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Version: 3.2

Data Sources

Data Sources are the database connections Cortex uses to access your archived system data. Starting with v3.0, connections are managed directly inside the Cortex web app, allowing you to define any number of connections — including multiple connections to the same system type — without modifying server configuration files.

For background on how Data Sources relate to the installer and appsettings.json connection strings, see: Database Connections

Supported Data Source Types​

Cortex supports the following archive data source types:

SystemDatabase EngineHow Cortex accesses it
Cherwell (CSM)SQL ServerDirect database connection to the Cherwell SQL Server database
ServiceNowMariaDB, SQL Server, or PostgreSQLConnection to the restored ServiceNow database export
Ivanti Neurons for ITSMSQL ServerDirect database connection to the Neurons database
Jira Service ManagementPostgreSQLConnection to the Jira PostgreSQL database
ManageEngine ServiceDesk PlusPostgreSQLDirect database connection to the ManageEngine PostgreSQL database
Web Help DeskSQL ServerConnection to the Web Help Desk SQL Server database
Generic SQL ServerSQL ServerConnection to any SQL Server database with relationship-aware browsing and search

Managing Existing Connections​

Where you edit a connection depends on how it was originally configured.

If a connection string was set up through the Cortex Installer or the Cortex System Manager, any changes to it must also be made through the Cortex System Manager. Because those connections are written to appsettings.json and loaded on startup, edits made to them in the web UI will be overwritten the next time the application restarts.

If a Data Source was created directly in the web UI (rather than via the installer or System Manager), you can continue to manage it entirely from the web UI without any risk of changes being reverted.

Source-system-specific settings​

Some source systems have extra configuration, found under their own tab when editing a data source (Data Sources > Edit Data Sources > edit the data source).

Cherwell​

  • Group Member Fields (Cherwell tab > Group Member Fields) - controls whether the search builder's field list for a related group business object includes every group member's fields, or only the group leader's. By default, only the group leader's fields are available when you add a search filter on a related group object. Checking Include all group member fields in search builder adds every field from every group member instead. This matters when the object you are searching has a relationship to a group leader - such as Specifics or a Configuration Item - and you need to filter or display a field that only exists on a group member, not the leader. With the setting enabled, searches and results grids correctly resolve fields from any group member.
  • Field-Level Visibility (Cherwell tab > Field-Level Visibility) - controls whether Cortex honors the View right your Cherwell security groups grant on individual fields. Off by default, in which case a user who can see a record sees every field on it. See Security Groups for details.
  • Windows Authentication (Cherwell tab > Windows Authentication) - Match Windows-authenticated users by logon name only matches a Windows user to their Cherwell user record by logon name, ignoring any leading DOMAIN\ token and letter case, for sites whose Windows principals and stored login IDs differ in those ways. Off by default. See Windows Authentication.
  • Halo iframe embed (Cherwell tab > Embed / Halo) - the same Cherwell tab stores the iframe secret(s) used to verify embedded Halo custom tabs. See Halo integration for the full setup, including multiple-secret support added in version 3.1.2.

ServiceNow, Ivanti Neurons, Jira, ManageEngine​

Source-system-specific settings for these connections aren't documented here yet. If you're configuring one of these and something isn't covered, contact support.

note

Full documentation for this page, including screenshots, is coming soon.

Adding a New Data Source​

To add a new data source from the Cortex web UI:

  1. Navigate to Admin → Data Sources.
  2. Click Add Data Source.
  3. Select the data source type from the dropdown.
  4. Configure the connection string for your database(see Database Connections for connection string format per type).
  5. Click Test Connection to verify the settings.
  6. Click Save.

The new data source will appear in the Cortex navigation menu, giving you access to browse, search, and view records from that archive!

Data Source-Specific Features​

Each data source type offers different capabilities depending on the source system's schema and features:

  • Cherwell — Full browse, search, forms, saved searches, attachments, relationships, and administration tools including the Database Inspector and theme system.

  • ServiceNow — Browse, search, record forms, related lists, full-text search(on MariaDB, SQL Server, and PostgreSQL), CSV export, configurable display timezone, attribute mappings,and database inspector diagnostics.

  • ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus — Browse, search, record forms with status/priority badges, saved searches, attachments(with AES-128-CBC decryption support)and database inspector tools.

  • Web Help Desk — Browse, search, structured filtering, paging, and canonical table mappings.

  • Generic SQL Server — Relationship-aware browsingand search. Supports any SQL Server database,with automatic relationship discovery where applicable.

  • Jira Service Management — Browse, search,and record viewing.

  • Ivanti Neurons — Browse, search,and record viewing.

Permissions​

Data Sources require a database account with at least db_datareader permissions on the archive database. See SQL Server Security for details on configuring the appropriate permissions for each data source type.

See also​