Series 7 To Cognos 8 Upgrade

Tip or Technique
Series 7 to Cognos 8 Upgrade

Product(s): Series 7, Cognos 8
Area of Interest: Infrastructure
Series 7 to Cognos 8 Upgrade 2
Copyright
Your use of this document is subject to the Terms of Use governing the
Cognos software products and related services which you have
licensed or purchased from Cognos. The information contained in this
document is proprietary information of Cognos Incorporated and/or its
licensors and is protected under copyright and other applicable laws.
You may use the information and methodologies described in this
document 'as is' or you may modify them, however Cognos will not be
responsible for any deficiencies or errors that result from modifications
which you make. Copyright 2006 (c) Cognos Incorporated. All Rights
Reserved.
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grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use, copy, and
reproduce the copyright materials, in printed or electronic format,
solely for the purpose of providing internal training on, operating, and
maintaining the Cognos software.
This document is maintained by the Best Practices, Product and
Technology team. You can send comments, suggestions, and additions
to Best Practices, Product and Technologies.
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Contents
1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................4
1.1 PURPOSE...............................................................................................................4
1.2 APPLICABILITY..........................................................................................................4
1.3 EXCLUSIONS AND EXCEPTIONS.......................................................................................4
2 INTEGRATE YOUR ENVIRONMENTS......................................................5
2.1 SECURITY...............................................................................................................5
2.2 PORTALS...............................................................................................................7
2.3 SINGLE SIGNON.......................................................................................................8
2.4 DIAGRAM...............................................................................................................9
3 CLEANUP SERIES 7...........................................................................10
3.1 POWERPLAY ENTERPRISE SERVER.................................................................................10
3.2 UPFRONT PERSONAL NEWSBOXES................................................................................13
3.3 UPFRONT NEWSITEMS..............................................................................................14
3.4 DEPLOYMENT MANAGER............................................................................................21
3.5 DIAGRAM.............................................................................................................25
4 FAMILIARISE WITH COGNOS 8..........................................................26
4.1 CREATE DATASOURCES.............................................................................................26
4.2 PUBLISH PACKAGES.................................................................................................27
4.3 TEST THE STUDIOS..................................................................................................29
4.4 TRANSFORMER & CUBESWAP......................................................................................30
4.5 DIAGRAM.............................................................................................................35
5 THE UPGRADE PROCESS...................................................................36
5.1 DEPLOYMENT MANAGER............................................................................................36
5.2 MIGRATETOC8.....................................................................................................37
5.3 MAPPING.............................................................................................................40
5.4 DEPLOYTOC8.......................................................................................................41
5.5 EVALUATE............................................................................................................42
5.6 DIAGRAM.............................................................................................................43
Cognos Proprietary
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1 Introduction
1.1 Purpose
This document is intended to supplement the Documentation supplied
with the Series 7 Migration tools.
It outlines considerations for preparing to upgrade Series 7 PowerPlay
and Upfront content into Cognos 8.
1.2 Applicability
All Series 7 and Cognos 8 platforms are applicable.
Examples apply only to Series 7 v7.3mr2 (cer4) and Cognos 8 mr1.
Command-line parameters shown in example invocations of batch
tools shown are subject to change in future releases.
Focus is only on supported PowerPlay and Upfront content.
1.3 Exclusions and Exceptions

The Series 7 to Cognos 8 migration tools are supported for upgrade of
PowerPlay Web Explorer reports but not for reports created in
PowerPlay Windows, be they Explorer mode or "Reporter Mode"
reports.
PowerPlay content that has been published to Cognos Connection
instead of Upfront is also excluded from this document.
PowerPlay reports published to Cognos Connection are stored inside
the Content Store and can be upgraded directly from within Cognos 8.
See "Cognos 8 Administration and Security Guide" for details.
Migration of Impromptu, IWR, Architect and Transformer content are
excluded from this document.

2 Integrate your Environments

2.1 Security
If you are migrating Reports that are built from secured PowerCubes,
then you must add the Series 7 Namespace to Cognos 8 as a
Namespace.
If you are migrating Newsboxes and Newsitems from Upfront, then you
must add the Series 7 Namespace to Cognos 8 as a Namespace.
Transformer v7.x and "OLAP Builder" v8.1 still require a Series 7
Namespace if the PowerCubes are secured. The Migration tools do not
amend Transformer Models or PowerCubes to use any alternate
Security Provider (Namespace).
Cognos 8 has no ability to update or modify the Series 7 Namespace,

and you will continue to require Series 7 Access Manager to administer
the Users and UserClasses in the Namespace.
There is no need to make any changes to the LDAP software version.

There is no need to upgrade the Namespace. Any temptation to
upgrade the Namespace from v15.2 ("Compatible") to v16.0
("Current") should be completed and tested before the migration
begins, or it should be deferred until the Migration is complete.
Upgrading the Namespace from v15.2 to v16.0 or to v17.0 will impact
Impromptu and Transformer v6.x, and may also impact Enterprise
Planning v7.1 and Cognos Finance.
Do not delete any Users or UserClasses outside of your normal

procedures.
Do not rename or reorganise any UserClasses outside of your normal
procedures.
From
Access Manager Runtime
Cognos Proprietary
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From
Cognos 8 Configuration
Refer "Cognos 8
Installation and
Configuration
Guide"
(inst_cr_winux.pdf),
chapter 9, section
"Configuring Cognos
8 to Use Cognos
Series 7
Namespace"
NB: the Name of the

Namespace is
displayed on the
Login Prompt web-
page, and can be
altered. The
Namespace ID is
not seen by Users,
but must not change after it has been used in Cognos 8.

