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Cognos 8 and UNIX tips

If Cognos 8 is installed on a Windows platform, you can install the modeling tools on the same computer. If Cognos 8 is installed on a UNIX or Linux platform, you must install the Windows-based modeling tools on a separate computer that runs under Windows.

When creating reports, you must select fonts that your Cognos server or users have installed.  Microsoft delivers a broad selection of fonts with different language packs, so this will likely not be an issue in Windows. However, UNIX servers rarely have fonts installed. You should be prepared to purchase and install the fonts you need on both the server and browser clients.

When generating a PDF, Cognos 8 embeds only the glyphs that are used in the report.  If you plan to use different fonts, you must license and install those fonts on each server computer in your authoring environment and production system. You must also ensure that the fonts used in the authoring environment match the fonts used on your Windows and UNIX server computers.

The console attached to the UNIX or Linux computer on which you are installing Cognos 8 may not support a Java-based graphical user interface. You must

manually change default configuration settings by editing the cogstartup.xml file, located in the c8_location
/configuration directory

manually change language or currency support, or locale mapping by editing the coglocale.xml file, located in the c8_location
/configuration directory

apply the configuration and the locale settings to your computer by running Cognos Configuration in silent mode

For all installations, some configuration tasks are required so that Cognos 8 works in your environment. If you distribute Cognos 8 components across several computers, the order in which you configure and start the computers is important.

Other configuration tasks are optional and depend on your reporting environment. You can change the default behavior of Cognos 8 by editing the cogstartup.xml file to change property values. You can also use sample files that enable Cognos 8 to use resources that already exist in your environment.