Linglom's Blog

Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006, Part 7: Create DNS Lookup Rule

linglom — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:14:12 +0000

This article is one of the series of Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006. You can see the index of this series at Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006, Part 1: Introduction.

Create DNS Lookup Rule

From Part 6: Configure Network Layout, you have configured network environment of the ISA Server 2006. Now let’s create some access rules on ISA Server 2006.

On this example, I have internal and external DNS servers as I have shown the network diagram in Part 2: Environment Setup. The internal DNS server should work fine since it is on the same network with clients – the Internal network. But the external DNS servers (or my ISP’s DNS servers) are on the external network. And currently, ISA Server 2006 blocks all network access so clients from the internal network cannot request any DNS look up from the external DNS servers. This would be a problem if some clients want to use the Internet. Therefore, I will create an access rule to allow DNS look up for clients on the internal network to the external DNS servers. The external DNS servers are 203.144.255.71 and 203.144.255.72.

Step-by-step

On ISA Server Management, open Firewall Policy by expand Arrays -> BKKISA001 -> Firewall Policy (BKKISA001).
Create a new access rule by click on Tasks tab -> Create Access Rule.
On Welcome to the New Access Rule Wizard, type the access rule name. On this example, I type “Allow DNS Lookup” and click Next.
On Rule Action, you can select allow or deny on this rule. Select Allow and click Next.
On Protocols, you can select the protocols this rule applied to.
- Choose Select protocols from a drop down menu and click Add.
- On Add Protocols, expand Common Protocols and double-click on DNS. Click Close.
- Back to Protocols, now the DNS protocol is added to the rule. Click Next.
On Access Rule Sources, you can specify source networks for this rule.
- Click Add.
- On Add Network Entities, expand Networks and double-click on Internal. Click Close.
- Back to Access Rule Sources, now the Internal network is added as access rule source. Click Next.
On Access Rule Destination, you can specify destination networks for this rule.
- Click Add.
- On Add Network Entities, click on New -> Address Range.
- On New Address Range Rule Element, type the name and specify the IP address range. On this example, I name it as “External DNS Addresses” and the IP address range is 203.144.255.71 to 203.144.255.72. Click OK.
- Back to Add Network Entities, there is a new address range that I have just created so double-click on it to add to the rule and click Close.
- Back to Access Rule Destination, now the “External DNS Addresses” is added to the rule as access rule destination. Click Next.
On User Sets, you can specify the user sets for the rule. On this example, I leave it as All Users and click Next.
On Completing the New Access Rule Wizard, click Finish.
To save changes that you have made, you must click on Apply.
On Saving Configuration Changes, click OK.
Now you have completed create an access rule to allow DNS look up from internal network to the external DNS server.

What’s Next?

You have created your first access rule for DNS look up. Now clients will be able to resolve name on the Internet. But there is no access rule for Internet access yet. So next, I will create another access rule for clients to access the Internet. See Part 8: Create Web Access Rule.

Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006, Part 6: Configure Network Layout

linglom — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:52:07 +0000

This article is one of the series of Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006. You can see the index of this series at Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006, Part 1: Introduction.

Configure Network Layout

From Part 5: Network Layout Concept, you learn about network templates. On this post, I will show how to configure networking environment of the ISA Server 2006 using edge firewall template which is the most suitable template for this example. You can see the network diagram of the example on Part 2: Environment Setup.

Step-by-step

Open ISA Server Management by click Start -> Programs -> Microsoft ISA Server -> ISA Server Management.
On Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006, expand Arrays -> BKKISA001 -> Configuration -> Networks.
Select Templates tab and click on the Edge Firewall template.
A Network Template Wizard window appears, click Next to continue.
On Export the ISA Server Configuration, you can click on Export button to backup your current ISA Server configuration. But this is the first time configuration so there is no need to backup anything.
On Internal Network IP Addresses, verify if the IP address ranges are correct. My internal network is 192.168.10.0/24 so the existing range is correct. Click Next.
On Select a Firewall Policy, you can choose a pre-defined firewall policy which will be applied to the network specified in this template. On this example, I select Block all. I will create firewall rules manually on the next part.
Note: On edge firewall template, there are five predefined firewall policies which are:
1. Block all
  Block all network access through ISA Server. This option does not create any access rules other than the default rule which blocks all access.
  Use this option when you want to define firewall policy on your own.
2. Block Internet access, allow access to ISP network services
  Block all network access through ISA Server, except for access to network services, such as DNS. This option is useful when these services are provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
  Use this option when you want to define firewall policy on your own.
  
