Identity Manager CSV (Flat File) Connector: exporting updated files

Products

• CA Identity Manager
• CA Identity Governance
• CA Identity Portal
• CA Identity Suite

Issue/Introduction

While creating endpoints in the Identity Manager (IM) Flat File connector is straightforward, questions often arise regarding the export of modified flat files. This article explains CSV connector operations for exporting updated data.

Environment

Release: 14.x and 15.x
Component: CA IDENTITY MANAGER, CA IDENTITY SUITE (VIRTUAL APPLIANCE)

Resolution

 The Identity Manager Flat File provisioning connector is described in the Flat File Connector documentation.

Review the following operational requirements for the connector:

CSV files location The Flat File connector is a Java connector running under Java Connector Server (JCS) control. If a network file location is not specified, the CSV files must reside on the machine where JCS is running. This location must be accessible by the user account under which the JCS process executes.

Exporting CSV files When a Flat File endpoint is explored in IM, the provided CSV files are read by the CSV connector and the objects defined in those files are written into a database. By default, this is an internal Apache Derby database, but MS SQL or Oracle can be specified (typically for HA installations).

By default, the CSV endpoint is read-only. To enable CRUD operations, the Modify Support Enabled attribute on the endpoint object must be set. All modifications to endpoint objects, including the creation of new objects, are stored in the database. The CSV files used for endpoint creation remain intact.

To export data:

1. Set the Output location attribute on the CSV endpoint. Ensure the user account running JCS has sufficient permissions to create files in this location.
2. Enable one or both of the available export options on the CSV endpoint:
   • Export CSV files: Updated CSV files are written to the output location.
   • Export CSV log files: CSV files containing modifications are written to the output location. If the original file name is users.csv, the corresponding log file name will be users.log.csv. The first field in the log file contains the action (modify, create, or delete), followed by the other fields from the original CSV files. Only modifications are included.
3. Perform the export using one of these two methods:
   1. Manual export: Enable the Export files immediately checkbox on the CSV endpoint object and apply the change. This commands the connector to export the files immediately.
   2. Scheduled export: Provide the desired cron expression in the Cron expression attribute on the CSV endpoint and enable the Schedule Export checkbox. The CSV connector exports files automatically according to the defined schedule.