Use this topic when you need to add a source, staging, or target environment in DCT before linking a dSource or provisioning a VDB. In DCT, environments are registered and managed as Infrastructure Connections. When you add an environment in DCT, DCT connects the environment to the appropriate CD engine, which then maintains the connection and performs discovery. All Infrastructure Connections are listed under Home > Infrastructure Connections across all connected engines.
Adding an environment
Once the infrastructure for the environments has been set up and network connectivity requirements for the environments have been met, environments can be added through DCT. Source or staging environments will contain the datasets made available for ingestion or provisioning. Target environments will provide the database binaries and hardware to perform the virtualization actions. Before proceeding, we recommend installing the necessary dataset binaries on the environments.
To add an environment, in DCT navigate to Home > Infrastructure Connections and click + Infrastructure Connections to launch the Create Infrastructure Connection wizard. For step-by-step instructions, see Environment operations. For information about the Infrastructure Connections list and details page, see Infrastructure Connections. Once added, the connected CD engine will maintain a connection to the environment and begin the discovery process.
Discovering an environment
Each environment added through DCT is composed of two primary components: Installations (Dataset Homes) and Databases (Instances or Repositories). Installations contain the dataset’s binaries which maintain the specific Databases and datasets you plan to ingest. Each Database then maps to a single dSource which is a primary object in the ingestion model. The connected CD engine must keep track of all of these objects to perform ingestion and provisioning.
Once environments are added, the discovery process will automatically scan the source, staging, and target environment for available installations, databases, and files. Target environments should only contain binaries as their purpose is to provision virtual databases, but not source datasets. In test scenarios and with proper organization, the same environment can be used as both a staging and target environment.
However, not all data source connectors fully support automated discovery. Adding a dataset home or adding a database describes how to manually add these objects. These processes are also useful if automated discovery misses a Dataset Home or Database. Consult the data source connector’s Ecosystem documentation to understand which discovery mechanism each connector supports.
Once the Installations and Databases have been successfully discovered, you can continue to the dSource management phase. Follow Environment operations to learn more about the specific steps for each major action.