9 Configuring TCP/IP

This chapter describes configuring TCP/IP for the various Unix platforms supported by the Oracle Transparent Gateway for DRDA. TCP/IP is a communication facility that is already part of the operating system. No third-party protocol software is required. This chapter provides more information about configuring TCP/IP.

This chapter contains the following sections:

Before You Begin
Configuring TCP/IP under UNIX

Before You Begin

You need values for to enter parameters that are unique to your system in order to properly configure TCP/IP. Refer to Appendix E for a worksheet listing all of the installation parameters that you will need to know about before you can complete the configuration process. Ask your network administrator to provide you with these parameters before you begin.

Port Number

The DRDA standard specifies that port 446 be used for DRDA services. However, if several DRDA Servers are operating on the same system, then they will need to provide service on different ports. Therefore, the port number that is used by each DRDA Server will need to be extracted from the configuration of each individual DRDA Server. DB2 for OS/390 and DB2/400 typically use the DRDA standard port number, 446, whereas DB2/UDB typically uses 50000 as the port number. Refer to IBM DB2 Administrator and Installation guides for locating and changing these port numbers for your DRDA Server. For additional information, consult your DB2 DBA or System Administrator.

Configuring TCP/IP under UNIX

Basic configuration consists of assigning a Hostname, an IP Address, and a Network Mask to a given network interface. This basic configuration should have been completed already by the System Administrator. If not, contact your System Administrator to have this configuration completed before you continue.

Additional configuration consists of defining a Name Server IP Address or creating entries in the Hosts file on the local machine. Name Servers translate hostnames into IP Addresses when queried on a particular host name. The Hosts file provides this same functionality, but in a non-network participating manner.

For local configuration (the gateway and the DRDA Server are on the same computer), it may be desirable to use the loop-back address. The IP address is 127.0.0.1 and is typically given the local name (localhost or loopback) in the hosts file. Using the loop-back address reduces the amount of network overhead by handling the traffic internally without actually talking to the network.

The gateway is configured for TCP/IP using the DRDA_CONNECT_PARM initialization file parameter. In an SNA configuration, this parameter would be set to the Side Information profile name. In a TCP/IP configuration, this parameter should be set to the IP address or Host name of the DRDA Server, which should be followed by the Service Port number of that server.

Note:

When installing the gateway, you must choose either SNA or TCP/IP for the Networking Interface.

The DRDA_CONNECT_PARM must be configured correctly for the chosen Networking Interface.

The rest of the DRDA-specific parameters are unrelated to the communications protocol and may be set the same for either SNA or TCP/IP installations, as illustrated.

Example 1

Configuration for a DRDA Server on a host named 'mvs01.domain.com' (or IP address of 192.168.1.2) with a Service Port number of 446.

DRDA_CONNECT_PARM=mvs01.domain.com:446

DRDA_CONNECT_PARM=192.168.1.2:446

Example 2

Configuration for a DRDA Server on the same host as the gateway with a Service Port number of 446.

DRDA_CONNECT_PARM=localhost:446

DRDA_CONNECT_PARM=127.0.0.1:446

For additional information about configuring TCP/IP for a particular host operating system, refer to the appropriate platform and operating system installation and configuration guides.