Installing the Image service on Microsoft Windows 10

You can install the Image service either on the same computer or on a different computer from where Cognos Analytics is installed.

The Image service supports Linux and Windows 10 platforms and requires Docker to be installed. Docker CE (Community Edition), Docker Engine, and Docker Desktop (CE) are supported.

Warning: On Windows system, use the Image service only for testing. For production instances, run the service on Linux to avoid problems that relate to the deployment of Docker Desktop on Windows.

Before you begin

To ensure that Linux containers can run on a windows host, verify that the Hyper-V Platform is running:

  1. Open the Control Panel.
  2. Click Programs.
  3. Click Turn Windows Features on or off.
  4. Find and expand the Hyper-V option.
  5. Ensure that the Hyper-V Platform is checked.

Install Docker as the container engine for the Image service. Follow the Microsoft Windows 10 procedures at Installing Docker Desktop for Windows

Important: The Image service requires that Docker uses Linux containers. If your Docker Desktop installation was configured to use Windows containers, do one of the following tasks:
  • Right-click the Docker icon in the bottom-right corner of the window and then select the option to switch to Linux containers.
  • Re-install Docker Desktop, ensuring that you do not select the option to use Windows containers instead of Linux containers.

You must be added to the Docker group for any Docker command to run without root privileges.

You must set the fully qualified domain in Cognos Configuration using the following procedure:

  1. In IBM Cognos Configuration, in the Explorer window, click Environment.
  2. Under the Dispatcher URI for external applications set the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the IBM Cognos Analytics server.
  3. Under the Gateway URI set the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the IBM Cognos Analytics server.
  4. Click File > Save.
  5. Restart the Cognos Analytics service.

Procedure

  1. Download the IBM Cognos Analytics with Watson Server installer (11.2.4 and above) and Server repository from Passport Advantage.
  2. Double click the installer file.
  3. Follow the directions in the installation wizard to copy and install the files to your computer.
    The folder cognos_installation_location/image-service folder contains two subfolders:
    • image-service/images
    • image-service/client-scripts
      Tip: The folder image-service/client-scripts/unix contains all the scripts that you need to run.

      Script

      Purpose
      build.bat Run this to rebuild the images.
      config.conf Edit this configuration file to change the Image service parameters.
      install.bat Run this to load and start the Docker containers.
      prune.bat Run this to remove old Docker images.
      start.bat Run this to start the Image service.
      stop.bat Run this to stop the Image service.
      uninstall.bat Run this to uninstall the Image service.
  4. Open a command prompt window with administrator privileges.
  5. Navigate to the image-service/client-scripts/windows directory.
  6. Type ./install.bat

    The install script runs.

Results

All of the Image service Docker images are loaded from the cognos_installation_location/image-service/images directory and the Docker containers are started.

What to do next

After installing Cognos Analytics and the Image service, you can configure the Image service.