Creating and editing connections

Connections

The Metadata Analyzer collectors use different connection types to connect to different types of hosts. A collection uses a connection to connect to the host and collect metadata from that host. The following table shows what type of connection is used for each type of collection.

New connections are created by doing the following:

• Choosing a connection type. To determine the type of host a connection type connects to, open the Connection dialog box, select the connection type from the drop-down list, and view the Properties column of the Connection Properties box.
• Defining the connection properties.

For example, if you want to connect to a mainframe, you would select the connection type. Then, you would specify the values of the TSO user ID and password, mainframe host and port, and code page.

Creating a new connection

There are several ways that an administrator can create a new connection:

• From the File menu
• While setting up a new collection or editing an existing collection
• By copying an existing connection

To create a connection from the File menu

1. From the File menu, select New>Connection.
2. In the Name field, enter a name for the new connection.
3. From the Type list, select a connection type. The connection properties that apply to the connection type populate the left column of the Connection Properties box.
4. Click the field you want to edit and specify the values of the connection you want to create.
5. Click OK. The new connection is saved.

To create a connection while setting up a new collection or editing an existing collection

To create a new connection while setting up a new collection or editing an existing collection, simply select New in the Connection drop-down list in the Collection dialog box and complete the Connection dialog box that appears.

To edit a connection

If you want to change any of the properties of an existing connection— for example, the user ID or TSO password— simply edit the connection.

1. Open the connection by doing one of the following:
   • In the Entities view, select the connection. Then, from the File menu, select Open.

   • In the Entities view, right-click the connection and select Open.

     The Connection dialog box appears and is populated with information about the connection.

2. Make changes to the connection as needed.
3. Click OK to save the connection to the repository.
   If any collections are related to this connection, you will receive a warning message explaining that the changes may affect these collections.
   If the connection has a password, you will be asked to provide this password before your changes to the connection are saved.

To copy a connection

To save time when you want to create a new connection that is similar to an existing connection, just copy the existing connection.

1. Open the existing connection by doing one of the following:
   • In the Entities view, select the connection. Then, from the File menu, select Open.

   • In the Entities view, right-click the connection and select Open.

     The Connection dialog box appears and is populated with information about the connection.

2. Click Save As to open the Save As dialog box and change the existing name to the name you want for the new connection.

   If the connection has a password, you will be asked to provide this password before you can copy the connection.

3. Make changes to the connection information and properties as needed to customize them to the new connection.
4. Click OK to save the connection to the repository.

To rename a connection

Do the following to rename a connection.

1. Open the existing connection by doing one of the following:
   • In the Entities view, select the connection. Then, from the File menu, select Open.

   • In the Entities view, right-click the connection and select Open from the shortcut menu.

     The Connection dialog box appears and is populated with information about the connection.

2. Click Rename and change the existing name to the new name.

   If the connection has a password, you will be asked to provide this password before you can rename the connection.

3. Click OK to save the connection to the repository.

To enable an SSL connection to the mainframe

1. Open the collector.cfg for editing. By default, this file is located at the UserDataPath specified during the installation (which is available in the About dialog box).
2. Change the SSL parameter from SSL=OFF to SSL=ON.
3. Save and close the file. When collections are run, they will connect to the mainframe using a Secured Socket Layer.