IBM Cloud Object Storage Connection Details¶

Introduction¶

Connector Version

This documentation is based on version 23.0.8895 of the connector.

Get Started¶

IBM Cloud Object Storage Version Support

The connector leverages the IBM Cloud Object Storage S3 API to enable bidirectional access to IBM Cloud.

Establish a Connection¶

Before You Connect¶

Before you can connect to IBM Cloud Object Storage, you need to register a IBM Cloud Object Storage instance, then find and note your IBM Cloud Object Storage API Key and CRN.

Register a New Instance of Cloud Object Storage¶

If you do not already have Cloud Object Storage in your IBM Cloud account, you can follow the procedure below to install an instance of SQL Query in your account:

1. Log in to your IBM Cloud account.
2. Navigate to the Cloud Object Storage page, choose a name for your instance and click Create. You will be redirected to the instance of Cloud Object Storage you just created.

API Key¶

You can obtain your ApiKey as follows:

1. Log in to your IBM Cloud account.
2. Navigate to the Platform API Keys page.
3. On the middle-right corner, click Create an IBM Cloud API Key to create a new API Key.
4. In the pop-up window, specify the API Key name and click Create. Note the API Key as you can never access it again from the dashboard.

Cloud Object Storage CRN¶

By default, the connector will attempt to automatically determine a Cloud Object Storage CRN. However, if you have multiple accounts, you will need to specify the CloudObjectStorageCRN explicitly. You can obtain this value in one of two ways:

• Query the Services view. This will list your IBM Cloud Object Storage instances along with the CRN for each.
• Locate the CRN directly in IBM Cloud. To do so, navigate to your IBM Cloud Dashboard. In the Resource List, under Storage, select your Cloud Object Storage resource to get its CRN.

Connect to IBM Cloud Object Storage¶

You can now set the following to connect to data:

• InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
• ApiKey: Set this to your API key which was noted during setup.
• CloudObjectStorageCRN (Optional): Set this to your noted cloud object storage CRN. While the connector attempts to retrieve this automatically, specifying this explicitly is recommended if you have more than one Cloud Object Storage account.

When you connect, the connector completes the OAuth process.

1. Extracts the access token and authenticates requests.
2. Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation to be persisted across connections.

Fine-Tuning Data Access¶

Fine Tuning Data Access¶

You can use the following properties to gain greater control over IBM Cloud Object Storage API features and the strategies the connector uses to surface them:

• Region: The geographic location of the bucket you're connecting to. If specified, the connector won't attempt to resolve the location of the buckets.

Important Notes¶

Configuration Files and Their Paths¶

• All references to adding configuration files and their paths refer to files and locations on the Harmony Agent where the connector is installed. These paths are to be adjusted as appropriate depending on the agent and the operating system. If multiple agents are used in an agent group, identical files will be required on each agent.

Advanced Features¶

This section details a selection of advanced features of the IBM Cloud Object Storage connector.

User Defined Views

The connector allows you to define virtual tables, called user defined views, whose contents are decided by a pre-configured query. These views are useful when you cannot directly control queries being issued to the drivers. See User Defined Views for an overview of creating and configuring custom views.

SSL Configuration

Use SSL Configuration to adjust how connector handles TLS/SSL certificate negotiations. You can choose from various certificate formats; see the SSLServerCert property under "Connection String Options" for more information.

Proxy

To configure the connector using private agent proxy settings, select the Use Proxy Settings checkbox on the connection configuration screen.

Query Processing

The connector offloads as much of the SELECT statement processing as possible to IBM Cloud Object Storage and then processes the rest of the query in memory (client-side).

See Query Processing for more information.

User Defined Views¶

The IBM Cloud Object Storage connector allows you to define a virtual table whose contents are decided by a pre-configured query. These are called User Defined Views, which are useful in situations where you cannot directly control the query being issued to the driver, e.g. when using the driver from Jitterbit. The User Defined Views can be used to define predicates that are always applied. If you specify additional predicates in the query to the view, they are combined with the query already defined as part of the view.

There are two ways to create user defined views:

• Create a JSON-formatted configuration file defining the views you want.
• DDL statements.

Define Views Using a Configuration File¶

User Defined Views are defined in a JSON-formatted configuration file called UserDefinedViews.json. The connector automatically detects the views specified in this file.

