Manage Configurations

The configuration is an extremely important concept. It is the scope for many operations, including lineage analysis, search, version management, etc. In this way, what would otherwise be an overload of information (everything in the repository) is instead well managed according to the configuration of metadata one is interested in analyzing or working with. The name configuration comes from the concept of "Version & Configuration Management" where a configuration is a collocation of particular version of models.

A valid configuration consists of a collection of model versions, mapping versions, glossaries and stitchings. The model versions relate to data stores and data processes that have been harvested into MetaKarta.

A configuration may be understood as any of the following:

Repository workspace - a collection of repository objects to be analyzed together (search, browse, reports, etc.) as a technical scope, or business area under the same access permission scope.
Enterprise architecture - a collection of data store models (ODS, data staging areas, data warehouses, data marts, etc.) and data process models (ETL/DI, and BI) connected together through data flow stitching.
Design workflow - a collection of conceptual, logical and physical models connected (semantically stitched) together through semantic mappings modeling the design process.

A configuration may have one or more configuration versions. configuration versions may be understood each as a different collection of versions of repository objects. In this way, one can define several configuration versions, each containing various versions of the repository objects. As a result, one may perform

Historical analysis using configuration versions containing older versions of models which were deployed at some time in the past
What-if analysis using configuration versions containing the versions of models which may be deployed in the future.

One may also publish a configuration version or make it available to users of the Published version. In this way, a configuration may be used by an administrator of MetaKarta to ensure the completeness and correctness of what is visible to business users and how all users search and analyze within the full complexity of MetaKarta.

MetaKarta accomplishes this management within the UI by way of the configuration Manager. This tool provides a drag and drop based visual interface for constructing configurations of repository objects. One may:

Define any number of configurations
Publish a configuration to a different set of users (by group)
Publish none, some, or all configurations.

In this way, one has infinitely fine control of who sees what and when they may see it.

For viewing rights to a model (or glossary, etc.), the simplest best practice is to control viewing via configuration access, and not through restricting viewer rights to specific objects which may be in a configuration. This suggestion follows from the fact that any user who needs to open a configuration MUST ALSO have view permissions to all of the models in the configuration (either by explicitly assigning the Metadata Viewing capability object role assignment to all the objects contained, or if no such assignment has been made, then the object is by default viewable). So, the easiest way to manage access to a model is to simply not include it in any open configuration.

Again, if ANY model of a configuration is not viewable by a user then the entire configuration is not viewable by that user.

Create a New Configuration

Steps

Sign in as a user with at least the Metadata Management capability object role assignment on the folder where the configuration will go.
Go to MANAGE > Repository.

Be sure the Repository Panel is filtered to enable showing of versions.

Right click on a folder In the Repository Panel where you want the configuration to be located, and select New > Configuration.

Set the Current Configuration

The current Configuration is the one presented in the right hand side of the header. You are always assigned a current configuration and all the benefits and simplicity of working within just that configuration are available to you.

If you wish to switch to a different configuration, making the new one the current configuraton, you may do so as long as you have a role with full metadata viewer capability object role assignment on the configuration and ALL of its contents.

Steps

Sign in as a user with at least the Metadata Viewer capability object role assignment on the configuration you wish to switch to and its contents.
Either
Go to MANAGE > Repository and pick a configuration (and optionally a version) and right-click and select Switch to the configuration
Click the current configuration name in the right hand side of the header and select any configuration

Example

Click the current configuration name in the right hand side of the header.

Pick one of the configurations.

You are presented with the homepage, just as if you had signed into that configuration directly.

If you wish to switch to a different configuration, making the new one the current configuration, you may do so as long as you have a role with full metadata viewer capability object role assignment on the configuration and ALL of its contents.

Manage a Configuration

Once you have a configuration, you may manage the configuration. In particular, you may identify the models of the configuration, add and remove models, configure the import of models, stitch models together and review versions, import logs and responsibilities.

Steps

Sign in as a user with at least the Metadata Management capability object role assignment on the folder where the configuration will go.
Either
- Go to MANAGE > Repository and pick a configuration (and optionally a version) and right-click and select Switch to the configuration
Once you have set the configuration to the one you want, go to MANAGE > Configuration.

Example

Sign in as Administrator.

Go to MANAGE > Configuration.

Click Adjustments.

Go to the Import Setup tab and Import Options tab to configure this model for import.

Go to the Responsibilities tab to define permissions and associate roles.

Go to the Log tab to inspect import logs.

Go to the Connections tab to stitch models together for data flow lineage.

Explorer Further

Build a Configuration

Once you have a configuration that is complete, with connection definitions resolved, you may Build the configuration. This action allows users to perform lineage and impact analysis with the configuration, as well as semantic definition and usage reporting. It is required before any of that analysis may be made accurately in that configuration versions.

Steps

Sign in as a user with at least the Metadata Management capability object role assignment on the Configuration you are in.
Go to the MANAGE > Configuration in the banner.
Click Build.

