Installing and Configuring Cognos Analytics

Learn how to install, configure, and administer Cognos Analytics.

IBM Cognos Analytics workflow
Click a box in the following image to learn about the key tasks for installing, configuring, and administering Cognos Analytics.
Preparing to install
Before you install IBM® Cognos® Analytics, you must set up resources in your environment so that the components can operate. For example, you must create a database to use as a Cognos Analytics content store, and create a user account for Cognos Analytics.
Easy Install
This install option is intended to help you get up and running with IBM Cognos Analytics quickly, without any additional configuration, and without the need to install any supporting software. This option is not recommended for production.
Single server installation
A single server installation allows you to run all of the IBM Cognos Analytics server components on the same machine.
Distributed server installation
A distributed server installation allows you to run IBM Cognos Analytics server components on different machines.
Silent installation, uninstallation, and configuration
Use a silent installation, uninstallation, and configuration to do the following:
Installing IBM Cognos Analytics for Jupyter Notebook Server
IBM Cognos Analytics includes a version of Jupyter Notebook that is available as a separate installer.
Installing the Image service
IBM Cognos Analytics includes a version of the Image service that is available within the Cognos installer.
Distribution options
Before implementing IBM Cognos Analytics, decide how to install it in your environment. You can install all server components on one computer, or distribute them across a network. The best distribution option depends on your reporting requirements, resources, and preferences. Configuration requirements are different when you install all components on one computer, and when you distribute the components across multiple computers.
Upgrading Cognos Analytics
When upgrading IBM Cognos Analytics, you need to back up the content store, upgrade your data, understand the implications of the upgrade on other components in a distributed environment, ensure that files that must be preserved are not overwritten, and possibly perform other upgrade tasks.
Configuring server components
You can install all IBM Cognos Analytics components on one computer, on multiple servers for a distributed installation, or you can expand an existing single computer installation to another server to improve performance.
Configuring the gateway
You can install the optional gateway on one or more computers. Install the gateway if you plan on setting up advanced options such as single sign-on with Kerberos security with IIS, or an architecture where the web server is publicly available outside a firewall. IBM Cognos Analytics uses the web server for load balancing certain requests in addition to hosting and serving static content like icons and image files.
Installing and configuring optional modeling components
After you install and configure IBM Cognos Analytics server components, you can install and configure IBM Cognos Framework Manager, the modeling component for reporting, and IBM Cognos Transformer, the modeling tool for creating PowerCubes.
Configuration options
After you install and configure IBM Cognos components, you can change the configuration for your environment. Initially, default property settings are used to configure the components. However, you can change these default settings if existing conditions make the default choices inappropriate, or to better suit your environment.
Configuring authentication providers
IBM Cognos components run with two levels of access: anonymous and authenticated. By default, anonymous access is enabled.
Performance Maintenance
This section includes topics about using IBM Cognos Analytics and other tools and metrics to maintain the performance of your IBM Cognos Analytics environment.
Manually configuring Cognos Analytics on UNIX and Linux operating systems
The console attached to the UNIX or Linux® operating system computer on which you are installing IBM Cognos Analytics may not support a Java-based graphical user interface.
Uninstalling IBM Cognos Analytics
It is important to use uninstall programs to completely remove all files and modifications to system files. To uninstall IBM Cognos Analytics, you uninstall server components and modeling tools.
IBM Cognos content archival
Storing archived content in your external repository provides you with the ability to adhere to regulatory compliance requirements, and can enhance the scalability and performance of IBM Cognos products by reducing the size of content in the content store.
IBM Cognos Configuration command-line options
Use command-line options with the configuration command to modify the behavior of IBM Cognos Configuration when it starts.