Sterling B2B Integrator - Configuration Prerequisites

You must configure the prerequisites that access Sterling B2B Integrator before using EBICS Client.

  1. Check in the public and private part of the certificates into the System and Trusted store of Sterling B2B Integrator. Check in the required Certificate Authority (CA) certificates into the CA store of Sterling B2B Integrator or create a self-signed certificate.
    The following types of certificates are used for configuring a user:
    • Identification and authentication
    • Encryption
    • Signing
  2. From the Identities menu of Sterling B2B Integrator, create an identity record for your organization, indicating your organization as the base identity.
    This identity name should correspond to the EBICS partner name.
  3. From the User Accounts menu of Sterling B2B Integrator, create a User Account and assign permissions to the user.
    The user name should correspond to the EBICS user name.
  4. Configure an adapter (such as File system adapter, HTTP(S) adapter, SFTP adapter, FTP(S) adapter) in Sterling B2B Integrator, that enables you to send and receive files and invokes the EBClientOrderPreProcess business process. For example, configure a File System Adapter to invoke the EBClientOrderPreProcess business process.
  5. Configure the following mailboxes and associate them with each user.
    • EBClientOrderMetadata (preconfigured)
    • Download (Inbox)
    • Upload (Outbox)
  6. Verify that the EBClientMailboxArrivedMessage business process is associated with the EBClientOrderMetadata Mailbox. The automatic routing rule triggers the business process to perform automated functions, such as notifying an interested party about an incoming message in the mailbox.
    Note: It is recommended that you do not modify the existing configuration for EBICS Client routing rules. Modifying the routing rule configuration may create duplicate subsets and duplicate orders for an order submission.
  7. Ensure that the MailboxEvaluateAllAutomaticRulesSubMin Schedule is enabled.

A trading partner is represented by an identity record. An identity record describes the trading partner and contains information referenced when a business process involving trading partners is run.

For more information about identity record and trading partner, see the Sterling B2B Integrator Trading Partner Management documentation. To create an identity record:
  1. Log in to Sterling B2B Integrator.
  2. From the Administration Menu, select Trading Partner > Advanced > Identities.
  3. Under Create, next to New Identity, click Go!
  4. On the Identities page, do one of the following:
    • To create an identity record that inherits all the components of an existing trading profile, select an identity record from Select Base Identity, and click Next.
    • To specify properties, leave Select Base Identity blank, and click Next.
  5. Specify the Information settings.
    On the Information page, complete the following fields and click Next:
    Information Fields
    Description
    NameRequired. Name for the identity record to create for this trading profile.
    Reference URLOptional. Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is the Internet address of the trading partner.
    DUNSOptional. Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) is a unique nine-character company identification number issued by Dun & Bradstreet Corporation.
    IdentifierRequired. Primary ID of this identity record. It could be a DUNS number, EDI interchange ID, e-mail address, or another unique string.
    Address Line 1Required. Conventional mailing address of the trading partner organization.
    Address Line 2Optional. Additional mailing address information of the trading partner organization.
    CityRequired. City where the trading partner is located.
    State or ProvinceOptional. State or province where the organization of the trading partner represented by the identity is located.
    Zip or Postal CodeRequired. ZIP or postal code where the trading partner is located.
    E-mail AddressOptional. E-mail address of the trading partner.
    Telephone NumberOptional. Telephone number of the trading partner.
    Time ZoneOptional. Time zone where the trading partner is located.
    CountryOptional. Country where the trading partner is located.
  6. Click Finish to add the identity.
  7. Click Return to continue.

You can create user accounts from the Administration menu.

Before you begin, you need to know whether you are using local or external authentication:

  • Local – Authentication is completed against the application database (default).
  • External – Authentication is completed against an LDAP server. External authentication does not require the LDAP adapter, which is used with business processes and enables the system to communicate with local or remote LDAP servers using a Java Naming Directory Interface (JNDI).

If you are assigning one or more Authorized User Keys to this account, the keys must be obtained from your trading partner and checked in before creating the user account.

You also need to know the following information:

Table 1. create user accounts

Field

Description

User ID

Required. User ID for the user account you are creating. The user ID must be at least 5 characters long.

For the MySQL database only, the login is not case sensitive. You should always use uniquely spelled IDs, so that one user does not accidentally use another user's ID.

Password (Local Authentication only)

Required for local users. Password for the user account you are creating. The password must be at least 6 characters long. This field does not display for external users.

Confirm Password (Local Authentication only)

Required for local users. Type the password a second time. This field does not display for external users.

Policy (Local Authentication only)

Optional. Password policy to associate with this user account. From the list, select from the policy you want to associate. This field does not display for external users.

The system calculates the expiration date from the first date that the user logs on with this password.

Authentication Host (External Authentication only)

The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server on which the user is being authenticated. The server or servers listed in this field are specified in the authentication_policy.properties.in file.

Session Timeout

Required. Amount of time in minutes that you can be inactive before you have to log in again. Time is in minutes.

Accessibility

Optional. Portion of the dashboard user interface that the user account has access to.

The following are accessibility options:
  • Admin UI – Accesses the Admin Console pane in the dashboard only.
  • AS2 UI – Accesses the AS2 Edition interface only.
  • UCCNET UI – Access to the UCCnet Edition interface only.
  • Dashboard UI – Accesses dashboard interface. Refine by choosing a Dashboard Theme.

Dashboard Theme

Required if accessibility is set as Dashboard UI. Predefined dashboard that the user account has access to.

