editor or a text editor that does language highlighting for xml. Here are the steps:

1. Open up Cognos Configuration.

2. Under the File menu, select “export as”.

3. Answer yes to the prompt - the export is plain text, so encrypted passwords will be exposed – be careful where this file is placed.

4. Edit the exported file if necessary.

5. Copy this file to the c8/configuration directory on the server where the configuration is to take place.

6. Rename the file to cogstartup.xml

7. Global configuration settings can be copied from another computer by copying over the coglocale.xml file.

8. Run this command to apply the configuration settings and to start Cognos 8:

Windows:

cogconfig.bat -s

Unix:

./cogconfig.sh –s

Note that on Unix/Linux, the JAVA_HOME environment variable must be set before running this command.

Errors will show up in the logs in the /logs directory. Check the cogserver.log file for possible errors and to confirm that the service has started correctly.

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Comments

4 Responses to “Silent Installation of Cognos 8”

  1. Kolano on July 2nd, 2008 5:01 pm

    I am having trouble with “cogconfig.bat -s”.

    If I run that from a command line things go well, but if I attempt to run it from Ant or another batch file the Config Tool GUI starts rather than the configuration load process that is supposed to occur.

    —Broken Batch #1—————
    C:\Troux\cognos\c8\bin\cogconfig –s
    —Broken Batch #2—————
    cd C:\Troux\cognos\c8\bin
    cogconfig –s
    —Broken Ant script #1————-

    —Broken Ant script #2————-

    —Broken Ant script #2————-

    ————————————
    …as well as other permutations.

    Is there a workaround to actually allow the automated config to be used in a script?

  2. Kolano on July 2nd, 2008 5:19 pm

    Ah ha…
    “-s” != “–s”
    …I picked up an em/en-dash from somewhere.

  3. satish on August 15th, 2008 9:55 am

    Could u please help me in installation of cognos 8. i mean what r the steps to be followed..

    Thanks … Regards..

    Satish..

  4. Ray on August 27th, 2008 4:13 pm

    Im trying to uninstall cognos8 on a linux box. Im not sure whether I have to do a simple rm or remove it as a package. Could you please help by providing the steps to uninstalling c8?

    Thanks,

    Ray

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