Informatica Operation

Theme: Configure | Audience: Automation Engineer

What is it?

Once the Informatica On-Prem ACS connector has been registered with the OpCon system, it is possible to perform agent and job definitions. All definitions can only be performed using Solution Manager.

• Use this when defining a new Informatica connection in OpCon to enable workflow submission and monitoring.
• Use this when creating batch user credentials to provide secure repository access without embedding credentials in job definitions.
• Use this when configuring run tasks that reference specific folders and workflows in the Informatica environment.

Defining Informatica batch users

The Informatica implementation requires an Informatica batch user to provide the user name and password for connection to the Informatica database. The database user must have the required privileges to access the following tables:

• Folder names: opb_subject — select SUBJ_NAME from opb_subject
• Workflow names: REP_WORKFLOWS — select WORKFLOW_NAME from REP_WORKFLOWS where SUBJECT_AREA = 'folder name'

Before creating the Informatica connection or tasks, ensure that an appropriate batch user is created to access the repository (Oracle connection).

To define an Informatica batch user, complete the following steps:

1. Open Solution Manager.
2. From the Home page, select Library.
3. From the Security menu, select Batch Users.
4. Select +Add to add a new batch user.
5. Select Informatica from the Select the target OS list.
6. In the Identifier field, enter the user name used to connect to the Informatica database.
7. In the Password and Confirm fields, enter the password of the user.
8. Select Save. The batch user is saved.

Defining an Informatica connection

Add a new Informatica agent definition using Solution Manager. Items marked in red are required values.

To define an Informatica connection, complete the following steps:

1. Open Solution Manager.
2. From the Home page, select Library.
3. From the Administration menu, select Agents.
4. Select +Add to add a new agent definition.
5. Enter the agent details: a. Enter a unique name for the connection. b. Select Informatica from the Type list. c. If the software is installed within a SmaRelay environment:
   • Select General Settings.
   • In the NetCom Name field, enter the name of the SmaRelay environment. d. Select Informatica Settings. e. In the Directory field, enter the full path of the directory where the Informatica client binaries are installed. The connector runs pmcmd.exe from this directory. f. In the Domain field, enter the domain name of the associated Informatica installation. g. In the Repository field, enter the repository name of the associated Informatica installation. h. In the Service field, enter the name of the associated Informatica Service Instance. i. In the Database field, enter the Oracle data source of the Informatica repository database, as address, port number, and database name (address:port/database, for example host:1521/service). The folder and workflow lists are read from this database. j. In the Authentication section, select a batch user from the list. k. In the Retain Log Files field, enter the number of days to retain Informatica ACS log files (default: 30 days).
6. Select Save to save the definition changes.
7. Select Communication Settings. Verify that the Requires XML Escape Sequences: User-Defined field is set to True. If not, update the field and select Save.
8. Select the Change Communication Status button and select Enable Full Comm. to start the connection. The agent comes online.

Defining tasks

The Informatica On-Prem connection supports the following task types:

Task type	Description
RUN	Create a workflow task.

During task creation, a list of available folders is retrieved from the Informatica database and added to the Folder Name list. Once a folder name is selected from the list, a list of available workflows within the folder is retrieved from the Informatica database and added to the Workflow Name list.

To define an Informatica task, complete the following steps:

1. Open Solution Manager.
2. From the Home page, select Library.
3. From the Administration menu, select Master Jobs.
4. Select +Add to add a new master job definition.
5. Enter the task details: a. Select the schedule name from the Schedule list. b. In the Name field, enter a unique name for the task within the schedule. c. Select Informatica from the Job Type list. d. Select Run from the Task Type list.

To enter details for the Run task type, complete the following steps:

1. Select the Task Details button.

2. In the Integration Selection section, select the primary integration, which is an ACSInformatica connection previously defined.

3. In the Task Configuration section, enter the required task fields: a. In the Informatica User field, enter the user name used to start the task on the Informatica environment. b. In the Informatica User Password field, enter the password of the user. It is suggested that an encrypted global property is used to contain the password value, so the password is not stored in the job definition.

   caution

   The job log records the command the connector runs for each workflow call, including the Informatica user's password. Restrict who can view this job's output, and use an Informatica account limited to the workflows it needs to run.

   c. From the Folder Name list, select the folder where the workflow is defined. Once a folder is selected, a list of available workflows is added to the Workflow Name list. d. From the Workflow Name list, select the required workflow name.

4. Select Save to save the definition changes. The task is saved.

Working with parameters

There are two alternative ways to supply parameters: a Parameter File defined on the Informatica system, or Parameters entries that the connector writes to a local parameter file and passes when processing the request. Use one or the other.

note

If Parameter File has a value, the Parameters entries are not used.

