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Data source settings

Use this page to edit the properties of a data source.

We can access this administrative console page in one of two ways:

If the application uses an EJB 1.1 or a Java Servlet 2.2 module, use the Data sources (WAS V4) > data_source console page. (deprecated)


Test connection

Activates the test connection service for validating application connections to the data source.

Before you click Test connection, set the data source properties and click Apply.

We must have the role of an administrator or configurator, otherwise the Test connection button is not available.


Scope

Scope of the JDBC provider that supports this data source. Only applications installed within this scope can use this data source.


Provider

Resource adapter that WebSphere Application Server uses for this connection factory.

Provider can be set only when we create a new connection factory. The list shows all the existing resource adapters defined at the relevant scope. Select one from the list to use an existing resource adapter as Provider.


Name

Display name for the data source.

Valid characters for this name include letters and numbers, but NOT most of the special characters. For example, we can set this field to Test Data Source. But any name starting with a period (ยท) or containing special characters (\ /,: ; " *? < > | = + & % ' ` @) is not a valid name.

Information Value
Data type String


JNDI name

JNDI name.

Distributed computing environments often employ naming and directory services to obtain shared components and resources. Naming and directory services associate names with locations, services, information, and resources.

Naming services provide name-to-object mappings. Directory services provide information about objects and the search tools required to locate those objects.

There are many naming and directory service implementations, and the interfaces to them vary. JNDI provides a common interface used to access the various naming and directory services.

For example, we can use the namejdbc/markSection.

If we leave this field blank a JNDI name is generated from the name of the data source. For example, a data source name, markSection, generates a JNDI name of jdbc/markSection.

After we set this value, save it, and restart the server, we can see this string when running the memory dump name space tool.

Information Value
Data type String


Use this data source in container-managed persistence (CMP)

Specifies if this data source is used for container-managed persistence of enterprise beans.

This option triggers creation of a CMP connection factory, which corresponds to this data source, for the relational resource adapter.

Information Value
Data type Boolean
Default True (enabled)


Description

Text description for the resource.

Information Value
Data type String


Category

Category string we can use to classify or group the resource.

Information Value
Data type String


Data store helper class name

DataStoreHelper implementation class that extends the capabilities of our selected JDBC driver implementation class to perform database-specific functions.

The application server provides a set of DataStoreHelper implementation classes for each of the JDBC provider drivers that it supports. These implementation classes are in the package com.ibm.websphere.rsadapter. For example, if the JDBC provider is DB2, then your default DataStoreHelper class is com.ibm.websphere.rsadapter.DB2DataStoreHelper. The administrative console page we are viewing, however, might make multiple DataStoreHelper class names available to you in a drop-down list; be sure to select the one required by the database configuration. Otherwise, the application might not work correctly. To use a DataStoreHelper class that is not listed in the drop-down list, select Specify a user-defined DataStoreHelper, and type a fully qualified class name. See the information center for instructions on creating a custom DataStoreHelper class.

Information Value
Data type Drop-down list or string (if user-defined DataStoreHelper is selected)


Authentication alias for XA recovery

This field specifies the authentication alias that we must use during XA recovery processing. If this alias name is changed after a server failure, the subsequent XA recovery processing uses the original setting that was in effect before the failure.

Select an alias from the list.

To define a new alias that is not displayed in the list:

  1. Click Apply. Under Related Items, you now see a listing for Java EE Connector Architecture (J2C) authentication data entries.

  2. Click J2EE Connector Architecture (J2C) authentication data entries.

  3. Click New.

  4. Define an alias.

  5. Click OK and Save. The console now displays an alias collection page that lists all of your configured aliases. Above the table, this page also displays the name of our connection factory in the breadcrumb path.

  6. Click the name of our J2C connection factory to return to the configuration page for the connection factory that we are creating.

  7. Select the new alias in the Container-managed authentication alias list.

  8. Click Apply.

The database identity for the XA recovery authentication alias on a data source must have authorization to do XA recovery. Depending on the authorization schema for our installation, this level of authorization might be different from the level of authorization that the identity must use to access database tables for an application.

If the resource adapter does not support XA transactions, this field does not display. The default is derived from the selected alias for application authentication, if one is specified.

