SAP IQ OCF Connector: Install and Configure¶

Alation Cloud Service Applies to Alation Cloud Service instances of Alation

Customer Managed Applies to customer-managed instances of Alation

Network Connectivity¶

Open outbound TCP port 2638 to the SAP IQ server.

Service Account¶

Create a service account for Alation and grant it the permissions to perform metadata extraction, sampling and profiling, and query log ingestion.

Example:

CREATE USER alation IDENTIFIED BY 'password';

Permissions for Metadata Extraction¶

GRANT SELECT ON SYS.SYSUSER to alation
GRANT SELECT ON SYS.SYSTABLE to alation
GRANT SELECT ON SYS.SYSCOLUMNS to alation
GRANT SELECT ON SYS.SYSUSERPERMS to alation
GRANT SELECT ON SYS.SYSINDEX to alation
GRANT SELECT ON SYS.SYSINDEXES to alation

Permission	Purpose
GRANT SELECT ON SYS.SYSUSER	Required for schema extraction
GRANT SELECT ON SYS.SYSTABLE	Required for table extraction
GRANT SELECT ON SYS.SYSCOLUMNS	Required for column extraction
GRANT SELECT ON SYS.SYSUSERPERMS	Required for view extraction
GRANT SELECT ON SYS.SYSINDEX	Required for index extraction
GRANT SELECT ON SYS.SYSINDEXES	Required for index, primary key, and foreign key extraction.

Permissions for Sampling and Profiling¶

Grant the service account the SELECT permissions on all schemas and tables you want to sample in Alation. For views, grant SHOW VIEW on all views you want to sample.

Example:

GRANT SELECT ON [database].* TO alation;
GRANT SHOW VIEW ON [database].* TO alation;

Permissions for Query Log Ingestion¶

Grant the service account the SELECT permissions on the table that stores query history. Refer to Query Log Ingestion below for detailed information on how to configure QLI.

JDBC URI¶

Format¶

Use the following format to build the JDBC URI:

sybase:Tds://<hostname_or_ip>:<port>?ServiceName=<database_name>

Example¶

sybase:Tds:10.13.9.72:2638?ServiceName=alation

Configuration in Alation¶

STEP 1: Install the Connector¶

Alation On-Premise¶

Important

Installation of OCF connectors requires Alation Connector Manager to be installed as a prerequisite.

To install an OCF connector:

If this has not been done on your instance, install the Alation Connector Manager: Install Alation Connector Manager.
Ensure that the OCF connector Zip file is available on your local machine.
Install the connector on the Connectors Dashboard page using the steps in Manage Connectors.

Alation Cloud Service¶

Note

On Alation Cloud Service instances, Alation Connector Manager is available by default.

Depending on your network configuration, you may need to use Alation Agent to connect to databases.

Connection via Alation Agent¶

Ensure that Alation Agent is enabled on your Alation instance. If necessary, create a Support ticket with Alation for an Alation representative to enable the Alation Agent feature on your instance and to receive the Alation Agent installer.
Install the Alation Agent.
Install the connector on the Connectors Dashboard page using the steps in Manage Connectors.

Connection Without Agent¶

To install an OCF connector:

Ensure that the OCF connector Zip file is available on your local machine.
Install the connector on the Connectors Dashboard page using the steps in Manage Connectors.

STEP 2: Create and Configure a New Data Source¶

In Alation, add a new data source:

Log in to Alation as a Server Admin.
Expand the Apps menu on the right of the main toolbar and select Sources.
On the Sources page, click +Add on the top right of the page and in the list that opens, click Data Source. This will open the Add a Data Source wizard.
On the first screen of the wizard, specify a name for your data source, assign additional Data Source Admins, if necessary, and click the Continue Setup button on the bottom. The Add a Data Source screen will open.
On the Add a Data Source screen, the only field you should populate is Database Type. From the Database Type dropdown, select the connector name. After that you will be navigated to the Settings page of your new data source.