Build validates the stitching in the configuration and then builds indexes for lineage traces.

There are various options in the Build dialog.

UPDATE VERSIONS will update the configuration to ensure that they default or latest version of the contained models are the versions included in this configuration version. This insures that the newly imported model versions are included before rebuilding connections

A screenshot of a computer Description automatically
generated

Note, this option is grayed out in this example as there are no model versions to update.

REBUILD ALL CONNECTIONS option to rebuild all connections, even those already successfully resolved.

Example

Sign in as a user with at least the Metadata Management capability object role assignment on the configuration.

Go to MANAGE > Configuration and click the Build button and specify REBUILD ALL CONNECTIONS. Click BUILD.

Assign a Group to a Configuration

Groups may be assigned to a particular configuration. In this way, any users who are associated with that group are presented with only that configuration and its published version, by default. They may choose other configurations and versions if they have permissions to those or are a member of a groups that is not assigned to a configuration..

Publish a Configuration

A configuration may have one or more configuration versions. configuration versions may be understood each as a different collection of versions of repository objects. In this way, one can define several configuration versions, each containing various versions of the repository objects. As a result, one may perform

Historical analysis using configuration versions containing older versions of models which were deployed at some time in the past
What-if analysis using configuration versions containing the versions of models which may be deployed in the future.

One may publish a configuration version, or make it the default in the UI. In this way, a configuration may be used by an administrator of MetaKarta to ensure the completeness and correctness of what is visible to business users and how all users search and analyze within the full complexity of MetaKarta.

Steps

Sign in as a user with at least the Metadata Management capability object role assignment on the folder where the configuration will go.
Go to MANAGE > Repository.

Be sure the Repository Panel is filtered to enable showing of versions.

Expand the configuration to show versions.

Be sure the Repository Panel is filtered to show the model versions.

Right click on the configuration version in the Repository Panel and select Publish.

Publish a Model to Any Configuration

See publish a version.

Manage Configuration Structure

The models contained within a configuration may be organized into configuration folders.

Steps

Sign in as a user with at least the Metadata Editing capability object role assignment on the configuration.
Go to MANAGE > Repository.

Be sure the Repository Panel is filtered to enable showing of versions.

Click the configuration version you wish to define or update the structure for.
Go to the Models tab.
Use the Add action of the configuration editor to add a folder and the Delete action to remove one.
Drag and drop models into folders, or the root, to reorganize them.

Example

Sign in as Administrator. Go to MANAGE > Repository. Expand the Published configuration and pick a version of the configuration.

Select the Configuration root, click on More Actions and select Add > Folder

Enter the name "Accounting" and click CREATE.

Drag and drop models to add them to this folder.

Automatic Configuration Update

The configuration automatic update/build is always active with MetaKarta standard editions (without support for any version and configuration management). In this case, any model import (manual or scheduled operation) automatically updates and rebuilds the (only) configuration with the newly imported metadata.

However, with MetaKarta advanced editions (with support version and configuration management) there is much more flexibility driven by two options:

MANAGE > Configuration > Import Options you may use the Set new versions as default checkbox(The user must still perform a Update/Build on the configuration version)
In user preferences you may use the UPDATE THE CONFIGURATION AUTOMATICALLY WHEN IMPORTING NEW VERSION OF A MODEL checkbox. This option is checked by default. It only applies to the specified user and is a UI option for manual imports. However, if checked, after a manual import then MetaKarta performs an Update/Build the current configuration version. If the model is not in the current configuration version, it will be added.

There are two ways a model can be imported:

Manually on Manage > Configuration (or Repository) > Model > Import

update/build the current configuration if set on user preference
Automatically on Manage > Schedules > Operation or the REST API to import a model > never update/build any configuration

Steps

Sign in as a user with at least the Metadata Management capability object role assignment on the configuration.
Go to your avatar and Preferences in the upper right.
Check the UPDATE THE CONFIGURATION AUTOMATICALLY WHEN IMPORTING NEW VERSION OF A MODEL.

Example

Sign in as Administrator. Go to your avatar and Preferences in the upper right.

Check the UPDATE THE CONFIGURATION AUTOMATICALLY WHEN IMPORTING NEW VERSION OF A MODEL.

Click APPLY.

You may also uncheck to turn off automatic update.

The configuration automatic update/build is always active with licensed standard editions (without support for any version and configuration management). In this case, any model import (manual or scheduled operation) automatically updates and rebuilds the (only) configuration with the newly imported metadata. It only applies to the specified user and is a UI option for manual imports. However, if checked, after a manual import then the product performs an Update/Build the current configuration version.

