Installing and configuring Content Manager for the content repository

You can install more than one Content Manager to ensure failover, and you can install Content Manager in a separate location than other components to enhance performance.

The Content Manager computers must know the location of the content store, the location of other Content Manager components, and the database that is used for notification.

In a distributed installation, at least one of the computers where you install Content Manager must be configured, running and accessible before you configure other computers in your IBM® Cognos® environment. This ensures that the certificate authority service, which is installed with Content Manager, is available to issue certificates to other computers.

Your installation may include more than one Content Manager, each on a different computer. One Content Manager computer is active and one or more Content Manager computers are on standby.

Permissions

You can install using either root or non-root authority.

Also, IBM Cognos Analytics respects the file mode creation mask (umask) of the account running the installation program. This affects only the installation directories. It does not affect the file permissions within the directories. However, run-time generated files, such as logs, respect the mask. We recommend umask 022 on the installation directory.

Rules for configuring

In an installation where you have more than one Content Manager components, or where Content Manager is located in a separate location, at least one of the one Content Manager must be configured, running and accessible before you configure other components in your environment. This ensures that the certificate authority service, which is installed with Content Manager, is available to issue certificates to other IBM Cognos computers.

For information about the sequence of the installation process for distributed components, see Installation sequence for server components.

Rules for active Content Manager

If you are installing multiple Content Manager components, the first Content Manager computer that you start becomes the default active Content Manager. You can designate another Content Manager computer as default active, using IBM Cognos Administration.

The standby Content Manager computers are for failover protection. If the active Content Manager computer is not available because of a software or hardware failure, a standby Content Manager computer becomes active and requests are directed to it.

When the active Content Manager fails, unsaved session data is lost. When another Content Manager becomes active, users may be prompted to log on.

For information about activating a Content Manager service, see the Administration and Security Guide. For information about active and standby Content Manager components, see Active and Standby Content Manager Components.

In installations with multiple Content Managers, configure IBM Cognos Analytics to use compiled gateways instead of the default CGI gateway. For example, use Apache Module for Apache Server or for IBM HTTP Server, or use ISAPI for IIS. Otherwise, performance may be affected after failover.

Upgrading

If you are upgrading from ReportNet or an earlier version of IBM Cognos Business Intelligence, you can use the existing configuration data. However, some features in IBM Cognos Analytics are new and may require configuration.

PowerCubes

If you plan to install IBM Cognos Transformer and you will be using PowerCubes that are secured against an IBM Cognos Series 7 namespace, you must install Content Manager on a computer that supports IBM Cognos Series 7.