2.2 Portals
You can expose Series 7 content directly in Cognos 8 by integrating
Upfront within Cognos Connection. The two portals can share the same
authentication, and Upfront's "//NewsIndex" will be displayed below
"Public Folders". The "Personal Newsbox" will appear below "My
Folders".
This is useful to transition users from Series 7 to Cognos 8 but retain
their familiar content in its native form.
Existing users can continue to use Upfront without any awareness of
Cognos 8. New projects can start in Cognos 8 but still have seamless
access to Series 7 content.
As projects of Series 7 content are upgraded to Cognos 8, the Upfront
content can still be navigated to in the lower Series 7 pane, and its
Cognos 8 equivalent presented for validation and use in the upper
Cognos 8 pane. As Upgrade Testing is completed, the Series 7 content
could be obscured by changing the Newsbox attribute to Hidden.
Refer
•
"Cognos 8 Administration and Security Guide" (ug_cra.pdf),
"Allow User Access to Series 7 Reports from Cognos
Connection".
On the computer(s) where the Cognos 8 Presentation Service is
installed, open the c8_location/templates/ps/system.xml file in an
editor. Find and edit the Series 7 parameter as follows, then restart
Cognos 8.


<param name="series7">
<enabled>true</enabled>


<encoding>iso-8859-1</encoding>


<host>Upfront_host_name</host>
<port>8030</port>


<gateway>/cognos/cgi-bin/upfcgi.exe</gateway>

<back-prefix></back-prefix>
</param>
Cognos Proprietary
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Cognos recommends installing all gateway components on the same

WebServer(s). If Series 7 and Cognos 8 URLs are delivered from the
same WebServer, then relative URLs will resolve correctly.
Some Upfront functionality is not implemented in Cognos 8. For

example, Cognos 8 includes no tools for managing Users or
UserClasses. Also, there is currently no "File Upload" feature.
Refer "Migration and Upgrade User Guide" (ug_mig.pdf) "Mapping
Cognos Series 7 Objects to Cognos 8 Objects"
2.3 Single Signon

Cognos 8 uses its own Gateway on the WebServer. If using any Access
Control Lists on the Series 7 Authentication Gateway "/cognos/cgi-
bin/login.exe" then these should also be applied to the Cognos 8
gateway "/cognos8/cgi-bin/cognos.cgi". For example, with MS-IIS,
revoke "Anonymous Access" to the Cognos 8 gateway URL to enable
population of REMOTE_USER.
The Series 7 Trusted Signon Plugin ("TSDK") may work with Cognos 8.
Most Series 7 implementations of the a Trusted Signon Plugin rely on
the "SaferAPIGetTrustedSignon()" function to determine the User's
identity and return this to the calling application. This function is
invoked only by the Authentication Gateway "login.exe" on the
WebServer.
Since Series 7 v7.3mr1, Cognos supports the "Access Manager Service"
as a Ticket Server and as a proxy for interaction with the Namespace
from the Gateway tier. In this environment, the Trusted Signon Plugin
must implement the "SaferAPIGetTrustedSignonWithEnv()" function.
Cognos ReportNet and Cognos 8 support the use of the
"SaferAPIGetTrustedSignonWithEnv()" function for Single Signon. It is
invoked from the Content Manager when the Series 7 Namespace is
used. The location of the Plugin is recorded inside the Namespace, and
that directory path must be valid on the Content Manager host.
Refer
• "Installation and Configuration Guide" (inst_cr_winux.pdf),
chapter 9, "Configuring Cognos 8 to Use Cognos Series 7
Namespace".
• "Installation and Configuration Guide" (inst_cr_winux.pdf),
chapter 9, "Cognos Series 7 Namespaces and the Cognos Series
7 Trusted Signon Plug-in".
• "Access Manager Trusted Services Plug-In SDK Guide"
(accessadmsdk.pdf).

2.4 Diagram
Diagram shows:
• WebServer with both Series 7 and Cognos 8 Gateways
• Both Cognos 8 and Series 7 connect to same Namespace
• PowerCubes are stored on shared FileServer for concurrent access by
multiple Cognos 8 Report Servers and by Series 7 PPES.
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3 Cleanup Series 7
3.1 PowerPlay Enterprise Server
Identify broken references to PowerPlay Reports that might cause
Deployment Manager or the Series 7 to Cognos 8 conversion tools to
fail.
Every object visible in the PowerPlay Admin User Interface is

represented by an XML document suffixed with "CFX" in the PPSRoot
folder hierarchy. These CFX files contain all the properties that can be
seen/edited in the Admin UI.
Folders, Collections, Cubes and Reports are all represented by CFX files
which contain different properties.
The PowerPlay Enterprise Server (PPES) Dispatcher includes tools for
upgrading between releases of Series 7. The following parameters are
supported when "ppserver" is invoked from command-line.
Usage: ppserver [option]

-d to run PPES as application
-k to stop PPES
-v to display version information
-im to install PPES as service started manually
-i to install PPES as service started automatically
-r to check whether PPES service is installed
-u to uninstall PPES service
-m [-un username] [-pw password] [searchFor replaceWith] to
migrate PPSRoot hierarchy to the current version of
Upfront; replaces 'searchFor' string with 'replaceWith'
in every cfx file
-vm to verify the results from the migration to the current
version of Upfront
-ppx to update server name and port number in all ppx
files including MountAt folders and collections
-? to display usage information
-local [FullPathOfLocalCube RemoteCubePath] to update all
ppx files that reference the local cube to the specified
remote cube. If local and remote cube paths are omitted,
lists all ppx files that reference local cubes.
Refer
• "Installation Guide for Series 7 Solution" (ebi_inst.pdf),
chapter 9, "Upgrade PowerPlay Metadata".

