CGI script not found or not specified - just after installation

[wojpik1979]

hello
can someone please help me with following problem, I am stucked for last 2 days :(, and I think this can be interested case for Cognos masters :)

I have Cognos 8.3 installed on Windows XP - just regular installation with its Tomcat and Content Database Provided

1.After installing I have configured server.xml for my Virtual folders to point to
<Context path="/cognos8" docBase="C:/Program Files/cognos/c8/webcontent"> </Context>
<Context path="/cognos8/cgi-bin" docBase="C:/Program Files/cognos/c8/cgi-bin"> </Context>

2.After this, when running http://localhost:9300/cognos8/index.html
I was redirected (as per index.html content) to http://localhost:9300/cognos8/cgi-bin/cognos.cgi?b_action=xts.run&m=portal/main.xts&startwel=yes, but instead of script being run - I was prompted to download cognos.cgi

3. So I typed following entries in web.xml
<servlet>
        <servlet-name>cgi</servlet-name>
        <servlet-class>org.apache.catalina.servlets.CGIServlet</servlet-class>
        <init-param>
          <param-name>clientInputTimeout</param-name>
          <param-value>100</param-value>
        </init-param>
        <init-param>
          <param-name>debug</param-name>
          <param-value>6</param-value>
        </init-param>

and mapping
<servlet-mapping>
      <servlet-name>cgi</servlet-name>
       <url-pattern>*.cgi</url-pattern>   
    </servlet-mapping> 

and renamed appropriate jar file

But now,after being redirected  I am getting long error like "CGI script not found or not specified. Check the HttpServletRequest pathInfo property to see if it is what you meant it to be" .... ..... ....

where, as I can see, my PathInfo  is null.

I really dont know what to do next since I havent seen anyone experiencing such problem
I can also add that all ways to verify if installation was ok are not working for me (of course Cognos8 is up)
Neither localhost:9300/p2pd/servlet nor http://localhost:9300/cognos8/isapi  and so on ...

I will really really appreciate any help with this
best regards
Wojtek

[ducthcogtechie]

Is there any specific reason why you don't want to use a regular webserver for this, but to use the built in tomcat one?

[wojpik1979]

actuall there are 2
1) it was laready there so I was sure that it would fit the best and work without problem
2) I dont have other except of IIS ,but always heard that Tomcat is better that this one
And what is more important - is that Tomcat's fault? I rather was not trying to find the reason of the problem by chaning web platform itself

Are there are any reason for not using default Tomcat instance?

[smiley]

Cognos 8 BI comes with a Tomcat application server, which happens to have a built in webserver.
The cognos servers communicate with each other via this channel.
It's not really optimised for regular webserver usage, nor endorced by Cognos.
If you look at the supported webserver list:
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=3442&uid=swg27013941#webservers
You will not find the Tomcat Webserver in it.

Cognos 8 BI relies on a third party webserver to display the pages.

[wojpik1979]

thank you for your answers
I am not to familiar with web servers, and their configurations, so maybe my question will be kind of silly ,but

when connecting via 9300 (dispatcher or p2pd) - am I not using pure application server? not being depent on Web Server I use? So why does it not work anyway ?:( maybe problem is below Web Server

And one more thing,maybe related to all this thread - why don't configuration changes being made in Cognos Configuration module overwrite/modify server.xml Tomcat file?
Shouldnt it work this way, that doing changes there and restarting makes Tomcat with new configuration to be run?

[smiley]

When you connect against the servlet (the 9300 thingy) the tomcat logic should present you with the full Cognos Connection functionality, other then the images.
So it he connection allready failes there, your bases are indeed not correct.

Changes in Cognos configuration are written to cogstartup_timestamp.xml, not server.xml

take the easy road out:
- uninstall what you have
- clean up the installed directory you used.
- install Cognos 8 again
- Install either IIS or apache and set the 2 virtual directories.

[wojpik1979]

now I am really confused :(
I am pretty sure that there is sth wrong with modification I perform in configs

Cognos Configuration (restart) does not start Tomcat automatically (I checked via netstat),
When I start it manually (startup) it uses server.xml - so does not see what the changes were being done via Cognos Configuration ... - this is what I dont understand :
1)how does Tomcat use cogstartup.xml ? (besides these files do not look like having Tomcat server configuration directives)
2)where "context" directives (virtual directories - I thought it is more or less the same) should be placed? they are now in server.xml in my case, but I start doubting that I set it up properly
thank you in advance

[ducthcogtechie]

If your C8 service (tomcat) does not start at all, you have whole other issues.

Do you get a java.exe listed in taskmanager when you try to start the C8 service?
Do you get a cogserver.log generated in the C:\Program Files\Cognos\c8\logs directory when starting the service?

When starting the service, does the detail button in the floating window tell you anything that's wrong?

[wojpik1979]

hello
situation looked following way :

- restarting services (Cognos Conf) gives no errors (1 warning - email server)
- services were up ,but no listenieng was present, neither java.exe running
But I notcied error in server.xml (although no error was thrown when starting up:( )and already fixed that thus dispatcher is already working :D

So now WebServwer is only issue left - I will try to install IIS (as per Smiley advice) and will come back to you when still have problem
Thank you very much for your advices

ps) I still dont know relation between configuring in Cognos Configuration and Tomcat re-running - what way does it use cogstartup? does it use it together with server.xml ??? Is restarting via Cognos Config required to have changes applied? regular shutdown/startup will not take changes into concideration?

[smiley]

In taskmanager check tht you see ALL processes, and not just your own.
The java.exe has to be running, as that IS your cognos 8 BI.

If you want to doublecheck if C8 has started fully, just put the following 2 url's in your browser:

http://servername:9300/p2pd/servlet/dispatch (shows a running dispatcher by diisplaying an ugly cognos connection)
http://servername:9300/p2pd/servlet (shows a running content manager by displaying a status page)

If they both look good, all you neeed to do in IIS is create the 2 virtual directories, and you're up and running.

Forget about the server.xml
The C8 service startup uses the cogstartup.xml template to create cogstartup_timestamp.xml to boot from.
After every change in Cognos configuration, you will get a new cogstartup_timestamp.xml

Using Cognos configuration to restart the service is exactly the same as the NT service restart. (just more verbose to issues)
Only changes to the configuration have to be saved in Cognos Configuration first.

[wojpik1979]

hello
I really appreciate all of yor help and advices. I finally found some time to install and configure  IIS and everything is working fine now.

This thread may be closed, but I dont know how to do that....
Thank you once again