Connector

Connector is the component that is used to communicate with the specific technology. In other words, Connector can be described as the service that translates actions and messages from other technologies to the platform.

Connector is technology independent and can be developed with any programming language. Each Connector implements specific Function Groups and Kinds and must be registered and approved within the Core.

For more information about the Connector interfaces, refer to Interfaces.

Connector building blocks

Function Group

The Function Group of a Connector describes the functions it can perform. It represents its capabilities.

Function Group can be combined, for example, a Connector can implement both Credential Provider and Authority Provider Function Group, however, Kinds cannot be mixed.

The platform supports the following Connector Function Groups:

Function Group	Description	Interfaces needed to implement
Credential Provider	Connector that provides a specific type of the Credential to the platform. Credential can be further used by the objects and other Connector of the platform	Credential Provider API
Discovery Provider	Provides an interface to search for a certificates within a specific technology and sources	Discovery Provider API
Legacy Authority Provider	Provides a connection with the certification authority and certificate management functions	Legacy Authority Provider API
Authority Provider	Provides a connection with the certification authority and certificate management functions	Authority Provider API
Entity Provider	Provides access to end entities and their locations to automate certificate and key lifecycle operations	Entity Provider API
Compliance Provider	Defines compliance rules that can be applied to certificates and validate against	Compliance Provider API
Cryptography Provider	Provides cryptographic key management and operations using specific technology	Cryptography Provider API
Notification Provider	Provides a way to send notifications	Notification Provider API

Kind

Kind represents the technology that single Function Group implements.

Each Connector can implement multiple Function Groups and each Function Group can implement multiple Kinds. The platform combines the power of Function Group and Kind to achieve multiple implementations in a single Connector if needed. But we always recommend creating a separate Connector for different technology for easy maintenance.

Attribute

Attribute is the input the Connector may require for the request processing. When the Connector is requested to perform the operation, it uses Attributes to get the list of required inputs with the format definition.

End Point

End Point is the API that is implemented by the Connector. A Connector must include a few mandatory End Points. These pre-defined, standard endpoints are used by the Core to determine if the Connector is compliant with the platform.

See Connector Interfaces for more information about the required End Points.

Callback

Each Connector can implement Callback for any Attribute. Callback is the ways to fetch the values that are dependent on the input from other Attribute.

Callback is implemented as specific End Point.

Connector Authentication

The Connector can be implemented without authentication, but when needed, authentication can be included. The platform implements the following authentication types:

• Basic (username/password)
• Client certificate
• API Key

Interfaces implemented by the Connector

All Connectors must implement their respective interfaces. For more information, refer to Interfaces.

How it works together?

The following steps explain how the Connector works:

• Connector will be registered with the Core
• Core validates the compliance of the Connector and its Function Groups together with Kinds
• Once the registration is complete, the Connector can provide its functionality to the platform

To perform any operations with Connector, the Client:

• Requests the Core for the operation
• Provides necessary attributes related to the Connector implementation