Installing the stand-alone Excel link

You can download the stand-alone Excel link that is not integrated with the Controller rich client.

Notes:

The stand-alone Excel link is provided in 64-bit format and can be installed only on computers with a 64-bit operating system and a 64-bit version of Microsoft Office. 32-bit versions are not supported.
If the Excel link is already installed on your computer, you must uninstall it before you install the new version.
If you are switching from an MSI based installation to the ZIP installation, check the registry for the ADXStartMode entry. If it exists, delete it. For more information, see Uninstalling the stand-alone Excel Link (ZIP installation).

Procedure

Ensure that your computer meets each of these prerequisites:
- You are running a 64-bit operating system.
- You uninstalled any previous installation of the Controller rich client.
- You installed a 64-bit version of Microsoft Office.
- You installed Microsoft Edge Runtime.
- You are logged into Microsoft account.
- You installed Microsoft .Net 4.8
  Note: .NET Framework 4.8 is included by default in Windows 10 Version 1903 and newer. For earlier versions of Windows OS, you must manually install .NET Framework 4.8 from the official Microsoft download page.
In a browser window, log in to Controller Web.
Download the installer:
1. On the landing page, click the User icon .
2. From the User list, click Excel Link.
3. In the Excel Link License Information window, select I agree to proceed.
Install the Excel link:
Proceed with the following steps:
1. Open the Downloads folder or the directory where the ZIP file was saved.
2. Unzip the downloaded .zip file to a preferred location on your computer.
  Note: Always unzip the installation file into a newly created, empty folder. If you unzip it into a folder that already contains other files, all contents of that folder may be deleted during the uninstallation process.
3. Inside the extracted folder, double-click the client.bat file to execute the client setup.
4. When prompted, for the WSS URL, enter https://your_controller_server/ibmcognos/controllerserver
Start Microsoft Excel.
On the Excel ribbon, click the Controller icon and then click Login.

Note: If the Controller icon is missing from the Excel ribbon, please refer to the instructions provided in Controller Tab Missing Under Excel Ribbon or Error on Opening Embedded Excel Link.
Select the database and enter the username and password.
Wait until the login process is completed.

Important: It may take a minute or two for the login to finish. Do not click in Excel or navigate to another application during this time.

Results

You should now be able to connect to Excel.

Note: If you cannot connect to Excel, it may be related to an incorrect registry setting. If you continue to experience an issue with your add-in installation, uninstall it completely, and then reinstall it.