Startup Parameters for ACT - Aster Client

Teradata Aster® Client Guide

Product
Aster Client
Release Number
7.00
Published
May 2017
Language
English (United States)
Last Update
2018-04-13
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hki1475000360386.ditamap
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Generic_no_ie_no_tempfilter.ditaval
dita:id
B700-2005
lifecycle
previous
Product Category
Software

ACT takes a variety of startup parameters when you launch it. (Do not confuse these with ACT’s at-the-SQL-prompt flags, which you can read about in ACT Commands (at the SQL Prompt).)

You can pass these parameters at the command-line (see Using the "on-error-stop" Option in ACT) or in a configuration file or Using a Configuration File to Pass ACT Startup Parameters). The same startup parameter cannot be repeated in a single invocation of ACT, or an error will be returned.

To list the command line parameters, type act --help.

Descriptions of each parameter are below: 

Summary of the most common command-line parameters for ACT
Flag Description
-d [ --dbname ] <dbname> Specifies the database name to connect to (default: “beehive”).
-h [ --host ] <hostname> Specifies the Aster Database server host (default: “localhost”).
-U [ --username ] <username> Specifies the Aster Database username (default: “beehive”). Not used with SSO.
-l(the letter “ell”)

[ --list-databases ]

Lists all available databases, then exits.
The default values for the connection parameters. If you do not specify the parameters -d (dbname name), -h (hostname), -U (username), and/or -p (port) in the connect string, ACT will use the default values. The default values are:
  • "beehive" for database name
  • "localhost" for hostname
  • "beehive" for username, and
  • "2406" for port

If -w is not used, ACT will prompt for a password.

General-purpose command-line parameters for ACT
Flag Description
-d [ --dbname ] <dbname> Specifies the database name to connect to (default: “beehive”).
--config-file <filename Loads startup parameters from a configuration file specified by <filename>. See Using a Configuration File to Pass ACT Startup Parameters for more information.
-c [ --single-command ] <command> Runs only a single command (SQL or internal) and exits. For example:

act -c "COPY MyTable FROM stdin;" < myDataFile.dat

-f [ --input-file ] <filename> Executes commands from file, then exits. Runs a SQL script.
-1(the numeral “one”)

[ --single-transaction ]

Executes a command file as a single transaction.
-l(the letter “ell”)

[ --list-databases ]

Lists available databases, then exits.
-? [ --help ] Shows command line help, then exits.
-V [ --version ] Outputs version information, then exits.
--on-error-stop

or

-E

Enables the “on-error-stop” option; by default this option is disabled. See Using the "on-error-stop" Option in ACT for more information.
Input- and output-related command-line parameters for ACT
Flag Description
-a [ --echo-script-input ] Echoes all input from script.
-e [ --echo-all-input ] Echoes commands sent to server.
-o [ --redirect-query-results ] FILENAME Sends query results to file (or|pipe).
SSL and SSO related command-line parameters for ACT
Flag Description
--enable-ssl Enables Secure Socket Layer (ssl) support.
--ssl-encrypt-reads SSL Encrypt Reads. Must be used if secureWrites=true on the server. Conversely, must not be used if secureWrites=false on the server. See Setting Configuration Parameters on the Queen for information on how to set the secureWrites parameter on the server.
--ssl-self-signed-peer Indicates that ACT will connect to a Queen, which will provide a self-signed certificate.
--ssl-private-key-path <path> Indicates where the private key is stored on the client (ACT) machine.
--ssl-certificate-path <path> Indicates where the certificate is stored on the client (ACT) machine.
--ssl-trusted-ca-dir <directory> Sets the directory on the client machine where the chain of trusted certificates is stored. Use this parameter when using a chain of certificates rather than a single certificate.
--ssl-trusted-ca-file <filename> Provides the location of the signed copy of the server’s certificate on the client machine.
--ssl-cert-filetype <arg> Sets the SSL Certificate File Type ( for <arg>, use 1 for PEM; 2 for ANS1; default: 0).
--enable-sso Enables Single sign-on (SSO) support.
--gss-lib-path <path> For Linux only, sets the GSS shared library path (default on Linux is /opt/quest/lib32 or /opt/quest/lib64). Ignored on Windows.

If you want to set the path, you must set it to the location where the quest software is installed. The location must point to the path where quest has installed libvas-gssapi.so, which is generally under /opt/quest/lib32 or /opt/quest/lib64.

The SSL settings in ACT have interdependencies, and in most cases they rely on the SSL settings on the queen. See SSL Security Scenarios.
Output format-related command-line parameters for ACT
Flag Description
-q [ --quiet ] Runs quietly and does not print messages, only query output. Use this for clean query output. Often used with the -c flag.
-t [ --print-rows-only ] Prints rows only.
-x [ --expanded ] Turns on expanded table output.
-A [ --unaligned ] Turns on unaligned table output.
-F [ --field-separator ] <arg> Sets the field separator (default: '|').
Connection-related command-line parameters for ACT
Flag Description
-h [ --host ] <hostname> Specifies the Aster Database queen hostname or IP address (default: "localhost"). ACT supports glibc version 2.6.18 or higher. If you do not have glibc version 2.6.18 or higher, you must use the IP address instead of the hostname. To check the version of glibc, issue the command ldd --version.

When using SSO, you should specify a fully qualified hostname using the -h option, as in the example: <hostname>.<domain>.<com|org etc>. If only the hostname is used with SSO, ACT will append the local domain name before attempting to look up the host. Using an IP address with -h is not supported with SSO.

-p [ --port ] <port> Specifies the Aster Database server port (default: "2406").
-U [ --username ] <username> Specifies the Aster Database username (default: "beehive").
-w [ --password ] <password> Specifies the Aster Database password. This parameter is optional; ACT will prompt for a password if you do not pass a -w parameter. Not used with SSO.
AFS-related command-line parameters for ACT
Flag Description
--afs-port <port> Specifies the port to use to access AFS.
--afs-jar <path_to_jar> Adds the AFS client jar noarch-aster-adfs-client.jar to the CLASSPATH on the client machine.
--java-home <path_to_jdk> Sets JAVA_HOME for AFS to the specified JDK directory.