Hello all,

We're seeing issues with connecting the Cognos Audit Extension servlet to the Audit Extension content store at a customer site.

We have created a case with IBM (TS021451960) but I just wondered if anyone has seen the issue or symptoms here - it is treated as a low priority call.

At our sandbox site (Cognos 12.1.1, Cognos Audit extension database is SQL Server 2016), the connection and servlet work fine.

At a customer site (Cognos 12.1.1, AE database is SQL Server 2022), we cannot connect the AE servlet to the AE database - we see the errors listed below in the C11audit extension and p2pd logs.

The database connection details (redacted here for security) is correct - we have verified that we can connect from the cognos server to the database using both the DBeaver tool and a UDL file.

Regards,

Ceri.

C11AuditExtension.log:

2026-02-13T13:47:55    INFO    Action:     
2026-02-13T13:47:55    INFO    Parameters:     
2026-02-13T13:47:55    WARN    Load default properties c11AuditExtension.properties    
2026-02-13T13:47:55    ERROR    {jdbc.password=, option.db.setdefault.pingtype=false, option.aa.max.items=10000, jdbc.user=, option.db.setdefault.pingresult=false, option.db.dimension.date.initdays=730, option.sa.include.rawstatus=true, security.keystore.filename=${install.dir}/configuration/c11AuditExtension.keystore, jdbc.url=, option.ca.include.specifications=true, option.ca.policy.calculation=false, option.db.setdefault.serverversiondesc=false, option.db.maxbatch=2000, option.sa.include.ping=true, option.db.dimension.time.populate=true, option.db.messageloglevel=3, option.ra.recurse.everyone=false, option.aa.flatsearch=false, option.ca.max.items=0, option.db.setdefault.audittypes=false, option.ra.max.items=30000, option.aa.max.duration=1800, option.ra.max.duration=1800, option.ra.recurse.anon=false, option.db.setdefault.statusresulttypes=false, option.ca.include.output=true, option.aa.include.content=true, option.db.random-audit-id=false, option.ca.max.duration=1800, option.ra.recurse.auth=true, option.sa.include.configuration=true}    
2026-02-13T13:47:55    INFO    Action:     
2026-02-13T13:47:55    INFO    Parameters: show=true    
2026-02-13T13:47:55    WARN    Load default properties component.properties    
2026-02-13T13:47:55    ERROR    {component.ra.enabled=true}    
2026-02-13T13:48:33    INFO    Action: set_cfg    
2026-02-13T13:48:33    INFO    Parameters: dbtype=mssql,show=true,dbhost=redacted here,dbpwd=******,action=set_cfg,dbuser=redacted here,dbport=1433,dbname=CogAuditExt    
2026-02-13T13:48:34    ERROR    An error occurred initialising the engine    
com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerException: Login failed for user 'cognosdb_user'. ClientConnectionId:10d15fa2-624c-43f9-8183-36d495c5988c
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerException.makeFromDatabaseError(SQLServerException.java:216)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSTokenHandler.onEOF(tdsparser.java:254)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSParser.parse(tdsparser.java:84)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.sendLogon(SQLServerConnection.java:2908)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.logon(SQLServerConnection.java:2234)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.access$000(SQLServerConnection.java:41)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection$LogonCommand.doExecute(SQLServerConnection.java:2220)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSCommand.execute(IOBuffer.java:5696)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.executeCommand(SQLServerConnection.java:1715)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.connectHelper(SQLServerConnection.java:1326)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.login(SQLServerConnection.java:991)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.connect(SQLServerConnection.java:827)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver.connect(SQLServerDriver.java:1012)
    at java.sql/java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(Unknown Source)
    at java.sql/java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(Unknown Source)
    at com.cognos.c8HelperLibs.db.DatabaseEngineBase.initConnection(DatabaseEngineBase.java:139)
    at com.cognos.AuditExtension.DatabaseEngine.<init>(DatabaseEngine.java:494)
    at com.cognos.AuditExtension.AdminEngine.<init>(AdminEngine.java:25)
    at com.cognos.AuditExtension.AdminUIEngine.<init>(AdminUIEngine.java:29)
    at com.cognos.AuditExtension.AuditServlet.doGet(AuditServlet.java:352)
    at com.cognos.AuditExtension.AuditServlet.doPost(AuditServlet.java:71)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:707)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:790)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.service(ServletWrapper.java:1266)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.handleRequest(ServletWrapper.java:754)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.handleRequest(ServletWrapper.java:451)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterChain.invokeTarget(WebAppFilterChain.java:197)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterChain.doFilter(WebAppFilterChain.java:100)
    at io.openliberty.http.monitor.ServletFilter.doFilter(ServletFilter.java:77)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.FilterInstanceWrapper.doFilter(FilterInstanceWrapper.java:203)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterChain.doFilter(WebAppFilterChain.java:93)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterManager.doFilter(WebAppFilterManager.java:1069)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterManager.invokeFilters(WebAppFilterManager.java:1260)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterManager.invokeFilters(WebAppFilterManager.java:1078)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.CacheServletWrapper.handleRequest(CacheServletWrapper.java:77)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.WebContainer.handleRequest(WebContainer.java:978)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.osgi.DynamicVirtualHost$2.run(DynamicVirtualHost.java:293)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.dispatcher.internal.channel.HttpDispatcherLink$TaskWrapper.run(HttpDispatcherLink.java:1284)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.dispatcher.internal.channel.HttpDispatcherLink.wrapHandlerAndExecute(HttpDispatcherLink.java:500)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.dispatcher.internal.channel.HttpDispatcherLink.ready(HttpDispatcherLink.java:459)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.internal.inbound.HttpInboundLink.handleDiscrimination(HttpInboundLink.java:569)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.internal.inbound.HttpInboundLink.handleNewRequest(HttpInboundLink.java:503)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.internal.inbound.HttpInboundLink.processRequest(HttpInboundLink.java:363)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.internal.inbound.HttpICLReadCallback.complete(HttpICLReadCallback.java:72)
    at com.ibm.ws.tcpchannel.internal.WorkQueueManager.requestComplete(WorkQueueManager.java:516)
    at com.ibm.ws.tcpchannel.internal.WorkQueueManager.attemptIO(WorkQueueManager.java:586)
    at com.ibm.ws.tcpchannel.internal.WorkQueueManager.workerRun(WorkQueueManager.java:970)
    at com.ibm.ws.tcpchannel.internal.WorkQueueManager$Worker.run(WorkQueueManager.java:1059)
    at com.ibm.ws.threading.internal.ExecutorServiceImpl$RunnableWrapper.run(ExecutorServiceImpl.java:344)
    at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(Unknown Source)
    at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.base/java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
2026-02-13T13:48:34    ERROR    Unable to initialise database connection    
2026-02-13T13:48:34    ERROR    Unable to initialise the database connection - cannot continue    
2026-02-13T13:48:34    INFO    Exception initialising database with new connection info: Unable to initialise the database connection - cannot continue    

