Launch the CData Connect AMI on Amazon Web Services

CData Connect creates virtual databases and/or OData feeds for dozens of cloud-based SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources. The CData Connect Amazon Machine Instance (AMI) comes as a Linux-based instance with CData Connect pre-configured and ready to run, with no additional configuration necessary.

The AMI can be found in the AWS Marketplace as CData Connect. You can launch a new instance of CData Connect from the Amazon AMI in three simple steps.

1. Subscribe to the AMI, and accept the Terms and Conditions. Once you are subscribed, you can launch a new instance of CData Connect.

2. Configure the instance-type, instance details, volume, tags and security group. CData Connect runs on the default HTTPS port (443), make sure that this port is accessible from the IP address which will be connecting to CData Connect. The last step of the process will prompt you to create a new key-pair, or select an existing one.

3. Once the instance has launched, it will be listed in your EC2 running instances. You can then access CData Connect in your browser at the URL:

   https://<instance_public_dns>

   To log in, the default username is 'admin', and the password is the instance's randomly generated Instance-ID, which you can find from the EC2 management console.

You can now connect to your data sources, secure connections with SSL and the standard authentication methods. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help for a guide to setting the required connection properties and setting up access control.

Advanced configuration

The CData Connect AMI works out-of-the-box without additional configuration. However, for advanced users, it is possible to manage CData Connect in more details.

Access the Instance via SSH

Connecting to the EC2 instance via SSH can be useful for advanced configuration of the service. The CData Connect AMI is based of a standard Ubuntu 20.04LTS VM, and the main user is ubuntu. You can connect to it via SSH using the key-pair selected when launching the instance:

ssh -i my_key_pair.pem ubuntu@<instance_public_dns>

Stop, Start, or Restart the CData Connect service

CData Connect runs using Jetty. Once connected to the instance, use systemctl to manage the Jetty service:

sudo systemctl restart cdata-connect
sudo systemctl stop cdata-connect
sudo systemctl start cdata-connect

Install a Trusted Certificate

By default, the CData Connect AMI generates a new self-signed certificate upon creation, preventing any two AMIs from sharing the same certificate. However, not all client applications accept self-signed certificates. To get around this, you can replace the default certificate with a trusted one.

First, obtain a trusted certificate from a certificate provider. This certificate must match the public URL provided by AWS.

In the AMI, the web container handles the SSL configuration. Import your certificate as a new keystore file in your EC2 instance to /opt/cdata/. In the file /opt/cdata/service.json, modify the following fields referencing the current certificate:

• Set "service.ssl.certtype" to the certificate type (e.g. "PFXFILE", "JKSFILE", "PEMFILE", etc.) For example: "service.ssl.certtype": "PEMFILE"
  • If your certificate file is a JKS file and contains more than one certificate, set "service.ssl.jks.alias" to the SSL certificate alias
  • If your certificate file is a PEM file and contains more than one certificate, set "service.ssl.subject" to the SSL certificate subject
• Set "service.ssl.cert" to the path to the certificate file, e.g. /opt/cdata/my-cert-file.pem
• Set "service.ssl.password" to the password for the certificate

After saving the modifications to this file, restart the Connect service for these changes to take effect.

Upgrade the CData Connect AMI

You can upgrade your CData Connect AMI using the following instructions.

Upgrade the WAR File

1. Download the latest version of CData Connect and extract the WAR file (connect.war): https://www.cdata.com/connect/server/download/
2. Copy the WAR file onto your AMI instance:
   scp -i your_ssh_key.pem connect.war ubuntu@:~/
3. Log into the EC2 instance via SSH (see instructions above).
4. Stop the Service (see instructions above).
5. Overwrite the old connect.war file:
   sudo cp ~/connect.war /opt/cdata/webapps/connect.war

Upgrade the JAR File

1. Extract the JAR file (connect.jar): https://www.cdata.com/connect/server/download/
2. Copy the JAR file onto your AMI instance:
   scp -i your_ssh_key.pem connect.jar ubuntu@:~/
3. Log into the EC2 instance via SSH (see instructions above).
4. Stop the Service (see instructions above).
5. Overwrite the old connect.jar file:
   sudo cp ~/connect.jar /opt/cdata/connect.jar
6. Restart the service (see instructions above).

Restart the Connect Service

After copying the WAR and JAR files, restart the Connect service:

sudo systemctl restart cdata-connect

Install External Dependencies

If the connection you are using is dependent upon any external libraries (see the Help documentation), copy them to the lib/ext/ directory in the installation directory: sudo cp ~/dependent-library /opt/cdata/lib/ext/dependent-library

You may need to create the ext directory: sudo mkdir -p /opt/cdata/lib/ext/

Ensure that the service user "connect" has read permissions on any library files copied.