A common issue when viewing reports over the Web is a persistent database logon prompt that is displayed repeatedly by the user's browser. Regardless of the credentials provided by the user, the report will not display. This problem is typically caused by the configuration of the Page Server or the Report Application Server (RAS). This section provides a series of troubleshooting steps that should resolve this problem and others that are specific to reports and database connectivity.
Use Crystal Reports to verify the report. If you have the Crystal Reports Designer installed on the Page Server, Job Server, or RAS machine, test database connectivity by opening the report in Crystal Reports on the server. For details, see Troubleshooting reports with Crystal Reports.
BusinessObjects Enterprise servers require access to various local and/or remote resources and to the database server. Experience shows that running the Page Server, Job Server, RAS, and Web Component Adapter (WCA) under a Domain Administrator account allows them to access the components necessary to connect successfully to data sources. To change a server's logon account, see "Configuring Windows processing servers for your data source" on page 131.
Tip: Running a background application under an Administrator account does not inadvertently grant administrative privileges to another user, because users cannot impersonate services.
Base reports off System DSNs (and not File or User DSNs), and set up each System DSN identically on every Job Server, Page Server, and RAS machine that will process the report.
If the report is based off an ODBC data source, the processing server must have permission to access the corresponding DSN configuration. This information is stored in the Windows registry. The Job Server, Page Server, and RAS require Full Control or Special Access to the ODBC registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ODBC\ODBC.INI
Consult your Windows documentation for information about working with the registry. Additional configuration may be required, depending upon the database that you are reporting off of. For details, see "Configuring Windows processing servers for your data source" on page 131.
If you are not using ODBC, the database client software must be installed on each machine that will process reports. On Windows, many database clients store their configuration in the registry below HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
If your database client stores its configuration below HKEY_CURRENT_USER, the BusinessObjects Enterprise services cannot use the database client software to communicate with the database.
Insufficient NTFS rights on the server may cause a number of problems to arise when you view reports over the Web. As in step 2, changing each server's logon account to that of a Domain Administrator account should resolve such problems. For the minimum set of NTFS permissions required by BusinessObjects Enterprise, see the BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrator's Reference Guide.
If you report against a database that uses NT authentication for access control (Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase, and so on), the Job Server, Page Server, and RAS must run under a Windows NT/2000 domain user account that has access to the appropriate database tables. (In this scenario, each server's logon account determines the level of access it is granted by the database. BusinessObjects Enterprise does not pass end
To retain the access control levels that are set up within the database, you can instead change each ODBC DSN so that it implements SQL Server Login instead of NT authentication.
Environment variables are used by the operating system to govern and manage system files for particular users. On Windows, BusinessObjects Enterprise servers are generally most affected by the TMP and TEMP environment variables. Because the servers are run as services, they cannot access the User Environment variables that are created by default. Therefore, it is recommended that you create System Environment variables if they do not already exist. Consult your Windows documentation for details.
Ensure that servers have access to remote databases through UNC paths, instead of through mapped drives. For example, if you design a report off a PC database that resides on a network drive, ensure that the report references its data source with the appropriate UNC path. For details, see Ensuring that server resources are available on local drives.
If all database client licenses are in use, the BusinessObjects Enterprise servers are unable to retrieve data from the database.
If a database connection is not closed quickly, the database may not service another request until the connection has been closed. To decrease the "Minutes Before an Idle Job is Closed" setting, see "Modifying Page Server performance settings" on page 113.
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If your report is based on a Lotus Notes database, you may need to perform additional configuration. Download the latest instructions from the Business Objects Customer Support Knowledge Base.
IBM offers several client applications for connecting to DB2. The recommended client is IBM DB2 Direct Connect, whose ODBC drivers were written for actual programmatic interaction with products like BusinessObjects Enterprise. See the Business Objects Customer Support Knowledge Base for discussions of this and other DB2 clients.
If you encounter problems with any other specific data sources, check the Knowledge Base for the latest information.
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