Note

Agent-based connectors will have the Agent name appended to the connector name.

The name of this connector is SybaseIQ OCF Connector.

Access¶

On the Access tab, set the data source visibility using these options:

Public Data Source—The data source will be visible to all users of the catalog.

Private Data Source—The data source will be visible to the users allowed access to the data source by Data Source Admins.

You can add new Data Source Admin users in the Data Source Admins section.

General Settings¶

Note

This section describes configuring settings for credentials and connection information stored in the Alation database. If your organization has configured Azure KeyVault or AWS Secrets Manager to hold such information, the user interface for the General Settings page will change to include the following icons to the right of most options:

By default, the database icon is selected, as shown. In the vault case, instead of the actual credential information, you enter the ID of the secret. See Configure Secrets for OCF Connector Settings for details.

Application Settings¶

Specify Application Settings if applicable. Click Save to save the changes after providing the information.

Parameter

Description

BI Connection Info

This parameter is used to generate lineage between the current data source and another source in the catalog, for example a BI source that retrieves data from the underlying database. The parameter accepts host and port information of the corresponding BI data source connection.

Use the following format: host:port

You can provide multiple values as a comma-separated list:

10.13.71.216:1541,sever.com:1542

Find more details in BI Connection Info.

Disable Automatic Lineage Generation

Select this checkbox to disable automatic lineage generation from QLI, MDE, and Compose queries. By default, automatic lineage generation is enabled.

Connector Settings¶

Data Source Connection¶

Populate the data source connection information and save the values by clicking Save in this section.

Parameter	Description
JDBC URI	Specify the JDBC URI in the required format.
Username	Specify the service account username.
Password	Specify the service account password.

Logging Configuration¶

Select the logging level for the connector logs and save the values by clicking Save in this section. The available log levels are based on the Log4j framework.

Parameter	Description
Log level	Select the log level to generate logs. The available options are INFO, DEBUG, WARN, TRACE, ERROR, FATAL, ALL.

You can view the connector logs in Admin Settings > Manage Connectors > SybaseIQ OCF Connector.

Obfuscate Literals¶

Obfuscate Literals—Enable this toggle to hide actual values in the query statements that are ingested during query log ingestion or executed in Compose. This toggle is disabled by default.

Test Connection¶

Under Test Connection, click Test to validate network connectivity.

Metadata Extraction¶

You can configure metadata extraction (MDE) for an OCF data source on the Metadata Extraction tab of the Settings page. Refer to Configure Metadata Extraction for OCF Data Sources for information about the available configuration options.

The default queries that the connector uses to extract metadata can be found in Extraction Queries for SAP IQ. You can customize these queries to adjust the extraction to your needs.

Sampling and Profiling¶

Sampling and profiling is supported. For details, see Configure Sampling and Profiling for OCF Data Sources.

Compose¶

For details about configuring the Compose tab of the Settings, refer to Configure Compose for OCF Data Sources.

Query Log Ingestion¶

Configure QLI in SAP IQ¶

Step 1: Check Request Logging State¶

Begin with checking the state of the Request Logging and Request Log files. By default, the value of Request Logging is none and the value of Request Log is empty. Run the following query to check the current state:

SELECT property('RequestLogFile'), property('RequestLogging');

Step 2: Enable SQL Log Storage¶

Set Request Logging to SQL.

CALL sa_server_option('RequestLogging','SQL');

Execution of this call enables SQL log storage. Set the log file to sqllog.txt.
CALL sa_server_option('RequestLogFile', 'sqllog.txt');
Note

Setting the log file to sqllog.txt must be done every time the database server is restarted.

Step 3: Create a Table for Logging Events¶

Create a table to store query history in a schema of your choice. In the example below, we are creating the table user_connections_event_table.

SELECT * INTO user_connections_event_table FROM  sp_iqconnection() WHERE 1=2
Note

If the query errors out, run the query SELECT * FROM user_connections_event_table to make sure that the table exists.

