Ellie-Collibra Integration Guide

Overview

The Collibra Connector links Ellie's data modeling workspace with Collibra Data Intelligence Cloud, enabling your team to keep data assets synchronized between both platforms. Once configured, Ellie folders map to Collibra domains so models and entities you build in Ellie are maintained in Collibra and Ellie both.

Mandatory options to set

Please be aware that these options must be set in order for the sync to work. Look for ℹ️-icons for additional on-the-spot information.

Sync direction is controlled by the Master Source setting in the Connector Settings tab. You must choose which system is the master source:

Ellie as master: Changes in Ellie push to Collibra. All syncing available.
Collibra as master: Changes in Collibra pull into Ellie. Only entities and attributes sync; model sync is not available in this direction.

Have a connector for each Master Source, and avoid creating sync loops through those.

Mappings tell Ellie how different types correspond to types in Collibra.

In order to sync relations between any two assets both should be enabled.

Relationship types in Collibra must exist between the asset types you intend to sync. Without them the connector has nothing to select and relationships will not be created. System-managed asset types may already have relationship types defined, but custom asset types will likely require your Collibra admin to set them up before configuring the connector.

Setup walkthrough

The two platforms use different terms for similar concepts. We will introduce a few terms in the following sections as Collibra–Ellie pairs. You can trigger a manual sync from 🔄-icon at any time using the sync button in the top right corner of the connector page.

1. Connector settings

You select the Master Source when creating a new connector and you can change that in the Connector Settings tab.

We encourage you to have your Ellie folder structure reflect the hierarchy in Collibra. Sync works at the folder level, meaning the direct contents of each mapped folder are what gets synchronized.

2. Folder mappings

Each Ellie folder maps to one Collibra domain, and assets inside that folder sync to or from assets inside that domain. For most setups, this straightforward one-to-one mapping is all you need.

Domain → Folder: In Collibra, assets are organized into domains, which act as containers that structure and separate name and concept spaces. In Ellie the equivalent is a folder. The connector maps Ellie folders to Collibra domains so the two hierarchies stay in sync. Collibra domains are collections themselves, and we allow adding a node to represent the domain below.

Domain asset node → Folder / Glossary: Ellie's folders and glossaries capture the essence of a domain asset node in Collibra. When an asset node is configured, only assets linked to that node in Collibra are synced into the corresponding Ellie folder. Each shared folder mapping needs its own domain asset node; using the same node for two mappings is not allowed.

3. Entity and attribute mappings

Pick the Collibra asset type that represents an Ellie entity, an attribute, and the relation type that links entities to their attributes.

Asset → Entity: In Collibra, governed items such as data terms or business glossary entries are called assets. In Ellie these are entities, which belong to folders.

Relation type → Relationship. In Collibra, relationships between assets are expressed as typed edges and are managed with relationship types. In Ellie a relationship connects one entity to another and carries a directionality. The connector allows using both head-tail and tail-head configurations for relationships in Collibra.

4. Model mappings

The Model Mapping tab works the same way as entity mappings. Select the fields to map your models to Collibra the same way you did for entities. Model syncing is one way syncing with Ellie as the Master source.

Model sync is only available when Ellie is the master source.

5. Troubleshooting

Once your mappings are in place, use the manual sync 🔄-button to test your setup. Please review the results between Collibra side to what you have in Ellie. The sync logs give you a detailed view of what happened during the run and are the best place to start when something does not look right.

Master source	Symptom	Likely cause
Collibra	Entities appear in the wrong Ellie folder	Multiple mappings share a domain but no domain asset nodes are set.
Both	Sync fails with a "multiple domain asset nodes" error	An asset in Collibra is linked to more than one domain asset node in the same domain, which is not allowed.
Both	Relation types are not appearing in dropdowns	The selected Collibra asset types have no relationship types defined in Collibra; check your Collibra settings → Operating model → Relation types.
Ellie	Models or entities are not linked in Collibra after sync	Model or entity relation type is not configured in the Model Mapping or Connected Fields tab.

Summary

Have a connector for each Master Source, and avoid creating sync loops through those. Every Ellie folder you want to sync needs a folder mapping pointing to a Collibra domain, and domain asset nodes are only needed when one Collibra domain is shared across more than one Ellie folder.

Entities, attributes, and models each require their own asset type and relation type mappings before their data appears in Collibra. Keep in mind that relations between any two asset types only sync once both types and the relation type between them are fully configured.