Key Capabilities
- GISB protocol support for energy sector B2B communications
- Digital signature and encryption capabilities with key management
- Receipt processing and acknowledgment handling for reliable delivery
- Support for multiple GISB versions with configurable protocol options
Overview
A GISB connection is configured in two places. Configure the GISB Profiles page with a local GISB identifier, personal key, and other information that is global across all GISB connections. Then configure individual GISB connectors with connection settings specific to a single trading partner. When a GISB connector processes an input file, it is packaged and sent to the specified trading partner. When receives a file over GISB, it attempts to route the file to a specific GISB connector. The application uses the GISB identifiers in the message to determine which GISB connector should receive the file. When a file is routed to a GISB connector, that file is placed on the connector’s Transactions tab, or is passed along to the next connector in the flow.Profile Configuration
The GISB profile must be configured before connections can be established with individual GISB connectors. Click Profiles > GISB on the navbar.GISB Profile Tab
Personal Id
Settings for identifying the local profile.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| GISB Identifier | Your GISB identifier. Messages sent by include this value as the GISB-From header. Incoming messages must have this value as the GISB-To header to be successfully received. GISB Identifiers are case-sensitive. |
Personal Key
Settings related to the private decryption and signature certificate.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Secret Key | The key that is used to decrypt incoming messages and sign outgoing messages. |
| Passphrase | The password required to access the local secret key. |
Application URLs
Settings and displayed values related to accessing from the public web.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Receiving URL | The URL at which listens for incoming GISB messages. Share this URL with all your trading partners. |
Miscellaneous
Connector Configuration
This section contains all of the configurable connector properties.Settings Tab
Trading Partner Info
Settings for identifying and connecting to a specific trading partner.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Connector Id | The static, unique identifier for the connector. |
| Connector Type | Displays the connector name and a description of what it does. |
| Connector Description | An optional field to provide a free-form description of the connector and its role in the flow. |
| GISB Identifier | The identifier specific to the target trading partner. This value is included in outgoing messages, and it is also used to route incoming messages to the appropriate GISB connector. |
| Partner URL | The trading partner’s public endpoint where outgoing messages should be sent. |
| GISB Version | The protocol version of the GISB client. |
Connection Info
Settings related to connection parameters for the specified trading partner.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Send Message Security | Whether to sign and/or encrypt outgoing messages. CData strongly recommends that you use signatures and encryption. |
| Receive Message Security | Whether to require that signatures and encryption are present for incoming messages. An error is thrown if a received message does not have a required security parameter. |
| Client Timeout | The length of time (in seconds) the connector waits for a connection response before throwing a timeout error. |
Receipts
Settings related to sending and requesting message receipts.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Security | Whether receipts should include a signature block verifying the message integrity and identity of the recipient. |
Trading Partner Keys/Certificates
Settings related to the public certificates provided by the trading partner.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Recipient Key Certificate | The public key used for encryption and signature verification. Use the Import Key button, then browse to the key to import. |
| TLS Server Certificate | The public certificate used to verify the identity of a TLS/SSL server. This is only necessary if the partner’s GISB system requires HTTPS instead of HTTP. If the trading partner does not provide a TLS server certificate, you can leave this setting blank to allow the underlying OS/JVM to perform certificate validation, or set it to Any Certificate to unconditionally trust the target server’s identity. |
Advanced Tab
Alternate Local Profile
Settings that override the GISB configuration on the Profiles page for this specific GISB connector. Setting an alternate local profile allows the use of different local keys and identifiers for individual trading partners.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Local GISB Identifier | Your GISB identifier. |
| Secret Key | The key that is used to decrypt incoming messages and sign outgoing messages. |
| Passphrase | The password required to access the local secret key. |
TLS Client Authentication
HTTP Authentication
Settings related to HTTP client authentication.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| HTTP Authentication | Whether to use client HTTP authentication. |
| HTTP Authentication Type | Whether to provide HTTP authentication credentials in an encrypted format (Digest) or in plain text (Basic). Only use Basic authentication if the connection is an HTTPS connection (instead of HTTP). |
| User | The user credential for HTTP client authentication. |
| Password | The password credential for HTTP client authentication. |
Proxy Settings
Advanced Settings
Settings not included in the previous categories.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Compression Method | The algorithm to use when compressing outgoing payloads. |
| EDI Type | The type of EDI message to use. The default is X12. |
| Encrypting Algorithm | The algorithm to use when encrypting outgoing messages. |
| Fold Headers | Check this to have the connector fold the headers if the headers are over a certain length. |
| Packet Type | Check this to have the connector read the features from the Recipient Key Certificate to determine if the older packet type is required. If the key requires the older packet type, it is used. |
| Sign and Encrypt | Check this to have the connector perform signing and encryption in the same step. |
| Signing Algorithm | The algorithm to use when signing outgoing messages. |
| TLS Enabled Protocols | The list of TLS/SSL protocols supported when establishing outgoing connections. Best practice is to only use TLS protocols. SSL v2 and SSL v3 are considered vulnerable and should only be used if your partner does not support higher versions. Keep in mind that TLS v1.3 is not universally adopted, and might be refused if the destination server does not support it. |
| Temp File | Check this to have the connector write data to be processed to a temp file, then move the temp file into processing after it has been fully written. |
| Local File Scheme | A scheme for assigning filenames to messages that are output by the connector. You can use macros in your filenames dynamically to include information such as identifiers and timestamps. For more information, see Macros. |
| Processing Delay | The amount of time (in seconds) by which the processing of files placed in the Transactions tab is delayed. This is a legacy setting. Best practice is to use a File connector to manage local file systems instead of this setting. |
Message
Logging
Miscellaneous
Automation Tab
Automation Settings
Settings related to the automatic processing of files by the connector.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Send | Whether files arriving at the connector are automatically sent as GISB messages. |
| Retry Interval | The amount of time before a failed send is retried. A retry is triggered when the server does not respond to a send attempt, or responds negatively to communicate that the file was not received. |
| Max Attempts | The maximum number of times the connector processes the input file. Success is based on a successful server acknowledgement and validation of the receipt (when requested synchronously). If this is set to 0, the connector retries the file indefinitely. |
Performance
Alerts Tab
SLAs Tab
Partner Setup
Trading partners must share the connection details that are required when configuring a new GISB connector. At a minimum, these details must include:- GISB Identifier
- Partner URL
- Recipient Key Certificate