You can re-run the PPES Dispatcher tools at any time. If there is any
inconsistency in how the PowerPlay Datasource Connection is
specified, then the "-ppx" option will standardise all PPX documents to
reference the current instance of PPES.
From the sample "Print Settings" report
(cern\ppserver\sample_report.ppx):
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
<Document xmlns="http://www.cognos.com">
<HEAD xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<TITLE>sample_report.ppx</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<PowerPlayReport xmlns="http://www.cognos.com/powerplay/report"
Author="PPWIN" Version="1.2">
<PPDSConnection Cube="Sample Cube" Server="ppes.you.com">
<DataPool>
<Dimension Code="MEASURES" DimIdx="5"/>
<Dimension Code="Years" DimIdx="0"/>
<Dimension Code="Products" DimIdx="1"/>
<PPDSID Code="Years" CatId="7281" DimIdx="0"/>
<PPDSID Code="ProductLineCode" CatId="7427" DimIdx="1"/>
<PPDSID Code="Actual Revenue" CatId="21517" DimIdx="5"/>
</DataPool>
<Filter RefIds="21517"/>
</PPDSConnection>
<ReportSpecification>
more
</PowerPlayReport>
</Document>
Invoke the PPES dispatcher at a command-line, passing it the "-ppx"

parameter, and redirect the output to a log file, then inspect the Logfile
using notepad.
ppserver -ppx > %TEMP%\PPXerrors.txt
notepad TEMP%\PPXerrors.txt
The tool will parse all CFX documents in the PPSRoot folder and
anywhere that has been relocated using "MountAt". For each
document that references a Report (rather than a Cube or Folder or
Collection) it will attempt to open the identified PPX document and
modify the "PPDSConnection" attribute.
Errors you are likely to observe:

• Problem: CFX found but no corresponding PPX.
Resolution: Manually restore the PPX or delete the CFX file.
Consequence: possibly orphaned NewsItem in Upfront
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• Problem: PPX is zero bytes
Resolution: Manually restore the PPX or delete the CFX file.
• Problem: CFX is corrupt
Resolution: Manually restore or delete the CFX and PPX files.
The output will resemble this sample:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * MIGRATION STARTED * * * * * * * * * * *
* * *
4/26/2006 11:59:06 AM
11:59:06 AM> Replacing server name and port in all ppx files with
ppes.you.com
11:59:06 AM> Processing

D:\Apps\Cognos\cer4\bin\../ppserver\PPSRoot\imported_reports/sample_cube/
1dd_29190.ppx ...
11:59:06 AM> ERROR: Cannot open file for reading.
11:59:06 AM> Processing

D:\Apps\Cognos\cer4\bin\../ppserver/sample_report.ppx …
Done.
Successfully updated : 1,233
Failed : 1
Total ppx files processed: 1,234
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * MIGRATION FINISHED * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * *
4/26/2006 11:59:06 AM
In the example above, a CFX file was found for a Report that is based
on the Sample Cube. The corresponding PPX document was not found.
The resolution is to either delete the CFX file too, or to restore the PPX
from a Backup. If the CFX is deleted, then any NewsItem in Upfront
that relates to that Report will become "orphaned" as it no longer has
any corresponding provider.

3.2 Upfront Personal NewsBoxes

Only legitimate Users content should be converted to Cognos 8. When
a User's identity is deleted from the Series 7 Namespace using Access
Manager, any Series 7 content owned by that User is orphaned. The
Personal NewsBox in Upfront remains but is accessible only by a
NewsIndex Administrator.
Start the Series 7 "Upfront Server Administration Tool".
Navigate to the "Reset Personal NewsBoxes" tool on the NewsIndex
menu.
This will repair the Access Control Lists on all Personal Newsboxes, but
is otherwise non-destructive.
Refer
• "Upfront Server Administrator Guide" (upf_sg.pdf),
chapter 5, "Reset Root Personal NewsBox Security".
Navigate to the "User Cleanup" tool on the NewsIndex menu.
If a Personal NewsBox exists for a user who is not found in the

Namespace then it is a candidate for deletion.
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"Preview" will list all Personal Newsboxes which are a candidate for
deletion.
"Cleanup" will delete the candidate NewsBoxes, but only if they are
empty.
For example, if the CEO was replaced, then the reports that are in his
Personal NewsBox would probably be useful to his replacement. A
NewsIndex Administrator must cut&paste the content into his
replacement's Personal NewsBox before the original Personal NewsBox
can be deleted.
Refer
• "Upfront Server Administrator Guide" (upf_sg.pdf),
chapter 4, "Delete Unused Resources from the Data Store".
3.3 Upfront NewsItems

After some time, all Upfront installations appear to contain some
NewsItems that cannot be deleted. These broken NewsItems are the
largest cause of failure when using Deployment Manager.
When attempting to delete a NewsItem, Upfront checks the Provider

Type attribute of the NewsItem. URLs are "Other" and are not
validated. For all other Provider Types, Upfront attempts to locate the
Gateway URL in "cern.csx" so that it can instruct the back-end provider
(eg IWR, PPES) to also delete the related content (eg Retained Output,
PPX).
If the Gateway URL of the NewsItem in Upfront is inconsistent with

those in "cern.csx" then deletion will fail. Repair these NewsItems
using the "Gateway Manager" in Upfront's Administration NewsBox.
Ensure that the New Gateway is a valid Server Group URL in "cern.csx".

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If a Series 7 product was installed and used but subsequently

uninstalled (eg Cognos Query was evaluated), then there may be
orphaned NewsItems which refer to that Provider Type. Alternatively,
the content may have been corrupted or removed from the Provider
(eg a damaged PPX).
Those NewsItems can be located using the Upfront Search tool, and
may be relocated to a NewsBox containing such invalid or
undeleteable NewsItems so that they are obscured from ordinary
Users.

