1. Integrating database applications with the JDBC driver for IDM E. Axel Larsson Drew University 20 July 2005

2. The JDBC driver for IDM vs. other IDM drivers. Generic driver Works at the database level rather than the app level. You will be doing development in the application space. Varying comfort levels amongst application vendors.

3. Supported databases. What we’ve done at Drew  Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL Others  DB2, Sybase ASE, Postgres, others. Database requirements  Triggers, views, foreign key constraints  What about MySQL?

4. Types of applications Extend your IDM system beyond user account provisioning in different directory services.  Customer/patron databases Helpdesk (at Drew – Supportworks) Campus card systems (at Drew – CS Gold)  LAMP apps that don’t integrate with a directory. Discussion forums, online communities, open source portals (at Drew – vBulletin forums)

5. How it works. Subscriber  eDir events translated into INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE SQL statements. Not an arbitrary collection of tables provided by the app, but a set of tables or views specifically created for IDM. Publisher  JDBC shim 1.x & 2.x – Triggers, event log  JDBC shim 2.x – Triggerless publication

6. Database schema requirements Two models  “Direct” synchronization Views created in between the app database tables and IDM. Views must be updateable if the subscriber channel is to be used (INSTEAD OF triggers)  “Indirect” synchronization Database tables created in between the app tables and IDM. Duplication of data from IDM tables to app tables (triggers)

7. “Direct” method 1 view for each object class. View exposes all attributes included in the driver filter. Primary/foreign key hints (pk_ prefixes, etc.) Subscriber channel:  View must be updateable (INSTEAD OF triggers) Publisher channel:  Event log (JDBC 1.x, 2.x)  Triggerless (JDBC 2.x only)

8. “Indirect” method Intermediate staging tables in between IDM and the application. 1 “parent” table for each object class.  Parent table contains all single valued attributes.  Must have a primary key. 1 “child” table for each MV attribute.  Two columns, foreign key to parent table, and unconstrained value column.  Foreign key constraint must be explicitly defined.

9. “Indirect” method (cont’d) Related attributes  Map to DN type attributes in eDir.  Use foreign key references. Data synchronization.  Triggers to move data between app tables and IDM tables.  Event log triggers for publication.

10. Publisher event log Event types  1 – insert field  2 – update field  3 – update field, removing current values.  4 – delete row  5 – insert row (query for values)  6 – update row (query for values)  7 – insert field (query for values)  8 – update field (query for values)

11. Which should I use? App is primarily a publisher of data.  Direct sync is less invasive.  Triggerless publication in JDBC 2.x. App is primarily a subscriber.  Indirect may be easier, because INSTEAD OF triggers can be a hassle. Other considerations  Isolation  Delegation of development responsibilities.  App vendor comfort levels / support. I use the indirect method.

12. What about MySQL (4.x)? No triggers, no views  Syncing directly to app tables.  App database schema must conform to IDM needs. MyISAM type tables, no foreign key support.  No MV attributes.

13. IDM driver configuration Unique IDs.  Correspond to the primary key in the parent tables (indirect method) or the pk_ column in views (direct method)  Primary key generation Provided in operation (eDir attribute) Provided by driver (SELECT MAX…) Stored procedure / function in the DB. Associations  KEY=pkvalue,TABLE=table,SCHEMA=schema  i.e. PIK=0779204,TABLE=idm_patrons, SCHEMA=drewadmin

14. IDM driver configuration Driver filters.  Object class = parent table or view  Attribute = view column, parent table column, or child table column.  Example: Single-value, parent-table column: (eDir) Surname = (database) NAME_LAST Multi-value, child table column: (eDir) drewPersonRegisteredTerms = (database) IDM_REG_TERMS.TERM

15. IDM driver configuration Executing arbitrary SQL from policies.  Uses Manage database accounts. (This is what Novell’s preconfigured drivers do) Work around some MySQL problems.  How Add jdbc namespace to policy. Append jdbc:statement elements to documents being sent to the app.