Synchronizing data

Enable the synchronization and determine which IBM® StoredIQ® objects are published to the governance catalog.

Before you begin

As a prerequisite, a working deployment of one of these products must be available:
  • IBM Information Server. The minimum required version is Version 11.7.0. However, some synchronization features require Version 11.7.0 Fix Pack 1 to be installed.
  • IBM Cloud Private for Data. The minimum required version for full support is Version 1.2.

When synchronizing with the governance catalog in an IBM Information Server deployment, these additional prerequisites apply:

  • In Information Governance Catalog or IBM Cloud Private for Data, event notification must be enabled.
  • When synchronizing with Information Governance Catalog, the deletion of import areas must be enabled in IBM Metadata Asset Manager and import of duplicate assets must be allowed. Previewing of express imports when the import contains duplicates or invalid identities must be disabled. For more information on IBM Metadata Asset Manager import settings, see the topic about import settings in the Information Server product documentation.

About this task

Some of the tasks must be completed as the system administrator, others as the data expert.

Procedure

To have data synchronized between IBM StoredIQ and a governance catalog:

  1. As the system administrator, enable the synchronization in IBM StoredIQ.
    You can do it either during the initial configuration of the application stack or at any later time:
  2. As system administrator, configure which volumes are not to be published to the governance catalog.
    Volumes are included in the synchronization by default. To exclude a volume from synchronization, edit the volume and clear the Publish to catalog checkbox.

    If you want to exclude a volume of a type that cannot be edited from IBM StoredIQ Administrator, contact your IBM Services representative or IBM Support.

    Important: You cannot exclude volumes contributing to infosets that are published to the governance catalog. If you deselect the Publish to catalog option for such a volume, this setting is automatically reverted in the next synchronization run.
    For each volume, information is synchronized as described in Volume assets.
  3. As a data expert, configure which infosets are published to the governance catalog.
    By default, infosets are not published to the governance catalog. To include a new infoset in the synchronization, select the Publish to catalog option when you create the infoset. At any time, you can change the setting for an existing infoset by editing the infoset. When you revert the setting so that the infoset is no longer published, the respective asset is removed from the governance catalog in the next synchronization run.

    Some infosets might be published to the governance catalog as so-called inferred objects although the respective option is not set. This type of synchronization happens when the infoset serves as direct input to an object that is selected for publishing. The infoset is then required for proper object modeling in the governance catalog.

    For each infoset, information is synchronized as described in Infoset assets.
  4. As a data expert, configure which filters are synchronized with the governance catalog.
    Filters are automatically created for each new data class in the governance catalog that is reflected in the GovernanceDataClasses cartridge (filter names starting with Contains governance data class). These filters are synced back to the governance catalog by default.

    Filters that you create manually in IBM StoredIQ are not automatically synchronized. To include such a filter in the synchronization, select the Publish to catalog option when you save the new filter. At any time, you can change the setting for an existing filter, even a system generated one, by editing the filter.

    Filters might also be synchronized as inferred objects if they are used to create an infoset that is published to the catalog. Here, too, the filter is required for proper object modeling in the governance catalog.

    For each filter that is included in the synchronization, information is synchronized as described in Filter assets.

Results

The objects that are marked for publishing to the catalog (whether regularly or as an inferred object) are synchronized when the application stack services are started and afterward on the configured schedule.

However, when changing the set of objects to be synchronized, you might not want to wait for the next synchronization run but want to see the changes reflected instantly in the governance catalog. For this purpose, you can request immediate synchronization. For details, see Synchronization API.

Remember that, after the synchronization, you might find assets in the governance catalog that were not marked for publishing but published as inferred objects.

If any other results in the governance catalog do not match your expectations, check your settings in IBM StoredIQ and check the /var/siq/log/tomcat.log file for any synchronization errors.