Databridge Installation Guide
Use this guide to install, configure, and run Databridge. Included are instructions for installing and upgrading all of the Micro Focus Databridge Host, Enterprise Server, and Client products, including FileXtract, Twin, DMSII Client, and Cluster. Also included are a list of new features, system requirements, and installation results for these products.
To install, configure, and run Databridge, you should be a system administrator familiar with the following:
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Standard Unisys® operations for MCP-hosted mainframes such as the CS7xxx series, Libra series, ClearPath® NX/LX or A Series
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DMSII databases and Data And Structure Definition Language (DASDL)
Important
The service names for the "Databridge Client Manager" and "Databridge Director" services were changed to "Micro Focus Databridge Client Manager" and "Micro Focus Databridge Director".
What's New In This Release
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Support for DMSII SSR 62.0
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The console is now a browser-based component that requires a server to control communications with the browser. The console is no longer installed using the standard Windows installer located in the "Windows" folder. Instead it is installed by clicking on "setup.exe" in the "Console\Windows" folder. This install includes a private JRE that is used to run the administrative console server.
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The new console, which we will refer to as the "Administrative Console" from hereon, also performs monitoring functions that allow you to see the state of all the data sources for all Client Manager services on a single screen. The columns in the output can be customized using a filter. These columns include the throughput, the lag time, the state information, the message counts, and several other statistics that are useful in assessing the health of the client operations. In addition it provides alerts that appear as warning icons (yellow triangles with an exclamation point). Clicking on the warning icon for a data source displays the text of the alert(s) for the data source in a pop-up. For example: "No data received from server for 5 minutes". If the situation that lead to the alert self-corrects, the alert is automatically cancelled and the warning icon disappears.
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We recommend that you install the Administrative Console in a separate server from the client machine(s) for the following two reasons.
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The Administrative Console code uses a lot resources, which will impact the client's performance, unless you have a very powerful machine with lots of memory.
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Since the Administrative Console monitors the client machines it makes sense to use a different machine for this, as a downed client machine cannot monitor itself.
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Ideally the monitor should be run in a failover cluster environment.
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The authentication for browser users is done by soliciting a userid/password that is passed on to the authentication service in the Administrative Console server, which comes with the Administrative Console. The authentication service must be configured to be able to use LDAP using the site specific parameters. For sites that do not wish to use LDAP, we also provide a less secure method of adding userid/password pairs to a file that the authentication service uses in addition to LDAP to authenticate users. This configuration file must be set up before you can start using the Administrative Console.
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The communications between the Databridge client and the Databridge server on the MCP can now be encrypted. When using encryption you need to perform some preliminary steps outlined later on in this document.
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We implemented a second set of commit parameters in the client and a new configuration file parameter named "batch_job_period". The batch_job_period parameter defines the time slot during which batch jobs typically run. It allows the client to automatically switch between the two sets of commit parameters based on the value of the audit timestamp. This can have a significant impact on improving performance during batch periods if you use low values for the commit parameters during daytime hours.
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The client can now override the Engine Control file's COMMIT DURING IDLE DATABASE parameter using the "commit_idle_database" parameter, which was added to the client configuration file.
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A new control table named AF_STATS was added to optionally store the audit file statistics for the last 9999 audit files. For audit files whose processing is split between two or more runs, the statistics are adjusted to include all the runs; this will skew them slightly because of the additional startup times. These statistics can be enabled by setting the config parameter "enable_af_stats" to true. The table is updated after an audit file switch or when the client exits.
Security Guidelines
Databridge 7.0 includes the following security guidelines:
| For | To decrease security risk |
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| Databridge Host | Install Databridge Host to the Unisys mainframe under its own privileged usercode. This is preferable to installing under the usercode of the DMSII database. If you install and run Databridge under multiple usercodes, you must install a copy of DBEngine under each of those usercodes. Alternatively, you can establish DBEngine as a system library (SL). |
| Databridge Client | File security helps to protect Client operations by restricting access to the working directory and its files and subdirectories. Access is limited to the administrators and the system account, and to designated users (or on Windows, user groups). In Windows, you can enable file security via the option Enable File Security at installation, or by running the program setfilesecurity.exe after the installation.From the UserID box and the DBAdministrator box, specify users who can run Databridge Client and modify the working directory and its files. User IDs specified in the DBOperator box can monitor operations by reading the log files, but cannot run Databridge Client. In UNIX, you restrict file access via the umask entry in the file globalprofile.ini. See Install Databridge Client on UNIX. |
| Databridge Enterprise Server | File security is automatically enabled when you install Databridge Enterprise. File security protects the configuration and log files by restricting privileges on the PC to users who need to modify the configuration. By default, any user in the Administrators group can modify the configuration files and delete the read-only log files. If you create a user group in Windows called DBEAdmins, only the users in that group will be able to alter the configuration files and delete log files. Likewise, if you create a group called DBEUsers, only the users in that group will be able to view the configuration. For more information, see "Implementing File Security" in the Databridge Enterprise Server Help. |
System Requirements
Databridge 7.0 includes support for the following hardware and software requirement:
System Support Updates
- Databridge will remove support for operating systems and target databases when their respective software company ends mainstream and extended support.
