Connect:Direct node properties file format

The ConnectDirectNodeProperties.xml file in the Connect:Direct® bridge agent configuration directory specifies information about remote Connect:Direct nodes that are involved in a file transfer.

The ConnectDirectNodeProperties.xml file must conform to the ConnectDirectNodeProperties.xsd schema. The ConnectDirectNodeProperties.xsd schema document is located in the MQ_INSTALLATION_PATH/mqft/samples/schema directory of the MQMFT installation. A template ConnectDirectNodeProperties.xml file is created by the fteCreateCDAgent command in the agent configuration directory.

The file ConnectDirectNodeProperties.xml is periodically reloaded by the agent and any valid changes to the file will affect the behavior of the agent. The default reload interval is 30 seconds. This interval can be changed by specifying the agent property xmlConfigReloadInterval in the agent.properties file.

Schema

The following schema describes which elements are valid in the ConnectDirectNodeProperties.xml file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<schema targetNamespace="http://wmqfte.ibm.com/ConnectDirectNodeProperties"
  elementFormDefault="qualified"
  xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
  xmlns:tns="http://wmqfte.ibm.com/ConnectDirectNodeProperties">

  <element name="nodeProperties" type="tns:nodePropertiesType"></element>	

  <complexType name="nodePropertiesType">
    <sequence>
      <element name="credentialsFile" type="tns:credentialsFileName" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1"/>
      <element name="node" type="tns:nodeType" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"></element>
    </sequence>
  </complexType>

  <complexType name="nodeType">
    <attribute name="name" type="string" use="required"/>
    <attribute name="pattern" type="tns:patternType" use="optional"/>
    <attribute name="type" type="string" use="required"/>
  </complexType>

  <simpleType name="patternType">
    <restriction base="string">
      <enumeration value="regex"/>
      <enumeration value="wildcard"/>
    </restriction>
  </simpleType>

</schema>

Understanding the ConnectDirectNodeProperties.xml file

The elements and attributes used in the ConnectDirectNodeProperties.xml file are described in the following list.
nodeProperties
Root element of the XML document.
credentialsFile
Path to the credentials file where sensitive information is stored. For IBM® WebSphere® MQ V7.5, or later, the value of this property can contain environment variables. For more information, see The use of environment variables in IBM MQ Managed File Transfer properties
node
Specifies one or more Connect:Direct nodes.
Attribute Description
name A pattern that identifies the names of Connect:Direct nodes that use the definitions specified by the node element. Pattern matching is not case sensitive.
pattern Specifies the type of pattern that is used for the value of the name attribute. Valid values for the pattern attribute are:
  • wildcard - wildcards are used
  • regex - Java regular expressions are used
For information about the types of regular expressions used by MQMFT, see Regular expressions used by IBM MQ Managed File Transfer.
type Specifies the operating system type of the Connect:Direct node or nodes that match the pattern given by the name attribute. Valid values for the type attribute are:
  • Windows - the node runs on Windows
  • UNIX - the node runs on UNIX or Linux®
  • z/OS, zos, os/390, or os390 - the node runs on z/OS®
The value of this attribute is not case sensitive.

Example

In this example, the file specifies the following associations:
  • All Connect:Direct nodes that have a name that begins with cdnodew run on a Windows platform.
  • All Connect:Direct nodes that have a name that begins with cdnodeu run on a UNIX platform.
  • All Connect:Direct nodes that have a name that begins with cdnodez run on z/OS.
  • All other Connect:Direct nodes run on a UNIX platform.
The Connect:Direct bridge agent searches for matches from the start of the file to the end and uses the first match that it finds. The Connect:Direct credentials file has been specified as ConnectDirectCredentials.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> 	
<tns:nodeProperties xmlns:tns="http://wmqfte.ibm.com/ConnectDirectNodeProperties"
                    xmlns:xsi="https://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
                    xsi:schemaLocation="http://wmqfte.ibm.com/ConnectDirectNodeProperties 
                                                             ConnectDirectNodeProperties.xsd"> 		

    <tns:credentialsFile path="ConnectDirectCredentials.xml"/>
    <tns:node name="cdnodew*" pattern="wildcard" type="windows"/>
    <tns:node name="cdnodeu.*" pattern="regex" type="unix"/>
    <tns:node name="cdnodez*" pattern="wildcard" type="zos"/>
    <tns:node name="*" pattern="wildcard" type="unix"/>

</tns:nodeProperties>