Set up Informatica PowerCenter

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Prepare the files the Informatica PowerCenter connector needs: the repository XML exports and the parameter files that go with them. Atlan extracts lineage from these files. It doesn't connect to a live PowerCenter repository or database. You export them yourself, package them into .zip archives, and upload them when you create the crawler workflow.

Parameter files are technically optional, but most PowerCenter mappings use parameters to resolve connections, schemas, and table names at runtime. Without the matching parameter files, lineage for those mappings is incomplete, so plan to prepare them in almost all cases.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• Informatica PowerCenter 7, 8, 9, or 10
• A PowerCenter account with read permission on the repository objects you want to export and the Access Repository Manager privilege
• The pmrep command-line utility or the PowerCenter client (Repository Manager or Designer) to run the export
• Atlan connector permissions to create and configure connectors

Export necessary repository objects to XML files

Export the folders you want to catalog from your PowerCenter repository. Use whichever method suits your environment.

pmrep (command line)

1. Connect to your repository with pmrep connect.

2. Export each folder with pmrep objectexport, writing one XML file per folder.

   pmrep objectexport -f <FolderName> -u <FolderName>.xml

PowerCenter client

1. Open Repository Manager or Designer and connect to your repository.
2. Select the folder or objects to export.
3. Choose Repository > Export Objects and save the export as XML.

Naming and content requirements

The connector reads the repository and folder names directly from each export, so the files must follow these rules:

• Name each file after its PowerCenter folder. For example, name it SalesETL.xml for the SalesETL folder.
• Each XML file must contain its <REPOSITORY NAME> and <FOLDER NAME> declarations.
• All XML files in a single upload must belong to the same repository, and each folder name must be unique.

Gather parameter files

If your mappings use parameters such as $$Param or $Param, collect the corresponding parameter files so the connector can resolve those tokens to real connection, schema, and table names during extraction. Without them, parameterized values are flagged as unresolved and may reduce lineage accuracy.

Supported parameter file extensions: .prm, .txt, .param, and .parm.

Package files into zip

1. Compress your repository XML exports into a standard .zip archive.
2. If you gathered parameter files, compress them into a separate .zip archive.

warning

Use a standard, uncompressed-password .zip. The connector rejects encrypted archives, symbolic links, and entries with absolute paths for security reasons.

Next steps

Crawl Informatica PowerCenter assets: Create the workflow, upload your archives, and run the crawl to build lineage