Managing Adapter Connections

Overview

This chapter provides instructions for managing Adapter for AS/400 connections. You must have IBM webMethods Integration Server administrator privileges to access the Adapter for AS/400's administrative screens.

Configuring Adapter Connections

About this task

When you configure Adapter for AS/400 connections, you specify information that the Integration Server uses to connect and to log on to the server.

Before you can configure a connection, you must have the Adapter for AS/400 and IBM ToolBox for Java installed and loaded by the Integration Server. For more information, see Installing and Uninstalling the Adapter. You create Adapter for AS/400 connections using the Integration Server Administrator.

To configure a connection:

Procedure

  1. Start the Integration Server Administrator if it is not already running.
  2. Make sure the WmAS400 package is enabled.

    To see the status of the WmAS400 package, in the Packages menu in the navigation area, select Management. The Integration Server Administrator displays the list of packages that are installed on the Integration Server. If the WmAS400 package is disabled, click No in the Enabled column to enable it.

  3. In the Adapters menu in the Integration Server Administrator's navigation area, click IBM webMethods Adapter for AS/400.
  4. On the Connections screen, click Configure New Connection.
  5. On the Connection Types screen, click the AS/400 service you want to connect to.
    • To execute non-interactive CL commands or RPG programs, you need to create a connection using the COMMAND connection type.
    • To perform operations on the DataQueue, for example, read or write, you need to create a connection using the DATAQUEUE connection type.
  6. On the Configure Connection Type screen, provide values for the connection's parameters.
    Parameter Description
    Connection Alias Required. Name you want to give the connection. Connection names cannot have spaces or use special characters reserved by the Integration Server, or Designer. For more information about the use of special characters in package, folder, and element names, see the IBM webMethods Service Development Help for your release.
    ServerName Required. Name or the IP address of the AS/400 server, for example, Adapter for AS/400.com.
    User Required. User name that the connection must use to connect to the server.
    Password Required. Password for the user account defined in the User field.
    Initialization Service Optional. Integration service that you want to invoke every time a new connection is created, for example wm.as400.sample.connection:initService. You can use the service to call the AS/400 programs or commands that would set the AS/400 sessions environment (current library, and so on.)
    Current Library Optional. Library that you want to use for accessing the AS/400 resources. Instead of hard coding the library name you can use this parameter in your service.
    Use Secure Connection Required. Use SSL to connect to the AS/400 server. Possible values are:
    • true. If you have configured SSL connections between Adapter for AS/400 and AS/400 server, set the truststore alias name in the watt.server.ssl.trustStoreAlias server configuration parameter.
      • In Integration Server Administrator, select Settings > Extended.
      • Set the watt.server.ssl.trustStoreAlias server configuration parameter to the truststore alias name created in Integration Server.

      For information on creating truststore aliases, see IBM webMethods Integration Server Administrator’s Guide.

    • false. Default.
  7. In the Connection Management Properties section, provide values for the following parameters:
    Parameter Description
    Enable Connection Pooling Enables the adapter to use connection pooling. Default: true.
    Minimum Pool Size Minimum number of connection objects that remain in the connection pool at all times. When the adapter creates the pool, it creates this number of connections. Default: 1.
    Maximum Pool Size Maximum number of connection objects that can exist in the connection pool. When the connection pool has reached its maximum number of connections, the adapter will reuse any inactive connections in the pool or, if all connections are active, it will wait for a connection to become available. Default: 10.
    Pool Increment Size If connection pooling is enabled, this parameter specifies the number of connections by which the pool will be incremented if connections are needed, up to the maximum pool size. Default: 1.
    Block Timeout If connection pooling is enabled, this parameter specifies the number of milliseconds that the Integration Server will wait to obtain a connection from the pool before it times out and returns an error. Default: 1000 msecs.
    Expire Timeout If connection pooling is enabled, this parameter specifies the number of milliseconds that an inactive connection can remain in the pool before it is closed and removed from the pool. For example, to specify 10 seconds, specify 10000. Type 0 to specify no timeout. Default: 1000 msecs.
  8. Click Save Connection. If the parameters are valid the connection you created appears on the Connections screen.
  9. Click Return to IBM webMethods Adapter for AS/400 Connections Types to return to the Connection Types screen.

Viewing Adapter Connections

You can view the adapter connections parameters from the Integration Server Administrator, or Designer.

Viewing Connections Using the Integration Server Administrator

About this task

To view the parameters of an adapter connection using the Integration Server Administrator:

Procedure

  1. Start the Integration Server Administrator if it is not already running.
  2. Make sure the WmAS400 package is enabled.
  3. In the Adapters menu in the navigation area of the Integration Server Administrator, click IBM webMethods Adapter for AS/400.

