Managing Connections | Lucanet Knowledge Base

A connection specifies the authentication settings Data Hub uses to access an external source system, such as SAP S/4HANA, Microsoft Dynamics 365, or an SQL database accessed through JDBC.

You can manage connections on the Integrations page, which you open from Data Hub in the main menu. The page lists every connection together with its source datasets: each connection is a parent row that you can expand to display the source datasets that use it.

The Integrations page is displayed as follows, for example:

Shows the 'Integrations' page in Data Hub with the connections 'MS365-130' and 'SAP' expanded to display their source datasets as child rows, for example 'first', 'mode2_130', and 'mode3_130'. The table has the columns 'Connection name, Number of associated data sources', 'Source system', 'Status', 'Created by', and 'Import', and the 'Import' column shows the statuses 'Failed' and 'Succeeded' for two of the source datasets. — Connections and their source datasets on the 'Integrations' page

The overview table on the Integrations page in Data Hub provides the following information for each connection:

Column	Description
Connection name, Number of associated data sources	Name of the connection and the number of source datasets that use it
Source system	External system the connection is established to, for example SAP S/4HANA, Microsoft Dynamics 365, or an SQL database
Status	Status indicating whether the connection is active or inactive
Created by	User who created the connection
Import	Status of the most recent import of the connection's source datasets

To create a connection in Data Hub:

In the main menu, select Data Hub. The Integrations page is displayed.

In the top-right corner, click Create new connection. The connection form is displayed as follows, for example:

Shows the connection form in Data Hub with the empty 'Enter connection name' field, the 'Test connection', 'Cancel', and 'Create' buttons in the top-right corner, and the open 'Source system' drop-down list with the options 'Microsoft Dynamics 365', 'Microsoft SQL Server (JDBC)', 'Oracle Database (JDBC)', 'PostgreSQL (JDBC)', and 'SAP S/4HANA'. — Connection form with the source-system selection

Select the source system you want to connect to: SAP S/4HANA, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft SQL Server (JDBC), Oracle Database (JDBC), or PostgreSQL (JDBC).

For the selected source system, the Version of its connection template is displayed in the top-right corner of the Source system area.

Enter the connection settings for the selected source system. For more information, see Connection Settings below.

Optional: Click Test connection to check whether Data Hub can reach the source system with the settings you have entered. Data Hub tests the settings without saving them. For more information, see Testing a Connection below.

Click Create. The connection is created and displayed on the Integrations page.

The connection settings in Data Hub depend on the source system you want to extract the data from.

The following connection options in Data Hub are the same for every source system:

Option	Description
Connection name	Name that identifies the connection on the Integrations page. Required.
SEA instance	Instance of the Lucanet.Script Execution Application (SEA) that runs the connection. Required.
Description	Optional description of the connection

All other settings are provided by the connection template of the selected source system and are grouped by purpose. The values for these settings come from the source system.

The connection settings are displayed as follows, for example:

Shows the connection settings of an SAP S/4HANA connection in Data Hub, with the connection template 'Version: 1.4.0' in the 'Source system' area, the 'SEA instance' field in the 'Configuration' area, the 'Language' field in the 'General' area, the 'Host', 'Instance number', 'Client', 'User', and 'Password' fields in the 'Authentication' area, and the 'Description' field. — Connection settings of an SAP S/4HANA connection

'General' Area

The following option is available in the General area of an SAP S/4HANA connection in Data Hub:

Option	Description
Language	Login language for the SAP system

'Authentication' Area

The following options are available in the Authentication area of an SAP S/4HANA connection in Data Hub:

Option	Description
Host	Host name or IP address of the SAP server
Instance number	Two-digit instance number of the SAP application server, for example 00
Client	Three-digit number of the SAP client that the login refers to, for example 100
User	User name for the login to the SAP system
Password	Password of that user

'Authentication' Area

The following options are available in the Authentication area of a Microsoft Dynamics 365 connection in Data Hub:

Option	Description
Endpoint	URL of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 service the data is read from
Client ID	ID of the application that Data Hub signs in with
Client Secret	Secret of that application
Tenant ID	ID of the tenant of your Microsoft Dynamics 365 environment
Resource	Resource the access is requested for
X-API-Key	API key that the endpoint requires

'Network' Area

The following options are available in the Network area of a Microsoft Dynamics 365 connection in Data Hub:

Option	Description
Connection timeout	Time after which establishing the connection is aborted
Read timeout	Time after which reading the data is aborted

The SQL databases Microsoft SQL Server (JDBC), Oracle Database (JDBC), and PostgreSQL (JDBC) are connected through JDBC. The same settings are available for all three source systems.

