As applications grow, every database eventually hits scaling limits. Whether it's storage capacity, concurrent users, query throughput, or I/O bandwidth, single-server architectures have inherent constraints. This guide explains fundamental approaches to database scalability and shows how InterSystems IRIS implements these patterns to support enterprise-scale workloads.

We'll explore two complementary scaling strategies: horizontal scaling for user volume (distributing computational load) and sharding for data volume (partitioning datasets). Understanding the general principles behind these approaches will help you make informed decisions about when and how to scale your IRIS applications.

The examples in this guide use InterSystems IRIS in Docker containers.

I was trying to see if we could connect to another Server, we use to execute external scripts using %Net.SSH.Session.

TESTCLIN>set sshSession = ##class(%Net.SSH.Session).%New()

TESTCLIN>set user = <omitted>

TESTCLIN>set host = <omitted>

TESTCLIN>set privateKey = "/nfs/data/ssh/<omitted>"
TESTCLIN>set publicKey = "/nfs/data/ssh/<omitted>.pub"
TESTCLIN>Set statusConnection = sshSession.Connect(host)

TESTCLIN>set statusAuth = sshSession.AuthenticateWithKeyPair(user,publicKey, privateKey,)

TESTCLIN>zwrite statusAuth
statusAuth="0 "_$lb($lb(7510,-19,"SSH Error [80101013]: Callback

According to the Documentation  EnsLib.Workflow.TaskRequest has the following fields...

• %Action
• %Command
• %FormFields
• %FormTemplate
• %FormValues
• %Message
• %Priority
• %Subjext
• %TaskHandler
• %Title
• %UserName

I want to be able to capture the Source, Session ID, and any other Identifiers outside of the Error so it will show up on the Task List.

I am struggling how to build a csp template for me to be able to capture additional fields to send to the Workflow Operation.

Does anyone have a good example outside of what is in the documentation on how to build out a Custom Form for this

InterSystems IRIS provides extensive configurable security options, yet many developers primarily use roles and resources to secure entire tables or routines. Today, we will delve deeper. We can also secure individual columns and rows separately, but these two mechanisms operate very differently. Let's begin with the columns.

Column Security

For testing and demonstration, we will keep our table structure concise and straightforward. We have a table called "Person" in the USER namespace that contains an ID column, a date of birth column (DOB), first name, and last name. 

Security is fundamental to enterprise application development. InterSystems IRIS provides a comprehensive security framework that protects data, controls access, and ensures compliance. This guide introduces essential security features for developers new to IRIS, covering authentication, authorization, encryption, and practical implementation strategies.

Some time ago, I put together a small example to quickly deploy InterSystems IRIS instances connected via ECP using Docker.

Time passed and, like everything, it needed a bit of a refresh.

I am working on building out a Workflow task that captures errors in mapping to specific tables. Within the Workflow task, I would like to give the owner of the task the ability to resubmit message once the mapping has been corrected. Is there a way to do it in a similar fashion to pulling up the Trace ie...

EnsPortal.VisualTrace.zen?SESSIONID=#(%task.%FormValues.GetAt("MsgHdrID"))#" target="_blank">View Message Trace

Is there a one liner that could be called to resubmit the MsgHdrID (Session ID) from its source to post it again?

gj :: configExplorer is a new VS Code extension integrating with Server Manager and leveraging Structurizr to produce configuration diagrams of your servers.

Here's a short introductory video.

By using the InterSystems IRIS Native API for Node.js it avoids the need for any support code to be installed on the servers. This technology choice also qualifies it for entry into the current Developer Community contest.

The initial release focuses on two aspects of server configuration:

• Namespaces and databases
• ECP connectivity

Suggestions for what to add next are welcome, as is general feedback.

Can someone give me an explanation of how Local.PD.Linkage.Definition.Individual works? This was setup by another company as part of our implementation.

Below is my configuration..

We are getting a lot of matches on Given Name, but then the Family Name does not match at all, so I am wondering if these need to be adjusted. I just don't understand if they need to be positive or negative.

if I use the MLE CALIBRATION MONITOR, it seems that none of the values should be negative.

I was facing the same issue as Jerry faced when connecting IRIS to SQL server. My ODBC connection is configured to authenticate via windows authentication.

Configure IRIS ODBC connection with Windows authentication using a
 

How I fixed it for myself?

Root cause

• The SQL Server DSN was set to Windows Integrated Authentication.
• IRIS opens the ODBC connection via irisdb.exe, which runs under the IRIS Windows services’ logon account.
• My IRIS services were running as LocalSystem, so SQL saw the machine account<ORGNAME>\<ASSETID>$. SQL had no login for that identity → 18456 / 28000 “Login failed

Deploying new IRIS instances can be a time-consuming task, especially when setting up multiple environments with mirrored configurations.

I’ve encountered this issue many times and want to share my experience and recommendations for using Ansible to streamline the IRIS installation process. My approach also includes handling additional tasks typically performed before and after installing IRIS.

This guide assumes you have a basic understanding of how Ansible works, so I won’t go into much detail on its fundamentals.

It's about an example for the External Languages Contest 2025

You get almost any information about your databases in IRIS using 
the System Management Portal. After passing several levels, you often
get a wide list of items, but the interesting ones are hard to find.

UPDATE: since version 0.0.4 of the extension was published on 2025-11-23 it is now possible to use gj :: configExplorer directly in VS Code on Windows.

