Installation and Upgrade Guides › Policy Server Installation Guide › Configuring CA SiteMinder® Data Stores in a Relational Database › How to Store Session Information in SQL Server

How to Store Session Information in SQL Server

To configure a SQL Server database as a standalone session store, complete the following procedures:

1. Gather database information.
2. Create the session store schema.
3. Configure a SQL Server data source for CA SiteMinder®.
4. Point the Policy Server to the database.
5. Restart the Policy Server.

More information:

Configure a SQL Server Data Source for CA SiteMinder®

Gather Database Information

Create the Session Store Schema

You create the session store schema so the SQL Server database can store and read session information.

To create the session store schema

1. Do one of the following:
   • If you are going to store Unicode characters in the session store, open sm_mssql_ss.sql.unicode in a text editor and copy the contents of the entire file.
   • If you are not going to store Unicode characters in the session store, open sm_mssql_ss.sql in a text editor and copy the contents of the entire file.
2. Start the Query Analyzer and log in as the who administers the Policy Server database.
3. Select the database instance from the database list.
4. Paste the schema into the query.
5. Execute the query.

   The session store schema is created in the database.

Point the Policy Server to the Database

You point the Policy Server to the database so the Policy Server can read and store session information.

To point the Policy Server to the data store

1. Open the Policy Server Management Console, and click the Data tab.

   Database settings appear.

2. Select Session Server from the Database list.

   Data source settings become active.

3. Enter the name of the data source in the Data Source Information field.
   • (Windows) this entry must match the name you entered in the Data Source Name field when you created the data source.
   • (UNIX) this entry must match the first line of the data source entry in the system_odbc.ini file. By default, the first line in the file is [CA SiteMinder® Data Sources]. If you modified the first entry, be sure that you enter the correct value.
4. Enter and confirm the user name and password of the database account that has full access rights to the database instance in the respective fields.
5. Specify the maximum number of database connections allocated to CA SiteMinder®.

   Note: We recommend retaining the default for best performance.

6. Click Apply.

   The settings are saved.

7. Click Test Connection.

   SiteMinder returns a confirmation that the Policy Server can access the data store.

8. Click OK.

   The Policy Server is configured to use the database as a session store.

Restart the Policy Server

You restart the Policy Server for certain settings to take effect.

Follow these steps:

1. Open the Policy Server Management Console.
2. Click the Status tab, and click Stop in the Policy Server group box.

   The Policy Server stops as indicated by the red stoplight.

3. Click Start.

   The Policy Server starts as indicated by the green stoplight.

   Note: On UNIX or Linux operating environments, you can also execute the stop-all command followed by the start-all command to restart the Policy Server. These commands provide an alternative to the Policy Server Management Console.