LYNX Database Integration - Banner (Oracle)

The Series25 LYNX Interface uses a database integration to connect to any student information system which is hosted locally on an institution's servers.

The integration has two parts:

  1. A series of custom tables that track historical changes to SIS data
  2. The LYNX-APP, a lightweight Java application that exchanges data between those tables and the hosted Series25 database

This article explains how to deploy the LYNX Interface scripts necessary for database integration with Banner. After the scripts are in place, you will be ready to Install the LYNX-APP.

System Requirements

Your SIS environment must meet the following requirements:

  • Banner version 8+
  • Both phase 1 and phase 2 of Banner's Database Extension Utility (DBEU) have been implemented
  • Oracle Database 11g r2, 12c, 18c, or 19c
Note: Database Permissions for Cloud-Hosted Banner

If your institution is using the cloud-hosted version of Banner (not Ethos for Banner), Elucian has asked customers to revoke certain database permissions for LYNX. This action prevents your Series25 database from receiving automatic updates in the future to the A, B, and/or C scripts.

Please be aware that if this is the case for your institution, you will now be responsible for ensuring the affected parts of your LYNX for Banner database is up-to-date in the future, should there be any changes, by providing these to Ellucian to run.

Download the SQL Scripts Package

Download the LYNX-Banner-SQL.zip package of scripts from: https://collegenet.exavault.com/share/view/1q87x-k734qcu. (Contact Series25 Support at support@collegenet.com for credentials.)

The script package contains the following files:

Script

Name

Purpose

Aa_bnr_sis_oracle_security.sqlCreates database user to provide access to LYNX database tables for the LYNX-APP
Bb_bnr_sis_oracle_schema.sqlCreates database tables, sequences, and triggers owned by user created in the A script
Cc_bnr_sis_oracle_routines.sqlCreates database functions and procedures owned by user created in the A script

Deploy the SQL Scripts

Follow this procedure to properly deploy the scripts in your Oracle database.

Prepare the LYNX Username and Password

These scripts create and reference a user which provides access for the LYNX application. This is a new user. (Do not re-use credentials for an existing user.)

Before running any scripts, choose a username and password for this new user. You will use these values to update the "A" script.

Update the User Creation Script

Certain lines within the script need to be customized to reflect your individual environment.

  1. Open the "A" script (a_bnr_sis_oracle_security.sql).
  2. Search for 'DB_USERNAME'.
  3. Update LYNX_USER to your chosen username.
  4. Update LYNX_USER_PASS to your chosen password.
  5. If the schema default TABLESPACE should be different than USERS, search for ‘DEFAULT_TABLESPACE’.
    • Update USERS to whatever TABLESPACE name is appropriate for your database.
  6. If the schema default TABLESPACE should be different than TEMP, search for ‘TEMP_TABLESPACE’.
    • Update TEMP to whatever TABLESPACE name is appropriate for your database.
  7. If your SIS data is contained in a different schema than GENERAL, search for 'SCHEMA_GENERAL'.
    • Update GENERAL to whichever schema owns your General SIS data.
  8. If your SIS data is contained in a different schema than SATURN, search for 'SCHEMA_STUDENT'.
    • Update SATURN to whichever schema owns your Student SIS data
  9. Save changes to the "A" script after making these updates.

Run the Scripts

You are now ready to run the A, B, and C scripts which create objects in your SIS database.

  1. Log in to your SIS database as an administrator.
  2. Run the updated "A" script to create the LYNX user, set private synonyms, and establish rights.
  3. Ensure that this newly created user has the proper DEFAULT TABLESPACE allocation. If not, adjust this before proceeding with further steps.
  4. Log in to your SIS database as the newly created LYNX user from step 2.
  5. Run the "B" script and commit changes.
  6. Run the "C" script and commit changes.

Install the LYNX-APP

Once you have completed the steps to deploy the LYNX database objects into your SIS database, you are ready to install the LYNX-APP.