Extension Technology

This section describes requirements needed for the Extension Technology: ODBC Extension or Oracle Extension.

Hardware Requirements

Component Description
Processor Must be at least the minimum specified for the operating system you are using.
Disk space
  • Optional ODBC Extension: less than 5 MB per platform, precise details provided during install.
  • Optional Oracle Extension: less than 5 MB per platform, precise details provided during install.

Software Requirements

Component Description
32-bit Windows
  • Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11
  • Windows Server 2003 and 2003 R2
  • Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2
  • Windows Server 2016, 2019, and 2022
64-bit Windows
  • Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11
  • Windows Server 2003 and 2003 R2
  • Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2
  • Windows Server 2016, 2019, and 2022
UNIX
  • IBM System p running AIX 5.3 or 6.1
  • IBM System z running SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP1
  • x86 running Red Hat Linux 4.0 Update 1, 5.1, 5.3, 6.1, or 7.2
  • x86 running SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP1 or 11
  • SPARC running Solaris 9 or 10
Note: When running on 64-bit UNIX platforms, Data Express Extension works as a 32-bit application.

Run-time Knowledge Base Requirements

This section describes requirements that apply to both Windows and UNIX platforms.

Before using either the ODBC or Oracle Extension, a Run-time Knowledge Base needs to be created within your source data store(s). The Run-time Knowledge Base drives the operation and performance of the Data Express masking and subsetting processes.

The Run-time Knowledge Base consists of tables and indexes, and needs to be created using the schema name DEKB.

Note: As different data stores have different requirements for creating schemas and associated objects, Micro Focus strongly suggests that the database administrator (DBA) for each source data store create the associated Data Express Run-time Knowledge Base.

A script, createkb.sql is provided within the config directory. This script contains canonical DDL (Data Definition Language) statements, describing the Run-time Knowledge Base tables and indexes.

Please note that createkb.sql is not guaranteed to execute correctly for all source data stores as-is. Each data store can have slightly different syntax when it comes to CREATE TABLE and CREATE INDEX statements. The DBA for your source data store can assess what changes are necessary to allow the successful creation of the DEKB schema, and will have the appropriate permissions to create and populate that schema.

If you are the DBA for a source data store, please review the Customer Care Knowledge Base article #10277 for additional details on how to create the Run-time Knowledge Base for your source data store.

User Credential Requirements

This section describes requirements that apply to both Windows and UNIX platforms.

ODBC or Oracle Extension users are required to have the appropriate access to source and target data stores, as well as to the Run-time Knowledge Base, which is located in the source data store(s).

The table below lists the pertinent objects and specific privileges required to mask and subset data:

Object Privilege Required
Source data store(s) SELECT on tables to be processed within the specified schema(s).
Run-time Knowledge Base INSERT, SELECT, and DELETE on the tables within the DEKB schema.
Target data store(s) CREATE TABLE, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE on tables to be processed within the specified schema(s).
Note: As different data stores have different user credential requirements, Micro Focus strongly suggests that the DBA for the data stores listed above establish appropriate user credentials.

For security reasons, it may not be permissible to allow Data Express privileges to operate in the manner described in the table above. In this case, you can use Extension Technology in unload mode.

For more information regarding unload mode, see the chapter Extension Technology Utilities in the Getting Started with Distributed Data Stores guide.

ODBC Extension Requirements

To use the ODBC Extension with an ODBC-enabled data store, you will need:

  • ODBC driver relevant to your data store
  • The UNIX machine should be configured with the environment variable settings needed to provide connectivity to the ODBC data store. At minimum, this should include:
    • ODBCINI - this should be set to the ODBC configuration file LD_LIBRARY_PATH (Linux, Solaris), SHLIB_PATH (HP/UX), or LIBPATH (AIX) , for the ODBC Driver Manager.
    • Any additional environment variables as specified within the documentation of your ODBC Driver Manager and ODBC Driver software.

Data Express for Distributed Systems is regularly tested against the following data sources and ODBC drivers:

Data Source Version ODBC Driver Name ODBC Driver Version
COBOL Files Micro Focus Relativity 2.2.2
Windows TXT and CSV fles Microsoft Text Driver 6.01.7601.17632
DB2 v8 IBM DB2 ODBC Driver 01.300.257
DB2 v9 IBM DB2 ODBC Driver 01.300.257
DB2 v10 IBM DB2 ODBC Driver 01.300.257
DB2 v11 IBM DB2 ODBC Driver 01.300.257
DB2 v12 IBM DB2 ODBC Driver 01.300.257
Informix 11.70 IBM Informix ODBC Driver 3.70 TC5
Micro Focus XDB Server 6.0 Micro Focus XDB for DX4.0 8.00.06.1001
Microsoft SQL Server SQL Server 85.1132.00
MySQL 8.0 MySQL ODBC Driver
Oracle 11g R1 Oracle in OraDb11g_home1 01.00.06
Oracle 12 R1 Oracle 12R1
Oracle 12 R2 Oracle 12R2
Oracle 18c Oracle 18c
Oracle 19c Oracle 19c
PostGreSQL 9.6 Devart ODBC Driver for PostGreSQL 2.1.5
Sybase 6.0.0.4765 Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise 05.00.1016
Teradata 15 Teradata 15 ODBC Driver 15.00.00.02
Note: Microsoft SQL Server Native Client is not supported as an ODBC driver. Instead, use Microsoft SQL Server as an ODBC driver.

Oracle Extension Requirements

To use the Oracle Extension, the machine housing the Data Express installation requires, at minimum, an Oracle client installation, including the Oracle Call Interface (OCI) support, configured to connect to the Oracle data store.

The UNIX machine should be configured with the environment variable settings needed to connect to the Oracle database, for example: 

ORACLE_HOME 
ORACLE_SID
PATH
LD_LIBRARY_PATH (Linux, Solaris) SHLIB_PATH (HP/UX) or LIBPATH (AIX)
Parent topic: System Requirements