> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.open-metadata.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Run the Alation Sink Connector Externally

> Use YAML to configure AlationSink metadata ingestion and push terms to Alation catalogs.

export const CodePanel = ({children, fileName = 'config.yaml', showLineNumbers = false}) => {
  const codePanelRef = useRef(null);
  const codeContentRef = useRef(null);
  const isProgrammaticScroll = useRef(false);
  const hoverTimeout = useRef(null);
  useEffect(() => {
    let tries = 0;
    const wrapLines = () => {
      const root = codeContentRef.current;
      if (!root) return;
      const pres = Array.from(root.querySelectorAll('pre'));
      if (!pres.length) {
        if (tries++ < 20) requestAnimationFrame(wrapLines);
        return;
      }
      let globalLine = 1;
      pres.forEach(pre => {
        const code = pre.querySelector('code') || pre;
        if (!code || code.dataset.wrapped === 'true') return;
        const raw = code.textContent || '';
        let lines = raw.split('\n');
        while (lines[0] === '') lines.shift();
        while (lines[lines.length - 1] === '') lines.pop();
        code.innerHTML = lines.map(line => {
          const ln = globalLine++;
          const num = showLineNumbers ? `<span class="line-number">${ln}</span>` : '';
          const safe = line.replace(/</g, '&lt;').replace(/>/g, '&gt;') || ' ';
          return `<span class="code-line" data-line="${ln}">${num}${safe}</span>`;
        }).join('');
        code.dataset.wrapped = 'true';
      });
    };
    wrapLines();
  }, [children, showLineNumbers]);
  useEffect(() => {
    const panel = codePanelRef.current;
    const content = codeContentRef.current;
    if (!panel || !content) return;
    const waitForLines = () => {
      const codeLines = content.querySelectorAll('.code-line');
      if (!codeLines.length) {
        requestAnimationFrame(waitForLines);
        return;
      }
      setupHighlighting(codeLines);
    };
    const setupHighlighting = codeLines => {
      const layout = panel.closest('.split-layout');
      const sections = layout.querySelectorAll('.content-section');
      const parseLines = str => {
        if (!str) return [];
        const out = [];
        str.split(',').forEach(p => {
          if (p.includes('-')) {
            const [s, e] = p.split('-').map(Number);
            for (let i = s; i <= e; i++) out.push(i);
          } else {
            const n = Number(p);
            if (!isNaN(n)) out.push(n);
          }
        });
        return out;
      };
      const clearHighlight = () => {
        codeLines.forEach(l => l.classList.remove('highlighted'));
      };
      const highlight = lines => {
        clearHighlight();
        lines.forEach(n => {
          const el = content.querySelector(`.code-line[data-line="${n}"]`);
          if (el) el.classList.add('highlighted');
        });
      };
      const scrollToLines = lines => {
        if (!lines.length) return;
        const first = lines[0];
        const targetLine = lines.length > 1 ? first : lines[0];
        const el = content.querySelector(`.code-line[data-line="${targetLine}"]`);
        if (!el) return;
        isProgrammaticScroll.current = true;
        const containerRect = content.getBoundingClientRect();
        const elRect = el.getBoundingClientRect();
        const offset = elRect.top - containerRect.top + content.scrollTop;
        const TOP_PADDING = 16;
        content.scrollTo({
          top: Math.max(offset - TOP_PADDING, 0),
          behavior: 'smooth'
        });
        setTimeout(() => {
          isProgrammaticScroll.current = false;
        }, 200);
      };
      const activate = (section, scroll) => {
        if (section.classList.contains('active')) return;
        sections.forEach(s => s.classList.remove('active'));
        section.classList.add('active');
        const lines = parseLines(section.dataset.lines);
        highlight(lines);
        if (scroll) scrollToLines(lines);
      };
      const observer = new IntersectionObserver(entries => {
        if (isProgrammaticScroll.current) return;
        entries.forEach(e => {
          if (e.isIntersecting) activate(e.target, false);
        });
      }, {
        threshold: 0.3,
        rootMargin: '-80px 0px -40% 0px'
      });
      sections.forEach(section => {
        observer.observe(section);
        section.addEventListener('click', () => activate(section, true));
        section.addEventListener('mouseenter', () => {
          clearTimeout(hoverTimeout.current);
          hoverTimeout.current = setTimeout(() => activate(section, true), 80);
        });
      });
      if (sections[0]) activate(sections[0], false);
    };
    waitForLines();
  }, []);
  const handleCopy = e => {
    const btn = e.currentTarget;
    const codeLines = codeContentRef.current?.querySelectorAll('.code-line');
    if (!codeLines || codeLines.length === 0) return;
    const text = Array.from(codeLines).map(line => {
      const clone = line.cloneNode(true);
      const lineNumber = clone.querySelector('.line-number');
      if (lineNumber) lineNumber.remove();
      return clone.textContent;
    }).join('\n');
    if (!text) return;
    navigator.clipboard.writeText(text).then(() => {
      btn.dataset.copied = 'true';
      setTimeout(() => btn.dataset.copied = 'false', 1500);
    });
  };
  return <div className="code-panel" ref={codePanelRef}>
      <div className="code-header">
        {fileName}
        <button className="copy-btn" aria-label="Copy full code" data-copied="false" onClick={handleCopy}>
          <svg className="icon-copy" viewBox="0 0 15 16" fill="currentColor">
            <path d="M10.113 3.124H2.205C1.463 3.124.86 3.655.86 4.31v10.005c0 .654.603 1.186 1.345 1.186h7.908c.742 0 1.345-.532 1.345-1.186V4.31c0-.655-.606-1.186-1.345-1.186Z" />
            <path d="M13.138.5H5.229c-.742 0-1.344.531-1.344 1.186 0 .23.209.414.47.414s.47-.184.47-.414c0-.197.182-.357.404-.357h7.909c.223 0 .404.16.404.357V11.69c0 .196-.181.356-.404.356-.262 0-.47.184-.47.415 0 .23.208.415.47.415.742 0 1.344-.532 1.344-1.186V1.686C14.482 1.03 13.88.5 13.138.5Z" />
          </svg>