If we have defined multiple security domains and multiple authentication aliases in the application server, we can click Browse... to select an authentication alias for the resource that we are configuring. The Browse button is only accessible if at least one security domain is defined and assigned a scope which is applicable to the resource being used edited. Additionally, that security domain must contain at least one JAAS Java 2 Connector (J2C) Authentication alias.

Security domains allow us to isolate authentication aliases between servers. The tree view is useful in determining the security domain to which an alias belongs, and the tree view can help you determine the servers that are able to access each authentication alias. The tree view is tailored for each resource, so domains and aliases that we cannot use do not display.

Information Value
Data type Drop-down list


Component-managed authentication alias

This alias is used for database authentication at run time.

If our database is not secured, setting database authentication is not required. This is not recommended for a production environment.

If we have a database that does not support user ID and password, do not set the alias in the component-managed authentication alias or container-managed authentication alias fields. Otherwise, we see the warning message in the system log to indicate that the user and password are not valid properties. This message is only a warning message; the data source is still created successfully.

Select an alias from the list.

To define a new alias that is not displayed in the list:

  1. Click Apply. Under Related Items, you now see a listing for Java EE Connector Architecture (J2C) authentication data entries.

  2. Click J2EE Connector Architecture (J2C) authentication data entries.

  3. Click New.

  4. Define an alias.

  5. Click OK and Save. The console now displays an alias collection page that lists all of your configured aliases. Above the table, this page also displays the name of our connection factory in the breadcrumb path.

  6. Click the name of our J2C connection factory to return to the configuration page for the connection factory that we are creating.

  7. Select the new alias in the Container-managed authentication alias list.

  8. Click Apply.

If we have defined multiple security domains and multiple authentication aliases in the application server, we can click Browse... to select an authentication alias for the resource that we are configuring. The Browse button is only accessible if at least one security domain is defined and assigned a scope which is applicable to the resource being used edited. Additionally, that security domain must contain at least one JAAS J2C Authentication alias.

If we do not set an alias through the component-managed authentication or otherwise, and the database requires the user ID and password to get a connection, an exception occurs during run time.

Information Value
Data type Drop-down list


Container-managed authentication alias

Specifies authentication data, which is a JAAS - J2C authentication data entry, for container-managed signon to the resource. Depending on the value that is selected for the Mapping-configuration alias setting, we can disable this setting.

Select an alias from the list.

To define a new alias that is not displayed in the list:

  1. Click Apply. Under Related Items, you now see a listing for J2EE Connector Architecture (J2C) authentication data entries.

  2. Click JAAS - J2C authentication data.

  3. Click New.

  4. Define an alias.

  5. Click OK and Save. The console now displays an alias collection page that lists all of your configured aliases. Above the table, this page also displays the name of our connection factory in the breadcrumb path.

  6. Click the name of our J2C connection factory to return to the configuration page for the connection factory that we are creating.

  7. Select the new alias in the Container-managed authentication alias list.

  8. Click Apply.

If we have defined multiple security domains and multiple authentication aliases in the application server, we can click Browse... to select an authentication alias for the resource that we are configuring. The Browse button is only accessible if at least one security domain is defined and assigned a scope which is applicable to the resource being used edited. Additionally, that security domain must contain at least one JAAS J2C Authentication alias.

Security domains allow us to isolate authentication aliases between servers. The tree view is useful in determining the security domain to which an alias belongs, and the tree view can help you determine the servers that can access each authentication alias. The tree view is tailored for each resource, so domains and aliases that we cannot use do not display.

Information Value
Data type Drop-down list


Mapping-configuration alias

Authentication alias for the JAAS mapping configuration used by this connection factory.

The DefaultPrincipalMapping JAAS configuration maps the authentication alias to the user ID and password. We can define and use other mapping configurations.

Information Value
Data type Drop-down list


Common and required data source properties

These properties are specific to the data source that corresponds to your selected JDBC provider. They are either required by the data source, or are especially useful for the data source. We can find a complete list of the properties required for all supported JDBC providers in the information center.


Related:

  • Relational resource adapters and JCA
  • JDBC providers
  • Data sources
  • Configure a data source
  • Configure a JDBC provider
  • Monitor performance with Tivoli Performance Viewer
  • Tune the application serving environment
  • Administrative console preference settings