IBM Support

How to configure Controller Web to use Cognos (CAM) authentication

Question & Answer


Question

Customer already configured their main ('classic') Controller client to use Cognos CAM authentication.
  • In other words, they already performed the tasks inside either the separate technote 1380097 or 2012534
How can they modify 'Controller Web' to also use Cognos authentication?

Answer

Refer to official documentation for how to configure Controller Web for CAM authentication.
  • tip: Links for Controller 10.3.1 and 10.4.1 are given at the end of this technote.
 

Example:

NOTE: The following is a basic example only. It may need to be modified, based on your environment (such as version of Controller / CA):

1. Log on to the Cognos Report Server
  • Typically this is your Cognos Analytics server.
2. Launch 'Cognos Configuration'
3. Configure CAM authentication. In other words:
  • Create a Cognos CAM security namespace
  • Set 'Anonymous Access' to false
4. Browse to the report server's installation folder
  • For example, if using Cognos Analytics 11 then (by default) this is here: C:\Program Files\IBM\cognos\analytics
5. Navigate to the subfolder:  ....\templates\ps\portal\
6. Create a new text file called:  variables_CCRWeb.xml
7. Using NOTEPAD, make the contents of the file as described in the official documentation
NOTE:
  • Different versions of Controller have different requirements, so the contents (of that file) are slightly different
  • Some examples are given below. Naturally you will need to edit the entry with the name of your Controller application server.  In a split Cognos Controller Web installation (frontend is installed on a separate Gateway server), you will need to edit the entry with the name of your Gateway (Controller Web frontend) server.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Example #1 (Controller 10.4.1 and 10.4.2):
<CRNenv c_cmd="http://my-ccr-server:9080/#!/CamLogin">
   <cookies>
      <param name="cam_passport"/>
   </cookies>
</CRNenv>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Example #2 (Controller 10.3.0):
<CRNenv c_cmd="http://my-ccr-server:9080/fcm.web/cam_login">
   <cookies>
      <param name="cam_passport"/>
   </cookies>
</CRNenv>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Example #3 (Controller 10.4.1 and 10.4.2, COWeb split installation):
<CRNenv c_cmd="http://my-gateway-server:9080/#!/CamLogin">
   <cookies>
      <param name="cam_passport"/>
   </cookies>
</CRNenv>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8. Save changes

9. Log on to the Controller application server (where Controller Web server is installed)
10. Browse to the folder:  ...servers\fcm.web
  • tip: By default, this is here: C:\Program Files\IBM\cognos\ccr_64\fcmweb\wlp\usr\servers\fcm.web

11. Open the following file inside NOTEPAD:  com.ibm.cognos.fcm.web.properties
12. Configure the following:
biUrl = the URL that the user must go to when CAM authentication is needed
tip: This should be the same as the value of 'Report Server' inside the section 'Report Server' in Controller Configuration.
  • Example #1 (Cognos BI using CGI): http://<BI_host>/ibmcognos/cgi-bin/cognos.cgi
  • Example #2 (Cognos Analytics without SSO gateway): http://<CA_server>:9300/bi/v1/disp
biDispatchEndpoint = the endpoint to which Cognos Controller Web connects to validate CAM users and CAM passports.
tip: This should be the same as the value of 'Dispatcher URI' inside the section 'Report Server' in Controller Configuration.
  • The default location is http://<BI_host>:9300/p2pd/servlet/dispatch
     
loginMode
  • In this scenario, it should be:  CAM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Example #1: Cognos Analytics (CA) without Gateway
     
ccrwsUrl=http://servername/ibmcognos/controllerserver/ccrws.asmx
biUrl=http://servername:9300/bi/v1/disp
biDispatchEndpoint=http://servername:9300/p2pd/servlet/dispatch
loginMode=CAM
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Example #2: Cognos BI (using standard gateway)
    
ccrwsUrl=http://servername/ibmcognos/controllerserver/ccrws.asmx
biUrl=http://servername/ibmcognos/cgi-bin/cognos.cgi
biDispatchEndpoint=http://servername:9300/p2pd/servlet/dispatch
loginMode=CAM
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[{"Business Unit":{"code":"BU059","label":"IBM Software w\/o TPS"},"Product":{"code":"SS9S6B","label":"IBM Cognos Controller"},"ARM Category":[{"code":"a8m0z000000GnFaAAK","label":"Controller WEB"}],"ARM Case Number":"","Platform":[{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"All Version(s)","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB10","label":"Data and AI"}}]

Document Information

Modified date:
05 May 2021

UID

swg22014043

Page Feedback