DataMigrator/Reporting Server > Using the Adapter for i Access > Configuring the Adapter for i Access

Configuring the Adapter for i Access

Topics:

How to:

Reference:

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Configuring the adapter consists of specifying connection and authentication information for each of the connections you want to establish.

In order to connect to the i database server, the adapter requires connection and authentication information. You supply this information using the SET CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES command. You can:

You can declare connections to more than one i Access database server by including multiple SET CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES commands. The actual connection to the i Access Server takes place when the first query that references the connection is issued. If you issue multiple SET CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES commands:

Procedure: How to Configure an Adapter

  1. From the Web Console sidebar, click Connect to Data.

    or

    From the Data Management Console, expand the Adapters folder.

    In the DMC, the Adapters folder opens. In the Web Console, the Adapters page opens showing your configured adapters.

  2. In the Web Console, click the New Datasource button on the menu bar and find the adapter on the drop-down list or, in the DMC, expand the Available folder if it is not already expanded.
    On the Web Console, you can select a category of adapter from the drop-down list or use the search option (magnifying glass) to search for specific characters.
  3. In the DMC, expand the appropriate group folder and the specific adapter folder. The group folder is described in the connection attributes reference.
  4. Right-click the adapter name and/or version and select Configure.

    The Add Adapter to Configuration pane opens.

  5. Enter values for the parameters required by the adapter, as described in the chapter for the specific adapter you want to configure.
  6. Click Configure. The configured adapter is added to the Adapters list in the DMC resources tree or the Configured list in the Web Console.
    In the Web Console, the adapter remains on the Available Adapters list with a check mark to indicate that at least one connection has been configured. You can configure additional connections from either the Configured or Available list by right-clicking the adapter and clicking Add Connection.

Reference: Connection Attributes for i Access (ODBC)

The following list describes the connection attributes for which you can supply values. To complete the attribute declaration, click the Configure button.

Connection name

Logical name used to identify this particular set of connection attributes. The default is CON01.

SYSTEM

Name of the machine where the IBM i system is running.

Security

There are three methods by which a user can be authenticated when connecting to a database server:

  • Explicit. The user ID and password are explicitly specified for each connection and passed to the database, at connection time, for authentication.
  • Password Passthru. The user ID and password received from the client application are passed to the database, at connection time, for authentication.
  • Trusted. The adapter connects to the database using the database rules for an impersonated process that are relevant to the current operating system.
User

Primary authorization ID by which you are known to the data source.

Password

Password associated with the primary authorization ID.

Default Library (optional)

Specifies the IBM i libraries to add to the server job library list. The library list is used for resolving unqualified stored procedure calls and finding libraries in catalog API calls.

Additional connection string keywords (optional)

Refer to IBM i access documentation for all available connection string keywords used to change the behavior of the ODBC connection.

Select profile

Select a profile from the drop-down menu to indicate the level of profile in which to store the CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES command. The global profile, edasprof.prf, is the default.

If you wish to create a new profile, either a user profile (user.prf) or a group profile if available on your platform (using the appropriate naming convention), choose New Profile from the drop-down menu and enter a name in the Profile Name field (the extension is added automatically).

Store the connection attributes in the server profile (edasprof).

Syntax: How to Declare Connection Attributes Manually (ODBC)

Explicit authentication. The user ID and password are explicitly specified for each connection and passed to i Access, at connection time, for authentication.

For User/System DSN: 

ENGINE SQLIIA SET CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES connection DSN_SAMPLE/userid,password

Password passthru authentication. The user ID and password are explicitly specified for each connection and passed to IBM i, at connection time, for authentication. 

ENGINE SQLIIA SET CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES connection DSN_SAMPLE/

Trusted authentication. The adapter connects to IBM i as a Windows login using the credentials of the Windows user impersonated by the server data access agent. 

ENGINE SQLIIA SET CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES connection DSN_SAMPLE/,

Example: Declaring Connection Attributes (ODBC)

For User/System DSN:

The following SET CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES command declares connection CON1 to the i Access DSN server named SAMPLE with an explicit user ID (MYUSER) and password (PASS). To ensure security, specify OS4V71P1 connection attributes from the Web Console, which encrypts the password before adding it to the server profile. 

ENGINE SQLIIA SET CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES CON1 SAMPLE/MYUSER,PASS

Reference: Connection Attributes for i Access (JDBC)

The IBM i Access adapter is under the SQL group folder.

The following list describes the connection attributes for which you can supply values. To complete the attribute declaration, click the Configure button.

Connection name

Logical name used to identify this particular set of connection attributes. The default is CON01.

URL

Location URL for the JDBC data source.

Driver name

Name for the JDBC driver.

For information, see the driver documentation for the specific release you are using.

