Configure web browsers

IBM® Cognos® Analytics components use default browser configurations. Additional required settings are specific to the browser.

Browser settings required for Cognos Analytics

The following table shows the settings that must be enabled.

Table 1. Enabled browser settings
Browser	Setting
Internet Explorer	Allow Cookies Active Scripting Allow META REFRESH Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins Script ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting Binary and script behaviors Allow programmatic clipboard access User data persistence
Firefox	Allow Cookies Enable Java™ Enable JavaScript Load Images
Safari 5	Enable Java Enable JavaScript Block Cookies: Never
Google Chrome	Cookies: Allow local data to be set Images: Show all images JavaScript: Allow all sites to run JavaScript

Reporting and Query Studio use the native Microsoft Internet Explorer XML support, which is a component of the browser. ActiveX support must be enabled because Microsoft applications implement XML using ActiveX. Cognos Analytics does not provide or download ActiveX controls. Only the ActiveX controls that are installed as part of Internet Explorer are enabled through this configuration.

If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer, you can add the URL for your gateway(s) to the list of Trusted sites. For example, http://<server_name>:<port_number>/ibmcognos. This enables automatic prompting for file downloads.

Allow pop-ups for all Cognos Analytics pages, for all browsers.

Cookies used by Cognos Analytics components

Cognos Analytics uses the following cookies to store user information.

Table 2. Cookies used by Cognos Analytics components
Cookie	Type	Purpose
AS_TICKET	Session temporary	Created if Cognos Analytics is configured to use an IBM Cognos Series 7 namespace
caf	Session temporary	Contains security state information
Cam_passport	Session temporary	Stores a reference to a user session stored on the Content Manager server. Administrators can set the HTTPOnly attribute to block scripts from reading or manipulating the CAM passport cookie during a user's session with their web browser. For more information, see the IBM Cognos Analytics Administration and Security Guide.
cc_session	Session temporary	Holds session information
cc_state	Session temporary	Holds information during edit operations, such as cut, copy, and paste
CRN	Session temporary	Contains the content and product locale information, and is set for all IBM Cognos users
CRN_RS	Persistent	Stores the choice that the user makes for the view members folder in Reporting
PAT_CURRENT_ FOLDER	Persistent	Stores the current folder path if local file access is used, and is updated after the Open or Save dialog box is used
qs	Persistent	Stores the settings that the user makes for user interface elements such as menus and toolbars
userCapabilities	Session temporary	Contains all capabilities and the signature for the current user
usersessionid	Session temporary	Contains a unique user session identifier, valid for the duration of the browser session.
XSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery)	Session temporary	XSRF tricks a web browser into executing a malicious action on a trusted site for which the user is currently authenticated. XSRF exploits the trust that a site has in a user's browser. Prevents a web page loaded from domain X from making requests to domain Y, assuming that the user is already authenticated to domain Y. When first authenticated to Cognos Analytics, XSRF cookie is set. From that point on, all requests will require both the XSRF-TOKEN cookie as well as an HTTP header called X-XSRF-TOKEN.

After upgrading or installing new software, restart the Web browser and advise users to clear their browser cache.