How to: Create 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. You can also package the extensible connectivity management agent into a management agent that you can distribute with the connected data source extension to other Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service (FIM Synchronization Service) servers.

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

The topic assumes you are familiar with the following tasks:

• Creating Connected Data Source Extensions.

• Configuring management agents in FIM Synchronization Service. For more information, see Management Agents on TechNet.

• 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 create only a distributable management agent from the extensible connectivity management agent.

To create a packaged management agent

1. Create an extensible connectivity management agent in Synchronization Service Manager. For more information, see Extensible Management Agent on TechNet.

2. Export the extensible connectivity management agent to a server configuration XML file. For more information, see the FIM Synchronization Service help on TechNet.

3. Create a customization file to identify your management agent and to specify how your management agent appears in Synchronization Service Manager. See Creating a Customization File.

4. Use the Management Agent Packaging Tool Reference 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 FIM Synchronization Service server, either by using a Setup program or by doing it manually. See Installing the Packaged Management Agent and Connected Data Source Extension.

6. Create the management agent in the FIM Synchronization Service server. For more information, see Forefront Identity Manager Technical Reference.

Creating a Customization File

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

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>

The following XML example shows a customization file for a management agent that is created by a fictional company named Fabrikam.

<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 the Create Management Agent dialog box.

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

Using the Management Agent Packaging Tool

After you export the server configuration of your extensible connectivity management agent to an XML file and create 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 into the folder, UIShell\XMLs\PackagedMAs, which is part of the FIM Synchronization Service program folder. The default folder is %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Forefront Identity Management\2010\Synchronization Service. For more information, see Management Agent Packaging Tool Reference.

Installing the Packaged Management Agent and Connected Data Source Extension

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

File	Folder
Packaged Management Agent XML file	%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Forefront Identity Management\2010\Synchronization Service\UIShell\XMLs\PackagedMAs
Connected Data Source Extension files	%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Forefront Identity Management\2010\Synchronization Service\Extensions

Note

Close Synchronization Service Manager before you copy the XML file of the distributable management agent to the folder. The management agent might not appear in the Management agent list in Create Management Agent in Synchronization Service Manager if the management agent file was copied to the folder while Synchronization Service Manager is open.

To verify that the files were installed in the correct folders, open Synchronization Service Manager and create a management agent. In the Create Management Agent dialog box, your management agent should be in the Management agent list box. For more information, see "Configure Management Agents with Management Agent Designer" in the FIM Synchronization Service Help on TechNet.

See Also

Reference

<ma-customization-info>

Concepts

Using Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service
Creating Connected Data Source Extensions
Connected Data Source Extensions Code Examples