How to set up IBM Cognos Analytics

Atlan supports the following authentication methods for fetching metadata from IBM Cognos Analytics:

• Basic authentication — this method uses a username and password to fetch metadata.
• API authentication — this method uses a username and an API key to fetch metadata.

Create user in IBM Cognos Analytics

To create a new user for crawling IBM Cognos Analytics:

1. Log in to your IBM Cognos Analytics instance.
2. Expand the left menu of your homepage and then click Manage.
3. From the corresponding menu, click People and then click Accounts.
4. In Accounts, under Namespaces, select your Cognos namespace to open it.
5. From the upper right of your namespace page, click the new user icon to add a new user to the selected namespace.
6. In the New user form, enter the following details:
   1. For Given name, enter a meaningful name for the new user.
   2. For User ID, create a username for the new user.
   3. For Password, create a password for the username.
   4. For Email, you can leave this blank.
   5. Click OK to save your configuration. The new user you created will be added to the list of entries in your namespace.

(Optional) Create an API key

You can also use API authentication for integrating with Atlan. In addition to the username for the new user created above, you will need an API key for authenticating the connection.

To create an API key for crawling IBM Cognos Analytics:

1. Log in to your IBM Cognos Analytics instance as the new user created above.
2. In the top right of your homepage, click the personal menu icon and then click Profile and settings.
3. In the Profile and settings tab, under Advanced options, next to My API keys, click Manage.
4. From the upper right of the My API keys page, click the Generate API key button.
5. In the Generate API key dialog, enter the following details:
   1. For Name, enter a meaningful name for the API key.
   2. (Optional) For Description, enter a brief description.
   3. Click Next to proceed.
   4. Once the encrypted key has appeared on the screen, copy and store the value in a secure location.
      🚨 Careful! IBM Cognos Analytics does not store the API key, you must copy and save it.

   5. Click Done. Your new API key will appear in the list of keys on the My API keys page.

If you experience any functionality issues with the newly created API key, you can renew your credentials. Navigate to the Profile and settings menu, and then next to the Credentials option, click the Renew button to refresh your credentials.

Add user to a Cognos role

To add the new user to the Cognos Reader role:

1. Log in to your IBM Cognos Analytics instance.
2. Expand the left menu of your homepage and then click Manage.
3. From the corresponding menu, click Administration console.
4. From the tabs along the top of the IBM Cognos Administration page, click Security.
5. In the Security tab, select the Cognos namespace.
6. From the list of standard roles, navigate to Readers. In the Actions column for Readers, click More. This role allows read-only access to IBM Cognos Analytics, refer to the standard roles documentation to learn more.
7. In the Perform an action - Readers screen, under Available actions, click Set members.
8. In the Members tab, click Add to add a new entry to the list.
9. In the Select entries (Navigate) - Readers screen, from the Available entries, select the namespace where you created the new user.
10. In the corresponding screen, under Directory, click the Show users in the list checkbox and then select the new user you created.
11. Click the right-arrow button, and when the entry you want appears in the Selected entries box, click OK.

Set permissions

All entries such as folders, reports, modules, and more already have the Readers role assigned to them by default. You will only need to set permissions for the new user to data server connections.

To set access permissions for the new user to Cognos entries:

1. Log in to your IBM Cognos Analytics instance.
2. Expand the left menu of your homepage and then click Data server connections.
3. On the Data server connections page, to set permissions for each data server connection, click the vertical 3-dot icon and then click Properties.
4. From the tabs along the top of the Properties page, click the Permissions tab.
5. In the upper right of the Permissions page, click the + icon to add a new member.
6. In the Add member form, select the Cognos namespace and then search for and select the Readers role.
7. Click Add.
8. Once you have added the role, click Save to save your configuration.

Find namespace

You will need the name of your namespace where you created the new user for authenticating the connection in Atlan. There are several ways to find the name of your namespace, here is one such method.

To find the namespace details where you created the new user:

1. Log in to your IBM Cognos Analytics instance.
2. Expand the left menu of your homepage and then click Manage.
3. From the corresponding menu, click Administration console.
4. From the tabs along the top of the IBM Cognos Administration page, click Security.
5. In the Security tab, select the namespace where you created the new user. Ensure that the new user is listed in the selected namespace.
6. From the top right of your namespace page, click the Set properties chart icon.
7. In the Set properties (namespace) page, next to Location, click the View the search path, ID and URL link.
8. In the View the search path, ID and URL form, under Search path, next to CAMID, the name of your namespace will be enclosed within brackets — for example, CAMID(<YOUR NAMESPACE NAME>). Copy the value for <YOUR NAMESPACE NAME> and store it in a secure location.