# Use an Input Port

The Apache NiFi framework provides a component called an input port. The input port provides a way for NiFi to receive data. You can add an input port to your NiFi dataflow and then configure an IDOL Connector to send data to it. This means that you can use standalone IDOL Connectors with IDOL NiFi Ingest.

To add an input port to your data flow

1. Add an input port by dragging the Input Port icon from the components toolbar to the canvas.

   The Add Port dialog box opens.

2. In the Input Port Name box, type a name for the input port and click ADD.

   The input port is added to the canvas.

3. Right-click the port and click Configure.

   The Configure Port dialog box opens.

4. Make a note of the ID value for the input port. You will need to specify this value when you configure your IDOL Connectors to send data to NiFi.

To configure an IDOL Connector

1. Open the connector's configuration file in a text editor.

2. In the `[Ingestion]` section set the following parameters.

   `IngesterType` | The type of ingestion process. Set this parameter to `NiFi`.
   `IngestHost` | The host name or IP address of the NiFi instance.
   `IngestPort` | The port of the NiFi instance.
   `IngestNiFiInputPort` | The NiFi input port ID.
   `IngestNiFiApiUrl` | (Optional) The base URL of the NiFi REST API. You only need to set this parameter if you have configured NiFi to use a URL other than the standard (`host:port/nifi-api/`).
   `IngestNiFiUseSSL` | (Optional) A Boolean parameter that specifies whether to use SSL/TLS when sending documents to NiFi. When this parameter is `TRUE` you must also set the parameter `SSLMethod`.
   `IngestNiFiStreamFiles` | (Optional) A Boolean value that specifies whether to stream files (document content) to NiFi. If you set this parameter to `FALSE`, the connector sends a much smaller amount of data to NiFi, which can increase performance. NiFi processors must then retrieve the files from the connector machine (or the shared path when `IngestSharedPath` is set).

   For example:

       [Ingestion]
       IngesterType=NiFi
       IngestHost=nifi-host1
       IngestPort=8080
       IngestNiFiInputPort=1639849e-0163-1000-8654-706cd4d6970d

       // Set the following parameters only if you have
       // configured SSL for your NiFi instance
       // IngestNiFiUseSSL=TRUE
       // SSLMethod=Negotiate

3. Save and close the configuration file.

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