  The following access rules will be created:
  - Allow DNS from Internal Network and VPN Clients Network to External Network (Internet).
3. Allow limited Web access
  Allow Web access using HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, only. Block all other network access.
  
  The following access rules will be created:
  - Allow HTTP, HTTPS, FTP from Internal Network to External Network.
  - Allow all protocols from VPN Clients Network to Internal Network.
4. Allow limited Web access and access to ISP network services.
  Allow limited Web access using HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP, and allows access to ISP network services, such as DNS. Block all other network access.
  The following access rules will be created:
  - Allow HTTP, HTTPS, FTP from Internal Network and VPN Clients Network to External Network (Internet).
  - Allow DNS from Internal Network and VPN Clients Network to External Network (Internet).
  - Allow all protocols from VPN Clients Network to Internal Network.
5. Allow unrestricted access
  Allow unrestricted access to the Internet through ISA Server. ISA Server will prevent access from the Internet.
  
  The following access rules will be created:
  - Allow all protocols from Internal Network and VPN Clients Network to External Network (Internet).
  - Allow all protocols from VPN Clients Network to Internal Network.
On Completing the Network Template Wizard, click Finish.
Then, you notice that there is a warning icon at the top of ISA Server Management. This means that the changes which you have made do not take effect yet. To update the configuration, click Apply.
Note: If you want to undo changes that you have made, click Undo.
The changes have been saved.

What’s Next

You have configure networking environment for the ISA Server 2006. Next, let’s see how to create some access rules on ISA Server 2006. See Part 7: Create DNS Lookup Rule.

Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006, Part 5: Network Layout Concept

linglom — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 02:39:36 +0000

This article is one of the series of Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006. You can see the index of this series at Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006, Part 1: Introduction.

Configure Network Layout

From Part 3: Installation and Part 4: Service Pack 1, you learn how to install and update ISA Server 2006. Next, it is time to configure the ISA Server 2006. On this post, I am going to show how to configure networking environment for ISA Server 2006 by selecting from the pre-defined network templates.

By default, ISA Server 2006 comes with five pre-defined network templates. You can select one of them that match your networking environment. Let’s see each of them in details.

Edge Firewall
This is a standard network topology for small to medium organization. The ISA Server is a main gateway controlling traffic between the intranet (LAN) and the Internet networks. The ISA Server needs 2 network interface cards.
3-Leg Perimeter
This is a standard network topology for medium to large organization. There is an additional network which is a perimeter network connects to ISA server compare to the edge firewall. The perimeter network or DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) is a network that is less secure for serving Web server, E-Mail server, DNS server and other services to the Internet users and also the internal users. The ISA Server needs 3 network interface cards.
Front Firewall
This is a network topology for organization that security is high priority. In this case, there are more than one firewall. When a hacker attacks the front firewall and it compromises, there is still a back firewall to protect the internal network. This template, ISA Server acts as front firewall server between the Internet and the perimeter network and needs 2 network interface cards.
Back Firewall
This network template is similar as the front firewall template except that the ISA Server that you’re configuring is the back firewall which stands between the internal and the perimeter networks.This template, ISA Server needs 2 network interface cards.
Single Network Adapter
This is a network template for ISA Server to be act as Proxy server only. ISA Server can do caching to improve performance for users using the Internet in organization. This template, ISA Server requires only a single network interface card as the name of the template.

Note: About front and back Firewall templates, you have more than one firewalls. It is best practice not to use the same firewall model. For example, you should have the front firewall as hardware base from one company and the back firewall as software base from another company, or vice versa. If a hacker breaks the front firewall, then the hacker will takes an extra time to break another firewall to reach our internal network since the hacker cannot use the same technique to break the back firewall.

What’s Next?

Well, bore with reading the concept? Let’s see how to configure networking environment in action. See Part 6: Configure Network Layout.

Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006, Part 4: Service Pack 1

linglom — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:37:22 +0000

This article is one of the series of Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006. You can see the index of this series at Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006, Part 1: Introduction.