The following are dashboard theme options:
  • Default
  • Operator
  • Participant
  • Participant Sponsor
  • Sponsor
  • AFT

Given Name

Required. Name used to identify the user.

Surname

Required. User's last name.

E-mail

User's e-mail address.

Pager

User's pager number.

Preferred Language

User's preferred language. Select from: English, French, Japanese, or Spanish.

Manager ID

User ID of the user's manager.

Identity

Identity of the trading partner to associate with the user account. Only one trading partner can be associated with a user account. A user account can be associated with many groups, each with its own trading partner identity association. This enables a user account to be associated with more than one trading partner. The Identity field is used for routing messages in Mailbox. Select a trading partner identity from the list.

The default value is Hub Organization.

For more information about creating users and assigning permissions to users, see the Sterling B2B Integrator Security documentation.

To create a user account:

  1. Log in to Sterling B2B Integrator.
  2. From the Administration Menu, select Accounts > User Accounts.
  3. Next to Create a new Account, click Go!
  4. In the New Account page, select the Authentication Type.
  5. Enter the User ID and Password.
  6. Confirm the Password.
  7. Select the Policy.
  8. Enter the Session Timeout.
  9. Select the Accessibility.
  10. Select the Dashboard Theme.
  11. Click Next.
  12. On the SSH Authorized User Key page, assign one or more public keys. Move the keys from the Available pane to the Assigned pane and click Next.
  13. On the Groups page, assign groups of permissions. Move the group names from the Available pane to the Assigned pane and click Next.
  14. On the Permissions page, assign individual permissions. Move the permissions from the Available pane to the Assigned pane and click Next.
    By default, the permissions associated with the groups that this user is assigned to are already selected.
  15. On the User Information page, enter the Given Name.
  16. Enter the Surname.
  17. Enter the E-mail address.
  18. Enter the Pager number.
  19. Select the Preferred Language.
  20. Enter the Manager ID.
  21. Select the Identity.
  22. Click Next.
  23. Review the user account settings.
  24. Click Finish.
    The user account is created and this message is displayed:
    The system update completed successfully.
    If you created an external user, log out of the system, and then log back in with the external user ID or account. The system authenticates the external user ID on the external LDAP server.

Use the File System adapter to collect (import) files from a file system into a business process and extract (export) files from a business process to a file system.

You can configure the File System adapter to start a business process after files are collected from the file system or include the File System adapter in a business process flow. In addition, you can schedule the File System adapter to run at specific time intervals.

You can create multiple File System adapter configurations, one for each of several collection folders. Alternatively, you can use a single File System adapter configuration to point to different directories by specifying the directories for file collection and extraction in a business process. For more information about configuring the File System Adapter, see the File System Adapter documentation.

Configure the File System Adapter to invoke the EBClientOrderPreProcess business process.

To create a File System adapter configuration, specify field settings in Sterling B2B Integrator and in the Graphical Process Modeler (GPM).

The following table describes the fields used to configure the File System adapter in the Sterling B2B Integrator.

Note: The field names in parentheses represent the corresponding field names in the GPM. This information is provided for your reference.
Field
Description
NameRequired. Unique and meaningful name for the service configuration.
DescriptionRequired. Meaningful description for the service configuration, for reference.
Select a groupGroup to associate with the adapter. Valid values:
  • None: No group is selected.
  • Create New Group: Allows the creation of a new group.
  • Select Group: Select from a list of available groups.
Collection folder (collectionFolder)Required. The name of the folder or subfolder on the same computer where Sterling B2B Integrator is installed and where it collects (or picks up) files as part of a business process. If the path for the folder is not included as part of the name, the folder is assumed to be in the Sterling B2B Integrator working directory.
Note:
  • The deleteAfterCollect parameter in the GPM defaults to Yes. If you do not change the default value to No, files that are collected are deleted from the Collection Folder. The File System adapter does not copy the files it collects for processing. See Graphical Process Modeler Configuration for information about the deleteAfterCollect parameter.
  • The collectionFolder parameter is read-only in the GPM. However, you can override this parameter using Business Process Modeling Language (BPML).
Filename filter (filter)Optional. Collect only files that match a specified filter within the collection folder. Examples include:
  • *.txt (collects only .txt files).
  • *.dat (collects only .dat files).
  • EDI.* (collects only files named EDI with any file extension).
  • EDI.txt (collect only files named EDI with a file extension of .txt).
Note: If there are multiple files in the collection folder and you leave this field blank, one of the following occurs:
  • If the adapter is configured to start a business process, it processes all files placed in the collection folder.
  • If the adapter is within a business process, it collects only the first file in the collection folder.
Note: If you specify this option using the File System adapter configuration, you cannot override the value using the GPM filter parameter. However, you can override this parameter using BPML.
Collect files from subfolders within and including the collection folder? (useSubFolders)Required. Whether to scan for files in subfolders of the collection folder. Valid values:
  • Yes: Collects files in the specified folder and all subfolders.
  • No: Collects files in the specified folder only.
Note: This parameter is read-only in the GPM.
Use the absolute file path name for the document name? (keepPath)Required. Whether to keep the absolute path name of the files collected when assigning the document name. Valid values:
  • Yes: The absolute file path name is kept with the document in the business process. Choose this value if your business process requires the path information to precede the file name.
  • No: Only the file name is kept with the document in the business process.
Note: An absolute path is a path that points to the same location regardless of the working directory or combined paths. It is written in reference to a root directory. For example, c:\dir1\subdir1\somefile.txt (Windows) and /home/dir1/subdir1/somefile.txt (UNIX) are examples of absolute paths to the file somefile.txt.