Step 4: Enable Query History¶

Use the following example queries to enable storage of query history and grant the service account permissions to select from the QLI table.

CREATE EVENT user_connections_event
TYPE CONNECT
HANDLER
BEGIN
INSERT INTO user_connections_event_table
  SELECT * FROM sp_iqconnection() a
  WHERE a.Name != 'user_connections_event'
    AND datediff(Second, now(), a.conncreatetime) < 1
END;

GRANT SELECT ON user_connections_event_table TO alation;

Step 5: Create an Event to Dump Logs¶

Run the query call sa_get_request_times('sqllog.txt'); every time before you perform the steps in Configure QLI in Alation.

Use the following example queries to create an event that copies logs from sqllog.txt to satmp_request_time.

For Daily Automated QLI Query¶

CREATE EVENT AlationQliEvent
schedule
START TIME '17:14' on
('Mon',
'Tue',
'Wed',
'Thu',
'Fri',
'Sat',
'Sun')
HANDLER
    BEGIN
            call sa_get_request_times('sqllog.txt');
END;

For Weekly Automated QLI Query¶

CREATE EVENT AlationQliEvent
schedule
START TIME '17:14' on
('Sun')
HANDLER
    BEGIN
            call sa_get_request_times('sqllog.txt');
END;

Configure QLI in Alation¶

You can configure QLI on the Query Log Ingestion tab of the data source Settings page. Select a QLI option for your data source and schedule the QLI job if necessary.

You can choose to create a table or a view on your database to store the query history data (table-based QLI) or to provide a custom query to retrieve query history every time you run QLI (custom query-based QLI).

Table-Based QLI¶

Use the query format below to create a view and flush the query history from the data source:

Substitute the placeholder view name schema.view with your actual values.

This example selects from schema.user_connections_event_table. Substitute the example value schema.user_connections_event_table with the name of your schema and QLI table.

CREATE VIEW schema.view AS
  SELECT * FROM
    (SELECT
        u.Userid as username,
        u.ConnCreateTime AS sessionStartTime,
        c.start_time AS startTime,
        trim(u.Userid) || '\/' || trim(CAST( DATEFORMAT( u.ConnCreateTime , 'yyyy-mm-ddHH:NN:SS.SS' ) AS CHAR(25)))
                      || '\/' || trim(c.conn_id) AS sessionId,
        c.req_id AS idx,
        c.millisecs/1000.0 AS seconds,
        c.stmt AS queryString,
        c.rowcount AS num_result_rows,
        'N' as cancelled,
        DB_NAME() AS defaultDatabases,
        RANK() over
          (PARTITION BY c.req_id, c.start_time, c.stmt
          ORDER BY u.ConnCreateTime desc) AS RANK
          FROM satmp_request_time c
    INNER JOIN
          (SELECT DISTINCT
              ConnCreateTime,
              ConnHandle,
              Userid
          FROM schema.user_connections_event_table) u
      ON c.conn_handle = u.ConnHandle
          AND c.start_time > u.ConnCreateTime ) AS T
  WHERE T.RANK = 1
      AND username IS NOT NULL;

On the Query Log Ingestion tab under Connector Settings > Query Extraction, in the Table Name field specify the name of the view in which the query logs are available. Make sure that the service account has the permissions to access this view. The table name must be provided in the format schema.view.

Custom Query-Based QLI¶

If you cannot create the view for QLI, for example, due to access restrictions, you can use a custom QLI query to extract query history into Alation. If you opt for custom query-based QLI, Alation will query the system table storing query history or the table you’ve created to enable QLI every time you manually run QLI or when the QLI job runs on schedule.

For custom query-based QLI to succeed, ensure that the service account has enough permissions to select from the QLI table.

The template for the QLI query is given below. You can customize it by adding, removing, or changing the filter, but the columns and their aliases must remain as is since the connector expects this query structure.

