Microsoft SQL Server Data Sources

IBM® Cognos® software supports the following types of Microsoft SQL Server data sources: ODBC, OLE DB, SQL 2005 Native Client, SQL 2008 Native Client, SQL 2012 Native Client and SQL 2014 Native Client.

Depending on the types of Microsoft SQL Server data sources you are using, there are considerations you should keep in mind when defining some types of authentication.

Authentication Using IBM Cognos Service Credentials

When connecting to Microsoft SQL Server using OLE DB, you can select IBM Cognos software service credentials as the signon type for the data source connection. This property instructs IBM Cognos software to log on to the SQL Server database using the logon specified for the IBM Cognos service. Users do not require individual database signons. However, all users will authenticate to the database with the same credentials and will have the same view of the data. For production environments, individual database signons are generally more appropriate.

You should not use a Microsoft Windows local system account for the IBM Cognos server logon with a Microsoft SQL Server OLE DB data source.

Authentication Using an External Namespace

You can configure IBM Cognos software to use a Microsoft Active Directory namespace, where users are prompted for credentials as part of the IBM Cognos logon process. You can configure IBM Cognos software to use these same credentials automatically when accessing the Microsoft SQL Server data source. The data source connection for Microsoft SQL Server must be configured for An external namespace and that namespace must be the Active Directory namespace.

You can configure IBM Cognos software to use a Microsoft Active Directory namespace and to authenticate users for IBM Cognos software using Kerberos authentication and delegation. You can configure IBM Cognos software to automatically authenticate the user when accessing the Microsoft SQL Server data source. The following configuration is required:

The IBM Cognos gateway must be installed on an IIS Web server that is configured for Windows Integrated Authentication.
Content Manager must be installed on a Windows 2003 or Windows XP server.
Content Manager, the report server (Application Tier Components), IIS Web server, and the data source server (Microsoft SQL Server) must belong to the same Active Directory domain.
The data source connection for Microsoft SQL Server must be configured for An external namespace and that namespace must be the Active Directory namespace.
The report servers are trusted for delegation.

Restriction: If you use Kerberos authentication for single signon, each data source can have only one connection. For multiple connections to SQL Server with single signon enabled, you must create multiple data sources, or one connection for each data source.

For more information about installation options for the gateway and Content Manager, as well as configuring the namespace and delegating trust, see the IBM Cognos Business Intelligence Installation and Configuration Guide.