AMQP Connector Setup

Version 23.4.8839


AMQP Connector Setup


The Advanced Message Queueing Protocol (AMQP) connector allows you to integrate AMQP into your data flow by performing Produce and Consume actions on your data.

Establish a Connection

You must first establish a connection to AMQP through one of these two methods:

  • Add a AMQP connector to your flow. Then, in the settings pane, click Create next to the Connection drop-down list.
  • Open the CData Arc Settings page, then open the Connections tab. Click Add, select AMQP, and click Next.

Note:

  • The login process is only required the first time the connection is created.
  • Connections to AMQP can be re-used across multiple AMQP connectors.

After opening the connection dialogue, follow these steps:

  1. Enter the connection information:

    • Name — the static name of the connection.

    • Type — this is always set to AMQP.

    • Remote Host — the hostname or IP address of your AMQP remote host.

    • Remote Port — the port for your remote host connection.

    • Use TLS — whether to use TLS to encrypt the connection. Set this according to your AMQP configuration.

    • Container Id — (optional) the ID value for the container in your AMQP connection that you want to access.

    • Auth Scheme — the authentication scheme to use for the connection. Options are None, SASL Anonymous, and SASL Plain.

    If you select SASL Anonymous or SASL Plain authentication, enter the following information:

    • User — the username to use when connecting to AMQP.

    • Password — the password for the user.

  2. Click Test Connection to ensure that Arc can connect to AMQP with the provided information. If an error occurs, check all fields and try again.

  3. Click Add Connection to finalize the connection.

Connector Configuration

This section contains all of the configurable connector properties.

Settings Tab

Configuration

  • Connector Id The static, unique identifier for the connector.
  • Connector Type Displays the connector name and a description of what it does.
  • Connector Description An optional field to provide a free-form description of the connector and its role in the flow.
  • Connection Select the connection you created in the previous steps.
  • Target (Optional) For the Produce action, supply the address of the node that should act as the receiver. For the Consume action, supply the address of the node that the connector should receive data from.
  • Action The action that the connector should perform. See Select an Action for more information.

Message

  • Save to Sent Folder Check this to copy files processed by the connector to the Sent folder for the connector.
  • Sent Folder Scheme Instructs the connector to group messages in the Sent folder according to the selected interval. For example, the Weekly option instructs the connector to create a new subfolder each week and store all messages for the week in that folder. The blank setting tells the connector to save all messages directly in the Sent folder. For connectors that process many messages, using subfolders helps keep messsages organized and improves performance.

Logging

  • Log Level The verbosity of logs generated by the connector. When you request support, set this to Debug.
  • Log Subfolder Scheme Instructs the connector to group files in the Logs folder according to the selected interval. For example, the Weekly option instructs the connector to create a new subfolder each week and store all logs for the week in that folder. The blank setting tells the connector to save all logs directly in the Logs folder. For connectors that process many transactions, using subfolders helps keep logs organized and improves performance.
  • Log Messages Check this to have the log entry for a processed file include a copy of the file itself. If you disable this, you might not be able to download a copy of the file from the Input or Output tabs.

Automation Tab

Automation Settings

Settings related to the automatic processing of files by the connector.

  • Send A toggle that instructs the connector to automatically send files when they are ready.
  • Retry Interval The interval the connector waits before retrying a failed send.
  • Max Attempts The number of attempts the connector makes to send the message. Setting this value to 1 instructs the connector to only make the initial send attempt without retrying. The connector waits the duration specified by Retry Interval between each attempt.

Performance

Settings related to the allocation of resources to the connector.

  • Max Workers The maximum number of worker threads consumed from the threadpool to process files on this connector. If set, this overrides the default setting on the Settings > Automation page.
  • Max Files The maximum number of files sent by each thread assigned to the connector. If set, this overrides the default setting on the Settings > Automation page.

Alerts Tab

Settings related to configuring alerts and Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

Connector Email Settings

Before you can execute SLAs, you need to set up email alerts for notifications. Clicking Configure Alerts opens a new browser window to the Settings page where you can set up system-wide alerts. See Alerts for more information.

Service Level Agreement (SLA) Settings

SLAs enable you to configure the volume you expect connectors in your flow to send or receive, and to set the time frame in which you expect that volume to be met. CData Arc sends emails to warn the user when an SLA is not met, and marks the SLA as At Risk, which means that if the SLA is not met soon, it will be marked as Violated. This gives the user an opportunity to step in and determine the reasons the SLA is not being met, and to take appropriate actions. If the SLA is still not met at the end of the at-risk time period, the SLA is marked as violated, and the user is notified again.

To define an SLA, click Add Expected Volume Criteria.

  • If your connector has separate send and receive actions, use the radio buttons to specify which direction the SLA pertains to.
  • Set Expect at least to the minimum number of transactions (the volume) you expect to be processed, then use the Every fields to specify the time frame.
  • By default, the SLA is in effect every day. To change that, uncheck Everyday then check the boxes for the days of the week you want.
  • Use And set status to ‘At Risk’ to indicate when the SLA should be marked as at risk.
  • By default, notifications are not sent until an SLA is in violation. To change that, check Send an ‘At Risk’ notification.

The following example shows an SLA configured for a connector that expects to receive 1000 files every day Monday-Friday. An at-risk notification is sent 1 hour before the end of the time period if the 1000 files have not been received.

Advanced Tab

Proxy Settings

These are a collection of settings that identify and authenticate to the proxy through which the AMQP connection should be routed. By default, this section uses the global settings on the Settings Page. Clear the checkbox to supply settings specific to your connector.

  • Proxy Type The protocol used by a proxy-based firewall.
  • Proxy Host The name or IP address of a proxy-based firewall.
  • Proxy Port The TCP port for a proxy-based firewall.
  • Proxy User The user name to use to authenticate with a proxy-based firewall.
  • Proxy Password A password used to authenticate to a proxy-based firewall.
  • Authentication Scheme Leave the default None or choose from one of the following authentication schemes: Basic, Digest, Proprietary, or NTLM.

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous settings are for specific use cases.

  • Other Settings Enables you to configure hidden connector settings in a semicolon-separated list (for example, setting1=value1;setting2=value2). Normal connector use cases and functionality should not require the use of these settings.

Select an Action

After establishing a connection to AMQP, you must choose the action that the AMQP connector will perform. The table below outlines each action and where it belongs in an CData Arc flow:

Action Description Position in Flow
Produce Accepts input data from a file or another connector and sends it to your AMQP connection. End
Consume Listens for messages coming into the queue and sends incoming data down the flow through the Output path. Beginning

Produce

The Produce action sends input data to your AMQP connection. This data can come from other connectors or from files that you manually upload to the Input tab of the AMQP connector.

In some AMQP configurations, you can set the value of the Target field to the address of the node that should act as the receiver. This might not be necessary in all configurations.

Consume

The Consume action checks for messages in the AMQP queue. Data processed through the Consume connector goes to the Output tab and travels down to the next steps of the Arc flow.

In some AMQP configurations, you can set the value of the Target field to the address of the node that the connector should receive data from. This might not be necessary in all configurations.