Upload directories

The upload directories are

The following directories are created in the SFTP client for the Cognos Analytics uploads:

<user_sftp_root>
dropbox
    certificates
    deployment
    fonts
    maps
    motio
    powercubes
    report-drivers
    webcontent

You can upload content into each directory separately, or compress all content into one .zip file, and upload this file into the dropbox directory.

The following sections provide more information about uploading content into the specific directories.

dropbox

This is the root directory. It includes subdirectories for the specific types of content, as documented in this topic.

Instead of uploading content into each directory, you can upload a compressed (.zip) file into the dropbox directory.

Use the following steps to upload content into the dropbox directory:

  1. Create a .zip file, and add content that you want to upload to this file.

    All paths within the .zip file must be relative to the dropbox directory structure.

    For example, create the ca_upload.zip file that contains the webcontent\images subdirectory. Add all your images to the images directory.

  2. Upload the .zip file into the dropbox directory.

Once the compressed file is uploaded, the upload service decompresses the content into the proper directories within the dropbox directory.

Only content under the predefined directories, such as certificates, deployment, powercubes, or webcontent, is extracted from the compressed file. Other content is not uploaded.

Note: The file and folder names within this directory are case-sensitive.

certificates

This directory contains the following sub-directories:
cerdb
Upload the certificate database files for LDAPs (SSL enabled LDAP) into this directory. Examples of files include: cert8.db, key3.db, and secmod.db The uploaded files are ready to be consumed by the product.
datasource
Use this directory to upload the data source certificates. The certificates uploaded into this directory are imported into both JVM Trust Store and CAM Trust Store to support various JDBC driver implementations.
After the upload, the Cognos Analytics service restart might be required.
oidc
Use this directory to upload the OpenID Connect (OIDC) certificates. The OIDC authentication provider certificates are the only type of certificates that are supported for Cognos® Analytics on Cloud Hosted. After the certificates are uploaded into this directory, they are imported into the CAM Trust Store on Content Manager containers. Removing certificates from this directory does not delete the corresponding certificates from the CAM Trust Store.
After the upload, the Cognos Analytics service restart is required.

When using command line, the SFTP put command can be used to upload certificates into these directories.

deployment

Use this directory to import and export Cognos Analytics deployment archives.

  • Deployment import

    Deployment archives that are uploaded into the deployment directory are replicated into a shared volume consumable by Cognos Analytics.

    After the replication process is completed, users can import the deployment archive using the product user interface. For more information, see https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/cognos-analytics/11.2.0?topic=environment-creating-new-import-deployment-specification.

    Depending on the size of the archive, the replication process might take few seconds to minutes.

    User can delete the uploaded archive after the import is completed. When the uploaded archive is removed from the user home directory, the corresponding replicated copy on the shared volume is removed as well.

  • Deployment export

    Deployment archive exported by the user is available for download from the deployment directory once the export process is completed.

    After the archive is downloaded, user can safely delete the archive from the deployment directory, which will also remove the archive from the product directory as well.

    When using command line, the SFTP get command can be used to download the archive into a local storage.

fonts

Default fonts are installed with Cognos Analytics. However, your organization might have a license for custom fonts. Use this directory to upload the custom fonts.

After the upload, the Cognos Analytics service restart is required.

maps

A standard set of maps is installed with Cognos Analytics. However, your organization might be using some custom maps. Use this directory to upload the custom map files with the .cmf extension.

motio

Use this directory to upload the MotioCI installation package. MotioCI is used with Cognos Analytics upgrades, deployments, version control (change management), reporting, and automated BI testing.

powercubes

Upload of PowerCubes is not available by default. You need to submit an SRE request to use PowerCubes.

When this functionality is enabled, upload the PowerCube (.mdc) files into this folder.

To upload a multi-part PowerCube, compress the cube into a .zip file, and upload the .zip file. The .zip file can contain only the individual files that make up the multi-part PowerCube, and cannot contain subfolders.

To upload a time-based partitioned PowerCube, create a .zip file that contains the master cube, the cube inventory (.vsd) file, and a subfolder for each of the cubes in the time-based group that make up the partitioned PowerCube.

After the PowerCube is uploaded, it's immediately copied or extracted to a location that is shared with the Cognos Analytics report server. The PowerCube is then processed, and made ready for reporting. After processing, the .processed extension is added to the cube file name in this folder. 0 bytes means that the cube was processed successfully.

To delete a processed cube, change the .processed extension to .delete extension. This change triggers the process of deleting the cube and its parts (if it's a multi-part or time-based partitioned cube) from the folder that is accessed by the Cognos Analytics report server.

For more information about using PowerCubes with Cognos Analytics on Cloud Hosted, see the following technotes:

report-drivers

Use this directory to upload JDBC drivers for the data sources that are configured for your Cognos Analytics on Cloud Hosted environment. For example, db2jcc4.jar for IBM Db2, sqljdbc42.jar for Microsoft SQL Server, or ojdbc8.jar for Oracle version 12c Release 2.

After the upload, the drivers are copied to the Cognos Analytics install_location\cognos\analytics\drivers directory.

When using command line, the SFTP put command can be used to upload JDBC drivers.

After the upload, the Cognos Analytics service restart is required.

webcontent

Use this folder to upload all web artifacts, such as JavaScripts or images, into this directory. The files are replicated onto a shared volume that is consumable by Cognos Analytics.

Removing web artifacts from this directory also removes the corresponding replicated copy on the shared volume.

When using command line, you can use the SFTP mkdir command to create sub-directories in this directory, and the get command to upload content.