Configure a User Account or Network Service Account for IBM Cognos Analytics

The user or network service account under which IBM Cognos Analytics runs must:

• have access to all required resources, such as printers
• have the rights to log on as a service and act as part of the operating system

In addition, the user account must be a member of the local administrator group.

For example, to print reports using a network printer, the account must have access to the network printer, or you must assign a logon account to the IBM Cognos service.

Configure a User Account

For Microsoft Windows operating system, assign a logon account to the IBM Cognos service. You can configure the IBM Cognos service to use a special user account by selecting the IBM Cognos service from the list of services shown in the Services window in Windows. You can then define the user account properties.

For UNIX or Linux® operating system, create a new UNIX or Linux group named cognos, for example. This group must contain the user that owns the IBM Cognos files. Change the group ownership of the IBM Cognos files to the cognos group and change the file permissions for all IBM Cognos files to GROUP READABLE/WRITABLE/EXECUTABLE.

You must configure the Web Server to use aliases. For more information, see the topic about configuring the Web server.

Configure a Network Service Account

The network service account is the built in account NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService in the operating system. Administrators do not need to manage a password or maintain the account.

Use an account with administrator privileges if you are installing on Windows Server 2008.

You must configure the Web server to use the application pool. For more information, see the topic about configuring the Web server. You also need the appropriate write permissions to install to the directory.