    When using the adapter with Integration Server 8.0 and later, you can sort and filter the list of connections that appears on the Connections screen.

    • To sort information on the Connections screen, click the Up and Down arrows at the top of the column you want to sort.
    • To filter the list of connections:
      1. On the Connections screen, click Filter Connections.
      2. Type the criterion by which you want to filter into the Filter criteria box. Filtering is based on the node name, not the connection alias. To locate all connections containing specific alphanumeric characters, use asterisks (*) as wildcards. For example, if you want to display all connections containing the string "abc", type *abc* in the Filter criteria box.
      3. Click Submit. The Connections screen displays the connections that match the filter criteria.
      4. To re-display all connections, click Show All Connections.

      The Connections screen appears, listing all the current connections. You can control the number of connections that are displayed on this screen. For more information, see Controlling Pagination.

  4. On the Connections screen, click the icon for the connection you want to view.

    The View Connection screen displays the parameters for the connection. For descriptions of the connection parameters, see the table of parameters in Configuring Adapter Connections.

  5. Click Return to IBM webMethods Adapter for AS/400 Connections to return to the Connections screen.

Viewing Connections Using Designer

About this task

To view the parameters of an adapter connection using Designer:

Procedure

  1. From the Designer navigation area, open the package and folder in which the connection is located.
  2. Double-click the connection you want to view.

    The parameters for the connection appear on the Connection Information tab. For descriptions of the connection parameters, see Configuring Adapter Connections.

Editing Adapter Connections

About this task

If the login information for a server changes, or if you want to redefine parameters that a connection uses when connecting to a server, you can update a connection's parameters using the Integration Server Administrator.

To edit an adapter connection:

Procedure

  1. Disable the connection you want to edit. For instructions on disabling a connection, see Disabling Adapter Connections.
  2. Start the Integration Server Administrator if it is not already running.
  3. Make sure the WmAS400 package is enabled.
  4. In the Adapters menu in the navigation area of the Integration Server Administrator, click IBM webMethods Adapter for AS/400.
  5. On the Connections screen, click the icon for the connection you want to edit.

    The Edit Connection screen displays the current parameters for the connection. Update the connection's parameters by typing or selecting the values you want to specify.

    For descriptions of the connection parameters, see the table of parameters in Configuring Adapter Connections.

  6. Click SaveChangesto save the connection.
  7. Click Return to IBM webMethods Adapter for AS/400 Connections to return to the Connections screen.
  8. Enable the connection you edited. See Enabling Adapter Connections for instructions.

Deleting Adapter Connections

About this task

If you no longer want to use an Adapter for AS/400 connection, use the following instructions to delete the connection. If you delete an Adapter for AS/400 connection, the Adapter for AS/400 flow services that are defined to use the connection will no longer work.

To delete an adapter connection:

Procedure

  1. Start the Integration Server Administrator if it is not already running.
  2. Make sure the WmAS400 package is enabled. For instructions, see Enabling Adapter Connections.
  3. In the Adapters menu in the navigation area of the Integration Server Administrator, click IBM webMethods Adapter for AS/400.
  4. Disable the connection. See "Disabling Adapter Connections" for details.
  5. On the Connections screen, click the icon in the Delete column for the connection you want to delete.

    The Integration Server deletes the adapter connection.

Enabling Adapter Connections

About this task

The connections must be enabled before you can use the connection in your services. When you create a connection, it is not automatically enabled.

Note: When you reload a package that contains enabled connections, the connections will automatically be enabled when the package reloads. If the package contains connections that are disabled, they will remain disabled when the package reloads.

To enable an adapter connection:

Procedure

  1. Start the Integration Server Administrator if it is not already running.
  2. Make sure the WmAS400 package is enabled.
  3. In the Adapters menu in the navigation area of the Integration Server Administrator, click IBM webMethods Adapter for AS/400.
  4. On the Connections screen, click No in the Enabled column for the connection you want to enable.

    The adapter enables the connection and displays and Yes in the Enabled column.

Disabling Adapter Connections

About this task

Connections must be disabled before you can edit or delete the connections.

To disable an adapter connection:

Procedure

  1. Start the Integration Server Administrator if it is not already running.
  2. Make sure the WmAS400 package is enabled.
  3. In the Adapters menu in the navigation area of the Integration Server Administrator, click IBM webMethods Adapter for AS/400.
  4. On the Connections screen, click Yes in the Enabled column for the connection you want to disable.

Results

The adapter disables the connection and displays No in the Enabled column.