Problem with SNC allowing Crystal Reports to be published

[Former Member]

We learned that Secure Network Communication was required between SAP and BOBJ Cyrsal Reports in order to publish reports on behalf of users.

We set up and it seemed to work fine. However, If a user logs into an infoview and attempts to execute a report, it will not authenticate against the backend BI system. If I turn off the SNC in BOBJ (CMC) it immediately works again.

Is anyone aware of why the SNC would cause this? I was under the impression that unless otherwise configured, it simply allowed a system id to operate on behalf of an SAP User.

Thanks

[IngoH · Accepted solution]

Hi,

SNC is NOT required to publish a report from Crystal Reports to BusinessObjects Enterprise.

ingo

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks Tom and Ingo,

I found it strange as well but SAP ironically made that recomendation. For some reason it did begin to work once we installed SNC. However, we have the aforementioned issue of users logging into the Infoview not being authenticated to SAP BI until they login a second time (even though we use SAP authentication).

I think we are going to attempt a master report with subreports as opposed to publishing many individual ones.

Regards,

Sage

[IngoH · Accepted solution]

Hi,

SNC is cleary not required for publishing and you might now have SSO issues because you have SNC configured on the SAP server but that seems not be working properly.

SNC in combination with BusinessObjects is used for a "Server side trust" scenario where we create publication (bursting) or for a client side authentication using SNC.

ingo

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Ingo,

I should have given more description in my original post. What you mentioned is exactly what we were trying to accomplish. Server side trust to publish/burst reports on behalf of users.

So we had to configure SNC on the SAP side too. When I turn on the SNC in the BOBJ CMC, it works for the publish/burst activity but as you mentioned, SSO acts strange.

[IngoH · Accepted solution]

Hi,

which steps did you configure on the SAP side ?

which steps did you configure on the BusinessObjects side ?

which SNC libraries are you using ?

Ingo

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Ingo,

We have a third party hosting provider who did the majority (exculding BOBJ CMC) set up. They used "BusinessObjects XI Integration for SAP Solutions Installation andAdministration Guide". They followed all steps on page 82-90. In short - The SAP guide to server side trust with SNC. They also used your book as a reference as well. I can go through the guide and outline the highlights if it would help answer the question.

We used the cryptolib for Unix.

I'm pretty sure I configured the CMC correctly to match the trust settings ect.

I hope that helps.

Thanks!

[IngoH · Accepted solution]

Hi,

so you are using standard publishing configuration without SNC - correct ?

Can you logon to InfOView with SAP credentials ?

what happens when you try to view the report ?

Ingo

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

We were attempting standard publishing configuration but it would not work until SNC was installed. Once installed the publishing worked. But that's when the authentication issues started.

We can login to infoview with SAP credientials no problem. But with the SNC turned on in BOBJ, its as if that first login means nothing. If you attempt to execute a report it shows cached paramaters and is apparently not authenticating against our SAP backend system. When you turn the SNC off via the CMC in BOBJ, the reports execute correctly authenticating against SAP backend.

With SNC on, if you try to execute a report, nothing happens. As mentioned above, it's as if it's not communicating with the backend data source. With SNC off, all works well but we just can't do the publishing/bursting.

Thanks again,

Sage

[IngoH · Accepted solution]

Hi Sage,

SNC is not a mandatory step for publishing to work.

So either you configure SNC completely for authentication or you remove the SNC configuration because publishing a CR to the BW sytem and then to BusinessObjects Enterprise does not require SNC.

Ingo

[BasicTek]

moved kit to integration kit forum for additional feedback.

When you say publish reports are you meaning to save the reports to enterprise or run publications in infoview?

What type of SNC did you configure and what documents are you following?

Regards,

Tim