Mixed 7.1 & 7.3 PPES & Upfront on a single server

[drlex]

Due to issues with impromptu 7.3, we're currently running both 7.1 and 7.3 on our single server; Transformer is on 7.3, whilst PPES, Upfront and Impromptu are 7.1.

I'd very much like to take advantage of the enhancements in 7.3 PPES, but wish to have it running and configured prior to removing 7.1.

I've installed 7.3 and changed port numbers so that all the cer3 and cer4 services are running with permanence. I have also set up a virtual directory ("cognosv3") to allow both to run simultaneously. The Gateway URL paths of the servers has also been set correctly in server configuration in config manager, and the web alias in the upfront gateway.

Whilst I can browse to ppdscgi.exe and confirm that it is running ok (TOC shows and sample cube opens), I cannot neither browse to upfront (Error message in browser window: "The specified CGI application misbehaved by not returning a complete set of HTTP headers. The headers it did return are:"), nor connect to PPES via server admin (Error message: "The PPES is incompatible with the administration tool, please upgrade the server).

Both these messages suggest that, despite the web address change, the server is starting up 7.1 versions of upfront or PPES.

What am I missing in the configuration process or is it in reality impossible to run two versions at the same time on the same server?

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[scottsdale2k]

A small suggestion. It is worth trying. Before you can start testing both version together try just running 7.3 and have all the 7.1 service stopped and startup type set to manual. This will help to trouble shoot the problem much better.

 

[drlex]

Thanks Scottsdale2k for your suggestion. I tried it out of operational hours, but had the same problem. I can, however, connect to PPES via server administration by adding the new ver3 port number to the server name.
My reseller has opened a case with Cognos regarding this, so should I get useful feedback, I'll post here.
In the meantime, all suggestions welcome.

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[winkid1]

Did you run copy the ppsroot directory from 7.1 to 7.3 and then run the ppserver utility with the upgrade command? Just to clarify, you still have the cognos alias pointing to the cer3 directory and cognosv3 alias pointing to the cer4 directory, and then in Configuration manager you went to the server configuration tab and have the cognosv3 in the url for the gateways? If that's all good, then I don't know what to tell you.

Good luck.

 

[drlex]

winkid1, thanks for the response.

I haven't yet run the upgrade command, as I wanted to be able to prove it was working prior to loading the existing items into Upfront. AFAIK, upfront should be relying on Access Manager to validate the user and the existence of the default settings in the Upfront directory/data store shouldn't prevent it working.

Configuration Manager 7.3 has been set so that cognosv3 is the url for the gateway and all port numbers have been set to +500 from default so as to avoid conflict with those set in Configuration Manager 7.1 (wherein cognos is set as gateway url).

I suspect it might be due to the dispatcher name (the server name) being the same in both server configuration tabs. However, if this were true, one could never run two versions of Upfront from one computer, which isn't what Cognos claim can be set up and runs counter to the purpose of changing port numbers. (Both PPES versions are running concurrently)

As a test, I may see if I can load Upfront (in default configuration) on another machine and set it to point back to PPES on the server.

lex





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