Making Database and Web Connections Public

The default setting in FME Workbench for database and web connections is private as connections stored in the default location are available to the current user only. If connections need to be accessible to any user in an organization, it will be necessary to move both the connection storage file and the public key file to a shared location, and then make the required connections public.

Alternatively, if sharing only a few connections between users is required and no shared drive will be accessed, they may simply be exported to an xml file and imported by another user or on another machine.

Please note that following these steps may solve issues with Windows Task Scheduler as seen in this article.

Method 1: Make connections public

Copy connection files and key file to a shared directory

By default, connection files and key files are stored in %AppData%\Safe Software\FME folder. As noted in the documentation, if you have existing connections that you wish to make public, you must copy the existing fme_connections.data (connection file) and fme_publicKey.jceks (key file) to a shared directory.

Find the default connection storage path

Change Connection Storage paths

Open Workbench and go to Tools > FME Options > Default Paths, and change the path in 'Connection Data Directory' and 'Public Encryption Key' to point to the new location of the connection file and public key file in the shared directory.

Change Connection Data Directory and Public Key File paths

Make connections public

Open the Database Connections dialog and ensure all of the required connections are public by checking the Public box. Repeat as necessary for Web Connections. Users do not have to be the creator of a connection to change the visibility of an existing connection.

Note the Public field will appear only if Connection Storage data path as specified in Tools > FME Options > Default Paths is a shared location visible to multiple users. If the Default Paths for connection storage has been changed and the Public field still does not appear, try adding the shared directory path to Shared FME Folders in the Default Paths dialog.

Make connections public

Adding new connections

When adding new connections to the shared directory, they may be created with a visibility of either Public or only for the user profile which is running FME.

Adding new connections

Method 2: Export connections

Exporting connections

Exporting may be useful if connections are to be shared without the use of a shared drive and simply passed on. This is done by highlighting the desired ones, right clicking and selecting 'Export'. An ExportConnectionData.xml file is created and can then be imported by another user or on another machine.

Export existing connections

Working with task schedulers and connection files

If a task scheduler is used to deploy workspaces which use connection files, the visibility of the connections may need to be changed. If the FME workspace was created with the same user as the task scheduler is run with, there is no need to make connections public. However, if the task scheduler is run as a different user as was used to create the workspace, the connection visibility must be public. If running as 'Default user', there are extra steps which are required and outlined in Working with text files when running task scheduler as default user.