You can also have multiple view definitions and control them using the UserDefinedViews connection property. When you use this property, only the specified views are seen by the connector.

This User Defined View configuration file is formatted as follows:

• Each root element defines the name of a view.
• Each root element contains a child element, called query, which contains the custom SQL query for the view.

For example:

{
    "MyView": {
        "query": "SELECT * FROM Objects WHERE MyColumn = 'value'"
    },
    "MyView2": {
        "query": "SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE Id IN (1,2,3)"
    }
}

Use the UserDefinedViews connection property to specify the location of your JSON configuration file. For example:

"UserDefinedViews", "C:\Users\yourusername\Desktop\tmp\UserDefinedViews.json"

Define Views Using DDL Statements¶

The connector is also capable of creating and altering the schema via DDL Statements such as CREATE LOCAL VIEW, ALTER LOCAL VIEW, and DROP LOCAL VIEW.

Create a View¶

To create a new view using DDL statements, provide the view name and query as follows:

CREATE LOCAL VIEW [MyViewName] AS SELECT * FROM Customers LIMIT 20;

If no JSON file exists, the above code creates one. The view is then created in the JSON configuration file and is now discoverable. The JSON file location is specified by the UserDefinedViews connection property.

Alter a View¶

To alter an existing view, provide the name of an existing view alongside the new query you would like to use instead:

ALTER LOCAL VIEW [MyViewName] AS SELECT * FROM Customers WHERE TimeModified > '3/1/2020';

The view is then updated in the JSON configuration file.

Drop a View¶

To drop an existing view, provide the name of an existing schema alongside the new query you would like to use instead.

DROP LOCAL VIEW [MyViewName]

This removes the view from the JSON configuration file. It can no longer be queried.

Schema for User Defined Views¶

User Defined Views are exposed in the UserViews schema by default. This is done to avoid the view's name clashing with an actual entity in the data model. You can change the name of the schema used for UserViews by setting the UserViewsSchemaName property.

Work with User Defined Views¶

For example, a SQL statement with a User Defined View called UserViews.RCustomers only lists customers in Raleigh:

SELECT * FROM Customers WHERE City = 'Raleigh';

An example of a query to the driver:

SELECT * FROM UserViews.RCustomers WHERE Status = 'Active';

Resulting in the effective query to the source:

SELECT * FROM Customers WHERE City = 'Raleigh' AND Status = 'Active';

That is a very simple example of a query to a User Defined View that is effectively a combination of the view query and the view definition. It is possible to compose these queries in much more complex patterns. All SQL operations are allowed in both queries and are combined when appropriate.

SSL Configuration¶

Customize the SSL Configuration¶

By default, the connector attempts to negotiate SSL/TLS by checking the server's certificate against the system's trusted certificate store.

To specify another certificate, see the SSLServerCert property for the available formats to do so.

Data Model¶

This section describes how the connector models the IBM Cloud Object Storage API as relational Views and Stored Procedures.

Key Features

• The connector models IBM Cloud Object Storage buckets, bucket information, and objects as relational views, allowing you to write SQL to query IBM Cloud Object Storage data.
• Stored procedures allow you to execute operations to IBM Cloud Object Storage, including downloading and uploading objects.
• Live connectivity to these objects means any changes to your IBM Cloud Object Storage account are immediately reflected when using the connector.

Views

Pre-defined Views are available for read only access to data from IBM Cloud Object Storage, including Buckets, Services, and Objects.

Stored Procedures

Stored procedures allow you to execute operations to IBM Cloud Object Storage, including downloading and uploading objects.

System Tables

System Tables contains information about the objects and resources belonging to your database.

Views¶

Views are similar to tables in the way that data is represented; however, views are read-only.

Queries can be executed against a view as if it were a normal table.

IBM Cloud Object Storage Connector Views¶

BucketLifecycle¶

Returns the lifecycle configuration information set on the bucket.

Table Specific Information¶

Select¶

The connector will use the IBM Cloud Object Storage API to process WHERE clause conditions built with the following column and operator. The rest of the filter is executed client side within the connector.

• Bucket supports the '=, IN' comparisons.