p2pd_massages log file:-

[13/02/2026, 13:48:33:833 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:33:834 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:33:834 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:33:834 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:33:834 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:042 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:298 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerException: Login failed for user 'cognosdb_user'. ClientConnectionId:10d15fa2-624c-43f9-8183-36d495c5988c
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:298 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerException.makeFromDatabaseError(SQLServerException.java:216)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSTokenHandler.onEOF(tdsparser.java:254)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSParser.parse(tdsparser.java:84)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.sendLogon(SQLServerConnection.java:2908)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.logon(SQLServerConnection.java:2234)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.access$000(SQLServerConnection.java:41)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection$LogonCommand.doExecute(SQLServerConnection.java:2220)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSCommand.execute(IOBuffer.java:5696)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.executeCommand(SQLServerConnection.java:1715)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.connectHelper(SQLServerConnection.java:1326)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.login(SQLServerConnection.java:991)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.connect(SQLServerConnection.java:827)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver.connect(SQLServerDriver.java:1012)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at java.sql/java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(Unknown Source)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:301 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at 

------------------------------
Ceri Small
------------------------------

Hi Ceri

I am assuming that all was working well and something changed - like you upgraded SQL server to 2022.

Your posted log does state that it cannot login to the database for the specific user id.  That is usually caused by a typo on the password.   Check it and make sure that it isn't misspelled. 

Is sql server authentication type set to server and windows auth mode?   Try using the sa user to connect to the AE.  If the sa account works, I would think that there is some type of permission issue with the user I am using.  Check the sql server error log to see what it is saying about the attempted connection.  It should show up there if it is indeed connecting to the database. 

As a last resort, install 2022 on your sandbox and attempt to connect your AE to the new DB instance.

Hope this helps.

Hello all,

We're seeing issues with connecting the Cognos Audit Extension servlet to the Audit Extension content store at a customer site.