          <svg className="icon-check" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="currentColor">
            <path fillRule="evenodd" d="M16.707 5.293a1 1 0 010 1.414l-7.25 7.25a1 1 0 01-1.414 0l-3.25-3.25a1 1 0 011.414-1.414l2.543 2.543 6.543-6.543a1 1 0 011.414 0z" clipRule="evenodd" />
          </svg>
        </button>
      </div>

      <div className="code-content" ref={codeContentRef}>
        {children}
      </div>
    </div>;
};

export const ContentSection = ({id, title, lines, children}) => <div className="content-section" data-content-id={id} data-lines={lines}>
    {title && <h4>{title}</h4>}
    {children}
  </div>;

export const ContentPanel = ({children}) => <div className="content-panel">{children}</div>;

export const CodePreview = ({children}) => {
  const [instanceId] = useState(() => `preview-${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2)}`);
  useEffect(() => {
    const nav = document.querySelector('nav') || document.querySelector('header') || document.querySelector('[class*="nav"]');
    if (nav) {
      document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--navbar-height', `${nav.offsetHeight}px`);
    }
  }, []);
  return <div className="split-layout" data-preview-id={instanceId}>
      {children}
    </div>;
};

export const ConnectorDetailsHeader = ({name, icon, stage, availableFeatures, unavailableFeatures = [], availableFeaturesCollate = []}) => {
  const showSubHeading = availableFeatures?.length > 0 || unavailableFeatures?.length > 0 || availableFeaturesCollate?.length > 0;
  const totalAvailableFeatures = [...availableFeatures || [], ...availableFeaturesCollate || []];
  return <div className="container">
      <div className="Heading">
        <div className="flex items-center gap-3">
          {icon && <div className="IconContainer">
              <img src={icon} alt={name} noZoom className="ConnectorIcon" />
            </div>}
          <h1 className="ConnectorName">{name}</h1>
          <span className={`StageBadge ${stage === 'PROD' ? 'prod' : 'beta'}`}>
            {stage}
          </span>
        </div>
      </div>
      {showSubHeading && <div className="SubHeading">
          <div className="FeaturesHeading">Feature List</div>
          <div className="FeaturesList">
            {totalAvailableFeatures.map(feature => <div className="FeatureTag AvailableFeature" key={feature}>
                ✓ {feature}
              </div>)}
            {unavailableFeatures.map(feature => <div className="FeatureTag UnavailableFeature" key={feature}>
                ✕ {feature}
              </div>)}
          </div>
        </div>}
    </div>;
};

<ConnectorDetailsHeader icon="/public/images/connectors/alation.webp" name="AlationSink" stage="PROD" availableFeatures={["Metadata"]} unavailableFeatures={[]} />

In this section, we provide guides and references to use the Alation Sink connector.
Configure and schedule Alation Sink metadata using the yaml:

* [Requirements](#requirements)
* [Data Mapping and Assumptions](#data-mapping-and-assumptions)
* [Metadata Ingestion](#metadata-ingestion)

## How to Run the Connector Externally

To run the Ingestion via the UI you'll need to use the OpenMetadata Ingestion Container, which comes shipped with
custom Airflow plugins to handle the workflow deployment.

If, instead, you want to manage your workflows externally on your preferred orchestrator, you can check
the following docs to run the Ingestion Framework **anywhere**.

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="External Schedulers" href="/v1.12.x/deployment/ingestion">
    Get more information about running the Ingestion Framework Externally
  </Card>
</Columns>

## Requirements

The connector uses `POST` requests to write the data into Alation.
Hence, an user credentials or an access token with `Source Admin` or `Catalog Admin` or `Server Admin` permissions will be required.
Follow the link [here](https://developer.alation.com/dev/docs/authentication-into-alation-apis#create-via-ui) to create the access token.

## Data Mapping and Assumptions

Following entities are supported and will be mapped to the from OpenMetadata to the entities in Alation.

| Alation Entity    | OpenMetadata Entity |
| :---------------- | :------------------ |
| Data Source (OCF) | Database            |
| Schema            | Schema              |
| Table             | Table               |
| Columns           | Columns             |

### Python Requirements

<Tip>
  We have support for Python versions **3.9-3.11**
</Tip>

To run the Alation Sink ingestion, you will need to install:

```bash theme={null}
pip3 install "openmetadata-ingestion[alationsink]"
```

## Metadata Ingestion

All connectors are defined as JSON Schemas.
[Here](https://github.com/open-metadata/OpenMetadata/blob/main/openmetadata-spec/src/main/resources/json/schema/entity/services/connections/metadata/alationSinkConnection.json)
you can find the structure to create a connection to Alation Sink.
In order to create and run a Metadata Ingestion workflow, we will follow
the steps to create a YAML configuration able to connect to the source,
process the Entities if needed, and reach the OpenMetadata server.
The workflow is modeled around the following
[JSON Schema](https://github.com/open-metadata/OpenMetadata/blob/main/openmetadata-spec/src/main/resources/json/schema/metadataIngestion/workflow.json)

### 1. Define the YAML Config

<CodePreview>
  <ContentPanel>
    <ContentSection id={1} title="Source Configuration" lines="1-3">
      Configure the source type and service name.
    </ContentSection>

    <ContentSection id={2} title="Host Port" lines="7">
      **hostPort**: Host and port of the Alation service.
    </ContentSection>

    <ContentSection id={3} title="Authentication Type" lines="10">
      **authType**:
      Following authentication types are supported:

      1. Basic Authentication: We'll use the user credentials to generate the access token required to authenticate Alation APIs.

      * username: Username of the user.
      * password: Password of the user.

      2. Access Token Authentication: The access token created using the steps mentioned [here](https://developer.alation.com/dev/docs/authentication-into-alation-apis#create-via-ui) can directly be entered. We'll use that directly to authenticate the Alation APIs

      * accessToken: Generated access token
    </ContentSection>

    <ContentSection id={4} title="Project Name" lines="16">
      **projectName**: Project name to create the refreshToken. Can be anything.
    </ContentSection>

    <ContentSection id={5} title="Pagination Limit" lines="17">
      **paginationLimit**: Pagination limit used for Alation APIs pagination
    </ContentSection>

    <ContentSection id={6} title="Datasource Links" lines="18">
      **datasourceLinks**: Add a custom mapping between OpenMetadata databases and Alation DataSources.
      If this mapping is present the connector will only look for the datasource in Alation to create other entities inside it. It will not create the datasource in Alation and it'll need to be created beforehand.
      The mapping needs to be of the format `alation_datasource_id: openmetadata_database_fqn`
      Here `alation_datasource_id` corresponds to the numerical id of the datasource in alation.
      And `openmetadata_database_fqn` corresponds to the fullyQualifiedName of the database in OpenMetadata.
      Below is an example of the mapping:

      ```yaml theme={null}
      datasourceLinks: {
          "23": "sample_data.ecommerce_db",
          "15": "mysql_prod.customers_db",
      }
      ```
    </ContentSection>

    <ContentSection id={7} title="Source Config" lines="22-24">
      Configure the metadata ingestion type as DatabaseMetadata.
    </ContentSection>

    <ContentSection id={8} title="Sink Configuration" lines="25-27">
      To send the metadata to OpenMetadata, it needs to be specified as `type: metadata-rest`.
    </ContentSection>
  </ContentPanel>

  <CodePanel fileName="connector_config.yaml">
    ```yaml theme={null}
    source:
      type: AlationSink
      serviceName: local_alation_sink
      serviceConnection:
        config:
          type: AlationSink
    hostPort: https://alation.example.com
    # Select one authentication type from below
          # For Basic Authentication
          authType:
            username: user_name
            password: password
          # # For Access Token Authentication
          # authType:
          #   accessToken: access_token
    projectName: Test
    paginationLimit: 10
    # datasourceLinks: {
          #   "23": "om_service_name.om_db_name",
          #   "24": "om_service_name_two.om_db_name_two",
          # }
    sourceConfig:
        config:
          type: DatabaseMetadata
    sink:
      type: metadata-rest
      config: {}
    ```

    ```yaml theme={null}
    workflowConfig:
      loggerLevel: INFO  # DEBUG, INFO, WARNING or ERROR
      openMetadataServerConfig:
        hostPort: "http://localhost:8585/api"
        authProvider: openmetadata
        securityConfig:
          jwtToken: "{bot_jwt_token}"
        ## Store the service Connection information
        storeServiceConnection: true  # false
        ## Secrets Manager Configuration
        # secretsManagerProvider: aws, azure or noop
        # secretsManagerLoader: airflow or env
        ## If SSL, fill the following
        # verifySSL: validate  # or ignore
        # sslConfig:
        #   caCertificate: /local/path/to/certificate
    # ingestionPipelineFQN: <service name>.<ingestion name> ## e.g., "my_redshift.metadata"
    ```
  </CodePanel>
</CodePreview>

### 2. Run with the CLI

First, we will need to save the YAML file. Afterward, and with all requirements installed, we can run:

```bash theme={null}
metadata ingest -c <path-to-yaml>
```

Note that from connector to connector, this recipe will always be the same. By updating the YAML configuration,
you will be able to extract metadata from different sources.