Introduction

This document is aimed at Denodo users that require to be ready to work with Denodo 8.0. In this document users can find the changes included in Denodo 8.0 and its related documentation. In addition, this document provides the keys to install Denodo 8.0.

For a quick start guide on how to install and set up the Solution Manager see: Denodo Solution Manager: First Steps.

Denodo 8.0 New Tools

Design Studio

Virtual DataPort has a new web interface for developers: the Design Studio.

The Design Studio provides a web interface to the developers to create data sources, base views, derived views, publish web services, etc. Its layout is similar to the Administration Tool.

Developers can use the Design Studio or keep using the Administration Tool. All data sources, views, web services created or modified from the Design Studio can be opened from the Administration Tool and vice versa.

Certain administrative tasks like cache configuration, setting-up the authentication, user management, etc can be done by graphical way only by using the Virtual Dataport Administration tool. The Administration Tool will be actively maintained for the full life of version 8.0.

Denodo 8.0 New Features

New Features Common to All Modules

There are several new features common to all the modules of the Denodo Platform 8.0.

The Denodo Platform Control Center has been redesigned. This redesign makes it more user friendly and faster.

Denodo ships now with the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 11 (the Denodo servers and its tools cannot run with earlier Java versions).

In addition, it has added support for Windows Server 2019.

Besides these , the web container of the Denodo 8.0 is upgraded to Apache Tomcat 9.0. Also, when you enable TLS on the web container, only TLSv1.2 and TLSv1.3 connections are allowed..

New Features of Virtual DataPort

The new features of Virtual DataPort in Denodo 8.0 include changes in data sources, execution engine, Denodo stored procedures, Web Services, Administration Tool, drivers and changes regarding the administration of privileges and monitoring.

As a highlighted feature, Denodo now has a new web based developer studio called Design Studio for creating Virtual Dataport objects.

You can now configure the catalog of the Virtual DataPort server to use an external database instead of the embedded one.

You can now get graphical support for uploading driver files related to  the JDBC drivers, the SAP Java Connector (JCo), the Essbase libraries, etc. You do not need to copy a driver or other library to the installation; instead you can upload it from File > Extensions management dialog.

You can now configure the firewall for only one port for the JDBC connections.

You can now rename data sources, JMS listeners and web services (SOAP and REST).

It is also important to mention the changes in the Execution Engine. A smart caching technique using a new type of view called Summary. Summaries store common intermediate results that the query optimizer can then use as an starting point to accelerate analytical queries

New Features of Solution Manager

The new features of Solution Manager in Denodo 8.0 includes Automated deployments on Amazon AWS, Single point of access to various tools like Data catalog, design studio etc, new authentication protocols like SAML2.0, OAuth2.0, Kerberos etc and Diagnostic & Monitoring Tool that comes with Solution Manager installation can automatically populate the list of servers with the servers registered on the Solution Manager.

The user interface has been revamped to make it more user friendly.

New Features of Scheduler

The user interface of Scheduler has been revamped in Denodo 8.0.

Denodo 8.0 Deprecated Features

Starting with Denodo 8.0, the ITPilot has been deprecated. Besides the ITPilot module the following features are currently deprecated in Denodo Virtual DataPort 8.0.

• Data Type “Date”.
• VQL Syntax

• SQLFRAGMENT Clause
• Syntax ALTER TABLE <base view name> ADD SEARCHMETHOD
• VIEWPROPERTIES Parameter of CONTEXT Clause in SELECT Statements
• Deprecated Functions

• Data Sources Decrypt Filter
• Denodo Stored Procedures.
• Denodo Stored Procedures API: getNumOfAffectedRows method.
• Denodo Custom Wrappers API: some methods.
• Denodo JDBC Driver:  parameter wanOptimizedCalls.
• Denodo Web Services: created with Virtual DataPort 4.7 or earlier versions.
• Widgets
• Script Export: includeEnvSpecificElements and includeNonEnvSpecificElements parameters.
• Data Catalog : Roles “selfserviceadmin”,”selfserviceexporter”
• Launching Several Virtual DataPort Instances of the Same Installation
• Denodo4Eclipse Plugin

From the Scheduler perspective, the following features are deprecated in 8.0

• Arcane Data Sources
• Filter Sequences
• Jobs: Arcane Jobs, Arcane Index Jobs, ITPilot Jobs, JDBC Jobs
• File-Repository Exporter
• Move-File-Repository Handler

Denodo 8.0 Installation Keys

Installation General Overview

Denodo 8.0 includes three installers:

• Denodo Solution Manager installer (denodo-install-solutionmanager-8.0).

• Includes the Solution Manager and License Manager.

• Denodo Platform installer (denodo-install-8.0).

• Includes Virtual DataPort, Scheduler and ITPilot.

• Denodo Administration Tool (denodo-install-vdp-client-8.0).

• Includes the Virtual DataPort administration tool and the JDBC and ODBC drivers.

The above image shows a generic architecture using the Solution Manager.

The Solution Manager should not be installed in the same host as other Denodo instances. The reason is that when you promote changes, you may switch off some of the Servers of the cluster. However, you want the License Manager to attend requests at all times, from all the other Denodo servers of all environments of the organization.

The above image has three environments: development, testing and production. Each environment has a Virtual DataPort Server or a cluster of servers with a balancer. The solution Manager is installed in another host and it is used to define and manage the three environments, using the Solution Manager Administration Tool.

The licenses of all the Denodo servers are managed from just one place (the Solution Manager), administrators will now get a single license file that contains all the licenses of the organization. Therefore, it is necessary to install the global license in the Solution Manager: the centralized place for license management.

When a Denodo component starts, it requests permission to run to the License Manager.

If approved, the server starts and periodically, it requests permission to keep running. Only server components request a license, not client applications. I.e. the Virtual DataPort Administration Tool does not connect to the License Manager because it does not need a license. More information about how licenses work can be found in the Denodo 8.0 documentation.

In order to request that permission to run, for each node we need to define the connection to the License Manager:

Installation Key Steps

As a summary of the installation process, it requires to follow the steps below:

Solution Manager

1. Install the Solution Manager (denodo-install-solutionmanager-8.0)
2. Install the latest update in the Solution Manager
3. Install the License (it can be done also during the installation: step 1)
4. Start the components of the Solution Manager

Denodo Platform

1. Install the Denodo Platform in all the nodes defined in the previous step (denodo-install-8.0)
2. Install the latest update in the Denodo Platform
3. For each installation configure the connection to the License Manager
4. As an optional step you may need to install the Denodo Administration Tool separately (denodo-install-vdp-client-8.0).

Denodo 8.0 Migration Keys

Due to some changes added in Denodo 8.0, before importing the VQL file it may be needed to review the metadata.

There are also some considerations regarding the cache and some specific actions when migrating from 6.0 or earlier. Therefore, please, read the Migration Guide before the migration.