For example, the following queries are processed server side:

SELECT * FROM BucketLifecycle WHERE Bucket = 'testBucket'

SELECT * FROM BucketLifecycle WHERE Bucket IN ('testBucket', 'testBucket2')

Columns¶

Buckets¶

Returns information for buckets. Buckets are used to store objects, which consist of data and its metadata.

Columns¶

Objects¶

Returns information for objects inside a specific bucket.

Table Specific Information¶

Select¶

The connector will use the IBM Cloud Object Storage API to process WHERE clause conditions built with the following column and operator. The rest of the filter is executed client side within the connector.

• Bucket supports the '=, IN' comparisons.
• Key supports the '=, LIKE' comparisons.

For example, the following queries are processed server side:

SELECT * FROM Objects WHERE Bucket = 'testBucket'

SELECT * FROM Objects WHERE Bucket IN ('testBucket', 'testBucket2')

SELECT * FROM Objects WHERE Key LIKE 'ad%'

Columns¶

Services¶

Query resource instances belonging to the current authenticated user.

Columns¶

Stored Procedures¶

Stored procedures are function-like interfaces that extend the functionality of the connector beyond simple SELECT operations with IBM Cloud Object Storage.

Stored procedures accept a list of parameters, perform their intended function, and then return any relevant response data from IBM Cloud Object Storage, along with an indication of whether the procedure succeeded or failed.

IBM Cloud Object Storage Connector Stored Procedures¶

CopyObject¶

Copies an object from one bucket to another.

Input¶

Result Set Columns¶

DownloadObject¶

Passes the name of a bucket and object to download.

Input¶

Result Set Columns¶

GetOAuthAccessToken¶

Gets an authentication token from IBM Cloud. The connection property ApiKey must be specified when calling this stored procedure.

Result Set Columns¶

RefreshOAuthAccessToken¶

Refreshes the OAuth access token used for authentication with IBM Cloud. The connection property ApiKey must be specified when calling this stored procedure.

Input¶

Result Set Columns¶

UploadObject¶

Uploads objects in a single operation.

Input¶

Result Set Columns¶

System Tables¶

You can query the system tables described in this section to access schema information, information on data source functionality, and batch operation statistics.

Schema Tables¶

The following tables return database metadata for IBM Cloud Object Storage:

• sys_catalogs: Lists the available databases.
• sys_schemas: Lists the available schemas.
• sys_tables: Lists the available tables and views.
• sys_tablecolumns: Describes the columns of the available tables and views.
• sys_procedures: Describes the available stored procedures.
• sys_procedureparameters: Describes stored procedure parameters.
• sys_keycolumns: Describes the primary and foreign keys.
• sys_indexes: Describes the available indexes.

Data Source Tables¶

The following tables return information about how to connect to and query the data source:

• sys_connection_props: Returns information on the available connection properties.
• sys_sqlinfo: Describes the SELECT queries that the connector can offload to the data source.

Query Information Tables¶

The following table returns query statistics for data modification queries:

• sys_identity: Returns information about batch operations or single updates.

sys_catalogs¶

Lists the available databases.

The following query retrieves all databases determined by the connection string:

SELECT * FROM sys_catalogs

Columns¶

sys_schemas¶

Lists the available schemas.

The following query retrieves all available schemas:

SELECT * FROM sys_schemas

Columns¶

sys_tables¶

Lists the available tables.

The following query retrieves the available tables and views:

SELECT * FROM sys_tables

Columns¶

sys_tablecolumns¶

Describes the columns of the available tables and views.

The following query returns the columns and data types for the Objects table:

SELECT ColumnName, DataTypeName FROM sys_tablecolumns WHERE TableName='Objects'

Columns¶

sys_procedures¶

Lists the available stored procedures.

The following query retrieves the available stored procedures:

SELECT * FROM sys_procedures

Columns¶

sys_procedureparameters¶

Describes stored procedure parameters.

The following query returns information about all of the input parameters for the UploadObject stored procedure:

SELECT * FROM sys_procedureparameters WHERE ProcedureName='UploadObject' AND Direction=1 OR Direction=2

Columns¶

sys_keycolumns¶

Describes the primary and foreign keys.