It is necessary to change the Provider Type of these URLs to a type

that won't be validated by Upfront.
1. Determine the unique ID of the NewsItem. It is visible as an
Advanced Property of the NewsItem, or can be discerned from
the "nid" parameter of the NewsItem URL.
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2. [Optional] View the properties of this NewsItem using the URL:
http://localhost/cognos/cgi-bin/upfcgi.exe?xmlcmd=
<DescribeNewsItem>
<Id>bdbe0720d44311da9417ae2d208f5dc6</Id>
</DescribeNewsItem>

3. Use an XMLCMD as a URL to modify the NewsItem to the "Other"

Provider Type:
http://localhost/cognos/cgi-bin/upfcgi.exe?xmlcmd=
<SetNewsItemProperties>
<Id>bdbe0720d44311da9417ae2d208f5dc6</Id>
<ProviderType>Other</ProviderType>
</SetNewsItemProperties>
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The icon and other properties of the NewsItem [above] remain

unchanged. Inspection of the NewsItem Properties will show that it no
longer has a relationship with PowerPlay. URL NewsItems must contain
a non-blank URL as this is the only property that is validated before
Deletion. Upfront does not attempt to connect to the URL, so it can be
any non-blank text.

The NewsItem can now be deleted as normal:
Refer
• "Upfront Developers Guide" (upf_dg.pdf)
Appendix-C, "SetNewsItemProperties".
3.4 Deployment Manager

The process of moving from Series 7 Upfront & PPES to Cognos 8 will
use Deployment Manager to extract content for Upgrade.
It is important to familiarise with Deployment Manager and its
documentation.
Refer
• "Deployment Manager User Guide" (ug_cdm.pdf),
Chapter 3, "Packing".
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Deployment Manager is a Desktop administrative tool that connects
directly to the Upfront Dispatcher. Only content that has been
published to Upfront can be extracted ("Packed") using Deployment
Manager.
The Package Definition File (DMD) contains definitions of what to Pack.

It will be stored in the "cern\packages" directory on the Deployment
Manager desktop. When creating a Package Definition we suggest
naming it according to the name of the Project being extracted
("Omega" in the example above).
As the Package Definition can be reused to export the Package
repeatedly, Cognos suggest naming the generated Package according
to the date it was produced.

In the example above, we are packing the "Omega" project on 25th

April 2006.
A Package contains an XML file (DMP) which identifies all exported

content.
Deployment Manager will then use your selection criteria (Providers,

NewsBoxes) to identify NewsItems to be packed. For each selected
NewsItem, Upfront will connect to the corresponding Content Provider
(PPES). The Content Provider (PPES) will copy that content (PPX) to the
"cer4\packlets\Omega\20050425" directory on the Content Provider
host.
In a distributed deployment architecture, there will be a

"cern\packlets" directory on each host containing the Definition
Subdirectory ("cer4\packlets\Omega"). In the Definition directory there
will be a Package subdirectory ("cer4\packlets\Omega\20060425").
Within that, there will be a subdirectory for each Content Provider on
that host ("cer4\packlets\Omega\20060425\ppes",
"cer4\packlets\Omega\20060425\Upfront"). That is, IWR or PPES
packlets may be stored on different hosts!
Deployment Manager preferences may be altered to ensure that an
HTML Logfile is produced whenever Packing. This Logfile will be
created in the Package location on the Deployment Manager
workstation.
Cognos recommends using Deployment Manager iteratively until the

Logfiles show that the Packing process completes without errors. For
each iteration that fails, the indicated NewsItems in Upfront should be
investigated and usually deleted.
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The process of upgrading to Cognos 8 will require that the Packlets are
all copied from each host to a single location that the "MigrateToC8"
utility can read from.

3.5 Diagram
Diagram shows:
• Deployment Manager connects to Upfront
• Upfront creates its own Packlets (an Upfront PKG file)
• Upfront connects to PPES.
• PPES creates Packlets (CFX, PPX)
• Deployment Manager creates a DMP file and a Log
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4 Familiarise with Cognos 8

4.1 Create Datasources
Ensure the Cognos 8 Report Servers have direct access to the
PowerCube files. PPES is not part of the Cognos 8 solution as the
Cognos 8 "BIBusTKServerMain" Query Processors interact with the
Cube files (MDC) directly.
If the PowerCubes are on a FileServer, then the Cognos 8 Report Server
must run as a Domain Account so that it can access the files using UNC
conventions ("\\fileserver\share\folder\filename.mdc").
Cognos 8 does not currently support Folders of Datasources. All must
be uniquely identified in a flat list. Where Cubes are organised into
Folders in PPES, a suitable corresponding convention would be to prefix
the datasource name with the Folder names delimited by hyphens
(instead of slashes). For example: PPES' "/Finance/This Year" cube
could be represented as "Finance – This Year" datasource in Cognos 8.
The PowerCube datasource has two file paths. The Unix path is used by
any Cognos 8 Report Server running on a Unix platform. This must be a
valid Unix location (possibly using NFS), but may be blank if you are
not using Unix.
Even if deploying Cognos 8 on Unix, a Windows path to the cube must
be specified. Cognos Framework Manager and Cognos Metrics Designer
both perform their own interaction with the Cube outside of the Report
Server. As they are Windows applications, they require a Windows path
to the Cube.
In an unusual heterogeneous deployment with some Report Servers on
Unix and some on Windows, each will use the correspondingly
appropriate datasource path.

