You can use the Web Application Management Console to create and encrypt data source connection strings.
To create a new connection string:
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In the Web Application Management Console, open the Application Server web.config file by clicking Open Web Application and selecting the Application Server from the list of web applications.
Note:
Opening the Application Server web.config file is required to access the connection strings configuration utility, even if you are not configuring the Application Server.
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Select Connection Strings | View Contexts. The connection strings dialog box is displayed.
If you are configuring an application or service other than the Application Server, follow these additional steps to open the appropriate .config file:
- Select File | Configuration Path.
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Browse to open the .config file for the application or service.
Note:
You can also apply the -CONFIGPATH command line switch to the Web Application Management Console shortcut to directly open a .config file in the connection strings dialog box. See the command line switches section of the Web Application Management Console documentation for more information.
The connection strings dialog box allows you to configure connection strings.
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To encrypt all connection strings configured in the application's .config file, ensure the Options | Encrypt Connection Strings menu option is selected. This option is automatically selected by default every time you open the connection strings dialog box, and the connection strings are encrypted when the .config file is saved.
CAUTION:
It is strongly recommended to encrypt the connection strings. If they are not encrypted, all data source connection information is visible in the .config file and could expose sensitive data, including any entered database user names and passwords.
- Click Add to start creating a new connection string. The fields on the right become available for interaction.
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If you are configuring Reporting Dashboards with a secondary connection string with a read-only database user account, select Options | Populate Read-Only User. This optional feature populates the User ID and Password fields with the credentials for the read-only user. See the Reporting Dashboards documentation for more information.
If you are creating a connection string for any other purpose, skip this step.
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In the fields on the right, enter the following information about the data source:
Option
Description
Data Source Name
A unique name that you create to identify the connection string.
Note:This identifying name may be different from the name of the actual database.
Data Provider
The data provider type used for the database. Select one of the following:
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System.Data.SqlClient: Select this for a SQL Server database.
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Oracle.ManagedDataAccess.Client: Select this for an Oracle database.
Note:Only SQL Server and Oracle data providers can be used to connect to the OnBase database.
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Depending on your selection for Data Provider in the previous step, enter the following database connection information:
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If System.Data.SqlClient is selected (for a SQL Server database):
System.Data.SqlClient Option
Description
Data Source
Enter the server\instance name of the SQL Server instance hosting the database.
Database
Enter the name of the SQL Server database.
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If Oracle.ManagedDataAccess.Client is selected (for an Oracle database):
Oracle.ManagedDataAccess.Client Option
Description
TNS Connection String
Select this option to enter a full TNS connection string to connect to the Oracle database. Deselect the option to use the connection name instead.
Note:Selecting this option enables the Host, Database, Protocol, and Port fields for interaction.
Data Source
Enter the TNS name or connect descriptor of the Oracle database.
Note:This field is available only if the TNS Connection String option is deselected.
Host
Enter the host address of the Oracle database.
Database
Enter the name of the Oracle database.
Protocol
Select the protocol to use for connecting to the Oracle database. Options are:
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TCP
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TCPS
Port
Enter the port to use for connecting to the Oracle database.
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Enter the following security information:
Option
Description
Integrated Security
Select this option to use Windows Authentication to connect to the database.
CAUTION:It is strongly recommended to use integrated security instead of a database account for authentication. To use integrated security, the Windows user connecting to the database must be the same user that is running the connecting server or service (such as the Application Server). This user must also be configured with the configgp role in the database.
User ID
The user name of the database user account accessing the database.
Note:This user name is for a database user account, not a user account for OnBase.
Password
The password of the database user account accessing the database.
Note:This password is for a database user account, not a user account for OnBase.
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Enter any additional options.
Option
Description
Additional Options
Any additional options for the connection string. For more information on available connection string options and syntax, see the documentation for your database provider (SQL Server or Oracle).
- Click Test Connection to test whether the entered information forms a valid connection string.
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Click Create to save the information in the fields and create the connection string. The name of the data source is added to the Data Sources list on the left, and the connection string is displayed in the Connection String section.
- Select File | Save to save the .config file.
- Select File | Close to exit the connection strings dialog box.