Configuring Pulse with CAM Security and Windows SSO

This article describes how to configure Pulse to use both CAM (Cognos Access Manager) security for TM1 connectivity and Windows Single Sign-On (SSO) for Pulse login simultaneously.

Overview

In this combined configuration:

• Windows SSO handles how users log in to the Pulse web client. Users are automatically authenticated via their Windows domain account — no separate Pulse password is needed.

• CAM security handles how Pulse authenticates against TM1 instances that use IBM Cognos Access Manager.

Prerequisites

• Pulse configured and running with Windows Authentication enabled.

• IBM Cognos BI 10.1 or later configured with an authentication provider (e.g. Active Directory).

• TM1 instances configured to use CAM security.

• Users have matching accounts in both Windows Active Directory and the TM1/CAM namespace.

Configuration Steps

Step 1 — Enable Windows Authentication in Pulse.cfg

1. Stop the Pulse Application Server service.

2. Open conf/Pulse.cfg and set the following:

3. Save and restart the Pulse Application Server.

Step 2 — Configure the Cognos Dispatcher

1. Log in to Pulse as an Admin (using the admin account before SSO takes over).

2. Go to Administration → Configuration.

3. Enter the Cognos Dispatcher URL in the appropriate field (e.g. http://cognosserver:9300/p2pd/servlet/dispatch).

4. Click Save.

Step 3 — Create Pulse Users with CAM Namespace

For each user who will access TM1 via CAM through Pulse:

1. Go to Administration → Users.

2. Create or edit a user account.

3. Set the CAM Namespace field to the correct namespace (e.g. LDAP or AD).

4. Set the User Name to match the username as it appears in the CAM namespace.

When Windows SSO is active, Pulse automatically creates users on first login with a username in the format DOMAIN\username. You may need to update these auto-created users to include the correct CAM namespace.

Step 4 — Verify the Configuration

1. Close all browser windows (to clear cookies).

2. Open the Pulse URL in a new browser window.

3. Pulse should automatically log you in using your Windows credentials.

4. Navigate to a TM1 instance — Pulse should authenticate to TM1 using the CAM namespace configured for your user.

Troubleshooting