Unable to start Cognos8 service

[cognos_nuser]

Hi,
I dropped all the cognos tables accidently from the Oracle 9i database and have not been able to start the Cognos 8 service since then.
I get the following error message:

Start Service]
1. 15:26:41, 'LogService', 'StartService', 'Success'.
2. 15:26:48, 'ContentManager', 'getActiveContentManager', 'Failure'.
DPR-CMI-4006 Unable to determine the active Content Manager. Will retry periodically.
3. 15:26:48, 'com.cognos.pogo.contentmanager.coordinator.ActiveCMControl', 'pogo', 'Failure'.
DPR-DPR-1035 Dispatcher detected an error.

4. 15:26:48, CM-CFG-5063 A Content Manager configuration error was detected while connecting to the content store.
CM-CFG-5063 A Content Manager configuration error was detected while connecting to the content store.
CM-CFG-5137 Content Manager was unable to complete the initialization of the content store. For more information, review the log file. Before you restart Content Manager, you may need to recreate the content store database or clean it using dbClean_*.sql.
5. 15:27:12, 'CPS Producer Registration Service', 'StopService', 'Success'.
6. 15:27:12, 'CPS Producer Registration Service', 'StopService', 'Success'.
7. 15:27:12, 'ContentManagerService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
8. 15:27:12, 'ContentManagerService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
9. 15:27:13, 'MonitorService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
10. 15:27:13, 'MonitorService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
11. 15:27:13, 'DeliveryService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
12. 15:27:13, 'DeliveryService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
13. 15:27:13, 'SystemService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
14. 15:27:13, 'SystemService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
15. 15:27:13, 'com.cognos.pogo.services.DefaultHandlerService', 'pogo', 'Failure'.
DPR-DPR-1035 Dispatcher detected an error.

16. 15:27:13, 'com.cognos.pogo.services.DefaultHandlerService', 'pogo', 'Failure'.
DPR-DPR-1035 Dispatcher detected an error.

17. 15:27:13, 'BatchReportService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
18. 15:27:13, 'BatchReportService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
19. 15:27:13, 'JobService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
20. 15:27:13, 'JobService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
21. 15:27:13, 'ReportService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
22. 15:27:13, 'ReportService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
23. 15:27:13, 'ReportDataService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
24. 15:27:13, 'ReportDataService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
25. 15:27:13, 'EventService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
26. 15:27:13, 'EventService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
27. 15:27:13, 'LogService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
28. 15:27:13, 'LogService', 'StopService', 'Success'.
29. [ ERROR ] CFG-ERR-0103 Unable to start Cognos 8 service.
Execution of the external process returns an error code value of '-1'.


-----------------------------

Can anyone advise me how to resolve this? How can I create all the required tables and get cognos8 to start the service?

[CognosPolzovatel]

Ouch... it sounds like you may need to re-install (re-setup) your Cognos instance? However, I myself have never ran into such an issue before. If you have a login for the Cognos Support Site, I definitely advise that you open a request there. They should be able to assist you in working out this issue.

[kmuller]

You could also try creating a new content store d/b and then point your config to that new database.

[RudiHendrix]

I've had this issue as well today. In the end I solved it. Not by reinstalling the software, but just by checking the Authentication. After testing that an error popped up.
In my case deleting the user name entry that was currently there was sufficient and it solved my problem. Obviously, if you want to try something like that you need to be sure to have the password that goes with the user name. (So you can restore it in case it doesn't work for you.)

I thought it would be nice to mention that other solutions than re-installing the software are possible.

[Galaxy]

I've had this issue as well today. In the end I solved it. Not by reinstalling the software, but just by checking the Authentication. After testing that an error popped up.
In my case deleting the user name entry that was currently there was sufficient and it solved my problem. Obviously, if you want to try something like that you need to be sure to have the password that goes with the user name. (So you can restore it in case it doesn't work for you.)

I thought it would be nice to mention that other solutions than re-installing the software are possible.

I have this error with Cognos 10.    Looks like you did resolve this error by checking the Authentication.  Can you please put more details on Authentication check and deleting the user name ?

- Thanks

[RudiHendrix]

I think what I did (this has been a while...) is right click on "Authentication" under security and click "Test".

For the user name password I think it was the one for the Active Directory. But I am not sure anymore.

If I read it now sounds more logical to be the user name and password of the Content Manager.

[Rutulian]

Hi cognos_nuser,

Sounds like you have a content store in an inconsistent state - the error message holds the key to your solution.  If you drop then recreate your the Cognos schema, not just the tables within, that should reinitialise everything, or alternatively the cleanup script referenced in the error message should scrub things down in a way that Cognos can reinitialise cleanly.  If you use the script you'll need to plug in a few things like username and pw, but it should be fairly straightforward.   I haven't got access to a server to check the exact location of those .sql scripts ATM, but if you search on your cognos installation directory on the CM server for dbClean_*.sql you'll find it.

Alternatively, if there was anything you wanted to keep, restore from historical DB backups - I'm guessing that's not an option here.

Regards,
Alexis