TM1 Admin Server overview

The IBM® Cognos® TM1® Admin Server is a process that keeps track of all TM1 servers running on a network. An Admin Server runs on a computer known as an Admin Host.

When the IBM TM1 Server starts, the server registers itself with an Admin Server that is running on a specified Admin Host. TM1 clients reference the Admin Server to determine which TM1 servers are available on the network.

The Admin Server maintains the following information for each available TM1 Server:

  • Server name
  • IP address
  • Protocol
  • Port number

All this information is supplied by the TM1 Server when the server registers itself on the Admin Server.

An Admin Server must be running before a TM1 Server can start. If you have specified an Admin Host in the Tm1s.cfg file or the server command line, the TM1 Server will attempt to connect to an Admin Server on that host. The TM1 Server will fail to come up if it is unable to connect to the Admin Server for any reason.

If you have not specified an Admin Host, the TM1 Server attempts to connect to an Admin Server on the local machine. If an Admin Server is not currently running on the local machine, the TM1 Server starts a new Admin Server and connects to it.

The Admin Server becomes aware of a TM1 Server on the network by listening for notification from the server. Usually, the TM1 Server sends notification of its presence at a regular interval called the "heartbeat interval," which is 60 seconds by default. When the Admin Server detects theTM1 Server, that server becomes registered and available to clients on the network. However, if the Admin Server does not detect the presence of a registered TM1 Server over a period equal to three times the heartbeat interval, that TM1 Server is removed from the list of servers available on the network. Consequently, the TM1 Server will not be available to clients on the network.

By default, the Admin Server uses port 5495. If port 5495 is already in use, you can assign a new port number by creating a new service called Tm1admsrv. All TM1 applications look for a named service called Tm1admsrv, and if that service exists, the applications use the port number assigned to the service. If the service does not exist, TM1 applications use port 5495.