Refer
•"Administration and Security Guide" (ug_cra.pdf)
chapter 4, "Cognos Cubes"
Cognos recommends either copying the Cube to a Windows File Server,
or enabling UNC access to the Unix file location using a 3rd-party tool
such as SAMBA.
Where UNC or SAMBA are unacceptable [due to integration difficulties
or security policies], then an interesting alternative is to WebDAV
enable the location of the PowerCubes, and assign a Drive Letter to the
WebDAV location from Windows. This traffic is HTTP rather than SMB
as it is delivered by the WebDAV-enabled WebServer.
Refer http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/mod/mod_dav.html
4.2 Publish Packages

In Cognos 8, related datasources are grouped together into Packages
using Framework Manager. The package is then published to Cognos
Connection where it can be accessed from a Studio.
Framework Manager is generally used to select Tables and Views from
a Database, establish relationships amongst them, and expose these
to a Content Author in a structured manner. This is termed
"Heavyweight Modelling".
Cube datasources are already fully modelled, and their dimensionality
is determined when queries are performed from a Studio. The cube
datasource must still be imported into Framework Manager but no
further modelling is required. This is termed "Lightweight Modelling".
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Even though no modelling is required, Framework Manager must still
resolve the Windows path of the PowerCube datasource. For other
Cube datasources, Framework Manager will connect to that
datasource.
A Star Schema of Relational query subjects is represented as a

"Namespace" within the Package. Each Cube datasource is also
represented as a "Namespace" as it too contains Dimensions and Facts
or Measures.
When importing a Cube datasource, a Package is also created

automatically. A Package may contain several related datasources, and
this is one of the feature benefits of Cognos 8 over Series 7. Report
Studio can then be used to present related data from multiple
datasources together. Such reports can Union data from multiple
Cubes, or contain a Master-Detail relationship between a Cube and a
Database query.
Refer
• "Report Studio User Guide" (ug_cr_rptstd.pdf) "Working with
Dimensional Datasources"
The Upgrade and Migration tools [currently] require that the Package
contains only one Namespace. The Namespace must be named the
same as the Package.
For each Cube Datasource, you must create a corresponding Package

using Framework Manager, and publish it to Cognos Connection.
You may create many Packages using one Framework Model.

During the Upgrade and Migration procedure, you will have to maintain
a mapping file that indicates which Cognos 8 "Package" corresponds to
each Series 7 "PPES Cubename".
Refer
• "Framework Manager User Guide" (ug_fm.pdf)
chapter 3, "Cognos Cubes"
chapter 6, "Create or Modify a Package"
chapter "6, Publish a Package Based on an OLAP Data Source"
4.3 Test the Studios

Now that you have used Framework Manager to publish some Cube
datasources to Cognos Connection, you can familiarise with the Cognos
8 Studios.
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All the Studios are entirely Web-based, and require no desktop
installation.
The Upgrade and Migration tools provide an ability to move PowerPlay
Web Reports to Analysis Studio or Report Studio. During the Upgrade
and Migration process it will be necessary to evaluate which target
Studio is more appropriate for different Users and Reports. In some
cases, it may be worthwhile to redevelop Reports to better utilise the
features of Cognos 8.
• Query Studio is the lightweight in the Studio family, and is

designed for very simple adhoc analysis or reporting. Only a
single SQL or MDX statement can be developed per Query, and
only simple formatting is possible. Query Studio provides similar
capabilities as Series 7 Cognos Query, some PowerPlay Web,
and most Impromptu Client usage. This Studio also works in both
Internet Explorer and the Mozilla-family (Firefox, Netscape)
browsers.
• Analysis Studio is a sophisticated MDX client application.
Multiple Asymmetric Crosstabs may be created that share
Dimensions. This Studio can query only dimensionalised data
(both Cube and Dimensionally Modelled Relational ("DMR")).
Analysis Studio is suited to Analysis of Business Performance by
an advanced User.
• Report Studio is a feature-rich production-reporting tool. This
is intended for use by a smaller audience of specialist Report
Authors. Report Studio is the authoring tool for Managed
Reporting that provides web-based authoring of advanced Series
7 Impromptu-like reports, and sophisticated PowerPlay Client
reports. Additionally, many features of Visualizer are provided
with charts and Maps. Report Studio reports may contain data
presented very richly from a variety of related datasources.
Multiple MDX and SQL queries may be performed to retrieve the
data.
Refer
• "Cognos 8 Getting Started" (wig_cr.pdf), Chapter 1
• "Migration and Upgrade User Guide" (ug_mig.pdf)
4.4 Transformer & CubeSwap

Currently, all Cube design and building continues to be performed
using either Series 7 Transformer or [rebadged] Cognos 8 OLAP
Builder. As at Cognos 8.1, secured PowerCubes use only UserClasses
from the Series 7 Security Model.
Cognos 8 Query Performance benefits from optimisation of the
PowerCubes though. This is default behaviour of the later releases of
Transformer, or can be explicitly invoked as a post-processing step.

Usage: pcoptimizer [-t] [-v] [-h] [file]

-t Test mode: Test if MetaData has been extracted
-v Verbose mode: Output readable text.
-h, Command-line help.
The return code values are:

0 - MetaData is extracted
10 - MetaData is not extracted
20 - Error accessing the Cube, extract failed or invalid parameter
If -t is missing, the MetaData is extracted

If [file] is missing, the file name is prompted for interactively.
If -v is missing, only the return code is set.

