Building a Custom Connector Using the Sample Connector › How to Build a Custom Connector › Connector Writing Basics

Connector Writing Basics

You can write custom connectors to create Level 4, 5, or 6 connector integrations for any domain manager product. Connectors require the following main components:

• Java code to implement the required interfaces for the connector
• Methods to retrieve raw data from a domain manager
• Connector policy that specifies how to transform the outbound raw domain manager data into a standard USM format
• Optional methods and policy that allow for inbound create, update, and delete operations in the domain manager

Connectors retrieve raw domain manager data such as CIs, alerts, and relationships as property-value pairs and normalize properties and values so that they adhere to the USM schema, which is the internal schema of the CA Catalyst framework and SA Manager.

The following illustration shows the process:

1. The connector methods interface with the domain manager and retrieve entities in the format of the domain manager.
2. The connector sends domain-specific data to the IFW through JMS.
3. The IFW processing module (pictured above as EI) uses connector policy to transform the entities to the USM format if necessary.
4. The IFW transmits the USM entities through the ActiveMQ server to CA Catalyst and the SA Manager for display on the CA SOI interfaces as CIs, alerts, or relationships.