Overview
A connection defines the information required to connect to an external system.
Pipelines communicate with external systems to read and write data. Most of these external systems require sensitive information, such as user names or passwords, to access the data. When you configure pipelines and pipeline fragments, you can enter the details needed to connect to the external system, or you can select an existing connection that contains the details.
- Increased security
- When you use connections, you can limit the number of users that need to know the security credentials for external systems.
- Reusability
- You can create a connection once and then reuse that connection in multiple pipelines. Reusing connections reduces the possibility of user errors and simplifies updates to connection values.
When you create a connection, you select an available authoring Data Collector. The Data Collector version and the installed stage libraries determine the connection types, such as Amazon S3 or JDBC, that you can create.
You can use connections in Control Hub when designing Data Collector or Transformer pipelines. You cannot use connections in the Data Collector or Transformer pipeline canvas.
For more information on the supported connection types, see Connection Types Overview.
Connection Requirements
- Data Collector and Transformer versions
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To create and use connections, use the following minimum versions for registered Data Collectors and Transformers:
- Data Collector version 3.19.0 or later
- Transformer version 3.16.0 or later
Later versions introduce support for additional connection types, as listed in Execution Engine Versions.
Important: You cannot use the system Data Collector to configure a pipeline that uses connections.
- Data Collector stage libraries
- When you create a connection, you select an available authoring Data Collector. The stage libraries installed on that Data Collector determine the connection types, such as Amazon S3 or JDBC, that you can create. For example, to create an Amazon S3 connection, you must select an authoring Data Collector that has the Amazon Web Services stage library installed.
Run pipelines that use connections on an execution Data Collector or Transformer version that supports connections. Pipelines that use connections fail when run on a Data Collector or Transformer version that does not support connections. In addition, ensure that the stage libraries required by each connection are installed on all execution Data Collectors.
Execution Engine Versions
Connection support was introduced with Data Collector version 3.19.0 and Transformer version 3.16.0. Later versions introduce support for additional connection types.
Execution Engine Version | Newly Supported Connection Types |
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Data Collector 5.4.0 |
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Data Collector 5.2.0 |
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Data Collector 5.0.0 |
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Data Collector 4.4.0 |
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Data Collector 4.2.0 |
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Data Collector 4.1.0 |
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Data Collector 4.0.0 |
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Data Collector 3.22.0 |
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Data Collector 3.21.0 |
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Data Collector 3.20.0 |
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Data Collector 3.19.0 |
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Execution Engine Version | Newly Supported Connection Types |
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Transformer 5.3.0 |
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Transformer 4.0.0 |
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Transformer 3.18.0 |
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Transformer 3.16.0 |
Note: Creating these connection types requires an authoring Data Collector version 3.19.0 or later.
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Working with Connections
The Connections view lists all connections that you have access to.
- Create connections.
- Assign tags to connections.
- Test that configured connection values are valid.
- View connection details, including the connection type, assigned tags, and the list of pipelines and pipeline fragments that use the connection.
- Edit connection details.
- Share connections with other users and groups.
- Delete connections.
The following image shows a list of connections in the Connections view. Each connection is listed with its type, tags, and owner:
Note the following icons that display for connections when you select a connection. You'll use these icons frequently as you manage connections:
Icon | Name | Description |
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Add | Add a connection. |
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Refresh | Refresh the list of connections. |
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Toggle Filter Column | Toggle the display of the Filter column, where you can filter connections by connection type or tag. You can also search for connections by name or description. |
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Share | Share connections with other users and groups, as described in Permissions. |
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Edit | Edit the connection. |
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Delete | Delete the connection. |