11.3 Editing Attribute Values of Objects in the Catalog

After you have published data, you can view the items, such as users and applications, along with their attributes, such as a user’s phone number. Identity Governance attribute values are generally displayed as plain text. The Description field includes the option to display text in HTML. For example, when HTML or markdown elements are collected, curated, or entered when creating a permission, the description will render as HTML, and other fields will display as plain text in the catalog and within other functional areas such as reviews and policies.

To view the attributes of a specific item in the catalog, click Catalog, the type of data you want to view, and the object you want to view.

To edit attribute values individually, click the pencil icon for that item. Identity Governance displays any attributes that the Data Administrator has designated as editable, along with the current attribute value. When you edit the data, you override the originally collected content, and Identity Governance displays an icon next to the value to indicate the change. Any attribute that you edit will be persisted through subsequent collection and publication, even if the original value for the attribute changes. You can later reset the attribute value to its collected value. You can also associate tags, or metadata, so you can more easily identify the information when you create and perform a review.

To edit multiple attributes at the same time, see the following sections:

NOTE:

  • You can edit only the attributes that are marked as editable.

  • You can add new external attributes each time you collect data from a data source. However, after you publish the data for that collector, you cannot remove the attributes.

  • When you specify a string type for a new extended attribute, Identity Governance always truncates the string at 2000 characters.

  • You can reset only the attribute values that are collected. Attributes that are configured such as Last Account Review Date or Last Unmapped Account Review Date cannot be reset.

  • If you edit any permission records to set the excludeFromCatalog attribute to true, the only way to see these records in the catalog again is to manually change the permission table value back to false. If bulk editing was used to set the excludeFromCatalog attribute to true, copy the Bulk Data Update CSV file that made the original edits, and change the edited value to UNDO_CURATION.

IMPORTANT:Identity Governance evaluates only collected attribute values for the authentication matching rules, not edited values. For more information, see Changing the Values for Authentication Matching and Identity Governance Services in Identity Governance 3.7 Installation and Configuration Guide.

11.3.1 Understanding Bulk Data Update

Before you edit attribute values in bulk, you must determine the bulk upload method you want to use, and a Global Administrator must have configured bulk update for that method. The available bulk upload methods are:

  • Identity Governance database: The Global Administrator uses the Identity Governance Global Configuration feature or the Identity Governance Configuration Utility to configure the correct global property for this bulk update method.

  • File system: The Global Administrator creates a bulk data update base folder, which contains the input and output subfolders, on the Identity Governance server, provides the Identity Governance service read/write access permission to the subfolders, then specifies the parameters using Global Configuration, or the Identity Governance Configuration Utility.

11.3.2 Configuring the Identity Governance Database Method for Bulk Update

Before you can use the Identity Governance database to update attribute values in bulk, a Global Administrator must have configured the following properties using the Identity Governance Global Configuration feature or the Identity Governance Configuration Utility:

Base Folder

Identity Governance creates the CSV data template file in Identity Governance database and makes it available for you to download and edit.

Batch Size

(Optional) Specifies the maximum number of CSV data rows processed at one time. This option is useful for tuning the memory usage of the bulk update process. The default value is 1000.

To configure the base folder property:

  1. Log in to Identity Governance as a Global Administrator.

  2. Select Configuration > Advanced.

  3. Search for the com.netiq.iac.bulkdataupdate.csv.basefolder property, then click the Edit icon.

  4. In the Value field, type DB://.

  5. Click Save.

To specify the number of CSV data rows processed at one time:

  1. Log in to Identity Governance as a Global Administrator.

  2. Select Configuration > Advanced.

  3. Search for the com.netiq.iac.bulkdataupdate.batchsize property, then click the Edit icon.

  4. In the Value field, type the number of CSV data rows you want to be processed at one time. The default is 1000.

  5. Click Save.

11.3.3 Configuring the File System Bulk Update Method

To use this method, the Global Administrator needs access to the file system on the Identity Governance server. The Global Administrator must create a bulk data update base folder that contains the input and output subfolders, provide the Identity Governance service read/write access permission to the subfolders, generate access credentials, then configure the following properties using the Identity Governance Global Configuration feature or the Identity Governance Configuration Utility:

Base Folder

Identity Governance creates the CSV data template file in the output subfolder, and you must copy the updated file to the input subfolder.

