Chapter 17
Configuring Your Database
NOTE: There may have been changes to the database clients that are supported. For the latest information, see the Enterprise Server 3.x Release Notes.This chapter contains the following sections:
- Checking Your Database Configuration
- Supported Database Clients and ODBC Drivers
- DB2
- Informix
- ODBC
- Oracle
- Sybase
Checking Your Database Configuration
After you've done the setup described in this chapter, you can use thedbadmin sample application to verify that your database connection works properly. You use this JavaScript sample application to connect to your database server and perform various simple tasks such as executing a SELECT statement and displaying the results or sending an arbitrary SQL command to the server.
Because you can use dbadmin to modify and delete database tables, access to it is automatically restricted if you choose to protect the Application Manager. For more information on restricting the Application Manager, see "Controlling Access to an Application" on page 63.
The first thing you must do when using dbadmin is to connect to a database. Choose Connect to Database. A form, shown in Figure 17.1, appears in which you can enter connection information. Enter the parameters, and click Connect to attempt to connect to the server. For information on the parameters you use to connect, see "Database Connection Pools" on page 303; for further information, see the description of the connect method in the Server-Side JavaScript Reference.
Figure 17.1 The
dbadmin connection page 
Supported Database Clients and ODBC Drivers
The following table summarizes the specific database vendors supported on each platform for Netscape Enterprise Server. These database vendors are not supported for Netscape FastTrack Server.Table 17.1 Database vendor client libraries supported on each platform by Netscape Enterprise Server
| Database Vendor | AIX | DEC | Irix 6.2 & 6.4 | HP-UX | Solaris 2.5/ 2.5.1 |
Windows NT
3.51/4.0
|
DB2
|
|
Informix
|
|
Oracle1
|
|
Sybase
|
| |
|---|
| 1 Oracle SQL*Net version 1.1 is no longer supported. |
Table 17.2 Windows NT ODBC Support
Table 17.4 ODBC driver capabilities on NT
| SQL Database | Connect | SQL passthrough | Read-only cursor | Updatable cursor |
Stored
procedures
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|---|
Table 17.5 ODBC driver capabilities on Unix
| Unix | Connect | SQL passthrough | Read-only cursor | Updatable cursor |
Stored
procedures
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|---|
DB2
To use a DB2 server, you must have Netscape Enterprise Server. You cannot access DB2 from Netscape FastTrack Server. If the database and the web server are on different machines, follow the instructions in "DB2 Remote" on page 363. If the database and the web server are on the same machine, follow the instructions in "DB2 Local" on page 364.DB2 Remote
All platforms: Install the DB2 client, version 2.1.2. For Solaris, you need APAR #JR10150. For information, see the DB2 documentation athttp://www.software.ibm.com/data/db2/.
To determine if you can connect to the DB2 server, you can issue the following command from the DB2 command line:
DB2 TERMINATE # this command allows the catalog command to take effectIf you use the
DB2 CONNECT TO databasename USERID userid USING password
BLOB or CLOB data types in your application, you must set the longdatacompat option in your $DB2PATH/db2cli.ini file to 1. For example:
[Database name]If you make changes to the
longdatacompat=1
db2cli.ini file, you must restart your web server for them to take effect.
Unix only: You must set the following environment variables:
DB2 Local
All platforms: Install the DB2 client, version 2.1.2. For Solaris, you need APAR #JR10150. For more detailed information, see the DB2 documentation athttp://www.software.ibm.com/data/db2.
If you use the BLOB or CLOB data types in your application, you must set the longdatacompat option in your $DB2PATH/db2cli.ini file to 1. For example:
[Database name]If you make changes to the
longdatacompat=1
db2cli.ini file, you must restart your web server for them to take effect.
Unix only: You must set the same environment variables as for a remote connection.
Informix
To use an Informix server, you must have Netscape Enterprise Server. You cannot access Informix from Netscape FastTrack Server. If the database and the web server are on different machines, follow the instructions in "Informix Remote" on page 364. If the database and the web server are on the same machine, follow the instructions in "Informix Local" on page 365.Informix Remote
Unix only: Install an Informix ESQL/C Runtime Client 7.22 (also called Informix I-Connect) and then set the following environment variables:INFORMIXDIR | Specifies the top-level directory in which Informix is installed. |
INFORMIXSERVER | |
INFORMIXSQLHOSTS | |
SHLIB_PATH |
(HP-UX) Must include |
$INFORMIXDIR/etc/sqlhosts to match the service name in the /etc/services file. For information on how to do so, see your Informix documentation.