You need -v to get readable output.
Refer
• "Troubleshooting Guide" (ug_cr_trbls.pdf)
chapter 5, "Not Yet Optimized Cognos PowerCubes May Open
Slowly in Cognos 8"
Cube Deployment mechanisms require revisiting though. Whereas

PPES has a GUI and a Command-Line tool (often invoked from Batch
scripts) for disabling a Cube while it is replaced, due to architectural
differences Cognos 8 has no equivalent function.
Commonly in a Series 7 environment:
1. Transformer is invoked to build the Cube(s) to a temporary
location
2. "PPADMTOOL" is invoked to Disable/Kill any currently active
PPES Query Processors ("ppdsweb")
3. The existing Cube is renamed or archived in case a rollback is
necessary
4. The new Cube is copied in place.
5. "PPADMTOOL" is invoked to Enable new PPES query activity
against the cube.
In Cognos 8, the cube file may be opened from any number of multi-
threaded "BIBusTKServerMain" Query Processors. There is no facility to
disable a Datasource. It is necessary to:
1. Transformer is invoked to build the Cube to a temporary location
2. Copy the Cube file to a new filename or location beside the
existing cube that may be in use.
3. Invoke the supplied "CubeSwap" script to amend the Datasource
Connection so that it resolves to the new Filename.
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Consequently there are now generations of Cube files to manage.
Also, if a subsequent query is routed to a "BIBusTKServerMain" process
that had resolved the Cube filepath before "CubeSwap" was invoked,
then the query may not necessarily present the new data. Only new
Query Processors will read the new filename from the Content Store
when they start.
Usage: cubeswap
<URL> <dispatcherName> <dataSource> <newCube>
[ <userName> <password> <namespace> ]
Required arguments:
URL - Cognos8 Server URL
eg. "http://<hostname>:9300/p2pd/servlet/dispatch"
dispatcherName - name of dispatcher with services using
the cube that will be updated eg. "http://<hostname>:9300"
dataSource - name of the Data Source that will be
updated with a new cube eg. "Go Data Warehouse"
newCube - the fully qualified name and path for the new cube
eg. "<path>/<cubename.mdc>"
Optional arguments: for use with secured namespace (Anonymous disabled)

userName - username, valid within the namespace, to run the utility
password - password for the given user
nameSpace - namespace for the desired user
Exit Code: 0 – Success

-1 - Invalid command line arguments
-2 - Login Failure
-3 - Operation Failed
• The "URL" parameter identifies a target Dispatcher which the

"CubeSwap" script can interact with to submit a change to the
properties of the dataSource.
• The "dispatcherName" parameter identifies a ReportServer upon
which to test the modified Datasource.
• "dataSource" is the Cognos 8 unique name of the PowerCube
datasource.
• "newCube" is the fully-qualified location of the new PowerCube
file.
• "username", "password" and "nameSpace" are all required if
Cognos 8 disallows Anonymous access. "nameSpace" is the
namespace ID.
As most Cognos clients will transition from PPES to Cognos 8 over an

extended period of time, Cognos suggest placing all Cubes at a
singular location shared by both PPES and Cognos 8.

If PPES and the Cognos 8 ReportServers are running on Windows as a

Domain Account, then they can access the Cube files using UNC
conventions.
A suggested convention:
If all PowerPlay Models and Cubes are organised by {PROJECT}, then
implement the following filesystem hierarchy:
• PPTS – All PowerPlay Transformer content

• {PROJECT} – CFX files used by Load Balancing PPES
Dispatchers which have zero maximum Query Processors
 Models – All Transformer Models for this Project
• {MODEL}.mdl
 Logs – Transformer Logs
• PPES – All PowerPlay Enterprise Server content

• CFXd – CFX files used by Load Balancing PPES Dispatchers
which have zero maximum Query Processors (*.CFX)
• CFXqp – CFX files used by PPES Query Processors to locate
Cube files and to determine maximum concurrent Query
Processors (*.CFX)
• Temp – used by PPES for temporary output created by
"ppdsweb" and "pprp" Query Processors (*.HTM, *.PDF)
• Imported_Reports – All published PPX reports located here
using "MountAt" (*.CFX, *.PPX)
• Cubes – all Cubes organised according to the hierarchy in
PPTS
 {PROJECT} – corresponds with PPTS\
{PROJECT}
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• {MODEL} – corresponds with PPTS\
{PROJECT}\Models\{MODEL}.mdl
o {GENERATION} – an integer
incremented every time a Cube is
deployed at the end of the
Transformer process
 All Cubes created from this
Model in this Generation by
Transformer.
cube.mdc
When Transformer has completed building the cubes for {MODEL} in

{PROJECT}
1. Determine the maximum of {GENERATION} in PPES\Cubes\
{PROJECT}\{MODEL}
2. Create a new Folder PPES\Cubes\{PROJECT}\{MODEL}\
{GENERATION+1}
3. Copy the new Cube(s) into PPES\Cubes\{PROJECT}\{MODEL}\
{GENERATION+1}\cube.mdc
4. Invoke Series 7 "ppadmtool" to:
a. Disable/Kill any currently active PPES Query Processors
("ppdsweb") for the named Cube
b. Amend the "LocalSource" property of the Cube to resolve
to the new filename PPES\Cubes\{PROJECT}\{MODEL}\
c. Enable new PPES query activity against the named cube.
5. Invoke Cognos 8 "CubeSwap" to amend the Datasource to
resolve to the new filename PPES\Cubes\{PROJECT}\{MODEL}\
6. The {GENERATION} cube file may still be in use by a
"BIBusTKServerMain" process. Delete the prior cubes that are no
longer needed: Remove {GENERATION-1} folder and contents.
Refer
• "Administration and Security Guide" (ug_cra.pdf)
section "Update a PowerCube Connection"
• "Enterprise Server Guide" (pes.pdf)
Appendix-B, "The ppadmtool Program"

4.5 Diagram
Diagram shows:
• Transformer retrieving data from DBMS to build cubes locally
• Transformer hosts deploys Cube to
PPES\Cubes\{PROJECT}\{MODEL}\{GENERATION+1}\cube.mdc
on FileServer
• Transformer hosts invoke "ppadmtool" to amend "LocalSource"
connection on PPES host
• Transformer hosts invoke "cubeswap" to amend Datasource
Connection on Cognos 8 host
• PPES Dispatcher ("ppserver") accesses CFX files, Query
Processors ("ppdsweb") access Cubes, Report Processors
("pprp") access PPX reports from FileServer
• Cognos 8 accesses Databases on DBMS host, and also Cubes on
FileServer from "BIBusTKServerMain" Query Processors
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5 The Upgrade Process

