Creating Management Agents

For data sources without management agents, you can synchronize the data by using the extensible connectivity management agent with a connected data source extension. The extensible connectivity management agent can also be packaged into a management agent that can be distributed with the connected data source extension to other MIIS servers.

This topic shows you how to package an extensible connectivity management agent into a packaged management agent that can be distributed to other MIIS servers.

The topic assumes you are familiar with the following tasks:

• Creating connected data source extensions
• Configuring management agents in MIIS. For more information, see Work with Management Agents in the Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Help.
• Creating XML files.
• Using command-line utility programs.
• Creating installation programs.

Note  The only management agent that can be packaged is the extensible connectivity management agent. The Management Agent Packaging Tool can only create a distributable management agent from the extensible connectivity management agent.

To Create A Packaged Management Agent

1. Create an extensible connectivity management agent in Identity Manager. For more information, see Configure Management Agents with Management Agent Designer in the Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Help.
2. Export the extensible connectivity management agent to a server configuration XML file. For more information, see Export a management agent to file in the Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Help.
3. Create a customization file to identify your management agent and to specify how your management agent appears in Identity Manager. See Creating a customization file.
4. Use the Management Agent Packaging Tool with the server configuration XML file and the customization XML to package the extensible management agent. See Using the Management Agent Packaging Tool
5. Copy the packaged management agent and the connected data source extension into the MIIS server, either using a setup program or manually. See Installing the Packaged Management Agent and Connected Data Source Extension.
6. Create the management agent in the MIIS server. For more information, see Configure Management Agents with Management Agent Designer in the Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Help.

Creating a Customization File

The Management Agent Packaging Tool requires a customization file to create a packaged management agent. The contents of this file are used in Identity Manager to display your packaged management agent, and internally by MIIS.

The customization file is an XML file that contains the following elements:

• <ma-customization-info>
  • <ma-internal-version>
  • <ma-companyname>
  • <ma-subtype>
  • <ma-listname>
  • <ma-help-text>

<ma-customization-info>
	<ma-internal-version>1</ma-internal-version>
	<ma-companyname>Fabrikam</ma-companyname>
	<ma-subtype>Fabrikam ECMA</ma-subtype>
	<ma-listname>Fabrikam Custom Management Agent</ma-listname>
	<ma-help-text>This is the text that appears in the Create Management Agent dialog box.</ma-help-text>   
</ma-customization-info>

The following illustration shows where some of the elements are used in Create Management Agent.

The <ma-internal-version> and <ma-subtype> elements are used internally my MIIS. For more information about these elements, see Configuration File XML Reference.

Using the Management Agent Packaging Tool

After exporting the server configuration of your extensible connectivity management agent to an XML file and creating the customization file, you can use the Management Agent Packaging Tool to create a distributable management agent.

The Management Agent Packaging Tool combines the server configuration and customization files into an XML file. You then put this file the following folder: UIShell\XMLs\PackagedMAs, which is part of the MIIS program folder. The default folder is C:\Program Files\Microsoft Identity Integration Server. For more information, see Management Agent Packaging Tool Reference.

Installing the Packaged Management Agent and Connected Data Source Extension

The distributable management agent and connected data source extension can be copied to the appropriate directories either manually or through a setup program. The following table shows the default folders for these files.

Note  Close Identity Manager before copying the XML file of the distributable management agent to the folder. The management agent might not appear in the Management agent list box of Create Management Agent in Identity Manager if the management agent file was copied to the folder with Identity Manager open.

To verify that the files were installed in the correct folders, open Identity Manager and create a management agent. In Create Management Agent, your management agent should be in the Management agent list box. For more information, see Configure Management Agents with Management Agent Designer in the Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Help.