Update Service Pack 1

From Part 3: Installation, I have installed ISA Server 2006 enterprise edition on the server. At this time, there is a service pack for ISA Server 2006 which you can download from Microsoft website. So I am going to show how to update the server to ISA Server 2006 Service Pack 1 on this post.
Note: There are others security updates for ISA Server 2006 available besides the service pack which I will not cover on this series. So you should check and update them on your own.

There are many new features and enhancements on the ISA Server 2006 service pack 1:
New Features

Configuration Change Tracking. Registers all configuration changes applied to ISA Server to help you assess issues that may occur as a result of these changes.
Web Publishing Rule Test Button. Tests the consistency of a Web publishing rule between the published server and ISA Server.
Traffic Simulator. Simulates network traffic in accordance with specified request parameters, such as an internal user and the Web server, providing information about firewall policy rules evaluated for the request.
Diagnostic Logging Query. Now integrated as a tab into the ISA Server Management console, this feature displays detailed events on packet progress and provides information about handling and rule matching.

Enhancements

Support for integrated NLB mode in all three modes, including unicast, multicast, and multicast with Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP). Previously, ISA Server integrated NLB-supported unicast mode only.
Support for certificates with multiple Subject Alternative Name (SAN) entries in published web servers.
Kerberos Constrained Delegation (KCD) authentication supports trusted-domain user accounts.
Improve Web Publishing Load Balancing (WPLB) cookie handling.
Alert Improvements.
New performance counter.

For more information about this service pack, see Microsoft Article 943462.

Step-by-step

Download the file from Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006 Service Pack 1.
Double-click the downloaded file, ISA2006-KB943462-X86-ENU.msp, to run the setup wizard.
On Welcome to the Update for Microsoft ISA Server 2006 Service Pack 1, click Next.
On License Agreement, select I accept the terms in the license agreement and click Next.
On Locate Configuration Storage Server, you have to specify the Configuration Storage Server. On this example, I leave it as default and click Next.
On Ready to Install the Program, click Install.
On Installing Microsoft ISA Server 2006 Service Pack 1, wait until the installation completes.
On Installation Wizard Completed, click Finish.
There is a pop-up message asks you to restart the system for the configuration changes made to ISA Server 2006 to take effect. Click Yes to restart it now.
Once the system is restarted, you can see the version of ISA Server 2006 is updated by open ISA Server Management. Click Start -> Programs -> Microsoft ISA Server -> ISA Server Management.
On ISA Server Management, click Help -> About Microsoft ISA Server 2006.
On About Microsoft ISA Server 2006, you see the current version of ISA Server 2006. The version of ISA Server 2006 Service Pack 1 is 5.0.5723.493.

What’s Next?

Now you have installed and updated ISA Server 2006. Next, I will show how to configure ISA Server 2006. See Part 5: Network Layout Concept.

Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006, Part 3: Installation

linglom — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 06:54:30 +0000

This article is one of the series of Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006. You can see the index of this series at Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006, Part 1: Introduction

ISA Server 2006 Installation

On this post, I show you how to install Microsoft ISA Server 2006 Enterprise edition on the server – BKKISA001. You can see the server and network configuration of the example at Part 2 – Environment Setup.
Note: On this series, I demonstrate using Microsoft ISA Server 2006 enterprise edition. But I will use only basic features which are available on both standard and enterprise editions. So if you have only a standard edition, you still can follow this series but you may notice that the user interface may slightly different a little bit.

