5.2 Preparing the ZIS and the Student Information System

The Zone Integration Server (ZIS) must be configured to recognize the driver as a SIF Agent, just as you would do for other SIF Agents. The driver works with but does not change data from the Student Information System, but you can optimize the data if desired.

You can complete these steps either before or after you create a Driver object in the Identity Vault for the Identity Manager Driver for SIF, but you must complete them for the driver to receive information.

5.2.1 Configuring the ZIS to Recognize the Driver

The Zone Integration Server (ZIS) must be configured to recognize the Identity Manager Driver for SIF as a SIF Agent. The driver can’t receive any information about students or staff until this has been done.

The ZIS administrator should configure the ZIS to recognize the driver by doing the following tasks. Refer to your ZIS documentation for instructions.

  1. Specify the SIF Agent name for the driver, such as Novell Identity Manager.

    This is the name the driver uses to register with the ZIS. It must be the same name you specify in the SIF Agent Name field when you create the Driver object, as described in Section 5.1, Creating and Configuring the Driver.

    The default name is Novell Identity Manager. If you want to use a different name, keep in mind that it must be unique within each Zone, and it is case sensitive.

  2. Specify the SIF objects the driver has access to:

    • StudentPersonal

    • StudentSchoolEnrollment

    • SchoolInfo

    • StaffPersonal

    • EmployeePersonal

    • Authorization

    For these SIF objects, the driver should have Add, Change, Delete, Subscribe, and Request rights.

    If the driver is also the SIF Provider, it should have Publish and Response rights.

  3. Specify that the driver is a pull agent.

  4. Give the driver permission to request the ZoneStatus object.

  5. Set up security, if desired. This is explained in Section 6.2, Setting Up Security.

5.2.2 Optimizing Data in the Student Information System

The Identity Manager Driver for SIF is designed to work as a SIF Agent without requiring any change in the Student Information System, but there is one aspect of the Student Information System that can be optimized.

According to the SIF implementation specification, the StudentPersonal object provides the student’s name, the StudentSchoolEnrollment object provides the grade, and the SchoolInfo object provides the school code. However, some Student Information Systems can be configured to also provide school and grade information with the StudentPersonal object, in the OtherID attribute.

Student placement is done most efficiently when the Student Information System provides the school and grade to the driver using the OtherId attribute of the StudentPersonal object. If possible, have the Student Information System administrator configure it this way.

No corresponding change to the driver configuration is necessary. These values are handled in the Input Transformation, which is configured to accept the school and grade information from either the StudentSchoolEnrollment object or the OtherID attribute.