5.1 Deployment Manager
The batch migration tools only operate on File Based Series 7 artifacts.
They can operate on a folder of content, or on the Package and
Packlets exported from Series 7 using Deployment Manager. This latter
approach is the only method which will preserve Upfront's structure,
content and security.
Do not try to move large amounts of content in a single monolithic
project.
Aim to move a Series 7 "Project" or a community of Users and their
content. Perhaps just a portion of the Upfront NewsIndex.
Amend the configuration of Series 7 Deployment Manager to ensure

that packages and packlets are written to a consistent location. It is
possible to use a UNC location if the Services of corresponding
Providers (PPES, Upfront Dispatcher) are running as a Domain Account.

Also, Deployment Manager may timeout when interacting with a very

large Upfront NewsIndex. Have patience, and accept the "keep
waiting" dialog prompt.
5.2 MigrateToC8
To migrate or upgrade Series 7 content, two install kits must be
installed:
• The "migs7" install kit, which must be installed into your Series 7
environment (and is only available on Windows); and
•
The appropriate "migdeploy" install kit, which must be installed
into your Cognos 8 environment. This install kit is platform
specific.
These may be downloaded from
http://support.cognos.com/supported/en/support/downloads/cognos8/8.
1.2/license_acceptance.html
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"MigrateToC8" includes features for migrating Impromptu Catalogs and
Reports. This functionality utilises OLE control of Impromptu Client, and
hence this portion of the Upgrade and Migration procedure is available
only on Windows.
Copy the Package and all Packlets from hosts in a Distributed
Architecture to a single Series 7 host where the "migs7" component
has been installed.
Series 7 (R) Migration Utility.

Version: 8.1.800.0
Usage: migratetoc8 [options] <source>... <target>
<source>... Migration source (one or more...).

<target> Target directory.
[options]:
-p The password for the Creator user class in the Impromptu Catalog.
-u The name of the Creator user class in the Impromptu Catalog.
-U The Access Manager User name for namespace.
-P The Access Manager User password for namespace.
-N The Cognos 8 security namespace ID to be used.
-r The Cognos rendition to be used for migration.
For more information about the command options, see

the Migration and upgrade User Guide.
Session terminated successfully.
The Migration Source can be a folder of PowerPlay Reports that have

been saved as PPX, or a Deployment Manager DMP file.
@SETLOCAL
SET PACKAGE=Omega
SET GEN=20060425
SET SOURCE=E:\Data\Cognos\DepMan\packages\%PACKAGE%\%GEN%.dmp
SET TARGET=E:\Data\Cognos\MigrateToC8\%PACKAGE%
MKDIR %TARGET%
CD /D D:\Apps\cognos\cer4\migs7
migratetoc8 -U Administrator -P "" -N Series7 -r cer4 --acl 2

%SOURCE% %TARGET%
REM Indicate when completed ....

TIME /T
@ENDLOCAL

The tool will first extract [or reuse] all Users and UserClass names and
their Series 7 unique identifier "authid" to XML files in the
"cern\migs7\security" folder. These will be used later to construct the
Cognos 8 "CAMid" equivalent.
For each invocation of "MigrateToC8", a timestamped subdirectory is
created at the TARGET location, eg
"20060427T124227.%COMPUTERNAME%.migratetoc8". The packlet
contents are massaged into intermediate XML documents.
A Log file "migratetoc8.xml" is created in the "_LOG" subdirectory. This
should be inspected for errors using a Browser.
Importantly, a file "nameMap.xml" is created in the "_SUPPORT\maps"
folder. This identifies all Series 7 content in the Series 7 Source.
Diagram shows:
• Names and AuthIds extracted from Namespace into XML
documents in "migs7\security" subdirectory.
• Packlets transformed into intermediate XML documents
• A Log written to "_LOG\migratetoc8.xml"
• List of all referenced Series 7 content written to
"_SUPPORT\maps\nameMap.xml"
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40
5.3 Mapping
You likely need to locate and edit "nameMap.xml". This file is used
during the next phase of Upgrade and Migration to reassociate the
upgraded PowerPlay Reports to corresponding Packages in Cognos 8.
This file is recreated by every invocation of "MigrateToC8".
Consider maintaining a Master Copy of this file that is used to replace
the one generated by MigrateToC8 above. This may simplify the effort
required to map many Cubes to their corresponding Packages in
Cognos 8.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<objects>
<package>
<cubeRef>ppes.you.com/Folder/Folder/Cube</cubeRef>
<version>0</version>
<packageName>Folder – Folder - Cube</packageName>
</package>
<package>
<cubeRef>ppes.you.com/HR/Services/Churn</cubeRef>
<packageName>HR – Services - Churn</packageName>
</package>
<package>
<cubeRef>ppes.you.com/Great Outdoors </cubeRef>
<packageName>SAMPLE Great Outdoors PowerCube</packageName>
</package>
</objects>
The "cubeRef" is derived from the "PPDSConnection" in the PPX

Reports.
"PackageName" must be modified to reflect the Packages published
from Framework Manager for each of the Cube Datasources. Note that
[currently] the Namespace (representing the Cube datasource) is not
also identified in the Mapping file, so the Package must contain a
Namespace of the same Name.
Refer
Chapter 5, "Check Package Mapping"