Step-by-step

Insert ISA Server 2006 Enterprise edition CD-Rom, you will see Microsoft ISA Server 2006 Setup window. Click Install ISA Server 2006.
Microsoft ISA Server Installer is starting and beginning with Core Components.
On Welcome to the Installation Wizard for Microsoft ISA Server 2006, click Next.
On License Agreement, select I agree the terms in the license agreement and click Next.
On Customer Information, enter your user name, organization name and the product serial number. Click Next.
On Setup Scenarios, select Install both ISA Server services and Configuration Storage Server and click Next.
Note: Scenarios description:
- Install ISA Server services. You can select this option to install on ISA Server services without the Configuration Storage server so you will have to specify the existing Configuration Storage server on the network at the next step.
- Install Configuration Storage server. This option will install only Configuration Storage server for ISA Server arrays to retrieve the configuration.
- Install both ISA Server services and Configuration Storage server. This option will install both ISA Server services and Configuration Storage server.
- Install ISA Server Management. Select this option if you want to install only the management console for ISA Server so you can remotely manage ISA Server enterprise.
On Component Selection, leave as default selection and click Next.
Note:Components description:
- ISA Server. Controls access and traffic between networks.
- Advanced Logging. Installs Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) used to view and to filter historical log data
- ISA Server Management. Allows remote management of ISA Server using ISA Server Management console snap-in.
- Configuration Storage server. Stores the enterprise configuration for ISA Server arrays.
On Enterprise Installation Options, select Create a new ISA server enterprise and click Next.
On New Enterprise Warning, click Next. This is a message telling you that they recommend only a single enterprise in your organization for ease of centralize management. If you already have an existing Configuration Storage server, you should select Create a replica of the enterprise configuration in the previous step.
On Internal Network, you have to specify the network address ranges of your internal network. Click Add.
On Addresses, you can add IP address ranges by add from network adapter, add from private network or add range manually. I will add from adapter, click Add Adapter.
On Select Network Adapters, select the network card interface which connects to the internal network and click OK.
Back to Addresses, check if the internal network range is correct or not. Then, click OK to continue.
Back to Internal Network, click Next.
On Firewall Clients Connections, click Next.
Note: If you haven’t upgrade from ISA 2000 or 2004, leave the check box Allow non-encrypted Firewall client connections empty. Otherwise, check the box before continue.
On Services Warning, click Next.
Note: This is a warning message that some services will be restarted or disabled while the installation is in progress.
On Ready to Install the Program, click Install to begin the ISA Server 2006 Installation.
On Installing Microsoft ISA Server 2006, waits for the installation to be complete.
Microsoft ISA Server Installer is installing Additional Components.
Microsoft ISA Server Installer is initialize system.
On Installation Wizard Completed, click Finish to complete the installation.
Note: There is an option – Invoke ISA Server Management when the wizard closes. You can select this option to start ISA Server Management after closes the wizard. I will cover about ISA Server Management in the next part.

What’s Next?

You have done the installation. Next, I will show how to update ISA Server 2006 with the service pack 1. See Part 4: Service Pack 1.

Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006, Part 2: Environment Setup

linglom — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:15:15 +0000

This article is one of the series of Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006. You can see the index of this series at Getting started with Microsoft ISA Server 2006, Part 1: Introduction

Environment Setup

In the first part, you learn an overview of ISA Server 2006. Before going to the real example on ISA Server 2006, you should know system environment which I’m going to use on this series. On this post, you will know the hardware and software requirements for ISA Server 2006. And you will see the server and network configurations.

System Requirements

Below is the minimum requirements for ISA Server 2006 Standard Edition or ISA Server 2006 Enterprise Edition.

Pentium III 733 MHz or higher.
512 MB of RAM or more.
150 MB of free hard-disk space.
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 32-bit operating system with Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 32-bit.

Server Configuration

There are three servers which I will use throughout this series. I already have the following servers in the network:

BKKPDC001 which runs under Windows Server 2003 R2 with Service Pack 2. It runs these services:
- Active directory
- DNS
- DHCP
  - Address pool: 192.168.10.101-192.168.10.150
  - Scope option: DNS Servers – 192.168.10.2, 203.144.255.71, 203.144.255.72
    Note: The IP address 203.144.255.71 and 203.144.255.72 are the IP addresses of my ISP’s DNS servers.
- IP Configuration:
  - IP address: 192.168.10.2/24
  - Gateway: 192.168.10.10
  - DNS Server: 192.168.10.2, 203.144.255.71, 203.144.255.72
    Note: The IP address 203.144.255.71 and 203.144.255.72 are the IP addresses of my ISP’s DNS servers.
BKKNET001 which runs under Windows XP Professional. This is a client PC for test Internet access. The IP address is obtained from the DHCP server.
BKKISA001 which runs under Windows Server 2003 Standard edition with Service Pack 2. I am going to setup ISA Server 2006 on this server. There are two network interface cards on this server.
- Internal network (LAN):
  - IP Address: 192.168.10.10/24
  - Gateway: 192.168.10.2
  - DNS Server: 192.168.10.2, 203.144.255.71, 203.144.255.72
    Note: The IP address 203.144.255.71 and 203.144.255.72 are the IP addresses of my ISP’s DNS servers.
- External network (the Internet):
  - IP Address: 192.168.0.10/24
  - Gateway: 192.168.0.1
  - DNS Server: None

Network Configuration

I try to keep the network configuration simple as possible. You will see on the left side of the ISA Server 2006 server are my internal network (LAN). It contains clients and a server of my network. On the right side of the ISA Server 2006 server is the external network. It connects to the router which connects to the Internet.