We have created a case with IBM (TS021451960) but I just wondered if anyone has seen the issue or symptoms here - it is treated as a low priority call.

At our sandbox site (Cognos 12.1.1, Cognos Audit extension database is SQL Server 2016), the connection and servlet work fine.

At a customer site (Cognos 12.1.1, AE database is SQL Server 2022), we cannot connect the AE servlet to the AE database - we see the errors listed below in the C11audit extension and p2pd logs.

The database connection details (redacted here for security) is correct - we have verified that we can connect from the cognos server to the database using both the DBeaver tool and a UDL file.

Regards,

Ceri.

C11AuditExtension.log:

2026-02-13T13:47:55    INFO    Action:     
2026-02-13T13:47:55    INFO    Parameters:     
2026-02-13T13:47:55    WARN    Load default properties c11AuditExtension.properties    
2026-02-13T13:47:55    ERROR    {jdbc.password=, option.db.setdefault.pingtype=false, option.aa.max.items=10000, jdbc.user=, option.db.setdefault.pingresult=false, option.db.dimension.date.initdays=730, option.sa.include.rawstatus=true, security.keystore.filename=${install.dir}/configuration/c11AuditExtension.keystore, jdbc.url=, option.ca.include.specifications=true, option.ca.policy.calculation=false, option.db.setdefault.serverversiondesc=false, option.db.maxbatch=2000, option.sa.include.ping=true, option.db.dimension.time.populate=true, option.db.messageloglevel=3, option.ra.recurse.everyone=false, option.aa.flatsearch=false, option.ca.max.items=0, option.db.setdefault.audittypes=false, option.ra.max.items=30000, option.aa.max.duration=1800, option.ra.max.duration=1800, option.ra.recurse.anon=false, option.db.setdefault.statusresulttypes=false, option.ca.include.output=true, option.aa.include.content=true, option.db.random-audit-id=false, option.ca.max.duration=1800, option.ra.recurse.auth=true, option.sa.include.configuration=true}    
2026-02-13T13:47:55    INFO    Action:     
2026-02-13T13:47:55    INFO    Parameters: show=true    
2026-02-13T13:47:55    WARN    Load default properties component.properties    
2026-02-13T13:47:55    ERROR    {component.ra.enabled=true}    
2026-02-13T13:48:33    INFO    Action: set_cfg    
2026-02-13T13:48:33    INFO    Parameters: dbtype=mssql,show=true,dbhost=redacted here,dbpwd=******,action=set_cfg,dbuser=redacted here,dbport=1433,dbname=CogAuditExt    
2026-02-13T13:48:34    ERROR    An error occurred initialising the engine    
com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerException: Login failed for user 'cognosdb_user'. ClientConnectionId:10d15fa2-624c-43f9-8183-36d495c5988c
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerException.makeFromDatabaseError(SQLServerException.java:216)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSTokenHandler.onEOF(tdsparser.java:254)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSParser.parse(tdsparser.java:84)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.sendLogon(SQLServerConnection.java:2908)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.logon(SQLServerConnection.java:2234)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.access$000(SQLServerConnection.java:41)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection$LogonCommand.doExecute(SQLServerConnection.java:2220)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSCommand.execute(IOBuffer.java:5696)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.executeCommand(SQLServerConnection.java:1715)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.connectHelper(SQLServerConnection.java:1326)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.login(SQLServerConnection.java:991)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.connect(SQLServerConnection.java:827)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver.connect(SQLServerDriver.java:1012)
    at java.sql/java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(Unknown Source)
    at java.sql/java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(Unknown Source)
    at com.cognos.c8HelperLibs.db.DatabaseEngineBase.initConnection(DatabaseEngineBase.java:139)
    at com.cognos.AuditExtension.DatabaseEngine.<init>(DatabaseEngine.java:494)
    at com.cognos.AuditExtension.AdminEngine.<init>(AdminEngine.java:25)
    at com.cognos.AuditExtension.AdminUIEngine.<init>(AdminUIEngine.java:29)
    at com.cognos.AuditExtension.AuditServlet.doGet(AuditServlet.java:352)
    at com.cognos.AuditExtension.AuditServlet.doPost(AuditServlet.java:71)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:707)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:790)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.service(ServletWrapper.java:1266)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.handleRequest(ServletWrapper.java:754)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.handleRequest(ServletWrapper.java:451)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterChain.invokeTarget(WebAppFilterChain.java:197)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterChain.doFilter(WebAppFilterChain.java:100)
    at io.openliberty.http.monitor.ServletFilter.doFilter(ServletFilter.java:77)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.FilterInstanceWrapper.doFilter(FilterInstanceWrapper.java:203)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterChain.doFilter(WebAppFilterChain.java:93)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterManager.doFilter(WebAppFilterManager.java:1069)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterManager.invokeFilters(WebAppFilterManager.java:1260)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterManager.invokeFilters(WebAppFilterManager.java:1078)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.CacheServletWrapper.handleRequest(CacheServletWrapper.java:77)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.WebContainer.handleRequest(WebContainer.java:978)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.osgi.DynamicVirtualHost$2.run(DynamicVirtualHost.java:293)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.dispatcher.internal.channel.HttpDispatcherLink$TaskWrapper.run(HttpDispatcherLink.java:1284)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.dispatcher.internal.channel.HttpDispatcherLink.wrapHandlerAndExecute(HttpDispatcherLink.java:500)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.dispatcher.internal.channel.HttpDispatcherLink.ready(HttpDispatcherLink.java:459)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.internal.inbound.HttpInboundLink.handleDiscrimination(HttpInboundLink.java:569)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.internal.inbound.HttpInboundLink.handleNewRequest(HttpInboundLink.java:503)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.internal.inbound.HttpInboundLink.processRequest(HttpInboundLink.java:363)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.internal.inbound.HttpICLReadCallback.complete(HttpICLReadCallback.java:72)
    at com.ibm.ws.tcpchannel.internal.WorkQueueManager.requestComplete(WorkQueueManager.java:516)
    at com.ibm.ws.tcpchannel.internal.WorkQueueManager.attemptIO(WorkQueueManager.java:586)
    at com.ibm.ws.tcpchannel.internal.WorkQueueManager.workerRun(WorkQueueManager.java:970)
    at com.ibm.ws.tcpchannel.internal.WorkQueueManager$Worker.run(WorkQueueManager.java:1059)
    at com.ibm.ws.threading.internal.ExecutorServiceImpl$RunnableWrapper.run(ExecutorServiceImpl.java:344)
    at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(Unknown Source)
    at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.base/java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
2026-02-13T13:48:34    ERROR    Unable to initialise database connection    
2026-02-13T13:48:34    ERROR    Unable to initialise the database connection - cannot continue    
2026-02-13T13:48:34    INFO    Exception initialising database with new connection info: Unable to initialise the database connection - cannot continue    

