IBM Informix Connector

• Requirements
• Metadata Ingestion
• Data Profiler
• Data Quality
• Enable Security
• Data Lineage
• Troubleshooting

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Requirements

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Metadata

-- Grant SELECT on system catalog tables
GRANT SELECT ON systables TO '<username>';
GRANT SELECT ON syscolumns TO '<username>';
GRANT SELECT ON sysviews TO '<username>';
-- Grant SELECT on stored procedures catalog
GRANT SELECT ON sysprocedures TO '<username>';

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Lineage and Usage

-- Enable SQL tracing (run as DBA)
-- Level 2 is recommended: captures DDL and DML statements
ONMODE -Y 2
-- Grant SELECT on SQL trace table
GRANT SELECT ON sysmaster:syssqltrace TO '<username>';

• 0 — Disabled (no query capture)
• 1 — Captures queries exceeding a threshold
• 2 — Captures all DDL and DML statements (recommended for lineage)
• 3 — Full trace including all queries

SELECT * FROM sysmaster:syssqltrace LIMIT 1;

• Use SQLTRACE level 2 for a balance of coverage and performance
• Periodically flush the syssqltrace table after successful lineage/usage extraction
• Keep SQLTRACE enabled only as long as needed if performance impact is a concern

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Profiler and Data Quality

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Metadata Ingestion

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Step 1: Add New Service

1. In the left navigation, click Connections.
2. On the Connections page, click Add New Service.

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Step 2: Select a Service and Connector

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Step 3: Add Service Name and Description

• Enter a unique, descriptive Service Name. Collate identifies services by their service name. Enter a name that distinguishes this deployment from other Informix services you are ingesting metadata from.
• Optional: Enter a Description for the service.

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Step 4: Configure Connection Options

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Select Ingestion Runner

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Enter Connection Details

• Username: Specify the User to connect to Informix. It should have enough privileges to read all the metadata.
• Password: Password to connect to Informix.
• Host and Port: Enter the fully qualified hostname and port number for your Informix deployment in the Host and Port field. For example: localhost:9088. If you are running ingestion inside Docker and your Informix instance is on the host machine, use host.docker.internal:9088.
• Database: The name of the Informix database to connect to. This is a required field.
• Server Name: The Informix server name as defined in the sqlhosts file or the INFORMIXSERVER environment variable. This identifies the specific Informix server instance to connect to. For example: informix.
• Ingest All Databases: Enable this toggle to ingest metadata from all databases on the Informix server. When disabled (default), only the database specified above will be ingested. You can use databaseFilterPattern on top of this setting to further filter databases.
• SSL Mode: Choose the SSL mode for the connection:
  • disable — No SSL encryption; the connection is unencrypted (default).
  • allow — Uses SSL if the server requires it, otherwise connects without SSL.
  • prefer — Prefers SSL but falls back to unencrypted if the server does not support it.
  • require — Enforces SSL encryption but does not verify the server certificate.
  • verify-ca — Enforces SSL and validates the server certificate against the provided CA certificate.
  • verify-full — Enforces SSL, validates the server certificate, and verifies the hostname.
• SSL Configuration: SSL configuration details. Provide the CA certificate to validate the Informix server certificate. You can paste the PEM content directly or upload the certificate file. This is required when SSL Mode is set to verify-ca or verify-full.
  • CA Certificate: The CA certificate used for SSL validation.
  • SSL Certificate: The SSL certificate used for client authentication (for mutual TLS).
  • SSL Key: The private key associated with the SSL certificate (for mutual TLS).

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Advanced Configuration

• Connection Options (Optional): Enter the details for any additional connection options that can be sent to database during the connection. These details must be added as Key-Value pairs.
• Connection Arguments (Optional): Enter the details for any additional connection arguments such as security or protocol configs that can be sent during the connection. These details must be added as Key-Value pairs.

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Test Connection

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Step 5: Configure Ingestion Options

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How Filter Patterns Work

• Include: Add one or more comma-separated regular expressions. Collate ingests only assets whose names match at least one expression. Leave blank to include all assets.
• Exclude: Add one or more comma-separated regular expressions. Collate skips any asset whose name matches an expression. Leave blank to exclude nothing.

• contains: matches any name containing the value. For example, sales matches my_sales_data and sales_2024.
• starts with: matches names beginning with the value. For example, prod_ matches prod_db and prod_schema.
• ends with: matches names ending with the value. For example, _raw matches events_raw and logs_raw.
• is exactly: matches the exact name only. For example, analytics matches only analytics.
• matches regex: matches names using a regular expression. For example, ^prod_.*_v\d+$ matches prod_events_v1.

• Database: Controls which databases Collate ingests from the source.
• Schema: Controls which schemas within the ingested databases are included.
• Table: Controls which tables and views within the ingested schemas are included.
• Stored Procedure: Controls which stored procedures are included in metadata ingestion.

