Integrated Deployment Manager

General Configuration

Integrated Deployment Manager provides Administrators with the ability to deploy objects in bulk to a target IBM Cognos Analytics environment directly from within the ICS slide-out.  Administrators can deploy a variety of objects, including Packages, Folders, Reports, Jobs and URLs.  When coupled with Integrated Version Control^TM, Administrators can opt to allow Authors to tag objects such as reports onto the deployment project.  This integration provides collaboration between Authors and Administrators so that as work is completed, it can be queued for deployment.

Managing Deployment Projects

The Deployment Project page provides a listing of all deployment projects. From this screen, users can create new deployment projects, edit existing projects, copy existing projects, run deployments, view run history and delete deployment projects.  Projects can only be deleted if the run history is empty.   Select the Deployment option on the ICS slide-out to open Deployment management.

Edit Project Details – General

The administrator can enter the Name, Description, Target server, Login type and Tagging option for the Deployment Project, on the General tab.  The name field will be displayed in several UI elements that are available to the Authors if the project is designated for tagging.  The user can select the deployment target server from the Server dropdown list.  IBM Cognos Analytics environments can be added to this list by supplying them on the Configuration tab in Administration in the Target Servers table. Choose the Login type option to deploy credentials if the user wants to be able to deploy this project on behalf of another user, or to streamline the deployment process. If storing credentials is not desired, then choose the option to Prompt for Credentials.  In order to select Deploy Credentials you will need to set up Deploy Credentials on the Configuration tab in the Administration view in the Deploy Credentials table.

When the deployment project is run, a dialog will appear asking the user to enter a Namespace, Username and Password.  The Automatic Logon option will display the Standard IBM Cognos Analytics Logon for the target server. If a single sign-on is in place the logon window will disappear quickly.  Use of this option requires that ICS, or the ICS deployment extension, is installed on the target server and the cookie path settings are such that both IBM Cognos Analytics environments can display in the same browser session simultaneously.

For more information about running multiple IBM Cognos instances in the same browser session and regarding the IBM Cognos error “CAM-AAA-0203 Unable to generate or validate a userSessionID” see the following link: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21343190

Edit Project Details - Properties

When deploying objects, there are several properties that are required during deployment, such-as the specification of a report or the target for a URL.

The Include Security property dictates the security policies set on the object.  If security is mirrored across environments, then it is expected that this property be enabled.  However, if security is different across environments, then this option must be disabled.

The tracking information section provides details about the tracking ID and commentary to be used when deploying artifacts.  If the target environment is running Integrated Version Control^TM, then objects such as reports will spike a version with commentary supplied during the deployment.  The user has the option of copying the tracking ID from the latest or specified version of each individual report being deployed or supplying a single tracking ID to be used on all reports.  The user can also provide commentary to be applied to each version that is spiked.

If the option “Copy version comments when deploying” is enabled, then the comments from the latest or specified version that is being deployed will be copied after any supplied commentary.  If the “Override current change control #” option is selected, then the individual tracking ID for the version will be copied along with any supplied version comments.  This will help maintain an audit trail of tracking IDs that correspond to work to be performed and work to be deployed.

Edit Project – Selected Objects

The selected objects tab provides a simple interface for adding objects to the deployment project.  The user can drag objects from the tree on the right onto the grid using drag and drop. Note that objects supplied on this tab will deploy the latest version selected in the version column of the table

Run History

The Run History table lists each time the deployment project was executed and the status of the run. The run details can be reviewed in the user interface by selecting the View Details option.  A deployment run can also be canceled while it is in a “Deploying…” state.  Once the deployment is complete it will display a status of Success, Warnings or Failure.  Review the Run History Details in the event of Warnings or Failure. 

Warnings generally mean that the objects were deployed but certain properties had to be removed to achieve a successful deployment.  Some properties are safe to remove, however other properties will cause the object to not work properly.

Failures indicate that some or all of the objects did not deploy to the target environment. Review and correct the errors and then re-run the deployment history. Deployment history can be re-run as it represents the selection of objects and possibly specific report versions at the time of original deployment whereas the current selection and tagged objects on the deployment project may have changed. The deployment history can also be deleted.

Run Details

The Run Details table lists the Name, Location, Status and diagnostic details regarding each object that was deployed.  If an object name is followed by a # and a number, such-as “#7”, then this indicates a specific version of the object that was deployed.  In the event that the status for an object is Warning or Failure, diagnostic information will be supplied beneath the object entry.