p2pd_massages log file:-

[13/02/2026, 13:48:33:833 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:33:834 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:33:834 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:33:834 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:33:834 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:042 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:298 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerException: Login failed for user 'cognosdb_user'. ClientConnectionId:10d15fa2-624c-43f9-8183-36d495c5988c
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:298 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerException.makeFromDatabaseError(SQLServerException.java:216)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSTokenHandler.onEOF(tdsparser.java:254)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSParser.parse(tdsparser.java:84)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.sendLogon(SQLServerConnection.java:2908)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.logon(SQLServerConnection.java:2234)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.access$000(SQLServerConnection.java:41)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection$LogonCommand.doExecute(SQLServerConnection.java:2220)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSCommand.execute(IOBuffer.java:5696)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.executeCommand(SQLServerConnection.java:1715)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.connectHelper(SQLServerConnection.java:1326)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.login(SQLServerConnection.java:991)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.connect(SQLServerConnection.java:827)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver.connect(SQLServerDriver.java:1012)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at java.sql/java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(Unknown Source)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:301 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at 

------------------------------
Ceri Small
------------------------------

Hi John,

Thanks for the response.

No this was a new installation.

We have verified the password many times and used the same passwordto connect using both UDL and DBeaver connections so that is not the issue.

Since my original posting we have, as per your last suggestion, created an SQL 2022 environment and connected sucessfully to it from our sandbox environment.

That rules SQL 2022 out of being the issue.

We also then uninstalled (removed AuditExt.war and c11,extension.keystore) from the customer's service and then restarted and renewed Audit Extension, again carefully following IBM installation guidance and using the same process we used within our sandbox environment, but we still see the same issue.

So as per your second suggestion it is looking increasingly like a customer database or firewall issue.

We have asked to install SQL server manager on the customer's Cognos server to fully investigate any SQL DB issues.

Will keep you posted!

regards,

Ceri.

Hi Ceri

I am assuming that all was working well and something changed - like you upgraded SQL server to 2022.

