Running from the source code

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Running from the source code

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The basic way to run connectors is to clone the repository and run the code locally. This is a good option if you are comfortable with Python and want to iterate quickly.

Initial setup in Kibana

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Follow the Connector workflow in the Kibana UI to select the Connector ingestion method.

Next, complete these steps:

  1. Choose which third-party service you’d like to use by selecting a data source.
  2. Create and name a new Elasticsearch index.
  3. Generate a new API key and save it somewhere safe.
  4. Name your connector and provide an optional description
  5. Convert native connector to a connector client (Only applicable if connector is also available natively). This action is irreversible.
  6. Copy the configuration block from the example shown on the screen. You’ll use this in a later step:

    # ...
    connectors:
      - connector_id: <CONNECTOR-ID>
        api_key: <API-KEY> # Scoped API key for this connector (optional). If not specified, the top-level `elasticsearch.api_key` value is used.
        service_type: gmail # example
Clone the repository and edit config.yml
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Once you’ve created an index, and entered the access details for your data source, you’re ready to deploy the connector service.

First, you need to clone the elastic/connectors repository.

Follow these steps:

  • Clone or fork the connectors repository locally with the following command: git clone https://github.com/elastic/connectors.
  • Run make config to generate your initial config.yml file
  • Open the config.yml configuration file in your editor of choice.
  • Replace the values for host (your Elasticsearch endpoint), api_key, connector_id, and service_type.

    Expand to see an example config.yml file

    Replace the values for api_key, connector_id, and service_type with the values you copied earlier.

    elasticsearch:
      api_key: <key1> # Used to write data to .elastic-connectors and .elastic-connectors-sync-jobs
                    # Any connectors without a specific `api_key` value will default to using this key
    connectors:
      - connector_id: 1234
        api_key: <key2> # Used to write data to the `search-*` index associated with connector 1234
                        # You may have multiple connectors in your config file!
      - connector_id: 5678
        api_key: <key3> # Used to write data to the `search-*` index associated with connector 5678
      - connector_id: abcd # No explicit api key specified, so this connector will use <key1>

    API keys for connectors

    You can configure multiple connectors in your config.yml file.

    The Kibana UI enables you to create API keys that are scoped to a specific index/connector. If you don’t create an API key for a specific connector, the top-level elasticsearch.api_key or elasticsearch.username:elasticsearch.password value is used.

    If these top-level Elasticsearch credentials are not sufficiently privileged to write to individual connector indices, you’ll need to create these additional, scoped API keys.

    Use the example above as a guide.

Run the connector service
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You need Python version 3.10 to run the connectors service from source.

Once you’ve configured the connector code, you can run the connector service.

In your terminal or IDE:

  1. cd into the root of your connectors clone/fork.
  2. Run the following commands to compile and run the connector service:

    make install
    make run

The connector service should now be running. The UI will let you know that the connector has successfully connected to your Elasticsearch instance.

As a reminder, here we’re working locally. In a production setup, you’ll deploy the connector service to your own infrastructure.