Note

When using the QLI query template, do not substitute the STARTTIME and ENDTIME parameters in the WHERE filter. These parameters are not actual column names and should stay as is. They are expected by the connector and will be substituted with the start and end date of the QLI range selected in the user interface when QLI is run manually or on schedule.

To configure query-based QLI:

Go to the Query Log Ingestion tab of the Settings page of your OCF data source.
Under Connector Settings > Query Extraction, in the Custom QLI Query field, provide the QLI query.
Click Save.

QLI Query Template¶

This example selects from schema.user_connections_event_table. Substitute the example value schema.user_connections_event_table with the name of your schema and QLI table.

SELECT * FROM
  (SELECT
      u.Userid as username,
      u.ConnCreateTime AS sessionStartTime,
      c.start_time AS startTime,
      trim(u.Userid) || '\/' || trim(CAST( DATEFORMAT( u.ConnCreateTime , 'yyyy-mm-ddHH:NN:SS.SS' ) AS CHAR(25)))
                    || '\/' || trim(c.conn_id) AS sessionId,
      c.req_id AS idx,
      c.millisecs/1000.0 AS seconds,
      c.stmt AS queryString,
      c.rowcount AS num_result_rows,
      'N' AS cancelled,
      DB_NAME() AS defaultDatabases,
      RANK() over
        (PARTITION BY c.req_id, c.start_time, c.stmt
        ORDER BY u.ConnCreateTime desc) AS RANK
  FROM satmp_request_time c
  INNER JOIN
          (SELECT DISTINCT
              ConnCreateTime,
              ConnHandle,
              Userid
          FROM schema.user_connections_event_table) u
      ON c.conn_handle = u.ConnHandle AND c.start_time > u.ConnCreateTime) AS T
  WHERE T.RANK = 1
    AND username IS NOT NULL
    AND startTime >=DATEFORMAT(STARTTIME, 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss.SSS')
    AND startTime < DATEFORMAT(ENDTIME , 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss.SSS');

Perform QLI¶

You can either perform QLI manually on demand or enable automated QLI:

To perform manual QLI, under the Automated and Manual Query Log Ingestion section of the Query Log Ingestion tab, ensure that the Enable Automated Query Log Ingestion toggle is disabled.

Note

Metadata extraction must be completed first before running QLI.
Click Preview to get a sample of the query history data to be ingested.
Click the Import button to perform QLI on demand.
To schedule QLI, enable the Enable Automated Query Log Ingestion toggle.
Set a schedule under Automated Query Log Ingestion Time by specifying values in the week, day, and time fields. The next QLI job will run on the schedule you have specified.

Note

The hourly schedule for automated QLI is not supported.

Log Location¶

Refer to Troubleshooting for information about logs.

SAP IQ OCF Connector: Install and Configure¶

Network Connectivity¶

Service Account¶

Permissions for Metadata Extraction¶

Permissions for Sampling and Profiling¶

Permissions for Query Log Ingestion¶

JDBC URI¶

Format¶

Example¶

Configuration in Alation¶

STEP 1: Install the Connector¶

Alation On-Premise¶

Alation Cloud Service¶

Connection via Alation Agent¶

Connection Without Agent¶

STEP 2: Create and Configure a New Data Source¶

Access¶

General Settings¶

Application Settings¶

Connector Settings¶

Data Source Connection¶

Logging Configuration¶

Obfuscate Literals¶

Test Connection¶

Metadata Extraction¶

Sampling and Profiling¶

Compose¶

Query Log Ingestion¶

Configure QLI in SAP IQ¶

Step 1: Check Request Logging State¶

Step 2: Enable SQL Log Storage¶

Step 3: Create a Table for Logging Events¶

Step 4: Enable Query History¶

Step 5: Create an Event to Dump Logs¶

For Daily Automated QLI Query¶

For Weekly Automated QLI Query¶

Configure QLI in Alation¶

Table-Based QLI¶

Custom Query-Based QLI¶

QLI Query Template¶

Perform QLI¶

Log Location¶

Alation User Documentation PDFs