Configure a data source using the administrative console

Application components use a data source to access connection instances to a relational database. WebSphere Application Server supports two different versions of data source. Determine the data source for your environment according to the enterprise bean and servlet specification levels that are the basis of your applications:

• Data sources (WebSphere Application Server Version 4) are for use with the Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) 1.0 specification and the Java Servlet 2.2 specification.

• Data sources of the latest standard version are for use with applications that implement the more advanced releases of these specifications.

Overview

Procedure

1. Open the administrative console.

2. Access the necessary console page in one of two ways:

   • Click Resources > JDBC > Data sources, or Data sources (WebSphere Application Server V4).

   • Click Resources > JDBC > JDBC providers > JDBC_provider > Data sources, or Data sources (WebSphere Application Server V4).

3. Select the scope at which applications can use the data source. You can choose a cell, node, cluster, or server. For more information, see the Administrative console scope settings article. V4 only: From this point onward, the steps for creating Data sources (WebSphere Application Server V4) differ from the steps for creating data sources of the latest standard version. To configure a V4 data source:

   • Click New to proceed to the console page for defining required properties.

   • On this properties page specify values for the fields that are grouped under the heading Configuration. Application Server requires these properties to implement your JDBC driver classes.

   • Save your configuration by clicking OK. You are now finished with the primary data source configuration tasks.

   • Define other properties that your database vendor might require, or offer as options, for using the JDBC driver. Application Server calls them custom properties, and requires that you set them on the data source. Begin by clicking the Custom Properties link that is now displayed on the administrative console page. (Consult your database documentation to learn about these required and optional properties.)

4. Click New. This action causes the Create a data source wizard to launch and display the Enter basic data source information page. The first field is the scope field, which is read-only. This field displays your previous scope selection.

5. Type a data source name in the Data source name field. This name identifies the data source for administrative purposes only.

6. Type a Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) name in the JNDI name field. WebSphere Application Server uses the JNDI name to bind application resource references to this data source. Follow these requirements when specifying JNDI names:

   • Do not assign duplicate JNDI names across different resource types (such as data sources versus J2C connection factories or JMS connection factories).

   • Do not assign duplicate JNDI names for multiple resources of the same type in the same scope.

   For more information on JNDI, consult the Naming article.

7. Set a component-managed alias to secure your data source. A component-managed alias represents a combination of ID and password that is specified in an application for data source authentication. Therefore, the alias that you set on the data source must be identical to the alias in the application code. For more information on Java 2 Connector (J2C) security, see the Managing J2EE Connector Architecture authentication data entries article.

   Configuring an alias is an optional step. If you do not require application components to authenticate with the data source, select (none) from the drop-down list.

   To set a component-managed alias, either select an existing alias or create a new one.

   • Use the drop-down list to select an existing component-managed authentication alias.

   • To create a new alias, click the create a new one link. This action closes the data source wizard and triggers the administrative console to display the J2C authentication data collection page. Click New to define a new alias. Click OK to save your settings and view the new alias on the J2C authentication data collection page. Restart the data source wizard by navigating back to the data source collection page, selecting the appropriate scope, and clicking New.

8. Click Next to see the wizard page Select JDBC provider.

9. Either select an existing JDBC provider, or create a new provider.

   To select an existing JDBC provider:

   1. Click Select an existing JDBC provider.

   2. Select a JDBC driver from the drop-down list.

   3. Click Next. You now see the page entitled Enter database specific properties for the data source.

   To create a new JDBC provider:

   1. Click Create new JDBC provider.

   2. Click Next to see the Create JDBC provider page.

   3. Use the first drop-down list to select the database type of the JDBC provider that you need to create. The User-Defined option: Select User-Defined for your database type if you encounter either of the following scenarios:

      • You do not see your database type.

      • You cannot select the JDBC provider type that you need in the next step.

      The user-defined selection triggers the wizard page to display your provider type as a User-defined JDBC provider, and your implementation type as User-defined. Consult your database documentation for the JDBC driver class files, data source properties, and so on that are required for your user-defined provider. You must supply this information on the next two wizard pages: one page for database class path information, and the other page for database-specific properties.

   4. Select your JDBC provider type if it is displayed in the second drop-down list. Select Show Deprecated to trigger the display of both current and deprecated providers. If you cannot find your provider in this expanded list, then select User-Defined from the previous list of database types.

   5. From the third drop-down list, select the implementation type that is necessary for your application. If your application does not require that connections support two-phase commit transactions, choose Connection Pool Data Source. Choose XA Data Source, however, if your application requires connections that support two-phase commit transactions. Applications that use this data source configuration have the benefit of container-managed transaction recovery.

      After you select an implementation type, the wizard fills the name and the description fields for your JDBC provider. You can type different values for these fields; they exist for administrative purposes only.

   6. Click Next after you have defined your database type, provider type, and implementation type. Now you see the wizard page Enter database class path information.

   7. In the class path field, type the full path location of the database JDBC driver class files. Your class path information becomes the value of the WebSphere environment variable that is displayed on this page, in the form of ${DATABASE_JDBC_DRIVER_PATH}. WebSphere Application Server uses the variable to define your JDBC provider; this practice eliminates the need to specify static JDBC class paths for individual applications. Remember that if you do not provide the full, correct JDBC driver class path for the variable, your data source ultimately fails. If the field already displays a fully qualified class path, you can accept that variable definition by completing the rest of this wizard page and clicking Next.

   8. Use the Native library path field to specify additional class files that your JDBC driver might require to function properly on your WebSphere Application Server platform. Type the full directory path name of these class files.

   9. Click Next . You now see the page entitled Enter database specific properties for the data source.

10. Complete all of the fields on the Enter database specific properties page.

    • Click Use this data source in container managed persistence (CMP) if container managed persistence (CMP) enterprise beans must access this data source.

    • Any other property fields that are displayed on this wizard page are specific to your database type. Consult the article Data source minimum required settings, by vendor for information on these property settings. The article addresses both current and deprecated JDBC providers that are pre-defined in WebSphere Application Server. User-defined data sources: This wizard page does not display additional property fields for data sources that correspond with your user-defined JDBC providers. However, from the JDBC driver class files that you installed, Application Server can generally extract the necessary data source property names. Application Server defines them as data source custom properties, displays them on a custom properties console page, and assigns them default values. Consult your database documentation about setting these properties and any other requirements for your user-defined data source. After you create the data source, navigate to the corresponding custom properties collection page in the administrative console by clicking Data sources > my_new_data_source > Custom properties. Review the property default values and modify them if necessary.

      Application Server can only extract vendor-specific properties from the driver class files if you install the files on the deployment manager node and configure their representative WebSphere variables correctly. Otherwise, the product displays an informational message (as opposed to an error message) that directs you to manually define the necessary properties as custom properties.

11. Click Finish to save the configuration and exit the wizard. You now see the Data source collection page, which displays your new configuration in a table along with other data sources that are configured for the same scope.

What to do next

• Connection pool settings

• WebSphere Application Server data source properties

• J2EE resource provider or connection factory custom properties collection

Related concepts

Related Reference