This presentation will discuss how to configure ODBC connectivity for DataStage® on

UNIX or Linux.

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This presentation will discuss the various components involved in configuring ODBC
connectivity to a data source in DataStage. It discusses the ODBC drivers used by
DataStage and how to configure the .odbc.ini file to create a data source name for a
database. It also will discuss how to specify the data source name in the uvodbc.config file
for a specific DataStage project and how to test the ODBC driver connectivity and
troubleshooting ODBC issues.
Three key components involved to configure ODBC connectivity in DataStage are ODBC
drivers, the .odbc.ini file and the uvodbc.config file.

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The first component in configuring an ODBC connection is the ODBC drivers. DataStage
ships with several database specific drivers from Data Direct Technologies. The data direct
drivers are by default installed under the directory
/opt/IBM/InformationServer/Server/branded_odbc.

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The second component is the .odbc.ini file which defines all the Data Sources within
DataStage. The path of the .odbc.ini file used by DataStage is defined by the variable
ODBCINI in the dsenv file and by default is located under the DataStage engine directory.
The data source within the .odbc.ini file defines the data direct driver to be used and
provides information needed by the data source to connect to the database.
The .odbc.ini file contains several pre-configured examples for the various database
drivers. A new data source is configured by creating a copy of the pre-configured example
and editing the copy according to the database specifications. This example will use the
pre-configured Oracle wire protocol entry displayed on this slide.

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The example displayed on this slide shows the details of the data source named
OracleTest that was created after copying and editing the pre-configured Oracle Wire
protocol displayed in the previous slide to connect to the Oracle database DNSH1. It is
also necessary to make an entry at the top of the .odbc.ini file under the section ODBC
Data Sources with the DSN Name and a description. Some components of DataStage
look for the entry in the [ODBC Data Sources] section.
Additional documents that provide more information on the data source attributes for
various databases are located under InformationServer/Server/branded_odbc/docs.

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The third and final component is the uvodbc.config file. This file specifies the ODBC data
source name (DSN) for each database. The uvodbc.config file exists at two locations. A
common file exists at DSEngine directory and project specific file exists under each
DataStage projects directory. The copy in DSEngine will only be accessed if the
uvodbc.config file does not exist in the project directory.
Add the data source name to the uvodbc.config file in your project directory using the
syntax displayed on this slide. The Data Source Name must match the Data Source Name
in the .odbc.ini file exactly, including the case. Also, be sure that every equal sign in this
file has a space on both sides.

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Once the DSN has been configured, the next step is to test the ODBC connectivity to the
data source. This can be done using the UV command DS_CONNECT. Before testing the
connectivity, change directories to DSEngine directory and setup the environment by
sourcing the dsenv file. Start a DataStage server shell by running the bin/dssh command
from the DSEngine directory. Log to the specific DataStage project using the LOGTO
command followed by the DataStage project name. Test the connection to the data source
by executing the command DS_CONNECT followed by DSN name. When prompted,
enter the user name and password to connect to the specific database.
When testing is complete, enter .Q to quit the connection.

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If your ODBC connection is not working properly, the first thing to check is if the ODBC
driver library will load properly. ddtestlib can be used to test the library. Located under the
InformationServer/Server/branded_odbc/bin directory, ddtestlib attempts to load the
specified driver and provides error information if the load fails. Source the dsenv file before
running ddtestlib to ensure that your test environment matches the DataStage
environment. If the library fails to load, check your environment variables to be sure they
are set correctly and that you have the proper database clients loaded if you are using
non-wired ODBC drivers.

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If the library loads but there are still connection problems, the next step is to do an ODBC
trace. The .odbc.ini file also contains a data source entry [ODBC] at the end of the file.
ODBC tracing can be turned ON by setting Trace=1. You should change the TraceFile
attribute to the absolute path to your trace file to make it easy to find. Be sure the directory
where the trace file is going to be written to has plenty of room as those files can become
large. All the trace records for all processes go to one file so it is best to trace with no one
else using any other ODBC data sources. Be sure to turn the Trace attribute back to 0 as
soon as your trace is completed. For additional information on ODBC tracing, see the IBM
Education Assistant module “Problem Determination – ODBC Tracing” using the URL
displayed on this slide.

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It is important to note that the DataDirect ODBC drivers shipped with Information Server
product should not be used outside of DataStage. If the drivers are used outside of
DataStage, it shows a warning message and creates a QEWSD entry at the top of the
data source entry in the .odbc.ini file. If the QEWSD entries exist, the drivers will be in
demo mode and can potentially expire. The QEWSD entries can also result in Invalid
license file warnings when running DataStage jobs. Remove the QEWSD entries and
ensure the drivers are not used outside of DataStage.

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