The following query retrieves the primary key for the Objects table:

SELECT * FROM sys_keycolumns WHERE IsKey='True' AND TableName='Objects'

Columns¶

sys_foreignkeys¶

Describes the foreign keys.

The following query retrieves all foreign keys which refer to other tables:

SELECT * FROM sys_foreignkeys WHERE ForeignKeyType = 'FOREIGNKEY_TYPE_IMPORT'

Columns¶

sys_primarykeys¶

Describes the primary keys.

The following query retrieves the primary keys from all tables and views:

SELECT * FROM sys_primarykeys

Columns¶

sys_indexes¶

Describes the available indexes. By filtering on indexes, you can write more selective queries with faster query response times.

The following query retrieves all indexes that are not primary keys:

SELECT * FROM sys_indexes WHERE IsPrimary='false'

Columns¶

sys_connection_props¶

Returns information on the available connection properties and those set in the connection string.

When querying this table, the config connection string should be used:

jdbc:cdata:ibmcloudobjectstorage:config:

This connection string enables you to query this table without a valid connection.

The following query retrieves all connection properties that have been set in the connection string or set through a default value:

SELECT * FROM sys_connection_props WHERE Value <> ''

Columns¶

sys_sqlinfo¶

Describes the SELECT query processing that the connector can offload to the data source.

Discovering the Data Source's SELECT Capabilities¶

Below is an example data set of SQL capabilities. Some aspects of SELECT functionality are returned in a comma-separated list if supported; otherwise, the column contains NO.

The following query retrieves the operators that can be used in the WHERE clause:

SELECT * FROM sys_sqlinfo WHERE Name = 'SUPPORTED_OPERATORS'

Note that individual tables may have different limitations or requirements on the WHERE clause; refer to the Data Model section for more information.

Columns¶

sys_identity¶

Returns information about attempted modifications.

The following query retrieves the Ids of the modified rows in a batch operation:

SELECT * FROM sys_identity

Columns¶

sys_information¶

Describes the available system information.

The following query retrieves all columns:

SELECT * FROM sys_information

Columns¶

Advanced Configurations Properties¶

The advanced configurations properties are the various options that can be used to establish a connection. This section provides a complete list of the options you can configure. Click the links for further details.

Authentication

OAuth

SSL

Schema

Miscellaneous

Authentication¶

This section provides a complete list of authentication properties you can configure.

ApiKey¶

The API Key used to identify the user to IBM Cloud.

Data Type¶

string

Default Value¶

""

Remarks¶

Access to resources in the IBM Cloud Object Storage REST API is governed by an API key in order to retrieve token. An API Key can be created by navigating to Manage --> Access (IAM) --> Users and clicking 'Create'.

CloudObjectStorageCRN¶

The CRN which uniquely identifies your Cloud Object Storage instance in IBM Cloud.

Data Type¶

string

Default Value¶

""

Remarks¶

Access to resources, such as data, in the IBM Cloud Object Storage REST API is governed by an Instance Cloud Resource Name. To retrieve your CloudObjectStorage CRN, select your Cloud Object Storage instance from the Dashboard, then click the 'Service credentials' tab on the right hand side and create or select one of the existing credentials by clicking on view credentials. Among the information displayed, you will find the CloudObjectStorageCRN (resource_instance_id). Use that value for this property. If not specified, the IBM Cloud Object Storage will automatically retrieve the CloudObjectStorageCRN. If more than one CloudObjectStorage service is available, then the first one in the list will be picked.

OAuth¶

This section provides a complete list of OAuth properties you can configure.

InitiateOAuth¶

Set this property to initiate the process to obtain or refresh the OAuth access token when you connect.

Possible Values¶

OFF, GETANDREFRESH, REFRESH

Data Type¶

string

Default Value¶

OFF

Remarks¶

The following options are available:

1. OFF: Indicates that the OAuth flow will be handled entirely by the user. An OAuthAccessToken will be required to authenticate.
2. GETANDREFRESH: Indicates that the entire OAuth Flow will be handled by the connector. If no token currently exists, it will be obtained by prompting the user via the browser. If a token exists, it will be refreshed when applicable.
3. REFRESH: Indicates that the connector will only handle refreshing the OAuthAccessToken. The user will never be prompted by the connector to authenticate via the browser. The user must handle obtaining the OAuthAccessToken and OAuthRefreshToken initially.

