Cognos tools running Localing on Windows 2003 Server being prompted for Domain

[MMcBride]

We can access our tools remotely without an issue

however if I attempt to launch IE on the server to connect to Cognos I am prompted for Domain information

When I try to run Transformer or Framework Manager on the server we are prompted for domain information as well.

Normally this is perfectly fine, simply enter your domain info and continue - however when trying to schedule Transformer Cubes based on Packages instead of IQD's you are also prompted for domain information which causes the schedules to abend.

I have tried putting the server name and alias into the Local Intranet sites of IE - this removes the prompt but returns a Internal Server 500 error in IE and the following error when trying to connect with Framework Manager or Transformer

Unable to access service at URL:

http://cognosdev:80/cognos8/cgi-bin/cognos.cgi?b_action=xts.run&m=portal/close.xts

Please check that your gateway URI information is configured correctly and that the service is available.

The gateway is configured correctly because we can access to tools remotely without an issue.

if I remove the server name from Local Intranet and place it into the "Trusted Sites" location we are prompted for Domain information.

I have tried changing the "User Authentication" within IE from the default "Automaticaly Logon only in Intranet zone" to "Automatic logon with current username and password" and once again I am recieving the internal server error 500 and the "unable to connect to the Gateway"

I am not sure if my Cognos Configuration does not support connecting locally or if there is some weird security setting on the Windows 2003 Server that I do not know about that is causing this issue...

But the end result is we are forced to use IQD files to build cubes because these do not "authenticate" when they are scheduled the way a Package cube does...

Has anyone seen anything like this before or have any recommendations that I can try to resolve this?

[cognostechie]

That's because your configuration is missing the full information.

The gateway should be qualified with domain name too.

Ex: http://cognosdev.companyname.com:80/cognos8/cgi-bin/cognos.cgi

The companyname.com can be the domain name.

[SomeClown]

sometimes you also need the FQDN (fully qualifed domain name) in the browser's address bar will avoid the 500 (or prompt) in IE.
so  http://cognosdev.company.com/cognos8

I think it ties to how the traffic/name resolution forces the traffic when referencing the local server.  That's just an unproven, ill-formed opinion: I've never run across any explanation for the cause

[MMcBride]

I have tried both FQDN in the Cognos Config and without it - no Change - it works fine for all normal activities but I still get prompted for domain information when launching transformer and a cube that uses a Package Data Source.

Same with the Browser window from the server - using the FQDN does not resolve the issue.

Thank you for the suggestions but neither one of them had any impact on this issue.

For my issue Any desktop or even another server can connect and run what ever tools perfectly fine, the only issue is when I try to run the tools locally on the server itself, for example Scheduling a Package Based Cube to run.

[cognostechie]

Open that package in Report Studio and make a report (on the same server ofcourse). Does it still prompt you for the domain name? 

[MMcBride]

When I connect to Cognos Connections from the server I am prompted for my Domain information. Opening Report Studio once I am logged in it does not prompt me again. But at this point the IE Session already has my Domain information loaded.

Connecting IE to my intranet (not Cognos) I was also prompted for Domain information, however we can add my Intranet address into the settings and it takes care of this. Adding the cognos address into the Intranet security settings removes the Domain Prompt but at this point forces the 500 Internal Server error I mentioned.

This is why my Server Administrator tells me this is a Cognos problem not a server problem, and I simply don't know enough about the issue to counter him.

My current solution...
Continue to enter in the domain information when using FM and Transformer and set up a process that says all cubes must continue to use IQD files so that they can be scheduled.

I can repeat this issue on all three Cognos servers I have in house today, including my version 10.1 server. We are currently looking at moving Cognos off of Windows on to AIX, we would leave the Transformer and FM on the windows server so our remote teams can use them without being forced to load Transformer on Citrix. This should resolve the problem because the servers will no longer be "talking to themselves"

I feel stronly this is some security setting set on the Windows server that the Cognos tools are bumping up against because all of these Cognos tools are Browser based essentially but since I am not familiar with Administering Windows 2003 I don't have a solution.

Another alternative I have (Which is tested and works fine) is to set up Transformer to run from Desktop and schedule the cube refresh from the desktop - this works perfectly fine but unfortunately our desktops fairly weak so the cube refresh time takes alot longer.