5.4 DeployToC8
"DeployToC8" is used to read the intermediate XML documents above,
combined with the modified "nameMap.xml" and create Cognos 8
Analysis or Report Studio reports.
Access Control Lists from Upfront are converted to CAMid constraints
using the Namespace ID and the Security mappings created by
MigrateToC8 above.
For each intermediate PPX report, "DeployToC8" will determine the
corresponding Cognos 8 Package using "nameMap.xml", then interact
with the Cognos 8 Report Server [using the SOAP API] to determine a
corresponding MDX statement for the selected Dimensional Analysis.
This interaction involves extraction of Metadata (Dimensions, Levels,
Categories) from the Cube by the "BIBusTKServerMain" Query
Processor(s).
You will observe extensive CPU utilisation on the Cognos 8 Report
Server(s) during this phase.
The Cognos 8 content is written to a Cognos 8 Deployment Archive
which can be subsequently imported into Cognos Connection.
The Logfile is copied and extended. It will reveal which features have
not been Upgraded and Migrated successfully, and any other
assumptions made.
Usage:
deploytoc8 [options] <source folder> <target folder>
Options:
-h Print the usage summary (this text).
--user <UserID> The user name to sign on to Cognos 8.
--password <Password> The password to sign on to Cognos 8.
--namespace <NamespaceID> The namespace to sign on to Cognos 8.
-t <interval> Override default time-out for calls to
Cognos 8.
-y <strategy> The strategy for PowerPlay report
migration.
-a Automatically import output into Cognos 8.
The "-y" parameter above is used to determine whether the Reports

will be converted to Analysis Studio (default) or Report Studio. The
valid values are "analysis" or "report".
Refer
Chapter 5, "Deploy the Migration Package"
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42
@SETLOCAL
SET PACKAGE=Omega
SET GEN=20060427T124227.myhostname.migratetoc8
SET STUDIO=analysis
SET SOURCE=E:\Data\Cognos\MigrateToC8\%PACKAGE%\%GEN%
SET TARGET=E:\Data\Cognos\DeployToC8\%PACKAGE%
cd /d D:\Apps\Cognos\c8\migdeploy
call deploytoc8 %SOURCE% %TARGET%

--user Administrator --password "" --namespace Series7
-y %STUDIO%
REM Indicate when completed ....

TIME /T
@ENDLOCAL
Cognos recommends that you try deploying to both Report Studio and
to Analysis Studio to inspect the quality of the results. Some analyses
may be more appropriate in one studio or the other. This can only be
decided by the Acceptance Testing users.
5.5 Evaluate
After you run the deploytoc8 command, the target directory contains
several directories and files:
• "target\_LOG\viewMigrationLog.html"
You can open "viewMigrationLog.html" in a Web browser. This
log file contains information about both the "migratetoc8" and
"deploytoc8" processes. The log file contains details about what
happens during the deployment and links to troubleshooting
topics in the documentation to help you solve any problems.
• "target\deployment\_DEPLOYMENT\"
This directory contains the compressed deployment archive files
(.zip) that you can import into Cognos 8.
Copy the Deployment Archive into the Cognos 8 Content Manager's
"Deployment" location.
Use Content Administration tool to import the Deployment Package.
You must enable the package so that users can access it. By default,
the package is disabled and none of the entries it contains are
accessible in the target environment after deployment. The package is
disabled so that you can test it before you make it available to users.

5.6 Diagram
Diagram shows:
• Intermediate XML and "nameMap.xml" read by "DeployToC8"
• SOAP interaction with Cognos 8 to build Deployment Archive
• Deployment Archive imported into Cognos 8
Cognos Proprietary
Information

Series 7 To Cognos 8 Upgrade

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1.3 Exclusions and Exceptions

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2 Integrate your Environments

Cognos 8 has no ability to update or modify the Series 7 Namespace,

There is no need to make any changes to the LDAP software version.

Do not delete any Users or UserClasses outside of your normal

NB: the Name of the

Cognos Proprietary Information

Cognos recommends installing all gateway components on the same

Some Upfront functionality is not implemented in Cognos 8. For

2.3 Single Signon

Cognos Proprietary Information

Every object visible in the PowerPlay Admin User Interface is

Usage: ppserver [option]

Cognos Proprietary Information

Invoke the PPES dispatcher at a command-line, passing it the "-ppx"

Errors you are likely to observe:

The output will resemble this sample:

11:59:06 AM> Processing

11:59:06 AM> Processing

Successfully updated : 1,233

Total ppx files processed: 1,234

Cognos Proprietary Information

3.2 Upfront Personal NewsBoxes

Navigate to the "User Cleanup" tool on the NewsIndex menu.

If a Personal NewsBox exists for a user who is not found in the

3.3 Upfront NewsItems

When attempting to delete a NewsItem, Upfront checks the Provider

If the Gateway URL of the NewsItem in Upfront is inconsistent with

Cognos Proprietary Information

If a Series 7 product was installed and used but subsequently

Cognos Proprietary Information

It is necessary to change the Provider Type of these URLs to a type

2. [Optional] View the properties of this NewsItem using the URL:

Cognos Proprietary Information

3. Use an XMLCMD as a URL to modify the NewsItem to the "Other"

The icon and other properties of the NewsItem [above] remain

Cognos Proprietary Information

The NewsItem can now be deleted as normal:

3.4 Deployment Manager

The Package Definition File (DMD) contains definitions of what to Pack.

Cognos Proprietary Information

In the example above, we are packing the "Omega" project on 25th

A Package contains an XML file (DMP) which identifies all exported

Deployment Manager will then use your selection criteria (Providers,

In a distributed deployment architecture, there will be a

Cognos recommends using Deployment Manager iteratively until the

Cognos Proprietary Information

4 Familiarise with Cognos 8

Cognos Proprietary Information

4.2 Publish Packages

A Star Schema of Relational query subjects is represented as a

When importing a Cube datasource, a Package is also created

For each Cube Datasource, you must create a corresponding Package

Cognos Proprietary Information