OAuthAccessToken¶

The access token for connecting using OAuth.

Data Type¶

string

Default Value¶

""

Remarks¶

The OAuthAccessToken property is used to connect using OAuth. The OAuthAccessToken is retrieved from the OAuth server as part of the authentication process. It has a server-dependent timeout and can be reused between requests.

The access token is used in place of your user name and password. The access token protects your credentials by keeping them on the server.

OAuthSettingsLocation¶

The location of the settings file where OAuth values are saved when InitiateOAuth is set to GETANDREFRESH or REFRESH . Alternatively, you can hold this location in memory by specifying a value starting with 'memory://'.

Data Type¶

string

Default Value¶

%APPDATA%\IBMCloudObjectStorage Data Provider\OAuthSettings.txt

Remarks¶

When InitiateOAuth is set to GETANDREFRESH or REFRESH, the connector saves OAuth values to avoid requiring the user to manually enter OAuth connection properties and to allow the credentials to be shared across connections or processes.

Instead of specifying a file path, you can use memory storage. Memory locations are specified by using a value starting with 'memory://' followed by a unique identifier for that set of credentials (for example, memory://user1). The identifier can be anything you choose but should be unique to the user. Unlike file-based storage, where credentials persist across connections, memory storage loads the credentials into static memory, and the credentials are shared between connections using the same identifier for the life of the process. To persist credentials outside the current process, you must manually store the credentials prior to closing the connection. This enables you to set them in the connection when the process is started again. You can retrieve OAuth property values with a query to the sys_connection_props system table. If there are multiple connections using the same credentials, the properties are read from the previously closed connection.

The default location is "%APPDATA%\IBMCloudObjectStorage Data Provider\OAuthSettings.txt" with %APPDATA% set to the user's configuration directory. The default values are

• Windows: "register://%DSN"
• Unix: "%AppData%..."
• Mac: "%AppData%..."

where DSN is the name of the current DSN used in the open connection.

The following table lists the value of %APPDATA% by OS:

OAuthRefreshToken¶

The OAuth refresh token for the corresponding OAuth access token.

Data Type¶

string

Default Value¶

""

Remarks¶

The OAuthRefreshToken property is used to refresh the OAuthAccessToken when using OAuth authentication.

SSL¶

This section provides a complete list of SSL properties you can configure.

SSLServerCert¶

The certificate to be accepted from the server when connecting using TLS/SSL.

Data Type¶

string

Default Value¶

""

Remarks¶

If using a TLS/SSL connection, this property can be used to specify the TLS/SSL certificate to be accepted from the server. Any other certificate that is not trusted by the machine is rejected.

This property can take the following forms:

If not specified, any certificate trusted by the machine is accepted.

Certificates are validated as trusted by the machine based on the System's trust store. The trust store used is the 'javax.net.ssl.trustStore' value specified for the system. If no value is specified for this property, Java's default trust store is used (for example, JAVA_HOME\lib\security\cacerts).

Use '*' to signify to accept all certificates. Note that this is not recommended due to security concerns.

Schema¶

This section provides a complete list of schema properties you can configure.

Location¶

A path to the directory that contains the schema files defining tables, views, and stored procedures.

Data Type¶

string

Default Value¶

%APPDATA%\IBMCloudObjectStorage Data Provider\Schema

Remarks¶

The path to a directory which contains the schema files for the connector (.rsd files for tables and views, .rsb files for stored procedures). The folder location can be a relative path from the location of the executable. The Location property is only needed if you want to customize definitions (for example, change a column name, ignore a column, and so on) or extend the data model with new tables, views, or stored procedures.

If left unspecified, the default location is "%APPDATA%\IBMCloudObjectStorage Data Provider\Schema" with %APPDATA% being set to the user's configuration directory:

BrowsableSchemas¶

This property restricts the schemas reported to a subset of the available schemas. For example, BrowsableSchemas=SchemaA,SchemaB,SchemaC.

Data Type¶

string

Default Value¶

""

Remarks¶

Listing the schemas from databases can be expensive. Providing a list of schemas in the connection string improves the performance.

Tables¶

This property restricts the tables reported to a subset of the available tables. For example, Tables=TableA,TableB,TableC.

