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Cognos 8 Object Permissions, Services and Recovery Options

William Chisholme 28th November 2012

Contents
Cognos 8 Object Permissions
Key points about object permissions Behaviour of rights on principle object types

Cognos Services
Key Services Other Services

Recovery Options Some Other Useful Tips

Cognos 8 Object Permissions


Cognos 8 Object Permissions are assigned to enable users to access/update entries in the Cognos Connection Portal There are five basic permissions (Read, Write, Execute, Set Policy, Traverse). The action of the basic permission varies with each type of object, the object owner and the objects use - grrrhhh!)

Cognos 8 Object Permissions


The owner of an object (folder, report, package, etc) always has full rights regardless of what the permissions say Rights can be subtracted or added (subtraction takes precedence) Write on an object lets you update it (however, you must have write on the folder to create or delete the objects)

Cognos 8 Object Permissions


Folder (not owner)
Read Write Execute Traverse
Permits the user to access the folder (is needed in addition to read) Allows user to read Permits the user to No real affect detailed properties create/delete of the folder objects in folder. Can disable an entry

Report (not owner)


Read Access to detailed properties & schedules. Open with studio, copy / paste action Write Permits the user to delete /modify the report / schedules (deletion needs write set at folder) Execute Required to run the report or create a report view Traverse Permits the user to access the report but perform no actions.

Cognos 8 Object Permissions


Report View (not owner)
Read Access to detailed properties & schedules. Required for copy / paste action Write User may delete /modify report view / schedules (delete only works if write on folder) Execute Required to run the report view (also needs access to the report and package) Traverse Permits the user to access the report view but perform no actions.

Job (not owner)


Read Required to execute, detailed properties & schedules of job. Required for copy / paste action Write User may delete /modify job / schedules (delete only works if write on folder) Execute Required to execute the job. Also require access to components of job. Traverse Permits the user to access the job but perform no actions.

Cognos 8 Object Permissions


Package (not owner Connection Portal)
Read Allows user to read detailed properties of the package (reports will not run with just read) Write Can disable (or delete if folder permission is write) Execute Permits report to run against the package via Connection portal. Traverse Permits the user to access the package but perform no actions against it.

Package (not owner Report Studio)


Read Use with Execute permission to create / update a report. Write Can disable, hide and update configuration of package. Also delete package. Execute Required with Read permission of create / update a report. Traverse Permits the user to access the package but perform no actions against it.

Cognos 8 Object Permissions


Data Source & Connections (not owner)
Read N/A N/A Write Execute Permits report / package to run against the data source via the Connection portal. Traverse Traverse is required to access the data source.

Data Source Signon (not owner)


Read N/A N/A Write Execute Need to connect to data source. Else will be prompted for username & password Traverse Traverse is required to access the signon details for the data source connection.

Cognos 8 Services (Key)


Content Manager Service controls all access to the content store database Dispatcher Service looks for requests and routes then to other dispatchers / services for processing Report Service generates reports interactively for users (requests send from dispatcher service)

Cognos 8 Services (Key)


Presentation Service creates the additional HTML, etc for the users to access Cognos via the Connection Portal Batch Report Service runs the reports in the background (saving for viewing / distribution later) Delivery Service sends email notifications to users (with attachments as requested)

Cognos 8 Services (Other)


Monitor Service Controls the distribution of tasks and schedules to other services and records their progress Agent Service Asks the monitor service to run specific Agents as defined in the schedules Meta Data Service controls the passage of XML meta data in and out of the content store. API is available to developers

Cognos 8 Services (Other)


Event Management Service used to schedule tasks, activities (inc Event Studio) - runs in background Job Service used to schedule and manage batch reports in predefined jobs (not used at Ricoh) Report Data Service used to transfer data to MS Office Products directly (not used at Ricoh)

Recovery Options
Most deployments are successful and recovery is rarely used but very important The three main options for recovery are;
Partial recovery (just importing a small selection of packages, reports, etc) Full recovery (using either the Full Weekly Export.zip from Cognos or the Oracle backup of the Content Store)

Recovery Options - Partial


The best and most practical recovery method First perform a export of the faulty content (in case the recovery process fails) Import the respective Backup RFG??????? YYYYMMDD.zip file taken before deployment Check the deployment history of the previous faulty deployment import and delete any objects which were added manually

Recovery Options - Full


Desperate times call for desperate measures (so Cognos must be very wrong to use these) The two methods are;
perform a database recovery of the COGPROD database perform a full import of the Full Weekly Export.zip of the Cognos Content Store

These options do not permit selective recovery (it is all or nothing)

Recovery Options - Full


To perform a recovery via the COGPROD database use the following steps;
Shutdown Cognos and the database and perform a cold backup of everything Perform a database recovery (either via exp/imp or a cold backup) Restart Cognos and health check All the Cognos Content will be restored to the time of the Oracle database backup

Recovery Options - Full


To perform a recovery via the Full Weekly Export.zip use the following steps;
Shutdown Cognos and the database and perform a cold backup of everything Restart the COGPROD database, connect as the user COG84CONTENT and run the script dbclean_oracle.sql from the folder c8\configuration\schemas\content\oracle on any dispatcher (destroys content store)

Recovery Options - Full


Restart Cognos on the primary content manager node (.37) to recreate the content store tables Restart at least one web gateway server and logon to Cognos via the Connection Portal Amend the System Administrators group (removing everyone and adding the named users) Perform a Cognos import of the Full Week Export.zip file Restart remaining servers and healthcheck

Some Other Useful Tips


Accidentally deleted all the users from the System Administrator group?
Run the Oracle script AddSysAdminMember.sql in c8\configuration\schemas\content\oracle to add Everyone to System Administrator role

All users complaining the message Content Manager is running in standby at login
Use the http://server:9300/p2pd/servlet URLs to find faulty server and shut it down

Some Other Useful Tips (contd)


The Content Store -> Test option keeps failing from IBM Cognos Configuration tool?
Run the Oracle script dbInitTest_oracle.sql in c8\configuration\schemas\content\oracle as the user COG84OWNER to see ORACLE error message

Lost passwords in IBM Cognos Configuration?


Select File -> Export As and select Yes to decrypt data. Provide a file name on desktop of server and select OK. Saved file can be viewed for passwords.

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