Connect to Instance Dialog

The Connect to Instance dialog presents a list of local instances you can connect to. You must connect an instance to the Instance Explorer before you can perform any operations with it.

When you open the Connect to Instance dialog, the user name of the currently logged on user is displayed by default and no password is required to connect using these credentials. However, you may specify manually the credentials of another authenticated user to log on as.

You select the local instance to connect to using the browse button (...). If only one instance is available, the browse button is disabled.

Lets you choose the instance to connect to. You may select an instance from the list by clicking the browse button or manually entering a server name and installation code. Local instances are automatically listed.

If only one instance is on the local machine, then the name shown is the unqualified server name and will not contain an instance code. If more than one local instance is available, the drop-down menu contains all instance names in a fully qualified format. Instance details for up to 20 of the most recent successful connections to remote instances are displayed.

You can connect to a remote instance by specifying the instance details manually—that is, entering the remote server name and optionally the instance code.

Lets you select whether to log in to the instance using the currently logged in user or another database user. If you connect using the current user, you do not need to specify a password. This works only for installations on the current machine. Connections to installations on other machines must always specify both a login name and password.

If you select Authenticated User, the Login and Password fields are enabled and emptied, unless Remember Password is checked. Enter the credentials for the user you want to log in to this instance as.

Specifies the user name to use when connecting to the selected instance. This field is disabled if Current User is selected on the Authentication drop-down. Specify only a user name (even on Windows systems, for instance, where often a DOMAIN\User form is used elsewhere).

Specifies the password of the specified user when connecting to the instance. This field is disabled if the currently logged on user is used. This standard password entry field masks entered characters with a placeholder character determined by the operating system.

For Actian Vector installations at version 3.0 or above with a user configured to use DBMS authentication, the DBMS password may be entered here.

Causes Actian Director to remember the user name and password entered. Use this option with caution, because anyone using Actian Director on your machine will be able to access the database connection.

Attempts to connect to the instance using the information specified. If connection cannot be achieved, errors are displayed (see Connection Errors).

Closes the dialog and cancels the connection. No changes are made to the Instance Explorer.

Lets you provide database access authorization using DBMS authentication or operating system authentication.

Lets you provide the extra DBMS password for use when an instance is configured for operating system authentication. (This field appears on the dialog only if “Show Advanced Connect Options” is selected on the Environment page of the Options dialog—see Environment Options (Options Dialog).)

Note: It is not common to require users to provide a DBMS password when operating system authentication is enabled.

The DBMS password should be used only in certain situations where the installation is specifically configured to use two levels of authentication: the operating system user/password and the DBMS password. (Even for Actian Vector 3.0 installations using DBMS authentication, this field need not be used.) To enable double authentication, see Set Whether to Show Advanced Connect Options.

If this option is available on the Connect to Instance dialog, enter both the user’s operating system password and the DBMS password. (The DBMS password is the password configured in the DBMS; you can set this on the User dialog. For more information, see Set Whether to Show Advanced Connect Options.)

You may configure an Ingres or Actian Vector installation so that operating system authentication is effectively disabled in favor of solely using DBMS passwords. Even if your installation is configured this way, the DBMS Password field does not need to be used—Director adapts to this situation and uses just the operating system Password field to verify the user’s DBMS password.

Causes Actian Director to remember the DBMS password entered. Use this option with caution, because anyone using Actian Director on your machine will be able to access the database connection.

Lets you provide an operating system user name and password for use in DBA utilities and wizards that require operating system permissions. This may only be required to specify an operating system user when the instance is configured for DBMS authentication.

Lets you specify whether end-to-end encryption is used for this connection. You may disable encryption on the client side for testing or other purposes by clearing the checkbox.

You may disable default end-to-end encryption on the server side by setting the environment variable II_MGMTSVR_ENCRYPT_SESSIONS to false. For more information, see Environment Variables in the Installation and Configuration Guide.

If valid credentials are not supplied or the instance connection fails, a standard error dialog is displayed detailing the reason for the error.