Data Type¶

string

Default Value¶

""

Remarks¶

Listing the tables from some databases can be expensive. Providing a list of tables in the connection string improves the performance of the connector.

This property can also be used as an alternative to automatically listing views if you already know which ones you want to work with and there would otherwise be too many to work with.

Specify the tables you want in a comma-separated list. Each table should be a valid SQL identifier with any special characters escaped using square brackets, double-quotes or backticks. For example, Tables=TableA,[TableB/WithSlash],WithCatalog.WithSchema.`TableC With Space`.

Note that when connecting to a data source with multiple schemas or catalogs, you will need to provide the fully qualified name of the table in this property, as in the last example here, to avoid ambiguity between tables that exist in multiple catalogs or schemas.

Views¶

Restricts the views reported to a subset of the available tables. For example, Views=ViewA,ViewB,ViewC.

Data Type¶

string

Default Value¶

""

Remarks¶

Listing the views from some databases can be expensive. Providing a list of views in the connection string improves the performance of the connector.

This property can also be used as an alternative to automatically listing views if you already know which ones you want to work with and there would otherwise be too many to work with.

Specify the views you want in a comma-separated list. Each view should be a valid SQL identifier with any special characters escaped using square brackets, double-quotes or backticks. For example, Views=ViewA,[ViewB/WithSlash],WithCatalog.WithSchema.`ViewC With Space`.

Note that when connecting to a data source with multiple schemas or catalogs, you will need to provide the fully qualified name of the table in this property, as in the last example here, to avoid ambiguity between tables that exist in multiple catalogs or schemas.

Miscellaneous¶

This section provides a complete list of miscellaneous properties you can configure.

MaxRows¶

Limits the number of rows returned when no aggregation or GROUP BY is used in the query. This takes precedence over LIMIT clauses.

Data Type¶

int

Default Value¶

-1

Remarks¶

Limits the number of rows returned when no aggregation or GROUP BY is used in the query. This takes precedence over LIMIT clauses.

Other¶

These hidden properties are used only in specific use cases.

Data Type¶

string

Default Value¶

""

Remarks¶

The properties listed below are available for specific use cases. Normal driver use cases and functionality should not require these properties.

Specify multiple properties in a semicolon-separated list.

Integration and Formatting¶

PseudoColumns¶

This property indicates whether or not to include pseudo columns as columns to the table.

Data Type¶

string

Default Value¶

""

Remarks¶

This setting is particularly helpful in Entity Framework, which does not allow you to set a value for a pseudo column unless it is a table column. The value of this connection setting is of the format "Table1=Column1, Table1=Column2, Table2=Column3". You can use the "*" character to include all tables and all columns; for example, "*=*".

Region¶

The geographic location of the bucket you're connecting to.

Data Type¶

string

Default Value¶

""

Remarks¶

The geographic location of the bucket you're connecting to. If specified, the connector won't attempt to resolve the location of the buckets.

Timeout¶

The value in seconds until the timeout error is thrown, canceling the operation.

Data Type¶

int

Default Value¶

60

Remarks¶

If Timeout = 0, operations do not time out. The operations run until they complete successfully or until they encounter an error condition.

If Timeout expires and the operation is not yet complete, the connector throws an exception.

UserDefinedViews¶

A filepath pointing to the JSON configuration file containing your custom views.

Data Type¶

string

Default Value¶

""

Remarks¶

User Defined Views are defined in a JSON-formatted configuration file called UserDefinedViews.json. The connector automatically detects the views specified in this file.

You can also have multiple view definitions and control them using the UserDefinedViews connection property. When you use this property, only the specified views are seen by the connector.

This User Defined View configuration file is formatted as follows:

• Each root element defines the name of a view.
• Each root element contains a child element, called query, which contains the custom SQL query for the view.

For example:

{
    "MyView": {
        "query": "SELECT * FROM Objects WHERE MyColumn = 'value'"
    },
    "MyView2": {
        "query": "SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE Id IN (1,2,3)"
    }
}

Use the UserDefinedViews connection property to specify the location of your JSON configuration file. For example:

"UserDefinedViews", C:\Users\yourusername\Desktop\tmp\UserDefinedViews.json

Note that the specified path is not embedded in quotation marks.