Introduction

This article provides detailed design information about the Connected System design object and its configuration options. A connected system represents an external system that is integrated with Appian. Connected systems allow you to share base URL and authentication details across multiple integrations. You can also upload a logo image to visually identify the system.

• To learn how to create a connected system, see Create a Connected System.
• To learn how to use connected system templates to connect to different systems, see Connected System Templates.
• To learn how to use a connected system when creating an integration, see Create an Integration.
• For a real-world example of how to to build and use connected systems and integrations, see the Integration Tutorial.

Properties

Each HTTP connected system has the following properties.

Field	Description
Name	The name of the connected system. Use a name that will uniquely identify this connection to the external system.
Description	Supplemental information about the connected system that is displayed when selecting the system in the integration designer and in the application contents grid.
System Logo	An image document used to visually represent the external system or service being connected to. The logo is displayed in the integration designer and in the process modeler on integrations that connect to this system (using the Call Integration Smart Service). If no document is selected a default logo will be used instead.
Base URL	A consistent prefix for the URLs of this connected system's integrations. This value supports environment specific configuration for variation across environments.
Authentication	The type of authentication to use for the integrations that use this connected system. None: No specific authentication will be applied. You can provide custom authentication values in the integration's URL, parameters, or headers as required by the external system. Client certificate/mutual SSL authentication can be enabled by uploading client certificates in the Admin Console. Basic: HTTP Basic authentication will be applied using the username and password provided. OAuth 2.0: OAuth 2.0 authentication will be applied using the fields provided. API Key: API key authentication allows you to securely store and pass an API key as either an HTTP header or a query parameter.

Base URL

Integrations created from a connected system can inherit its base URL. The designer can then use this base URL in conjunction with an expressible relative path to construct the full URL for an integration.

Authentication

There are several authentication options available for connected systems.

HTTP Basic Authentication Properties

The following properties are available for configuration when HTTP Basic Authentication is selected as the authentication type:

Field	Description
Username	The username to use for authentication. This value is encrypted and supports environment specific configuration.
Password	The password to use for authentication. This value is masked, encrypted, and supports environment specific configuration.
Send credentials preemptively instead of waiting for a 401 authentication challenge	Determines whether or not authentication credentials are sent only after a 401 Not Authorized response or, when selected, before the system has challenged.

OAuth 2.0 Properties

The following properties are available for configuration when OAuth 2.0 is selected as the authentication type:

Field	Description
Callback URI	Required (in the other system). This URI provided within the instructions of the configure authorization box. Follows the format: http:///suite/oauth/callback. This value should be entered into the third-party system's callback url field.
Authorization Endpoint	Required. The endpoint specified in the third-party system's documentation to the authorization server. Allows Appian to connect to the authorization server.
Client ID	Required. ID provided by the third-party system during the registration process.
Client Secret	Required. The password provided by the third-party system during the registration process. This field is masked to prevent unauthorized users from seeing and should be treated as a password.
Scope	Optional. Defines what resources are available from the resource server. Depending on what system Appian is connecting to, scope may be set from the connected system or within the third-party system directly.
Token Request Endpoint	Required. The endpoint specified in the third-party system's documentation to send the token to the resource server.

API Key Properties

Although API keys can be configured in the integration headers or parameters, the only way to securely configure an API key for an integration is by using the connected system object. The following properties are available for configuration when API key is selected as the authentication type:

Field	Description
Send As	Required. This field specifies whether the API key should be sent as an http header or a query parameter.
Header/Parameter Name	Required. The key identifier of the API key.
Value	Required. The key value of the API key. This value is masked to prevent unauthorized users from seeing and should be treated as a password.

Security

The security rolemap of the connected system controls who can see or modify the connected system properties.

The following actions can be completed by each role:

Actions	Administrator	Editor	Viewer	Deny
Evaluate integrations that use this connected system	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Select this connected system when creating an integration	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
View properties/definition	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Update properties/definition	Yes	Yes	No	No
View security	Yes	Yes	No	No
Update security	Yes	No	No	No
Delete object	Yes	No	No	No