Connecting to Remote GraphDB Instances

Connecting to remote GraphDB instances is done by attaching remote locations to GraphDB. Locations represent individual GraphDB servers where the repository data is stored. They can be local (a directory on the disk) or remote (an endpoint URL), and can be attached, edited, and detached.

Remote locations are mainly used for:

• Accessing remote GraphDB repositories from the same Workbench;

• Accessing secured remote repositories via SPARQL federation;

• As a key component of cluster management.

Connect to a remote location

To connect to a remote location:

1. Start a browser and go to the Workbench web application using a URL of the form http://localhost:7200, substituting localhost and the 7200 port number as appropriate.

2. Go to Setup ‣ Repositories.

3. Click the Attach remote location button and and enter the URL of the remote GraphDB instance, for example http://localhost:7202.

4. In terms of authentication methods to the remote location, GraphDB offers three options:

   1. None: The security of the remote location is disabled, and no authentication is needed.

      

   2. Basic authentication: The security of the remote location has basic authentication enabled (default setting). Requires a username and a password.

      

   3. Signature: Uses the token secret, which must be the same on both GraphDB instances. For more information on configuring the token secret, see the GDB authentication section of the Access Control documentation.

      

      Hint

      Signature authentication is the recommended method for a cluster environment, as both require the same authentication settings.

5. After the location has been created, it will appear right below the local one.

   

Change location settings

The location setting for sending anonymous statistics to Ontotext depends on the GraphDB license that you are using. With GraphDB Free, it is enabled by default, and with GraphDB Standard and Enterprise, it is disabled by default.

To enable or disable it manually, click Edit common settings for these repositories.

The following settings dialog will appear:

View or update location license

Click the key icon to check the details of your current license.

Hint

Signature authentication is the recommended method for a cluster environment, as both require the same authentication settings.

Note

You can connect to a remote location over HTTPS as well. To do so:

1. Enable HTTPS on the remote host.

2. Set the correct Location URL, for example https://localhost:8083.

3. In case the certificate of the remote host is self-signed, you should add it to you JVM’s SSL TrustStore.