Register an Informix database with ArcGIS Server
As an ArcGIS Server administrator or a publisher in your organization, you have the option to register your data folders, databases, and geodatabases with ArcGIS Server so that services you publish can reference the data in those folders, databases, and geodatabases. Data registration provides ArcGIS Server a list of locations to access. Data registration also helps ArcGIS Server adjust data paths when publishing across machines.
The following sections describe how to prepare your ArcGIS client to connect to an Informix database (whether the database contains a geodatabase or not), and register the database with ArcGIS Server.
Install Informix client software
The Informix Client SDK or IConnect software must be installed on all ArcGIS client machines that will connect to the database. If you have multiple servers in your ArcGIS Server site, you must install the 64-bit Informix client on each server. You must install a 32-bit Informix client on all ArcGIS for Desktop machines that will connect to the Informix database. You can obtain Informix client software from My Esri or IBM.
If ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS for Desktop are installed on the same machine, you must install both the 32- and 64-bit clients.
On Windows clients, you must also set up the Setnet32 application.
Be sure to set the same data source name for the Informix client on the ArcGIS Server machines and all ArcGIS for Desktop machines that will be publishing data from the registered database.
See Connect to Informix from ArcGIS for more information on setting up Informix client software.
Grant privileges
The login used to connect to the database must have specific privileges granted to it. For logins that will only need to select data from a service published to ArcGIS Server, grant the privileges necessary for a data viewer as described in Privileges for geodatabases in Informix. If data will be published to an editable feature service, grant the privileges necessary for a data editor. If you will be registering the geodatabase as a managed database, grant the privileges necessary for a data creator.
If your connection to Informix uses operating system authentication, be sure to grant the appropriate privileges to the ArcGIS Server account.
Connect to Informix
To register a database with the server, you must provide connection information. There are two ways you can do this:
- Import an existing .sde file that contains the connection information.
You can create a Database Connection (.sde) file from the Catalog tree in ArcGIS for Desktop, using the Create Database Connection geoprocessing tool, or a Python script.
- Provide your connection information at the time of registration.
No matter which way you choose, you must provide the following information to connect to an Informix database:
- The type of DBMS to which you are connecting (in this case, Informix)
- Either the ODBC data source name or the connection string used for DSNless connections
The DSNless connection string is in the form HostName=<server where Informix is installed>;ServerName=<Informix server>;ServiceName=<service name defined in services file>;Database=<database name>;. See Database connections in ArcGIS for Desktop for more information and an example.
- The type of authentication to be used: database or operating system
Although all logins to Informix are domain or local operating system accounts (domain accounts are recommended), you can specify database authentication for your connection from ArcGIS, and Informix will validate your connection using the login and password you provide in the database connection file. To use with ArcGIS Server, you must save the user information with the connection file.
If you choose to use operating system authentication instead, be sure your Informix server can authenticate the ArcGIS Server account.
Beginning with ArcGIS 10.3 geodatabases, you cannot use an ArcSDE service to connect. If you want to connect to a previous release geodatabase using an ArcSDE service, create a .sde file using the Create ArcSDE Connection File geoprocessing tool or a Python script. Then you can import the connection when you register the geodatabase with ArcGIS Server.
Register with ArcGIS Server
You can register the database from Server Manager or the Catalog tree in ArcGIS for Desktop. See the following topics for an explanation of registration options and how to register the database: