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Connectors

What are Connectors?

Connectors are adapters that enable JIM to communicate with external systems. Each connector handles the protocol-specific details of connecting to, reading from, and writing to a particular type of data source or target -- whether that is a directory service, a file, a database, or an API.

Connectors abstract away the complexity of each external system, presenting a consistent interface to JIM's synchronisation engine. This means the core synchronisation logic does not need to know the specifics of how to talk to any particular system -- it simply works with connectors through a standard set of operations.

How Connectors Fit in the Architecture

JIM uses a hub-and-spoke architecture with the metaverse at the centre. Connectors sit at the edges, bridging the gap between external systems and JIM's internal data model.

When a connector imports data from an external system, it does not write directly to the metaverse. Instead, it populates the connector space -- a staging area that holds local representations of external objects called Connected System Objects (CSOs). During synchronisation, CSOs are joined or projected to Metaverse Objects (MVOs) based on configured Synchronisation Rules. When exporting, the process reverses: changes flow from the metaverse through Synchronisation Rules to CSOs, and then the connector pushes those changes back to the external system.

JIM hub-and-spoke synchronisation concept Source systems on the left and target systems on the right connect to JIM in the centre. Inside JIM, Connectors pass imported data through the Import, Synchronise and Export pipeline, which correlates and projects identities into the Metaverse, the authoritative data store for fused identities. Every flow passes through JIM; no data moves directly between Connected Systems. JIM Connectors LDAP File / CSV SQL SCIM 2.0 Import Synchronise Export Metaverse Authoritative data store for fused identities HR System CSV Legacy Directory LDAP Enterprise Databases SQL Active Directory LDAP · writeback Business Application CSV Cloud Applications SCIM 2.0 staging outbound changes correlate & project

Connectors sit at JIM's edge, carrying data between Connected Systems and the synchronisation pipeline; every flow passes through the Metaverse, never directly between systems. Moving dots trace identity data in flight.

Each Connected System in JIM has:

  • Connection settings
    How to reach the external system (hostname, credentials, file path, etc.)
  • Schema
    The object types and attributes available in the external system.
  • Connector space
    The staging area holding imported CSOs.
  • Run Profiles
    Configured operations (full import, delta import, export).
  • Synchronisation Rules
    Rules governing how data flows between the Connected System and the metaverse.

For more detail on these concepts, see Connected Systems.

🛠️ Available Connectors

JIM ships with the following built-in connectors:

Connector Description Capabilities
JIM File Connector CSV and delimited text files Full Import, Export
JIM LDAP Connector Active Directory, OpenLDAP, 389 Directory Server, and other RFC 4512-compliant directories Full Import, Delta Import, Export
JIM SCIM 2.0 Client Connector Any system exposing a SCIM 2.0 service provider interface (RFC 7643/7644) Full Import, Delta Import, Export
JIM SQL Connector Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle Database, through fully managed ADO.NET drivers Full Import, Delta Import, Export

🗺️ Upcoming Connectors

PostgreSQL and MySQL support is planned for the JIM SQL Connector, so that one connector covers those engines too rather than one connector per database engine. PowerShell and REST API connectors are planned. See the Roadmap for the full picture.

🧩 Custom Connectors

JIM's connector framework is extensible. If none of the built-in connectors meet your requirements, you can develop a custom connector that implements JIM's connector interfaces. For guidance on building your own connector, see Writing Connectors.