The image below is the network diagram of my example.

What’s Next?

Next, I will show how to install ISA Server 2006 on the server. See Part 3: Installation.

Offline Update Nod32 Antivirus

linglom — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:05:17 +0000

Introduction

If you have a stand alone PC which doesn’t has an Internet connection and you have installed nod32 antivirus, nod32 antivirus will not be able to download update for the signature so you have to update the virus signature database manually. Otherwise, your PC may be at risk of virus attacks.

On this example, I show how to update virus signature database of nod32 antivirus version 4 business edition. You also can apply these steps to nod32 antivirus version 2, 3 and home edition. But I have not include the update for version 2 so you have to find the update file somewhere else.

Step-by-step

You see the virus signature database is failed to update on a stand alone PC.
Download virus signature database of nod32 anti-virus from Virus Signature Update for Nod32 v3 & v4
Extract the downloaded file to a folder. On this example, I extract to c:\.
Open Eset Nod32 Antivirus, click on Setup -> Toggle Advanced Mode.
On Toggle Advanced Mode, click Yes.
Open Advanced Setup window. Click on Setup -> Advanced Setup.
Edit Update Server. On Setup, click on Update on the left menu -> Edit.
On Update Server list, copy the path from the extracted folder on step 2 to Update Servers box and click Add. On this example, I copy “C:\update nod32v3v4_4360″ and paste to Update Servers box. Then, click OK.
You notice that the value on Update Server box is changed. Click OK.
Click Update -> Update virus signature database.
Now the virus signature database is updated.

Accessing MS Access 2007 on NetBeans 6.5 using JDBC, Part 4: Perform SQL Operations

linglom — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:33:19 +0000

This article is one of the series of Accessing Access 2007 on NetBeans 6.5 using JDBC. You can see the index of this series at Accessing Access 2007 on NetBeans 6.5 using JDBC, Part 1: Introduction

Perform SQL Operations

From Part 3: Create a Connection, I show how to create a connection from NetBeans 6.5 to the Northwind database of Microsoft Access 2007. On this post, you see how to perform basic SQL operations such as SELECT, INSERT, DELETE and UPDATE to the Customers table on Northwind database.

Retrieve data from database
Update data on database

Retrieve data from database

Copy and paste the code below on main method between these lines:

System.out.println("Connected!");

and

con.close();

The Code

            Statement stmt = null;
            ResultSet rs = null;
 
            // SQL query command
            String SQL = "SELECT * FROM Customers";
            stmt = con.createStatement();
            rs = stmt.executeQuery(SQL);
            while (rs.next()) {
                System.out.println(rs.getString("Company") + " : "
                        + rs.getString("First Name")+ " : "
                        + rs.getString("Last Name"));
            }

Code Explanation:

Line 1-2: Declare some variables.
Line 5: Define SQL query string.
Line 6: Create a statement object for sending SQL statements to the database.
Line 7: Executes the SQL statement and returns a single ResultSet object.
Line 8-12: Iterative in the ResultSet object to show results on output window

Next, run the project. You see the result on the output window. It displays records from Customers table.

Back to top

Update data on database

To insert, update and delete records on MS Access 2007 databases, you can re-use the code from the previous section. But you need to replace the SQL statement and code on this line:

rs = stmt.executeQuery(SQL);
while (rs.next()) {
                System.out.println(rs.getString("Company") + " : "
                        + rs.getString("First Name")+ " : "
                        + rs.getString("Last Name"));
            }

int rowsEffected = stmt.executeUpdate(SQL);
System.out.println(rowsEffected + " rows effected");

Code Explanation:
Executes the given SQL statement which may be INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE statement and returns the row count for the update.