Your posted log does state that it cannot login to the database for the specific user id.  That is usually caused by a typo on the password.   Check it and make sure that it isn't misspelled. 

Is sql server authentication type set to server and windows auth mode?   Try using the sa user to connect to the AE.  If the sa account works, I would think that there is some type of permission issue with the user I am using.  Check the sql server error log to see what it is saying about the attempted connection.  It should show up there if it is indeed connecting to the database. 

As a last resort, install 2022 on your sandbox and attempt to connect your AE to the new DB instance.

Hope this helps.

Hello all,

We're seeing issues with connecting the Cognos Audit Extension servlet to the Audit Extension content store at a customer site.

We have created a case with IBM (TS021451960) but I just wondered if anyone has seen the issue or symptoms here - it is treated as a low priority call.

At our sandbox site (Cognos 12.1.1, Cognos Audit extension database is SQL Server 2016), the connection and servlet work fine.

At a customer site (Cognos 12.1.1, AE database is SQL Server 2022), we cannot connect the AE servlet to the AE database - we see the errors listed below in the C11audit extension and p2pd logs.

The database connection details (redacted here for security) is correct - we have verified that we can connect from the cognos server to the database using both the DBeaver tool and a UDL file.

Regards,

Ceri.

C11AuditExtension.log:

2026-02-13T13:47:55    INFO    Action:     
2026-02-13T13:47:55    INFO    Parameters:     
2026-02-13T13:47:55    WARN    Load default properties c11AuditExtension.properties    
2026-02-13T13:47:55    ERROR    {jdbc.password=, option.db.setdefault.pingtype=false, option.aa.max.items=10000, jdbc.user=, option.db.setdefault.pingresult=false, option.db.dimension.date.initdays=730, option.sa.include.rawstatus=true, security.keystore.filename=${install.dir}/configuration/c11AuditExtension.keystore, jdbc.url=, option.ca.include.specifications=true, option.ca.policy.calculation=false, option.db.setdefault.serverversiondesc=false, option.db.maxbatch=2000, option.sa.include.ping=true, option.db.dimension.time.populate=true, option.db.messageloglevel=3, option.ra.recurse.everyone=false, option.aa.flatsearch=false, option.ca.max.items=0, option.db.setdefault.audittypes=false, option.ra.max.items=30000, option.aa.max.duration=1800, option.ra.max.duration=1800, option.ra.recurse.anon=false, option.db.setdefault.statusresulttypes=false, option.ca.include.output=true, option.aa.include.content=true, option.db.random-audit-id=false, option.ca.max.duration=1800, option.ra.recurse.auth=true, option.sa.include.configuration=true}    
2026-02-13T13:47:55    INFO    Action:     
2026-02-13T13:47:55    INFO    Parameters: show=true    
2026-02-13T13:47:55    WARN    Load default properties component.properties    
2026-02-13T13:47:55    ERROR    {component.ra.enabled=true}    
2026-02-13T13:48:33    INFO    Action: set_cfg    
2026-02-13T13:48:33    INFO    Parameters: dbtype=mssql,show=true,dbhost=redacted here,dbpwd=******,action=set_cfg,dbuser=redacted here,dbport=1433,dbname=CogAuditExt    
2026-02-13T13:48:34    ERROR    An error occurred initialising the engine    
com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerException: Login failed for user 'cognosdb_user'. ClientConnectionId:10d15fa2-624c-43f9-8183-36d495c5988c
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerException.makeFromDatabaseError(SQLServerException.java:216)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSTokenHandler.onEOF(tdsparser.java:254)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSParser.parse(tdsparser.java:84)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.sendLogon(SQLServerConnection.java:2908)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.logon(SQLServerConnection.java:2234)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.access$000(SQLServerConnection.java:41)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection$LogonCommand.doExecute(SQLServerConnection.java:2220)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSCommand.execute(IOBuffer.java:5696)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.executeCommand(SQLServerConnection.java:1715)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.connectHelper(SQLServerConnection.java:1326)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.login(SQLServerConnection.java:991)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.connect(SQLServerConnection.java:827)
    at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver.connect(SQLServerDriver.java:1012)
    at java.sql/java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(Unknown Source)
    at java.sql/java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(Unknown Source)
    at com.cognos.c8HelperLibs.db.DatabaseEngineBase.initConnection(DatabaseEngineBase.java:139)
    at com.cognos.AuditExtension.DatabaseEngine.<init>(DatabaseEngine.java:494)
    at com.cognos.AuditExtension.AdminEngine.<init>(AdminEngine.java:25)
    at com.cognos.AuditExtension.AdminUIEngine.<init>(AdminUIEngine.java:29)
    at com.cognos.AuditExtension.AuditServlet.doGet(AuditServlet.java:352)
    at com.cognos.AuditExtension.AuditServlet.doPost(AuditServlet.java:71)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:707)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:790)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.service(ServletWrapper.java:1266)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.handleRequest(ServletWrapper.java:754)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.handleRequest(ServletWrapper.java:451)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterChain.invokeTarget(WebAppFilterChain.java:197)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterChain.doFilter(WebAppFilterChain.java:100)
    at io.openliberty.http.monitor.ServletFilter.doFilter(ServletFilter.java:77)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.FilterInstanceWrapper.doFilter(FilterInstanceWrapper.java:203)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterChain.doFilter(WebAppFilterChain.java:93)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterManager.doFilter(WebAppFilterManager.java:1069)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterManager.invokeFilters(WebAppFilterManager.java:1260)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterManager.invokeFilters(WebAppFilterManager.java:1078)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.CacheServletWrapper.handleRequest(CacheServletWrapper.java:77)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.WebContainer.handleRequest(WebContainer.java:978)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.osgi.DynamicVirtualHost$2.run(DynamicVirtualHost.java:293)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.dispatcher.internal.channel.HttpDispatcherLink$TaskWrapper.run(HttpDispatcherLink.java:1284)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.dispatcher.internal.channel.HttpDispatcherLink.wrapHandlerAndExecute(HttpDispatcherLink.java:500)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.dispatcher.internal.channel.HttpDispatcherLink.ready(HttpDispatcherLink.java:459)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.internal.inbound.HttpInboundLink.handleDiscrimination(HttpInboundLink.java:569)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.internal.inbound.HttpInboundLink.handleNewRequest(HttpInboundLink.java:503)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.internal.inbound.HttpInboundLink.processRequest(HttpInboundLink.java:363)
    at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.internal.inbound.HttpICLReadCallback.complete(HttpICLReadCallback.java:72)
    at com.ibm.ws.tcpchannel.internal.WorkQueueManager.requestComplete(WorkQueueManager.java:516)
    at com.ibm.ws.tcpchannel.internal.WorkQueueManager.attemptIO(WorkQueueManager.java:586)
    at com.ibm.ws.tcpchannel.internal.WorkQueueManager.workerRun(WorkQueueManager.java:970)
    at com.ibm.ws.tcpchannel.internal.WorkQueueManager$Worker.run(WorkQueueManager.java:1059)
    at com.ibm.ws.threading.internal.ExecutorServiceImpl$RunnableWrapper.run(ExecutorServiceImpl.java:344)
    at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(Unknown Source)
    at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.base/java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
2026-02-13T13:48:34    ERROR    Unable to initialise database connection    
2026-02-13T13:48:34    ERROR    Unable to initialise the database connection - cannot continue    
2026-02-13T13:48:34    INFO    Exception initialising database with new connection info: Unable to initialise the database connection - cannot continue    