NT only: Install an Informix ESQL/C Runtime Client 7.20 (also called Informix I-Connect.) During installation all necessary environment variables are set. You use the appropriate Informix utility to enter the necessary information about the remote server you wish to connect to.
If you run your web Server as a System, be sure that you have run regcopy.exe.
All platforms: Depending on your name service, you may also need to edit the appropriate file to add the IP address of the remote host machine you are connecting to. On NT, this file is winnt\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file under the NT SystemRoot. On Unix, this file is /etc/hosts.
In the same directory, add the following line to the services file:
where ifmx_srvc is the name of your service and port is its port number. The port number must match the port on the remote machine that the Informix server listens to. To make this line valid, you must either insert at least one space afterifmx_srvcport/tcp # Informix Online Server
tcp or place a comment at the end of the line. For example, if your Informix service is named ifmx1 and the port number is 1321, you add this line:
ifmx1 1321/tcp # Informix Online Server
Informix Local
If you install Informix locally, you must install the Informix client before you install the Informix server. Unix only: If you use 7.22 Online Server for Unix, the installation process creates the appropriate directory structure andsqlhosts file. You must set the environment variables as for a remote server.
NT only: You should install the Online Server 7.20. This installs the client; no additional steps are necessary. If you run your web Server as a System, be sure that you have run regcopy.exe.
ODBC
All platforms: For information on the capabilities of the supported ODBC drivers, see "Supported Database Clients and ODBC Drivers" on page 360. You need to have the appropriate ODBC drivers for the database you are connecting to. You also need to have additional ODBC connectivity files. Most software products that provide (or advertise) ODBC connectivity supply an ODBC driver or drivers and ODBC connectivity. NT only: Currently Netscape has certified with ODBC Manager version 2.5. If you have access to an ODBC driver, but not to the ODBC connectivity files, you can obtain them from the MS ODBC SDK. To get updated files for Access, Foxpro, and Excel, you may need patch WX1350 from Microsoft. Unix only: For ODBC on Unix, you can use either the driver from Visigenic or from OpenLink. If you're using the Visigenic driver, follow the instructions in "Visigenic ODBC Driver (Unix only)" on page 368. If you're using the OpenLink driver, follow the instructions in "OpenLink ODBC Driver (Solaris only)" on page 367.ODBC Data Source Names (NT only)
Two types of data sources can be created:- System DSN: If you're using a system DSN, the web server must be started using the System account.
- User DSN: If you're using a user DSN, the web server must be started using an appropriate NT user account.
OpenLink ODBC Driver (Solaris only)
Install the request broker, OpenLink Workgroup Edition ODBC Driver, on the database server. This must be running before you can connect to the database using the OpenLink request agent. Install the request agent, in OpenLink Generic ODBC client version 1.5, on the database client machine. Rename or copy the request agent's driver manager file fromlibiodbc.so to libodbc.so in the $ODBCDIR/lib directory, where $ODBCDIR is the directory in which ODBC is installed.
When you installed your server, you installed it to run as some user, either root, nobody, or a particular server user. The user you pick must have a real home directory, which you may have to create. For example, the default home directory for the nobody user on Irix is /dev/null. If you install your server on Irix as nobody, you must give the nobody user a different home directory.
In that home directory, you must have an .odbc.ini file. For example, if you run the server as root, this file is under the root (/) directory.
Set the following environment variables:
LD_LIBRARY_PATH | (Solaris and Irix) Add the location of the ODBC libraries to this variable. |
UDBCINI |
Visigenic ODBC Driver (Unix only)
When you installed your server, you installed it to run as some user, either root, nobody, or a particular server user. The user you pick must have a real home directory, which you may have to create. For example, the default home directory for the nobody user on Irix is/dev/null. If you install your server on Irix as nobody, you must give the nobody user a different home directory.
In that home directory, you must have an .odbc.ini file. For example, if you run the server as root, this file is under the root (/) directory.