INSERT command

            // SQL INSERT command
            String SQL = "INSERT INTO Customers (Company,[First Name]," +
                    "[Last Name]) VALUES ('MyCompany','Linglom','My Last Name')";
            int rowsEffected = stmt.executeUpdate(SQL);
            System.out.println(rowsEffected + " rows effected");

UPDATE command

            // SQL UPDATE command
            String SQL = "UPDATE Customers SET [Last Name] = 'New Last Name'" +
                            "WHERE [First Name] = 'Linglom'";
            int rowsEffected = stmt.executeUpdate(SQL);
            System.out.println(rowsEffected + " rows effected");

DELETE command

            // SQL DELETE command
            String SQL = "DELETE FROM Customers WHERE [First Name] = 'Linglom'");
            int rowsEffected = stmt.executeUpdate(SQL);
            System.out.println(rowsEffected + " rows effected");

Summary

You can download the source code of this series at SampleAccess2007.java. The example code will create a connection to Northwind database on Microsoft Access 2007. Then, retrieve records, insert a new record, update and delete the record from Customer table. Here is output of the example code.

Back to top

Accessing MS Access 2007 on NetBeans 6.5 using JDBC, Part 3: Create a Connection

linglom — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 03:45:21 +0000

This article is one of the series of Accessing MS Access 2007 on NetBeans 6.5 using JDBC. You can see the index of this series at Accessing Access 2007 on NetBeans 6.5 using JDBC, Part 1: Introduction

Create a Connection

From Part 2: Prepare Sample Database, I show how to setup Northwind database for Microsoft Access 2007. Now let’s start programming. On this post, you see how to create a connection from NetBeans 6.5 to the Northwind database of Microsoft Access 2007 which located at “c:\database\Northwind 2007.accdb”.

Step-by-step

Create a new Java Application project on NetBeans. Open NetBeans 6.5.1 and select File -> New Project.
On New Project, select Java -> Java Application. Click Next.
On New Java Application, type the project name “NorthwindSample” and click Finish.
The project “NorthwindSample” is created.
Let’s begin the programming part. First, I need to import some libraries.
```
import java.sql.*;
```

Type the code below to the main method.

try {
        Class.forName("sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver");
        String url = "jdbc:odbc:Driver={Microsoft Access Driver " +
            "(*.mdb, *.accdb)};DBQ=C:\\Database\\Northwind 2007.accdb";
        Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection(url);
        System.out.println("Connected!");
        con.close();
        } catch (SQLException e) {
            System.out.println("SQL Exception: "+ e.toString());
        } catch (ClassNotFoundException cE) {
            System.out.println("Class Not Found Exception: "+
                cE.toString());
        }

Code Explanation:

Line 2: Class.forName(”sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver”); means load the JDBC-ODBC driver.
Line 3-4: String url = “jdbc:odbc:Driver={Microsoft Access Driver ” + “(*.mdb, *.accdb)};DBQ=C:\\Database\\Northwind 2007.accdb”; declare a variable which store a string of the driver name for Microsoft Access 2007 and the location of the Northwind database.
Line 5: Make a connection using information on the variable which was created before.
Line 6: Display “Connected!” on console window.
Line 7: Close the connection.

Compile and run the project. You see the text “Connected!” on the output window. Otherwise, you should see an exception message.

What’s Next?

Now you have connected to the Northwind database of Microsoft Access 2007. Next, I will show how to perform some basic SQL operations such as SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE to the Northwind database. See Part 4: Perform SQL Operations.

Accessing MS Access 2007 on NetBeans 6.5 using JDBC, Part 2: Prepare Sample Database

linglom — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:02:06 +0000

Prepare Sample Database

On this post, I show how to prepare a sample database for Microsoft Access 2007, the “Northwind” database.

Step-by-step

Open Microsoft Access 2007, click on Local Templates. If you have Northwind 2007 on Local Templates, click on it and skip to step 4. Otherwise, follow the next step to download one.
Download Northwind template for Access 2007 from Microsoft – Northwind 2007.
Extract the downloaded file, 01228997.cab. Then, double-click on 01228997.accdt. Microsoft Office Access 2007 will start.
On Microsoft Access, choose the destination to create a sample Northwind 2007. On this example, I choose “c:\database\Northwind 2007.accdb”. Then, click Create.
Now the sample Northwind database is created. Click on Navigation Pane on the left side menu.
On Navigation Pane, click on Supporting Objects and double-click on Customers. You see data in the Customers table.
You also see the sample database file on c:\database\Northwind 2007.accdb which was created on step 4. I will use this path in the later part.

What’s Next?

Now you have a sample database, Northwind. Next, I will show how to write code to create a connection from NetBeans 6.5 to the Northwind database. See Part 3: Create a Connection.