• Scan Mode: You can choose between the following scan modes:
  • Scan all: Ingests every asset of that type the connector can access. This is the default.
  • Only specific: Enables include rules so only assets matching at least one rule are ingested.
• Exclude system toggle: Use this toggle to automatically filter out system-reserved names defined by the connector — for example, Exclude system databases for the Databases section.
• Always exclude: Add permanent exclusion rules (shown in red). Assets matching these rules are never ingested, regardless of include rules.
• Preview: Shows a real-time summary of what will be in scope based on your current rules.
• Include rules (available only in Only specific mode): Click + Add to define a rule. Added rules appear as chips; an asset is included if it matches any rule.

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Step 6: Create & Deploy

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Configure Metadata Agent and Schedule Ingestion

1. In the left navigation, click Connections and select your service.
2. Click the Agents tab.
3. Click Add Agent and select Metadata from the dropdown. For some services, the dropdown is not available and clicking Add Agent takes you directly to the agent configuration page.
4. On the Configure Ingestion page, do the following and click Next.
   • Name this Ingestion: Enter a unique recognizable name for this ingestion pipeline.
   • Agent Setup: Configure core parameters for metadata extraction. The following fields are available:

     Field	Default	Description
     Default Owner	—	Owner applied to all entities when no specific level owner is configured. Accepts a user or team name/email.
     Service Owner	—	Owner assigned to the service entity.
     Database Owner	—	Owner assigned to all ingested databases. Accepts a single owner or a per-database name mapping.
     Database Schema Owner	—	Owner assigned to all ingested schemas. Accepts a single owner or a per-schema name mapping.
     Table Owner	—	Owner assigned to all ingested tables. Accepts a single owner or a per-table name mapping.
     Enable Inheritance	On	When on, child entities inherit the owner from their parent when they have no owner configured.
     Query Log Duration	1	Number of days to look back in query logs when processing stored procedure results.
     Query Parsing Timeout Limit	300	Timeout in seconds for parsing a single query.
     Number of Threads	1	Number of threads to use for parallel table ingestion.
     Incremental Extraction	Off	When enabled, subsequent runs only extract entities changed since the last successful run.
     Successful Pipeline Run Lookback Days	7	Number of days to search back for a prior successful run to use as a baseline for incremental extraction.
     Safety Margin Days	1	Additional days added to the baseline timestamp as a buffer for incremental extraction.
     JSON Schema Sample Size	10	Number of rows sampled to infer JSON column schema. Only applies when Extract JSON Schema is enabled in Advanced Config.

     
   • Filter Patterns: Apply include or exclude rules to scope which databases, schemas, tables, and stored procedures this agent ingests. For more information about various filter options, see Step 5: Configure Ingestion Options.
   • Scope & Behaviour: Control how the agent handles metadata during ingestion. Toggle each option on or off based on your needs:

     Toggle	Default	Description
     Include Tables	On	Ingest table metadata from the source. Turn off to skip tables entirely.
     Include Tags	On	Ingest tags from the source.
     Include Stored Procedures	On	Ingest stored procedure metadata.
     Include DDL Statements	Off	Ingest DDL statements alongside table metadata.
     Include Owners	Off	Assign owners to ingested entities when the source owner’s email matches a user in Collate. Does not overwrite an existing owner.
     Include Custom Properties	Off	Ingest connector-specific custom properties onto entities.
     Mark Deleted Tables	On	Soft-delete tables in Collate when they are removed from the source. Applies only within the currently ingested schema.
     Mark Deleted Stored Procedures	On	Soft-delete stored procedures in Collate when they are removed from the source.
     Mark Deleted Schemas	Off	Soft-delete schemas and all their child assets when removed from the source.
     Mark Deleted Databases	Off	Soft-delete databases and all their child assets when removed from the source.
     Override Metadata	Off	When on, source values overwrite existing descriptions, tags, owners, and display names in Collate. When off, Collate only updates fields that have no existing value.
     Enable Debug Log	Off	Sets the ingestion log level to DEBUG. Useful for troubleshooting.

     Note: Available toggles vary by connector. Stored procedure options only appear for connectors that support stored procedures.
     
   • Advanced Config: Optional connector-specific settings such as Include Views and Extract JSON Schema.
5. On the Schedule Interval page, set when the agent runs:
   • Schedule: Choose a preset interval (Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly) or enter a custom cron expression.
   • On-Demand: No automatic schedule; trigger the agent manually when needed.
   
6. Click Add to deploy the agent.

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Securing Informix Connection with SSL in Collate

• For require mode: SSL encryption is enforced but the server certificate is not validated. No certificate configuration is needed.
• For verify-ca mode: SSL encryption is enforced and the server certificate is validated against the provided CA certificate. Provide the caCertificate in the SSL Configuration section.
• For mutual TLS (client and server authentication): Provide all three parameters — caCertificate (CA certificate to validate the server), sslCertificate (client SSL certificate), and sslKey (private key for the client certificate).

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Troubleshooting