IBI_CLASSPATH

Defines the additional Java Class directories or full-path jar names which will be available for Java Services. This value may be set by editing the communications file or in the Web Console. Using the Web Console, you can enter one reference per line in the input field. When the file is saved, the entries are converted to a single string using colon (:) delimiters for all platforms. OpenVMS platforms must use UNIX-style conventions for values (for example, /mydisk/myhome/myclasses.jar, rather than mydisk:[myhome]myclasses.jar) when setting values. When editing the file manually, you must maintain the colon delimiter.

Security

There are two methods by which a user can be authenticated when connecting to a database server:

  • Explicit. The user ID and password are explicitly specified for each connection and passed to the database, at connection time, for authentication.
  • Password Passthru. The user ID and password received from the client application are passed to the database, at connection time, for authentication.
User

Primary authorization ID by which you are known to the data source.

Password

Password associated with the primary authorization ID.

Syntax: How to Declare Connection Attributes Manually (JDBC) 

ENGINE SQLIIA SET CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES connection 'url'/userid,password

where:

SQLIIA

Indicates the adapter. You can omit this value if you previously issued the SET SQLENGINE command.

connection

Is the connection name.

url

Is the URL to the location of the JDBC data source.

userid

Is the primary authorization ID by which you are known to the target database.

password

Is the password associated with the primary authorization ID.

Example: Declaring Connection Attributes (JDBC)

The following SET CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES command connects to a data source using the JDBC Driver, with an explicit user ID (MYUSER) and password (PASS). To ensure security, specifying connection attributes from the Web Console or DMC will encrypt the password before adding it to the server profile. 

ENGINE SQLIIA  SET CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES CON1
'jdbc:xxxxxxx://hostname:port/datasource'/MYUSER,PASS

Reference: Updating the Connection String

The syntax for the CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES command for this adapter has been enhanced to include a logical connection name that is designed to support the porting of applications from development to production environments. This enhanced syntax may necessitate the migration of existing CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES commands.

The Web Console Migrate option migrates your server settings to the newer release. To access this option, select Workspace, then Configuration/Monitor from the menu bar. Right-click Migrate from the Server folder in the navigation pane, and select Configure. On the Migrate pane, type the full path of the configuration instance directory (EDACONF) and click the Migrate button. This is the recommended approach.

If you choose not to use the Migrate option, please note the following information:

  • Connection names declared prior to Version 7 Release 6.1 are supported.
  • If you create a new connection for the purpose of creating new synonyms, your existing connections are re-saved in a new format, and the existing synonyms continue to work without any changes.
  • If you add a new connection for the purpose of using an existing synonym, you must change the default logical connection name to match the value that is stored in the existing Access File attribute CONNECTION=value.

    For example, suppose that prior 7.6.1 the connection was defined as: 

    ENGINE SQLIIA SET CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES DSN_A/uid,pwd

    When synonyms based on objects stored in this DSN_A are created, the Access Files contains the following description: 

    CONNECTION=DSN_A

    If you then add a new connection, you must change the connection name from the default CON01 to DSN_A and save it as DSN_A in order to reuse the existing synonym. The connection is stored in the profile as: 

    ENGINE SQLIIA SET CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES DSN_A DSN_A/uid,pwd

Overriding the Default Connection

How to:

Once connections have been defined, the connection named in the first SET CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES command serves as the default connection. You can override this default using the SET DEFAULT_CONNECTION command.

Syntax: How to Change the Default Connection 

ENGINE SQLIIA SET DEFAULT_CONNECTION connection

where:

SQLIIA

Indicates the adapter. You can omit this value if you previously issued the SET SQLENGINE command.

connection

Is the connection defined in a previously issued SET CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES command. If this name was not previously declared, the following message is issued: 

FOC1671, Command out of sequence
Note:
  • If you use the SET DEFAULT_CONNECTION command more than once, the connection name specified in the last command serves as the default connection.
  • The SET DEFAULT_CONNECTION command cannot be issued while an uncommitted transaction (LUW) is pending. In that case, the following message is issued: 
    FOC1671, Command out of sequence.

Example: Selecting the Default Connection

The following SET DEFAULT_CONNECTION command selects the database server named SAMPLE as the default database server: 

ENGINE SQLIIA SET DEFAULT_CONNECTION SAMPLE

Controlling the Connection Scope

How to:

The SET AUTODISCONNECT command controls the persistence of connections when using the adapter for each of the connections you want to establish.

Syntax: How to Control the Connection Scope 

ENGINE SQLIIA SET AUTODISCONNECT ON {FIN|COMMAND|COMMIT}

where:

SQLIIA

Indicates the adapter. You can omit this value if you previously issued the SET SQLENGINE command.

FIN

Disconnects automatically only after the session has been terminated. FIN is the default value.

COMMAND

Disconnects automatically after each request. Depending on how often the event occurs, the SET AUTODISCONNECT command may result in considerable overhead. Almost all of this overhead is not related to the server. It is related to the operating system and the data source.

COMMIT

Disconnects automatically only after COMMIT or ROLLBACK is issued as a native SQL command.

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