'Connection' Area

The following option is available in the Connection area of an SQL database connection in Data Hub:

Option	Description
URL	JDBC connection URL of the database, including the host, the port, and the name of the database

The format of the JDBC connection URL depends on the database, for example:

Microsoft SQL Server:

jdbc:sqlserver://hostname:1433;databaseName=myDatabase

Oracle Database:

jdbc:oracle:thin:@//hostname:1521/servicename

PostgreSQL:

jdbc:postgresql://hostname:5432/mydatabase

'Authentication' Area

The following options are available in the Authentication area of an SQL database connection in Data Hub:

Option	Description
User	User name for the login to the database
Password	Password of that user

You can manage an existing connection from the icon in the row of the connection on the Integrations page in Data Hub. The following options are available:

Option	Description
Test connection	Option to check whether Data Hub can reach the source system with the saved settings of the connection. For more information, see Testing a Connection below.
Edit	Option to view and change the connection's settings
Create new dataset	Option to define a source dataset for the connection. For more information, see Managing Source Datasets.
Deactivate / Activate	Option to set the connection to Inactive or back to Active. While a connection is inactive, it cannot be used for imports, and all its source datasets are inactive as well.
Delete	Option to delete the connection. You can only delete a connection which is not used by any source dataset.

When you deactivate a connection in Data Hub that still has active source datasets, you must confirm the change, and the connection together with all its source datasets is set to Inactive. Activating a connection again does not automatically reactivate its source datasets. You cannot deactivate a connection or source dataset while one of its imports is running or queued.

When you test a connection, Data Hub checks whether it can reach the source system and whether the source system accepts the credentials. This way, you can detect an incorrect host, incorrect credentials, or an unavailable source system before an import fails. Testing a connection does not change its settings.

You can test a connection at any time, for example after the password has been changed in the source system. The following options for testing a connection are available in Data Hub:

Where	How	What is tested
Integrations page	In the row of the connection, click the icon and select Test connection.	Data Hub tests the saved settings of the connection. You can also test an inactive connection.
Connection form, when you create a connection	In the top-right corner, click Test connection.	Data Hub tests the settings entered in the form without saving them. Note: The Test connection button is available as soon as you have selected a source system and entered the required settings. A connection name is not required for the test.
Connection form, when you edit a connection	In the top-right corner, click Test connection.	Data Hub tests the settings in the form, including changes that you have not saved yet. If you do not fill in the Password field again, Data Hub uses the saved password.

You do not have to test a connection before you create or save it in Data Hub.

The Test connection option on the Integrations page is displayed as follows, for example:

Shows the 'Integrations' page in Data Hub with the menu of a connection opened from the three-dot icon, listing the options 'Test connection', 'Edit', 'Create new dataset', 'Deactivate', and 'Delete'. Highlighted in red are the three-dot icon of the connection and the 'Test connection' option. — The 'Test connection' option in the menu of a connection

In Data Hub, the result of a connection test is displayed in a notification:

If the test is successful, the notification

Connection Test Successful

is displayed together with the source system, for example

Successfully connected to SAP S/4HANA

If the test fails, the notification

Connection Test Failed

is displayed together with the reason and what to check.

The following reasons can be displayed when a connection test in Data Hub fails:

Reason	What to check
The source system rejected the credentials.	User name and password
The source system could not be reached.	Host and port, and whether the source system is running and the port is open
The source system did not respond in time.	Whether the source system is busy or temporarily unavailable. If so, try again in a moment.
The source system rejected the connection configuration.	The connection settings
The connection could not be established.	The credentials and the configuration

If the test cannot be performed at all, for example because the SEA instance does not respond, an error message is displayed instead of a test result. In that case, check that the SEA instance is running and try again.