Administering Data Gate

The following information describes common tasks that an administrator performs to maintain a Data Gate instance.

Managing user access to Data Gate
As an administrator or creator of a Data Gate instance, you can give other Cloud Pak for Data users access to the instance.
Viewing Data Gate instance details
You might want to check the details of a provisioned instance for various reasons. To this end, you can open the details page from the Cloud Pak for Data main menu.
Updating a source definition for Data Gate
Connect to a data source to give Data Gate access to the original data in Db2 for z/OS. You define a data source when you create (provision) an instance for the first time. This data source can be changed later .
Monitoring a Data Gate instance
The dashboard is displayed after the creation of an instance has finished. You can also access the dashboard from the Cloud Pak for Data main menu. The dashboard gives you various pieces of information about your Data Gate instance, such as the system availability, the table status, the replication latency, and throughput. The dashboard also allows you to add, load, and remove tables or to enable or disable synchronization. The dashboard is refreshed every minute.
Adding tables to Data Gate
From the dashboard, you can always add tables to your configured Data Gate instances.
Importing tables into Data Gate
From the dashboard, you can always export existing tables to a file in comma-separated-value (csv) format. Using the csv file, you can then import the same tables into the same or into a different Data Gate instance. The import function adds the tables in a first step, and then enables table synchronization based on the information in the csv file.
Enabling or disabling table synchronization
The tables list on the dashboard of your Data Gate instance allows you to add or remove tables from the synchronization process.
Loading tables in Data Gate
You can load tables in the Data Gate instance from the Table tab of the dashboard.
Avoiding table state ERROR as a result of a Db2 shutdown
After a shutdown of the target database service (Db2 or Db2 Warehouse), some of your Data Gate tables are in the ERROR state. You can avoid this by following the steps here.
Creating custom indexes manually
If the target database of your Data Gate setup is Db2, indexes on the target tables are created automatically when you load the tables. However, if these indexes do not satisfy your needs, you can manually create indexes for your target tables.
Preserving custom indexes
You might have created custom indexes by following the steps in Creating custom indexes manually. In the past, these indexes lasted only until the next full-table reload. After the reload, you had to re-create the indexes manually. However, it is now possible to provide indexing data definition (DDL) templates to Data Gate, and save these templates permanently. Based on the templates, Data Gate automatically creates the indexes each time tables are fully reloaded. This way, your custom indexes are preserved.
Changing the configuration of the target database
The default configuration of the target database (Db2 or Db2 Warehouse) is changed during the Data Gate deployment process. These changes guarantee that Data Gate works properly. In addition to that, you can make manual changes to the target database configuration to optimize the performance.
Scaling up the target database
Since the initial Data Gate setup, Data Gate and your target database have become interconnected entities. Therefore, you cannot change the configuration of your target database independently of your Data Gate configuration. Follow the recommended process after this if you want to enlarge or otherwise change the capacity of your Db2 or Db2 Warehouse target database for higher workloads.
Scaling the Data Gate instance
You can scale the Data Gate instance from small to large.
Removing tables from Data Gate
You can remove tables from a Data Gate instance from the Table tab on the dashboard.
Removing a Data Gate instance
Delete a Data Gate instance that you no longer need, or delete an instance to create a new instance with the same name.
Setting up client certificate authentication
Using a client certificate to authenticate to z/OS or OpenShift® is a convenient and secure way to authenticate because the users of connecting client application need not maintain IDs and passwords.
Updating certificates
Read instructions on how to update the certificate for the Db2 for z/OS source database or the certificates for Data Gate and the target database service (Db2 or Db2 Warehouse).
Updating passwords or secrets
Read instructions on how to change the user passwords for accessing the Db2 for z/OS source database or the secret for accessing the target database service (Db2 or Db2 Warehouse).
Making queries wait for Data Gate synchronization updates (WAITFORDATA)
You can postpone the execution of queries against tables in Data Gate target databases until the latest synchronization updates have been applied.
Data Gate query acceleration
You can configure Data Gate so that analytical Db2 for z/OS queries are routed to a Db2 Warehouse target database on Cloud Pak for Data. This shifts the query workload and saves valuable z/OS processing resources. In most cases, this will also accelerate your queries.
Data Gate storage saver
The storage saver in Data Gate archives data of table partitions in Db2 for z/OS to a Db2 Warehouse database on Cloud Pak for Data. By moving historical data that is no longer regularly used to a less expensive storage device, you can free up costly storage space on your Db2 for z/OS database server.
Publishing Data Gate table metadata to IBM Knowledge Catalog
You can set up Data Gate so that the table and database metadata of an instance is automatically published to IBM® Knowledge Catalog.
Data Gate stored procedures
The Data Gate stored procedures provide the functionality for all interaction with Db2 for z/OS. Stored procedures are executed when you run Data Gate functions from the Cloud Pak for Data user interface. However, you can also run the stored procedures stand-alone from z/OS or embed them in custom applications.
Collecting traces for Data Gate stored procedures on Db2 for z/OS
For Data Gate stored procedures on Db2 for z/OS, ERROR level tracing is turned on by default. This means that ERROR level tracing is also enabled for the Data Gate stored procedures. There might be situations in which you want to capture more or less extensive trace information regarding specific events. Follow the steps here to change the trace level and collect stored procedure trace information as needed.
Daisy chain synchronization
The Data Gate service synchronizes Db2 for z/OS data to Db2 instance on CP4D. Once your data is synchronized on CP4D, you have the option to extend the synchronization to subsequent targets using various synchronization tools.