| Databridge Host | Unisys mainframe system with an MCP level SSR 59.1 through 62.0 DMSII or DMSII XL software (including the DMALGOL compiler) DMSII database DESCRIPTION, CONTROL, DMSUPPORT library, and audit files |
| Databridge Enterprise Server | ClearPath PC with Logical disks or MCP disks (VSS disks in MCP format) -or- Windows PC that meets the minimum requirements of its operating system, which is one of the following:
TCP/IP transport NOTE: To view the product Help, a supported Internet browser (such as, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, or Google Chrome) is required. In addition, JavaScript must be enabled in the browser settings to navigate and search Help. |
| Databridge Administrative Console | One of following platforms can be used for the Administrative Console server:
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| Databridge Client | We do not recommend running the Administrative Console in the same machine as the Client, it will need several GB of an additional memory depending and negatively impact the client's performance. To access the new Administrative Console all you need is a browser such as Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome, which will most likely be already on the client machine. NOTE: Disk space requirements for replicated DMSII data are not included here. For best results, use a RAID disk array and store the client files on a separate disk from the database storage. NOTE: Memory requirements do not include the database requirements when running the Client in the server that houses the relational database (consult your database documentation for these). The numbers are for a stand-alone client machine that connects to a remote database server. |
| Client - Windows | Unisys ES7000 -or- Pentium PC processor 3 GHz or higher (multiple CPU configuration recommended) 2 GB of RAM (4 GB recommended) 100 GB of disk space in addition to disk space for the relational database built from DMSII data) TCP/IP transport One of the following operating systems:
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| Client - UNIX and Linux | One of the following systems:
2 GB of RAM (4 GB recommended) 100 GB of free disk space for installation (in addition to disk space for the relational database built from DMSII data) TCP/IP transport One of the following databases:
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Related Documentation
When using Databridge, you may need to consult the following resources.
Databridge product documentation
On the Databridge installation image, the Docs folder contains guides for installation, error codes, and administrator's guides for each Databridge product. These documents require Adobe Reader for viewing, which you can download from the Adobe website. This documentation, and current technical notes, is also available on the Micro Focus support site.
Documentation for Databridge Enterprise Server and Databridge Administrative Console is also available from the Help menu. A modern browser is required for viewing this documentation.
Unisys MCP Server documentation
If you are not completely familiar with DMSII configuration, refer to your Unisys documentation.
Description of Files on the Installation Image
This topic lists the directories and files on the installation image, in alphabetical order. Databridge Host installation files (DISKINSTALL and IMAGE) are located on the root. Only 64-bit versions are provided for all Databridge Clients.
| This directory | Contains | File Description |
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| AIX | Tar files for installing Databridge clients on the AIX platform: | |
| DB_AIX64_Ora11g.tar | The 64-bit client programs for Oracle 11g | |
| DB_AIX64_Ora12c.tar | The 64-bit client programs for Oracle 12c | |
| DB_AIX64_Ora18c.tar | The 64-bit client programs for Oracle 18c | |
| DB_AIX64_Ora19c.tar | The 64-bit client programs for Oracle 19c | |
| Console | Files for installing Databridge Administrative Console, in the following subdirectories: | |
| UNIX | databridge-container-master-SNAPSHOT.tar | |
| Windows | Installation files for Databridge Administrative Console. | |
| Documentation | Databridge Help documentation files in PDF format. Help for Enterprise Server and the Client Console are available from the Help menu of the application. | |
| HP-UX (Itanium) | Tar files for installing clients on Hewlett Packard ® Itanium machines running HP-UX 11i v2 or later: | |
| DB_HP-UXi64_Ora11g.tar | The 64-bit client programs for Oracle 11g | |
| DB_HP-UXi64_Ora12c.tar | The 64-bit client programs for Oracle 12c | |
| DB_HP-UXi64_Ora18c.tar | The 64-bit client programs for Oracle 18c | |
| DB_HP-UXi64_Ora19c.tar | The 64-bit client programs for Oracle 19c | |
| Kafka | Tar file for installing the Kafka client on Linux platforms. | |
| DB_Kafka64_Ora11g.tar | The 64-bit programs for Linux platforms using an Oracle 11g database to hold the control tables. | |
| DB_Kafka64_Ora12c.tar | The 64-bit programs for Linux platforms using an Oracle 12c database to hold the control tables. | |
| DB_Kafka64_Ora18c.tar | The 64-bit programs for Linux platforms using an Oracle 18c database to hold the control tables. | |
| DB_Kafka64_Ora19c.tar | The 64-bit programs for Linux platforms using an Oracle 19c database to hold the control tables. | |
| Linux | Tar files for installing clients on Intel® x64 series machines running various flavors of Linux including RedHat Enterprise (Release 7 or higher), SUSE or UBUNTU: | |
| DB_Linux64_Ora12c.tar | The 64-bit client programs for Oracle 12c | |
| DB_Linux64_Ora12c.tar | The 64-bit client programs for Oracle 12c | |
| DB_Linux64_Ora18c.tar | The 64-bit client programs for Oracle 18c | |
| DB_Linux64_Ora19c.tar | The 64-bit client programs for Oracle 19c NOTE: Oracle 19c requires Red Hat Enterprise Linux Release 7. |
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| SunOS | Tar files for installing clients on Oracle SPARCstation running Solaris 11 or later: | |
| DB_SunOS64_Ora11g.tar | The 64-bit client programs for Oracle 11g | |
| DB_SunOS64_Ora12c.tar | The 64-bit client programs for Oracle 12c | |
| DB_SunOS64_Ora18c.tar | The 64-bit client programs for Oracle 18c | |
| DB_SunOS64_Ora19c.tar | The 64-bit client programs for Oracle 19c | |
| Windows | Installation files for Enterprise Server, Databridge Client (Windows). |