Batch Size

(Optional) Specifies the maximum number of CSV data rows processed at one time. This option is useful for tuning the memory usage of the Bulk Update process. The default value is 1000.

To configure the base folder property:

  1. Log in to Identity Governance as a Global Administrator.

  2. Select Configuration > Advanced.

  3. Search for the com.netiq.iac.bulkdataupdate.csv.basefolder property, and click the Edit icon.

  4. In the Value field, type the path for the bulk update folder. For example, /ig/bulkupdate.

  5. Click Save.

If you want to specify the number of CSV data rows processed at one time:

  1. Log in to Identity Governance as a Global Administrator.

  2. Select Configuration > Advanced.

  3. Search for the com.netiq.iac.bulkdataupdate.batchsize property, and click the Edit icon.

  4. In the Value field, type the number of CSV data rows you want processed at one time. The default is 1000.

  5. Click Save.

When you copy the CSV file to the input folder during the process for Editing Attribute Values in Bulk, Identity Governance changes the file extension as it processes the file. Here are the different extensions and processes the file goes through during the bulk process:

File Extension Name

Process

.csv

Identity Governance starts the bulk process. It is the name on the file when you add it to the input folder.

.ph1

Phase 1 of the bulk process.

.fail

If the bulk process fails, the file name becomes .fail.

.done

If the bulk process succeeds, the name becomes .done.

11.3.4 Editing Attribute Values in Bulk

You can edit attribute values for multiple objects at the same time by importing the data into Identity Governance using a CSV file. For example, you might want to add photos for users in the catalog. When adding multiple values to a single attribute, separate the values with the pipe sign (|).

NOTE:When importing a bulk update file, ensure that the file matches a bulk update policy in the system. The generated bulk file that the user edits has an ID in the file that must match a bulk update policy in the system. In addition, that policy must have the same attributes, decision context attributes, and mapping attributes. If the ID and attributes do not match, the bulk update will be rejected.

To edit a number of attribute values:

  1. Under Data Sources, select Identities or Applications depending on the type of data you want to edit.

  2. In the upper right, select Bulk data update.

  3. Click +.

  4. Specify all the mandatory fields.

  5. Click + next to Attributes to update and select the attributes.

  6. (Optional) Click + next to Decision context attributes and select the attributes that will provide context for update decisions.

  7. (Optional) Click + next to Mapping attributes and select the attributes that will be used to identify Identity Governance users by attribute values from other systems.

  8. (Optional) Click + next to Attributes to update to select the attributes you want to update in bulk.

  9. Save your settings.

  10. Click the Generate bulk update template now icon.

  11. (Conditional) If bulk update is configured to use the Identity Governance database method to generate a CSV template file, perform the following steps:

    1. On the Identity Governance menu bar, click the Your Downloads icon.

    2. On the Your Downloads window, select the template you generated, then click the download icon to download the template to the browser Downloads folder.

    3. Open the browser download folder, then open the CSV template file.

    4. Make any necessary changes, then save the file.

    5. Click the Identity Governance upload icon.

  12. (Conditional) If bulk update is configured to use the file system method to generate a CSV template file, perform the following steps:

    1. Log in to the Identity Governance server, and locate the output subfolder of the bulk update folder.

    2. Edit the CSV template file as needed.

    3. Copy the CSV template file to the input subfolder.

    Identity Governance automatically detects updated files and applies the updated information to your data.

NOTE:If you have a large data set, the CSV template file could take longer than expected to generate and upload.

You can also undo an edited value or explicitly set a value to null. Identity Governance recognizes certain keywords in cells that perform specific actions:

  • UNDO_CURATION: Removes any previously edited values for this attribute.

  • SET_NULL: Sets the appropriate null or empty value on this attribute.

After you perform the bulk attribute update action, you can verify the changes by selecting Catalog > Identities or Catalog > Accounts to see if the attribute changes you made appear in the Catalog.