Secure Data Transfer with AS400 Database – IBM Host On-Demand

IBM Host On-Demand (HOD) provides a feature to communicate with an AS400 database. The connection and data transfer between the client and the database happens through JDBC. We can configure HOD to establish secure communication between client and AS400 database by using JDBC over Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.
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The below steps needed to be followed to configure the HOD client to connect and perform data transfer operation using SSL:
1.       Install the host certificate to the key-store.
2.       Create and connect a new session to the AS400 host.
3.       Go to “Action” > “Transfer Data” > “Send Data to Host/ Receive Data from Host”.

• Steps for Sending Data to Host: 

   a.  Select “Current Session” and click on “New” button.

b.  In Database URL field, provide the connection URL appended by the connection property             “;secure=true;” in case of a SSL connection (Example: jdbc:as400://<host URL>;secure=true;).       Enter the user id and password. Give the path and password for Trust Store certificate file           in “JSSE TrustStore File Path” and “JSSE TrustStore Password” respectively and click on               “Connect” Button.
     This will establish the connection to the database securely. Click on “Next” button.
 

c.   Follow the next steps accordingly to send the desired data to host.

•        Steps for Receiving Data from Host: 

                 a.       Select “Current Session” and click on “New” button.
 

           b.      Click on “SQL Wizard” button > “Continue” Button.

        c.       Select appropriate option in “SQL Statement types” on “Start” tab and click on “Next”                   button.

         d.    Follow step 2 as mentioned in “Steps for Sending Data to Host” section.

          e.       Follow the next steps accordingly by selecting tables and running SQL queries.

The current data transfer session can also be saved. With the above setup, the data transfer will happen securely over default SSL port.
For more information about other operations and next steps in the Data Transfer Utility, refer to the IBM Host On-Demand Knowledge Center.

Shantanu Karmakar
L3 Support Engineer – IBM Host On-Demand