Setting Up the Corestack Connector

Prerequisites

Before setting up the connector, ensure you have:

• Administrator access to your Corestack account
• Administrator access to Paratira
• Appropriate permissions to generate API keys in Corestack

Technical Audience

Experienced cloud administrator or Azure engineer responsible for managing Azure subscriptions and management groups, who can create app registrations in Entra ID and assign service principals appropriate roles to subscriptions or management groups.

Obtaining API Credentials from Corestack

Step 1: Log in to Corestack

1. Navigate to your Corestack portal URL
2. Log in using your administrative account credentials
3. Ensure you have sufficient privileges to access API settings (e.g. ops_admin)

Step 2: Access the API Key Section

1. Once logged in, navigate to your account settings by clicking the Gear Icon on the left menu panel
2. Look for the API or Integration Settings section
3. This may be located in the main navigation menu, under your profile, or in the administration section

Step 3: Generate a New API Key

1. Click the Settings gear icon on the left panel
2. Under Identity and Access Management select Users
3. Search for the user account that has been granted read access on your tenant. Note, a single account can have access to multiple tenants which is catered for by the Paratira One to Many connector
4. Click on the user and select API Access from the right window
5. This might be labeled as Generate Key or Regenerate Key
6. Click on this option to begin the API key creation process
7. Once completed, click on API Access and copy your Access Key
8. Per Corestack, the user will receive an email with the Access Key and Secret Key. For detailed information relating to these steps please review the following article from Corestack. CoreStack External APIs

Setting Up the Connector in Paratira

Step 1: Access the Connector Setup

1. Log in to your Paratira account
2. Navigate to Settings in the left menu
3. Expand the menu and select Connectors
4. Click the Add Connector button

Step 2: Choose the Connector Type

1. In the "Add new connector" wizard, you'll see "Choose connector" as step 1
2. Select the By technology tab
3. Locate and click on the Corestack tile choose either One to Many or One to One
4. Click Continue to proceed to the next step

Step 3: Enter Connection Details

1. In the "Enter details" step, you'll need to provide:
   • Name: Enter a descriptive name for this connector (e.g., "Primary Corestack Instance")
   • Username: Enter the username the API key was configured with
   • Access Key: Paste the Access Key you obtained from Corestack
   • Secret Key: Paste the Secret Key you obtained from Corestack
2. Click the Test connection button to verify your credentials
3. Once the connection test is successful, click Continue

Step 4: Validation

1. Paratira will validate your connection and permissions
2. The system will check that it can access all required Corestack APIs
3. If any issues are detected, you'll see specific error messages with guidance
4. Once validation is successful, click Continue

Step 5: Customer Mapping (for Multi-tenant Connectors)

If you're setting up a multi-tenant connector:

1. At the "Map customers" step, you'll see tenants or accounts from your Corestack instance
2. For each Corestack tenant, you can:
   • Map to an existing Paratira customer using the dropdown menu
   • Create a new customer by selecting "Create as a new customer"
   • Click Confirm for each mapping
3. Once all mappings are completed, click Continue

Step 6: Complete Setup

1. Review the connector summary information
2. Click Finish to complete the setup
3. Your new Corestack connector will appear in the connectors list
4. Initial data collection will begin automatically

Data Collection Details

The Corestack connector collects the following information:

• Cloud resource inventory
• Compliance status across cloud providers
• Governance and policy information
• Cost management data
• Security posture details
• Resource optimization opportunities

Authentication Details

The Corestack API uses key-based authentication:

• The Access Key and Secret Key are used to authenticate all API requests
• Paratira securely stores these credentials and uses them to access your Corestack data
• All communications are encrypted using TLS/SSL

Troubleshooting

API Access Issues

Error: "Invalid API credentials"

• Solution: Verify your Access Key and Secret Key are entered correctly, or generate new credentials

Error: "Insufficient permissions"

• Solution: Ensure the API key has appropriate permissions in Corestack

Error: "Account not found"

• Solution: Verify the Corestack URL is correct and that your account is active

Connection Problems

Error: "Cannot connect to Corestack"

• Solution: Check your internet connection and verify that outbound connections to your Corestack instance are allowed

Error: "API request limit exceeded"

• Solution: You may have reached an API rate limit. Wait a few minutes and try again

Best Practices

• Key Rotation: Regularly rotate your API keys (every 90 days is recommended)
• Least Privilege: Use the minimum permissions necessary for Paratira's functionality
• Dedicated Integration Keys: Create separate API keys for different integrations rather than using a single key for multiple purposes
• Secure Storage: Store your Access Key and Secret Key securely; treat them like passwords
• Monitoring: Periodically check the connector status in Paratira to ensure it's functioning correctly
• Audit: Review API key usage logs in Corestack to ensure proper access patterns

Support Resources

If you encounter any issues setting up your Corestack connector:

• Review the Corestack API documentation (available in your Corestack account)
• Contact Paratira support through the Resources section
• Check for known issues in the Paratira knowledge base

Should you have any issues, feel free to reach out to: sanjay.subramaniam@raioam.com