To use a parameter file on the Informatica system, in the Parameter File field, enter the full name of the parameter file to be used by the task.

To use local parameters instead, leave Parameter File empty and complete the following steps:

1. In the Parameters section, select the +Add Item button.
2. Enter the parameter value using the following format: [section]name=value
   • section is the name of the header in the parameter file
   • name is the name of the parameter
   • value is the value of the parameter

Job status

The connector checks the workflow's status in Informatica while the job runs:

• While Informatica reports Running, the job keeps running.
• When Informatica reports Succeeded, the job finishes successfully.
• Any other status fails the job.
• When you kill the job, the connector sends stopworkflow. The job shows as killed if the workflow stops, and fails if the stop request fails.

The job log contains the folder, workflow and parameters, the commands the connector ran, and the output of pmcmd.

Configuration options

Connection settings

Setting	What It Does	Default	Notes
Name	Unique identifier for the connection in OpCon	None	Required
NetCom Name	Name of the SmaRelay environment	None	Required only for SmaRelay installations
Directory	Full path to the Informatica client binaries directory, which contains pmcmd.exe	None	Required
Domain	Informatica domain name	None	Required
Repository	Informatica repository name	None	Required
Service	Informatica Service Instance name	None	Required
Database	Oracle data source of the Informatica repository database, used for the folder and workflow lists	None	Required. Format: address:port/database
Authentication (Batch User)	Oracle database credentials used for repository access	None	Batch user must be defined before creating the connection
Retain Log Files	Number of days to retain Informatica ACS log files	30
Requires XML Escape Sequences	Enables XML escape sequence handling for the connection	False	Must be set to True

Task settings

Setting	What It Does	Default	Notes
Informatica User	User name used to start the workflow on the Informatica environment	None	Required
Informatica User Password	Password for the Informatica user	None	Use an encrypted global property. The job log records the password; see Security considerations
Folder Name	Folder on the Informatica system that contains the target workflow	None	Retrieved from the Informatica database; required
Workflow Name	Workflow to run	None	Retrieved after a folder is selected; required
Parameter File	Full path to a parameter file on the Informatica system	None	Optional. When set, Parameters entries are not used
Parameters	Local parameter values passed to the workflow at run time	None	Format: [section]name=value; optional. Used only when Parameter File is empty

Security considerations

Authentication: Two sets of credentials are required. A batch user (Oracle database credentials) authenticates against the Informatica repository to retrieve folder and workflow metadata. A separate Informatica user account authenticates to the Informatica environment to run workflows.

Authorization: The Oracle batch user must have SELECT privileges on the opb_subject and REP_WORKFLOWS tables. The Informatica user must have privileges to run the defined workflows in the Informatica environment.

Data security: Batch user credentials are stored as OpCon batch user definitions and are not exposed in job or agent configurations.

Sensitive data: The Informatica User Password is used at job run time. Store this value as an encrypted global property rather than entering a plaintext password in the task definition.

caution

The job log records the command the connector runs for each workflow call, including the Informatica user's password. Restrict who can view this job's output, and use an Informatica account limited to the workflows it needs to run.

FAQs

Why is the Folder Name list empty when defining a task? The folder list is retrieved from the Informatica database at task creation time. If the list is empty, verify that the Informatica connection is online and that the batch user has SELECT privileges on the opb_subject table.

Do I need a batch user for every Informatica connection? Yes. Each Informatica connection requires a batch user defined with Oracle database credentials. The batch user must be created in Solution Manager before the connection can be saved.

Can I use both a parameter file and local parameters in the same task? No. If Parameter File has a value, the connector uses only that file and the Parameters entries are not used. To pass local parameters, leave Parameter File empty.

How do I stop a running workflow? Use the OpCon Kill function on the running job. The connector sends a stopworkflow command to the Informatica environment to stop the workflow.

Glossary

Batch user — An OpCon credential definition that stores a user name and password for a target system. For Informatica, this provides the Oracle database credentials used to retrieve folder and workflow metadata from the repository.

Folder — An organizational unit in the Informatica repository that groups related workflows. Folder names are retrieved from the opb_subject table.

NetCom Name — The identifier for the SmaRelay environment. Required only when the connector is deployed in a cloud configuration.

Parameter file — A file stored on the Informatica system that contains variable values passed to a workflow at runtime. Specified by full path in the task definition.

Related topics:

• Informatica On-Prem ACS overview
• Install the Informatica On-Prem ACS connector