Troubleshooting the WebSphere® Application Server hosting Cognos

If you encounter problems when you deploy or configure the WebSphere® Application Server hosting the HCL Cognos server, use this information to help resolve the problem.

WAS problems and solutions

Table 1 lists problems you might encounter with WebSphere® Application Server and suggests solutions.

Table 1. Potential problems with the WebSphere® Application Server hosting Cognos® Business Intelligence and suggested solutions

Column 1 describes problems that you might encounter with WebSphere® Application Server, and column 2 suggests how you can resolve them.

Problem Solution

You need to stop (or restart) WebSphere® Application Server.

Whenever you need to stop (or restart) WebSphere® Application Server, wait at least 1 full minute before you start it again to ensure that all Cognos® processes hosted on that server are fully stopped:
  • HCL AIX® or Linux: cgsServer.sh and CAM_LPSvrprocesses
  • Microsoft Windows: cgsLauncher.exe and CAM_LPSvrprocesses

The task to federate the Cognos node to the Deployment Manager failed with a SOAP Connecter exception because the specified host and port might not be reached:

Cannot create a SOAP connector to connect to host servername at port xxx.

This problem indicates that the server that hosts the Deployment Manager was not available during the federation task. Resolve this issue with the following steps:

  1. Verify that the Deployment Manager is running.
  2. Verify that you used the correct port for the Deployment Manager's SOAP Connecter in the addNode command. You can check the SOAP Connector port setting in the following file:/opt/IBM/Websphere/AppServer/profiles/Dmgr01/logs/AboutThisProfile.txt
  3. Verify that both servers either are registered in the DNS or are specified in each other's /etc/hosts file. On Linux, make sure that the specified host name is currently in effect on the Deployment Manager.
  4. Federate the Cognos node.

The following exception appears in the WebSphere® server log, called SystemOut.log:

com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp logServletError SRVE0293E: [Servlet Error]-[CMServlet]: java.security.AccessControlException: Access denied (java.lang.RuntimePermission createClassLoader)
This message indicates a security issue where user verification fails. You can resolve this problem by disabling Java 2 security on the Deployment Manager with the following steps:
  1. Log in to the Integrated Solutions Console as the WebSphere® administrator.
  2. Click Security > Global Security.
  3. Look under "Java 2 security" and clear the selection for Use Java 2 security to restrict application access to local resources.
  4. Click Apply, and then click OK.
  5. Save the change to the master configuration by clicking Save in the "Messages" box.

The following exception appears in the WebSphere® server log, called SystemOut.log:

Cannot parse URL java.net.MalformedURLException: no protocol

Check the cogroot.link value to see whether it matches the Cognos® BI Server installation path. If the installed path is different (for example, you moved the files or renamed the directory), you can update the Cognos® BI application file to reference the correct path. For instructions, see Manually changing the installation directory name affects installations running under an application server in the Cognos® knowledge center.

The following exception appears in the WebSphere® server log, called SystemOut.log:

java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: JCAM_Crypto_JNI (Not found in java.library.path)

Check the JVM environment variables to verify that they correctly specify the locations of the Java virtual machine (JVM) environment and the library path. If the variables are incorrect, you can set them. For instructions, see Set environment variables in the Cognos® knowlegde center.

The following exception appears in the WebSphere® server log, called SystemOut.log:

A WebGroup/Virtual Host to handle p2pd/servlet/gc has not been defined.

Check the virtual host settings on the Deployment Manager and verify that the Cognos® server port is included. For more information and a workaround, see the following technote: SRVE0255E: A WebGroup/Virtual Host to handle /p2pd/servlet/dispatch has not been defined.

On Linux, the Cognos WebSphere Application Server server stops quickly after it starts.

Detail: Check the SystemOut log file /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/AppSrv01/logs/cognos_server/SystemOut.log errors and stops.
WSVR0103E: An error occurred destroying com.ibm.ws.webservices.admin.component.WebServicesAdminComponentImpl@5fd85fd8java.lang.IllegalStateException: The service has been unregistered

Add this variable to JVM environment variable

  1. Log in to the WebSphere Application Server administrative console of the Cognos server.
  2. Click Servers > Server Types > WebSphere application servers.
  3. Click the cognos_server link.
  4. Click JAVA and then Process Management- > Process definition > Environment Entries.
  5. Click New to add the following entry:
    LD_PRELOAD = /usr/lib64/libfreebl3.so