p2pd_massages log file:-

[13/02/2026, 13:48:33:833 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:33:834 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:33:834 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:33:834 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:33:834 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:042 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R Unable to locate file 'c11AuditExtension.properties' in writeConfig()!
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:298 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerException: Login failed for user 'cognosdb_user'. ClientConnectionId:10d15fa2-624c-43f9-8183-36d495c5988c
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:298 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerException.makeFromDatabaseError(SQLServerException.java:216)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSTokenHandler.onEOF(tdsparser.java:254)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSParser.parse(tdsparser.java:84)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.sendLogon(SQLServerConnection.java:2908)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.logon(SQLServerConnection.java:2234)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.access$000(SQLServerConnection.java:41)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:299 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection$LogonCommand.doExecute(SQLServerConnection.java:2220)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.TDSCommand.execute(IOBuffer.java:5696)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.executeCommand(SQLServerConnection.java:1715)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.connectHelper(SQLServerConnection.java:1326)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.login(SQLServerConnection.java:991)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.connect(SQLServerConnection.java:827)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver.connect(SQLServerDriver.java:1012)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:300 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at java.sql/java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(Unknown Source)
[13/02/2026, 13:48:34:301 GMT] 00000076 SystemErr                                                    R     at 

------------------------------
Ceri Small
------------------------------