Cannot set up data source for SQL Server 2005

Question

Is it possible to use Microsoft's Beta 2 version of the SQL Server 2005 JDBC driver with WebLogic 9.0? I've downloaded the driver and added it to my server classpath, but when I try to create a new data source using the admin console, the drop-down list for Microsoft SQL Server only contains drivers for the 2000 version. If I select "Other" from the list and try to move on, I get a cryptic, page-long error on the admin console. If I just select the 2000 driver and try to manually modify the parameters on the next set of screens, I still get errors when I try to test the configuration. I've successfully used a third-party driver before, but this one does not seem to be working. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Sabrina

Answer 1

SabrinaL wrote:
Is it possible to use Microsoft's Beta 2 version of the SQL Server 2005 JDBC driver with WebLogic 9.0? I've downloaded the driver and added it to my server classpath, but when I try to create a new data source using the admin console, the drop-down list for Microsoft SQL Server only contains drivers for the 2000 version. If I select "Other" from the list and try to move on, I get a cryptic, page-long error on the admin console. If I just select the 2000 driver and try to manually modify the parameters
on the next set of screens, I still get errors when I try to test the configuration. I've successfully used a third-party driver before, but this one does not seem to be working. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
SabrinaHere I describe the steps I took to bypass the console in making a new pool.
1 - Edit the script %DOMAIN_HOME%\bin\startWebLogic.cmd to add a line like this:
set CLASSPATH=%CLASSPATH%;\new_ms_driver\beta2\sqljdbc_1.0\enu\sqljdbc.jar
In other words, you have to explicitly add a third party driver's classes to
the CLASSPATH that will be in effect for the server. Just adding the driver
to your window's class path will do nothing.
2 - Go to the directory %DOMAIN_HOME%\config\jdbc, where you will find
files of the name *-jdbc.xml. Each of these represents a DataSource.
Copy one of them, perhaps either examples-demo-jdbc.xml, or
examples-demoXA-jdbc.xml depending on whether you want to make an XA
or non-XA pool. Make you new file's name like the name of the DataSource,
still ending in -jdbc.xml. Eg: MS_Beta-jdbc.xml
3 - Edit this file to change as much as would be clear for the
driver you want. Eg: change the driver class to the class you want,
the user name, URL, test table etc. Also, change the pool's initial
capacity to 0. This is so the pool can be created without making a
connection. We need that because the password is encrypted, and
there is no manual way for you to add the correct one yet.
4 - go one directory up, and edit the config.xml. Find a
jdbc-system-resource entry corresponding to the original
resource file you copied. Make a new entry in the config file,
like the original, but change the Datasource name to your new one.
5 - If this all went well, reboot your server and go to your data
source in the console, and edit it. Alter the password to what it
really should be, and you can also change whatever else you might
want.
6 - shut down again, and reboot, and you should then be able to go to
your data source in the console and test a connection.
That's it. Here is an example of a jdbc.xml file I made, and
the entry I made in the config.xml:
config/jdbc/newpool-jdbc.xml:
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<jdbc-data-source xmlns="http://www.bea.com/ns/weblogic/90" xmlns:sec="http://www.bea.com/ns/weblogic/90/security"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:wls="http://www.bea.com/ns/weblogic/90/security/wls"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.bea.com/ns/weblogic/90/domain.xsd">
<name>newpool</name>
<jdbc-driver-params>
<url>jdbc:sqlserver://frogger:1433</url>
<driver-name>com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver</driver-name>
<properties>
<property>
<name>user</name>
<value>joe</value>
</property>
</properties>
<password-encrypted>{3DES}cPpx2Z6faqY=</password-encrypted>
</jdbc-driver-params>
<jdbc-connection-pool-params>
<initial-capacity>1</initial-capacity>
<max-capacity>5</max-capacity>
<capacity-increment>1</capacity-increment>
<shrink-frequency-seconds>900</shrink-frequency-seconds>
<test-connections-on-reserve>true</test-connections-on-reserve>
<test-table-name>SQL select 1</test-table-name>
<profile-type>0</profile-type>
</jdbc-connection-pool-params>
<jdbc-data-source-params>
<jndi-name>newpool</jndi-name>
<global-transactions-protocol>TwoPhaseCommit</global-transactions-protocol>
</jdbc-data-source-params>
<jdbc-xa-params></jdbc-xa-params>
</jdbc-data-source>
config.xml entry:
<jdbc-system-resource>
<name>newpool</name>
<target>examplesServer</target>
<descriptor-file-name>jdbc/newpool-jdbc.xml</descriptor-file-name>
</jdbc-system-resource>