Set the following environment variable:
LD_LIBRARY_PATH | |
SHLIB_PATH | (HP-UX) Add the location of the ODBC libraries to this variable. |
LIBPATH | (AIX) Add the location of the ODBC libraries to this variable. |
Oracle
To use an Oracle server, you must have Netscape Enterprise Server. You cannot access Oracle from Netscape FastTrack Server. If the database and the web server are on different machines, follow the instructions in "Oracle Remote" on page 369. If the database and the web server are on the same machine, follow the instructions in "Oracle Local" on page 369. Unix only: Make sure you can connect to your Oracle database via SQL*Net. When you have finished installation, you can use a loopback test to verify that you connected correctly. For example, from withinsqlplus, you can try to connect to your database with the following command:
connect username/password@service_nameOr, from the Unix command line, you could use this command:
sqlplus username/password@service_nameIn these commands, you use the service_name from your
tnsnames.ora file.
Oracle Remote
NT only: You must install the Oracle 7.3.2 client software for NT. Oracle 7.1 and 7.2 clients are not supported. You must also create the Oracle configuration files using the appropriate Oracle configuration utility. Unix only: Before you can connect to Oracle under Irix, you must have the appropriate Irix patches. See Enterprise Server 3.x Release Notes for information on the patches you need. You must install the Oracle 7.3.x client software for Unix. Oracle 7.1 and 7.2 clients are not supported. You must set the following environment variables:ORACLE_HOME | Specifies the top-level directory in which Oracle is installed. |
TNS_ADMIN |
Oracle Local
Unix only: Before you can connect to Oracle under Irix, you must have the appropriate Irix patches. See Enterprise Server 3.x Release Notes for information on the patches you need. All platforms: You must install an Oracle Workgroup, Enterprise Server 7.3.2 (NT), or Enterprise Server 7.3.x (Unix). Oracle 7.1 and 7.2 clients are not supported. Check with your server vendor to verify that the Oracle server version is compatible with the Oracle client. You must set the following environment variables:ORACLE_HOME | Specifies the top-level directory in which Oracle is installed. |
ORACLE_SID |
connect method of the database or DbPool object or to the DbPool constructor. This way, those methods use the value of the ORACLE_SID environment variable. For example:
database.connect ("ORACLE", "" "user", "password", "");
For more information on Oracle installation, see Oracle's documentation.
Sybase
To use a Sybase server, you must have Netscape Enterprise Server. You cannot access Sybase from Netscape FastTrack Server. If the database and the web server are on different machines, follow the instructions in "Sybase Remote" on page 370. If the database and the web server are on the same machine, follow the instructions in "Sybase Local" on page 371. In addition, if you're using a Unix platform and Sybase has a multithreaded driver for that platform, follow the instructions in "Sybase (Unix only)" on page 371. See Enterprise Server 3.x Release Notes for a list of the Unix platforms on which Sybase has a multithreaded driver.Sybase Remote
Unix only: Set the following environment variable:SYBASE | The top-level directory in which Sybase is installed |
LD_LIBRARY_PATH |
sql.ini file (NT) and the interfaces file (all platforms), the information about the remote server you want to connect to. For more information, see your Sybase documentation.
Sybase Local
Unix only: Set the following environment variable:SYBASE | The top-level directory in which Sybase is installed |
LD_LIBRARY_PATH |
sql.ini file (NT) and the interfaces file (all platforms). For more information, see your Sybase documentation.
Sybase (Unix only)
On some Unix platforms, Sybase has both a single-threaded driver and a multithreaded driver. If Sybase has a multithreaded driver for a particular Unix machine, you must use the multithreaded driver with LiveWire. On these platforms, your web server will behave unpredictably with the single-threaded driver. This requirement applies for both a local and a remote connection. It does not apply to Windows platforms. See Enterprise Server 3.x Release Notes for a list of the Unix platforms on which Sybase has a multithreaded driver. To ensure that you use the multithreaded driver, you must edit your$SYBASE/config/libtcl.cfg file. This file contains a pair of lines that enable either the single-threaded or the multithreaded driver. You must have one of these lines commented out and the other active. For example, on Solaris locate these lines:
[DRIVERS]Make sure that the line for the single-threaded driver is commented out and that the line for the multithreaded driver is not commented out. The filename differs on each platform, but the lines are always in the
;libtli.so=tcp unused ; This is the nonthreaded tli driver.
libtli_r.so=tcp unused ; This is the threaded tli driver.
DRIVERS section and are always commented to indicate which is the single-threaded and which the multithreaded driver.
NOTE: If you wish to use the Sybaseisqlutility, you must use the nonthreadedtlidriver. In this case, the line forlibtli_r.somust be commented out. For information on using this driver, see your Sybase documentation.
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Last Updated: 11/12/98 15:29:43
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