7.3.2. Connectors

Owned by Grzegorz Bogusz
Last updated: Jun 24, 2022
4 min read

Connectors are a unique functionality in the ERP Connector, related to the providers. They allow to set up connections to specific systems and subsystems.

It is possible, for each provider, to define any number of connectors that will be used for communication with external systems (for example when one provider delivers two endpoints, one for products, the other for orders).

There are 5 types of connectors, each with a set of fields to allow the establishment of a connection.

  • FTP

  • SFTP

  • SOAP

  • HTTP

  • EMAIL

FTP

Figure 228 ERP Connector - FTP Connector

This connector is used to communicate with FTP servers.

  • NAME: The name of the connector

  • HOST: Host of FTP server

  • PORT: Port of FTP server (default: 21)

  • USER NAME: Name of the user used to connect to FTP server

  • PASSWORD: Password used to connect to FTP server

  • PASSIVE MODE: Type of connection (checked by default)

  • SOURCE DIRECTORY: Directory on the server where the files will be uploaded

  • DESTINATION DIRECTORY: Directory on the server where processed files will be stored

  • SKIP EXPORTED FILE VALIDATION: Allows to disable file validation on the FTP

  • CHECK CONNECTION: Allows to check if the connection is set correctly

SFTP

Figure 229 ERP Connector - SFTP Connector

This connector is used to communicate with SFTP servers.
The fields are similar to those in the FTP connector, the only difference:

  • TIMEOUT: Determines how long the connector waits for a response from the SFTP server

SOAP

This connector is used to communicate with an external system via SOAP endpoints.

  • VERSION: Version of the SOAP protocol

  • WSDL: Path to the WSDL file

  • LOCATION: localization of the SOAP endpoint

  • SOAP ACTION: Name of the action which should be executed

  • PARAMETERS: Additional parameters, which can be used to provide additional credentials or send additional information with each request

HTTP (REST)

This connector is used to communicate with an external system via HTTP (REST) endpoints.

  • URL: Localization of the endpoint

  • REQUEST METHOD: The type of the request, allows to specify whether data should be sent or retrieved

  • AUTHORIZATION BEARER: Special token that is often used to authenticate communication

  • CONTENT TYPE: Type of the content data, can be XML or JSON, depending on the external system

  • CUSTOM HEADERS: Additional parameters, which can be used to provide additional credentials or send additional information in headers with each request

EMAIL

This connector is used to send data in e-mail attachments to specific recipients.

  • EMAIL: Recipient's email

  • TEMPLATE: E-mail template, which can be added in MARKETING / COMMUNICATIONS / EMAIL TEMPLATES

Additional information

  • Password
    To ensure that no unauthorized person can copy passwords, they are never displayed in the admin panel. A special system has been implemented, the vault, where passwords are stored as hashed values

  • Source and Destination Directories
    The source directory is used to specify the directory on the FTP/SFTP server where the files should be uploaded to or from which directory they should be read.
    The destination directory is used to specify where the files processed by the external system should be placed.
    For example, in the case of stock import, Magento can download files from the source directory, parses them and move them to the destination directory.

  • Check Connection
    For some connectors (FTP / SFTP / SOAP) we are able to check if the connection works correctly.
    When the connector is configured correctly, it should display “Connection success” but if anything is wrong (e.g. incorrect password), proper information should be displayed.