Scheduling the Migration of Models (Update) and Build of a Configuration

The automatic update is convenient for simple repositories and configurations, where a single configuration contains everything and you simply wish to publish the current version of everything. However, in more complex environments, with multiple configurations, multiple versions of configurations, very large models and large numbers of models, mappings, etc., the automatic update associated with the manual import process options is not appropriate. Instead, one should use the scheduling features of MetaKarta to ensure that model harvesting and configuration updates and building ARE scheduled to work in concert and only during low activity hours and days of the week.

Steps

Sign in as a user with at least the Application Administrator capability global role assignment.
Go to MANAGE > Schedules.
Click Add.
Select the subset of the repository (folder or only one configuration) to schedule.
Select Update default configuration version in the Operation pull-down.
Specify the schedule.
Click Create.

Example

You may enable or disable a schedule without deleting it by either clicking on the schedule and then the Enable checkbox or by selecting the schedules you wish to set in the list and right-clicking.

Migration of Models (Update) and Build of a Specific Version of a Configuration

One may also manually apply the Update configuration version operation to a specific version of a configuration by selecting the specific version in the Repository Manager. However, this operation may not be scheduled.

Configuration History

The history tab presents the audit log for that configuration. You may download it to CSV, as well.

Steps

Sign in as a user with at least the Metadata Management capability object role assignment on the configuration.
Go to MANAGE > Repository.
Select the configuration you wish to show history for.
Go to the History tab.

You may download it to CSV using the Download icon.

Example

Sign in as Administrator and go to MANAGE > Repository.

Select the Demo Enterprise Architecture configuration and go to the History tab.

Manage Configuration Versions

In some cases, one may wish to maintain a version history for a configuration. E.g., one may wish to maintain historical snapshot version of a configuration of model versions for historical analysis. In addition, one may wish to perform what-if analysis by placing the latest, but not approved, version of the models in a new (and unpublished) version of that configuration.

As with models, these configuration versions are individual objects within the Repository and represent the configuration of the models at a specific point in time.

The Administrator may manage any number of Configuration versions.

Additionally, when one sets a version of a configuration to Published status, it is then presented by default in the UI. I.e., one is really designating a specific version of that configuration as the published version. This means that one may publish a precise collection of model versions.

In all cases, the metadata explorer UI only shows the published version of a configuration, which is simply seen as the configuration.

While many models in the repository (e.g., models, glossaries, etc.) may have multiple versions, semantic mappings, along with data mappings, do not version. In this way, one does not need to maintain separate versions by version of configuration.

Manually Update All Versions in a Configuration

Just as you may define configurations for automatic update of new model versions which are contained in that configuration, you may use the Update and build option to do so manually. In this way, for each contained model, the latest version is included in the configuration. Then the configuration is Built as part of the process.

Steps

Sign in as a user with at least the Metadata Management capability object role assignment on the configuration.
Go to MANAGE > Repository.
Right-click the configuration version you wish to update and select Switch to this configuration.
Select the Update and build option in the More Actions menu at the upper right.

Example

Sign in as Administrator and go to MANAGE > Repository and then the Repository Panel.

Right-click the Demo Enterprise Architecture > Published configuration version and select Switch to this configuration.

Click the Update and Build button.

Create a Read-Only Snapshot of a Configuration

A read-only snapshot version of a configuration contains:

A self-contained configuration version that is read-only
Contains
The currently (at the time of the snapshot) included versions of any imported models
Read-only snapshot version (created as a part of the snapshot process) of any:
- Custom models
- Physical data models
- Mappings.

Steps

Sign in as a user with at least the Repository Manager capability object role assignment on the original configuration and the folder containing the configuration, Metadata Viewing capability object role assignment on the original configuration and on all the contained models.
Go to MANAGE > Repository.
Right-click the configuration version you wish to snapshot and select Create a Snapshot.

Example

Sign in Administrator and go to MANAGE > Repository. Right-click the Published version of the Demo Enterprise Architecture configuration and select Create a Snapshot.

And you have a new version (snapshot) of the configuration:

The pad-lock symbol on the new configuration version indicates that it is read-only.

The pad-lock symbol on the new configuration version indicates that it is read-only.

This new configuration version also includes a newly created glossary version for the Enterprise Glossary, so that future edits will not be reflected in the copy.

Create a copy of a configuration version

A copy of a version of a configuration contains:

A self-contained configuration version
Contains
The currently (at the time of the copy) included versions of any imported models
Versions (created as a part of the copy process) of any:
- Custom models
- Physical data models
- Mappings.

Steps

Sign in as a user with at least the Repository Manager capability object role assignment on the original configuration and the folder containing the configuration, Metadata Viewing capability object role assignment on the original configuration and on all the contained models.
Go to MANAGE > Repository.
Right-click the configuration version you wish to snapshot and select Create a Copy.

Example

Sign in Administrator and go to MANAGE > Repository. Right-click the Published version of the Demo Enterprise Architecture configuration and select Create a Copy.

And you have a new version of the configuration:

This new configuration version also includes a newly created glossary version for the Enterprise Glossary, so that future edits will not be reflected in the copy.