Before you install IBM® Cognos® BI, use the IBM® Cognos® BI Architecture and Deployment Guide to learn about the various components, the installation options, and the configuration approaches recommended by IBM® Cognos®.

The IBM® Cognos® documentation uses two general categories to describe installations: installing in a distributed environment versus installing all the components on one computer. For best results, do not install all components on one computer unless it is for a proof of concept or is a demonstration environment.

Installing the subset of IBM® Cognos® BI applications that IBM® reporting uses requires that you use two IBM®Cognos® installers. One provides the IBM®Cognos® BI server, the Content Manager, Cognos® Configuration, and the Web-based user interfaces. You use a separate installer to install Framework Manager, the metadata modeling tool because it must be installed on a Windows™ computer.

See the Cognos® documentation for complete installation details.