A Connection is just that, a means of facilitating communication. In order to create a connection, a transformer must have been previously set up or a default one can be used. Once a transformer is established a connection can be created by linking the transformer and a broker, such as RabbitMQ or Kafka. Brokers hold and send information. ZIQNI's flexible and customizable system allows the user to choose their own broker or they have the option to use one of ours. Please note, the user must have a compute engine in order to use connections.


The information below provides an overview of how to create a connection.  To access the API for connections, please click here. 


Creating a connection can be completed in a few simple steps. Currently, ZIQNI supports three different connections; SQS, RabbitMQ, and KAFKA. 

  • From the dashboard page, scroll to Settings and click.



  • Using the left-hand side menu, click on connections. 



This will load the search/ create page. From here the following actions can be performed.

  • If there is data that can be searched for, the screen below will appear. Search for a connection type that has been created and saved previously.  Connection Types can be searched by using keywords and phrases.


 PLEASE  ENSURE THE CORRECT BROKER HAS BEEN CHOSEN TO SEARCH UNDER



This page also allows you to filter the fields being displayed, and view or edit the data that has been entered. 

  • Click on the funnel icon. This allows the data to be searched using only the specific fields that are chosen.


 

To filter data using specific headings the cog icon is used. 

  • Click on the cog icon to filter the data that is being displayed.
  • Uncheck the boxes to filter the data being displayed.



All previously created data can be viewed, edited, and deleted. 

  • Under the Action heading for each set of data entered, there is an ellipsis.
  • Click on the ellipsis and the Action menu will appear.
  • View, edit or delete the data that has been checked.
  • Start a c



If no data has previously been entered, the page below will load.



  • Click on Action and the Create page will load.


PLEASE ENSURE THE CORRECT BROKER HAS BEEN CHOSEN TO CREATE UNDER.



SQS 

  • Name the Connection.
  • Group the connection using specific tags. Multiple tags can be used for a connection.
  • Describe the connection. This is for reference only and is restricted to 500 characters.
  • Choose the transformer id to associate with the connection. Transformers must be pre-created before this step. These can be selected from the drop-down menu.
  • Add the User and Secret , retrieved from the AWS console.
  • Inlcude the queue URL. This is the URL assigned to the queue in the AWS  console.
  • State the Region. This is the AWS region where the queue is deployed. For example eu.central-1.
  • Include the metadata information. This is submitted in the form of a key-value pair and allows additional information to be added.
  • Click on create once all information is entered.
  • A preview page will load summarising the information entered.
  • From this page, information can be edited or deleted using the Action button.


KAFKA



  • Use the toggle to decide if the JKS authentication is on or off. 
  • Use the toggle to decide if SSL is on or off. This is whether the connection will be encrypted.
  • Name the Connection.
  • Group the connection using tags. Multiple tags can be used for a connection.
  • Describe the connection. This is for reference only and is restricted to 500 characters.
  • Choose the transformer to associate with the connection. Transformers must be pre-created before this step. These can be selected from the drop-down menu.
  • Add the User and Secret Key, retrieved from the AWS console.
  • Add the location and port number to connect to KAFKA server or servers in the Broker section
  • Include the Group ID- this specifies the name of the consumer group a KAFKA consumer belongs to.
  • Name the topic - a topic is a category/feed name to which records are stored and published.
  • Add the JKS and TKS URI - these are the links to the CMS or other locations in oder to get the keystore.
  • Specify the Key and Value Deserializer- this is the interface of converting bytes into objects.
  • State the Region. This is the AWS region where the queue is deployed. For example eu.central-1.
  • Include the metadata information. This is submitted in the form of a key-value pair and allows additional information to be added.
  • Click on create once all information is entered.
  • A preview page will load, summarising the information entered.
  • From this page, information can be edited or deleted using the Action button.


RabbitMQ:

Use the toggle for the next 7 items to turn these on/off

  • Queue Auto Acknowlegdement- The queue will automatically acknowledge a message as soon as it is delivered to a consumer.
  • Queue Exclusive -  The queue will be used with only one connection and it will be deleted when the connection is closed.
  • Queue Auto Delete- The queue will be deleted as soon as the last consumer exits.
  • Queue Durable - This will decide if the queue will survive a broker restart.
  • Exchange Auto Delete-  the exchange will be deleted by the broker unless it is bound to a queue.
  • Exchange Durable - The exchange will survive a server restart and last until they are intentionally deleted. 
  • SSL- Toggle on means communication will be encrypted.
  • Name the Connection.
  • Group the connection using tags. Multiple tags can be used for a connection.
  • Describe the connection. This is for reference only and is restricted to 500 characters.
  • Choose the transformer to associate with the connection. Transformers must be pre-created before this step. These can be selected from the drop-down menu.
  • Add the User and Secret Key, retrieved from the AWS console.
  • Specify the exchange information for the connection.
  • Insert the port number to show where the server is running.
  • Identify the routing key for a Rabbit MQ queue.
  • Add the URI that tells you where the broker is located.
  • Allocate a virtual host. This specifies a hostname to connect to. 
  • Choose the time for the queue to expire. This is measured in seconds and is normally set to 1800000.
  • Queue Mode 
  • Specify a Queue name. These are ordered collections of messages
  • Include the metadata information. This is submitted in the form of a key-value pair and allows additional information to be added.
  • Click on create once all information is entered.
  • A preview page will load, summarising the information entered.
  • From this page, information can be edited or deleted using the Action button.