IBM Support

Unable to log in with a valid user ID and password: The provider credentials are invalid

Troubleshooting


Problem

Unable to log in with a valid user ID and password. The logon box will appear again. Authentication when accessing the dispatcher directly via URI works fine.

Symptom


English:


    The provided credentials are invalid. Please type your credentials for authentication.
      or

    The client did something wrong
    CM-REQ-4159 Content Manager has returned an error in the response header.
    CAM-AAA-0056 Unable to authenticate
    CAM-AAA-0064 The function 'ldap_simple_bind' failed. NDS error: failed authentication (-669)
      or

    CAM-AAA-0012 An unexpected error occured when the document 'authenticateDocument' was parsed.
    CAM-AAA-0159 Document is an invalid XML document. Invalid character (Unicode: 0x15).
German:

    Die angegebenen Berechtigungen sind ungültig. Bitte geben Sie Ihre Berechtigungen zur Authentifizierung ein.
      or

    The client did something wrong
    CM-REQ-4159 Content Manager hat Fehler in der Antwortkopfzeile gefunden.
    CAM-AAA-0056 Authentifizieren nicht möglich.
    CAM-AAA-0026 Der Funktionsaufruf 'ldap_simple_bind' ist fehlgeschlagen mit Fehlercode: '49' NDS error: failed authentication (-669)
French:

    Les références d'identification fournies ne sont pas valides. Saisissez vos références d'identification aux fins d'authentification.

Cause


The root cause of the problem is expired cryptographic keys.

Environment


Authentication Source: Series 7, LDAP or Active Directory

Diagnosing The Problem


Expired cryptographic keys can be identified by checking the timestamp of the folder csk, signkeypair, encryptkeypair and caserial.

Resolving The Problem


Recreate the encrypt key's.

When using a distributed environment, you need to perform the steps at the application server first. Afterwards, start the service and recreate the encrypt key's at the Gateway machine.

Steps:

  1. Open Cognos Configuration and export the configuration
  2. Stop the IBM Cognos Service.
  3. Close Cognos Configuration
  4. Create a backup directory and move* following files and directories into this backup directory:
    - /c10/configuration/cogstartup.xml
    - /c10/configuration/csk
    - /c10/configuration/encryptkeypair
    - /c10/configuration/signkeypair
    - /c10/configuration/caserial
    - /c10/configuration/cogconfig.prefs

    *Please Note: These files/directories must be removed from the configuration directory. Copy without deleting will not solve the problem.
  5. Move the exported Configuration (Step 1) into the configuration directory (/c10/configuration) and rename this file to cogstartup.xml
  6. Open Cognos Configuration and save the configuration
  7. Start the Service
  8. When using a distributed environment, you need to repeat the steps 1 to 7 at the other machines too.
    (Content Manager first, Report Server afterwards, Gateway machine(s) at last)
  9. Try to login again

    If this problem still exists:
  10. Try to logon via the Dispatcher URI. You can find the Dispatcher URI in Cognos Configuration -> Environment.
    If this works restart the Web Server.

    If this problem still exists:
  11. Open Cognos Configuration and click on Environment. Change ALL ports in any new 'Dummy' values, e.g. port 80 into 81, port 9300 into 9301. Save the Configuration and start the service.
  12. Undo the changes of Step 8: Change the new 'Dummy' ports back to the old ports. Save the Configuration and Restart the Service.
  13. Try to the log in again.

    If this problem still exists:
  14. Recreate the ibmcognos Web Alias and the cgi-bin Web Alias in the Web Server administration. Make sure that the virtual directory is set correct. (E.g. If cgi-bin is set to an other installation directory this issue can occur.)

[{"Product":{"code":"SSEP7J","label":"Cognos Business Intelligence"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU059","label":"IBM Software w\/o TPS"},"Component":"Security","Platform":[{"code":"PF002","label":"AIX"},{"code":"PF010","label":"HP-UX"},{"code":"PF016","label":"Linux"},{"code":"PF027","label":"Solaris"},{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"10.2.2;10.2.1;10.2;10.1.1","Edition":"All Editions","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB10","label":"Data and AI"}}]

Document Information

Modified date:
15 June 2018

UID

swg21346342

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