When setting up IBM Cognos within IBM WebSphere, the URI is not accessible. The error message when trying the http://<server>:<was port>/p2pd/servlet/dispatch is
SRVE0255E: A WebGroup/Virtual Host to handle /p2pd/servlet/dispatch has not been defined.
First, check the Virtual Host mapping for the Application Server, and Enterprise Application, and ensure they are the same.
To check the Application Server:
1. Within IBM WebSphere Administrative Console, expand Servers then Server Types
2. Click WebSphere application server
3. Click on the application server which Cognos is hosted within. For example, server1
4. Under the Container Settings section, expand Web Container Settings
5. Click Web Container
6. Note the Default virtual host value. For example, the default is default_host
Next, confirm that the IBM Cognos enterprise application is using the same Virtual Host:
1. Continuing in the IBM WebSphere Administrative Console, expand Applications on the far left pane
2. Expand Application Types, then click WebSphere enterprise applications
3. Click on the IBM Cognos application. For example, IBM Cognos
4. Under the Web Module Properties section, click Virtual hosts
5. Confirm that the Virtual host matches the one defined for the WebSphere application server as checked in the previous section. If not, update either the Enterprise Application or the Application Server to the correct Virtual Host
Save any changes, if applicable. If a save is done, a restart of IBM WebSphere is required.
Second step is to ensure the * mapping exists, and there is no duplicate ports.
1. Within IBM WebSphere Administrative Console, expand Environment on the far right pane
2. Click Virtual Hosts
3. Click the virtual host which IBM Cognos is hosted on. By default, it is default_host
4. Under the Additional Properties section, click on Host Aliases
Note, if there is full hostname specified, this can cause issues with IBM Cognos functioning correctly. It is recommended that only * mapping is used.
For example, if the entry:
Host Name: server.ibm.com
Port: 9080
is present, please update it to:
Host Name: *
Port: 9080
To update a hostname:
1. Click the <hostname> in question
2. Update the Host Name value to *
3. Click Save and restart the IBM WebSphere Application Server
If the port is missing for IBM Cognos' Application Server, please add it. Steps are:
1. Within the virtual host, Click New on the toolbar
2. For Host Name, enter *
3. For Port, enter the IBM WebSphere Port of the Application server running IBM Cognos. (ie: 9080 or 9081, etc)
4. Click OK
5. Click Save and restart the IBM WebSphere Application Server
Finally, ensure that no other Virtual Host under Environment contains the same Application Port number (ie: 9080). If another Virtual Host does contain the same port, please remove it, as it will conflict with the IBM Cognos Application Virtual Host which will lead to the SRV0255E error as well.
If all the above did not resolve the issue, check the SystemOut.log from IBM WebSphere to ensure that the p2pd.ear file was successfully deployed. Please note, it sometimes takes a Application Server restart before the Cluster successfully replicates the p2pd.ear across all the Nodes. If you do not see any reference to p2pd.ear within the SystemOut.log, please restart the Application Server. After confirming the p2pd.ear was deployed, you may need to restart the Application Server again to successfully bring up IBM Cognos.
