Managing storage profiles for archiving and extraction

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Storage profiles define reusable connections to Cloud Object Storage services that are used by the platform for archiving and extraction workflows.

Before you begin

Before you begin, ensure that you have the following:

  • Valid credentials for your cloud storage service (Amazon S3 or Microsoft Azure Blob Storage)
  • Network access to the storage endpoint
  • Storage bucket name (Amazon S3) or container name (Azure Blob Storage)
  • Region or location information for your storage service
  • For Amazon S3: Access key and secret key, temporary credentials, or trusted role credentials
  • For Azure Blob Storage: Tenant ID, client ID, client secret, and storage account URL

About this task

Storage profiles support cloud storage services such as Amazon S3 and Azure Blob Storage, which serve as destinations for archived data and extracted files. Instead of configuring storage details within each workflow, you create a storage profile once and you reference it wherever cloud storage access is required.

Storage profiles are managed from the Storage profiles tab in the Connections page, separate from database connections. This separation provides clearer organization of different connection types and simplifies the process of setting up destinations for archived and extracted data.

Procedure

  1. From the navigation menu, click Connections, then click the Storage profiles tab to view existing storage profiles.
  2. Click New storage profile to create a new storage profile.
  3. Select the storage type from the available options (Amazon S3, Azure Blob Storage, or Local File Storage), then click Next to proceed to the configuration page.
    To register legacy InfoSphere Optim archives, select Local File Storage, then select InfoSphere Optim Archive Storage. For detailed instructions on registering InfoSphere Optim archives, see Registering InfoSphere Optim archives.
  4. In the Connection overview section, enter a unique name for the storage profile in the Name field and optionally provide a description to help identify the profile's purpose.
  5. In the Connection details section, complete the required fields based on your storage type.
    If you are using Amazon S3, specify the following:
    • Bucket name
    • Endpoint URL
    • Region
    If you are using Azure Blob Storage, specify the container name.
  6. In the Credentials section, select the Authentication Method from the list and enter the required credentials based on your selection.
  7. Click Test connection to validate the storage profile configuration and ensure connectivity to the cloud storage service before you save the profile.
    If the connection is established, the system validates the credentials and connection settings, displaying a success message. If the validation fails, an error message is displayed.
  8. Click Create to save the storage profile after the connection test is successful.
  9. Optional: To edit an existing storage profile, locate the profile in the storage profiles list, click the overflow menu (three vertical dots) for the profile, select Edit, update the required fields. The password and secret fields are intentionally cleared during editing to prevent accidental overwrites. Click Test connection to validate the changes, and click Save to apply the updates.
    Password and secret fields are encrypted and protected. Reenter these fields when you edit the profile for security purposes.
  10. Optional: To delete a storage profile, locate the profile in the storage profiles list, click the overflow menu for the profile, select Delete, and click Delete again to confirm the deletion.
    You cannot delete a storage profile that is referenced in active extract, archive, or restore workflows. Remove the profile from all workflows before you attempt to delete it.

Results

The storage profile is created, validated, and ready for use in archiving and extraction workflows. You can reference this profile when you configure archive and extract operations within data processing flows, which eliminate the need to configure storage details repeatedly.

Archived datasets that are stored in cloud storage can be browsed directly through the application interface, eliminating the need to use external cloud tools to inspect archived data.

What to do next

After you create storage profiles, you can use them as targets in the following operations:

  • Archive operations: Configure workflows to archive data to the cloud storage location defined in the storage profile.
  • Extract operations: Configure workflows to extract data to the cloud storage location defined in the storage profile.
  • Restore operations: Restore archived data from storage back to database targets.
  • InfoSphere Optim archive registration: Use InfoSphere Optim Archive Storage profiles to register and access legacy archives. For more information, see Registering InfoSphere Optim archives.

For more information about using storage profiles in workflows, see the flow builder documentation.