In my previous article introducing gj :: configExplorer I flagged up how an apparent bug in the Windows elements of the Native API for Node.js means it's not currently available to run in VS Code on a Windows desktop. In a comment on that article I offered a workaround, but this requires a Docker-equipped Linux host you can SSH to.

If you don't have a suitable target it's now possible to leverage your local Windows Docker Desktop. Here's how:

1. Op

At the moment, we have 10 HealthShare instance servers (5 x mirrored pairs), where we implement an External Backup approach, using the freeze/thaw commands against whichever server of the pair is the backup mirror member, to complete a VM level backup. These backups are stored to a disk within our control, to purge as required. This approach allows us to deliver a zero downtime backup approach.

Our future backup solution will be storing immutable backups, with the main concern being that the 10 HealthShare instance servers are quite sizable and that our current approach of backing up the

Finishing my previous example for multiple IRIS instances, I tried
to compose a local single instance version.  The step from the external
Python app to a version using embedded Python seemed to be obvious.
This was a wrong assumption, as some Python libraries just refused installation
into my local Windows-based environment.

Securing IRIS Integrations with Mutual TLS (mTLS): A Practical Guide

In today’s enterprise environments, secure communication between systems is not optional—it’s essential. Whether you're integrating InterSystems IRIS with cloud APIs, internal microservices, or third-party platforms, Mutual TLS (mTLS) offers a powerful way to ensure both ends of the connection are authenticated and encrypted.

This post walks through how to configure IRIS for mTLS and how to validate your certificates to avoid common pitfalls.

🔐 What is Mutual TLS (mTLS)?

TLS (Transport Layer Security) is the standard protocol

These are the strategic plans of my example for the External Languages Contest 2025

Hi everyone,

I’m working with an existing InterSystems IRIS server that hosts several web applications and namespace-specific code and data. I’d like to reverse-engineer the current environment into a %Installer.Manifest file so I can store it in Git and manage its changes.

My goal is to:

• Track the application setup and configuration in version control
• Rebuild environments consistently (namespaces, CSP apps, security roles, etc.)
• Possibly automate deployments later on

I understand that %Installer is declarative and wasn’t necessarily designed to reflect a running system.

Good morning everyone,
In the facility we're working in, we have two separate installations for testing and production.In the test environment, we have production processes running properly, and we need to replicate production processes and settings in the production environment.Until now, when we move from a test environment to a production environment, we currently export the test classes, import them into production, and manually configure the production environment by connecting Services, Processes, and Operations and configuring the settings.

Optimizing Performance of Apache Web Server and Web Gateway

By Patrick Jamieson, M.D., Product Technical Manager, InterSystems IRIS for Health

When working with InterSystems IRIS or IRIS for Health, an external web server like Apache2 or NGINX is essential for managing HTTP workloads, especially for FHIR servers. Starting with version 2023.3, the private Apache server was removed from the installation kit (except for Community Editions and Health Connect). This article provides practical tips to test and optimize the performance of your Apache web server and InterSystems Web Gateway

Is it possible to audit code changes in a namespace?

Ideally what we'd like to be able to do is check which classes were compiled (or deleted) in a time period, eg in last 3 months, and which user made those changes. Even better would be an audit of what those changes were, but that's less important (for us, as we can probably find that information in other ways).

We have a service where 3 groups, each with multiple users, potentially have access to make changes to the live service.With the best will in the world, each group doesn't always tell every other group about changes made...

I have created a New Database/Namespace within our TEST environment on both the Primary and Backup of the mirror. When I go to create the database/namespace on the DR node I am getting "Cannot open file '/ensemble/TEST/iris.cpf_...." while the cpf file that it references does not exist. Anyone have any clue to why this might be happening?

I have a Task that I am trying to write the output to a file. How do I check for if the Output File has been included in the Task Schedule, so I can direct my output of my class to that output file?

Thanks

Scott

We are attempting to setup an EnsLib.SOAP.OutboundAdapter to send an HL7 message to a vendor hosted AWS site. We have the Certificate from the vendor and defined the TLS setting. However, when we are sending the message we are receiving...

Unable to open TCP/IP socket to server hcis-staging.cbord.com:443

So, we figured it might be a firewall issue.With the TCP Outbound Adapter, we could specify which "Local Interface" to use so that our firewall knew to use the VIP that had has been NAT'd.I don't see this option with the EnsLib.SOAP.OutboundAdapter, so is this possible to do?

I am trying to log in to the Web Gateway Management and I have missed placed the password to access the system I have tried 

changing the password under local settings in the CSP.ini  and that has managed to change the password to access the gateway but cannot log me into the management area I have followed a post here and read here and I seem not to get the answers that actual explain how I can get to the web gateway management.

I understand that changing the user in the management portal does not change the password set up in the installation to access the web management gateway if anyone has

Once upon a time in Ensemble Management Portal the pool size of each component (Business Host) within the production was displayed in the Production Configuration page.

This information was very useful, especially when a production have tens or hundreds of components.

Now days the pool size is no longer displayed in the Production Configuration page and to get the pool size you need to click in each and every host in your production.
What if you have hundreds of business hosts and you need to check the pool size of each? It's a nightmare!

In systems I have control of I've modified the production

I have two instances of IRIS, one is Production and another one is Staging (both managed by Docker) and I want to set up a full daily recover of the Staging server from a full backup of the Production server. I know how to do this manually using the DBREST utility, as well as how to make a copy of the database by making a full copy of the durable directory (however this option requires a full stop of the Production-database). What is the best way to automatically restore all databases from a full backup using scripting?