CA Identity Manager Connector Guides › Connectors Guide › Endpoints, Connectors, and the Connector Server › Connectors

Connectors

A connector is the software that enables communication between CA IAM Connector Server and an endpoint system.

For each endpoint that you want to manage, you must have a connector. Connectors are responsible for representing each of the managed objects in your endpoint in a consistent manner. Connectors translate add, modify, delete, rename, and search LDAP operations on those objects into corresponding actions against the endpoint system.

A connector acts as a gateway to a native endpoint type system technology. For example, to manage computers running Active Directory Services (ADS) install the ADS connector on a connector server.

CA IAM Connector Server comes with many connectors. In addition, you can generate a dynamic connector using Connector Xpress, and you can develop a custom static connector in Java.

Users use Connector Xpress to generate and maintain the XML metadata for JDBC and JNDI dynamic connectors. Developers can also maintain data for other connectors manually, or adjust metadata for released connectors (for instance adding site-specific mappings for custom attributes).

What Connectors Can Do

Each connector can perform the following operations on managed objects on the endpoint:

• Add
• Modify—Changes the value of attributes, including modifying associations between them (for example, changing which accounts belong to a group).
• Delete
• Rename
• Search—Queries the values of the attributes that are stored for an endpoint system or the managed objects that it contains.

For most endpoint types, all of these operations can be performed on accounts. These operations can also be performed on other managed objects if the endpoint permits it.

Some consuming applications can perform all of these operations. Other consuming applications perform only some of these operations.

Example: What CA Identity Manager can do on an endpoint

CA Identity Manager manages identities on endpoints. It adds, modifies, deletes, and renames users, groups, and accounts.

Example: What CA Identity Governance can do on an endpoint

CA Identity Governance monitors roles and permissions on endpoints. It searches for users, groups, roles, and permissions. It can also remove roles from a user. However CA Identity Governance cannot create or delete user accounts.

Types of Connector

CA IAM Connector Server has two types of connectors:

Java Connectors

CA Technologies creates new connectors in Java, and CA IAM Connector Server (CA IAM Connector Server) serves these connectors.

If you create a connector, use Java.

C++ Connectors

Previously, CA Technologies created connectors in C++. These connectors still work well.

In addition, some consuming applications have their own connectors. CA Identity Manager has some plugin connectors, and CA Identity Governance has some import connectors.