Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)

Overview

SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is an older XML-based remote procedure call standard, still common in enterprise middleware, telecoms provisioning systems, HR and finance suites and VMware’s legacy management APIs. A SOAP request is an XML envelope POSTed to a single service endpoint, with the operation name and its arguments carried inside the envelope body rather than in the URL.

This connector is a build-your-own integration for those services. You give it the service domain and, per job, the endpoint path and the XML envelope to send. It runs the soap.php driver, posts the envelope, and parses the XML response into a staging table in the ReadyWorks estate. The XML Envelope Payload field on the job form is where the operation and its arguments go.

Compared with the Generic Rest JSON API connector, this one trades the REST-shaped controls for envelope handling. There is no pagination group at all on the job form, because SOAP services do not page over a URL query string, and no API Data Parameters or Raw JSON Body, because the envelope carries everything. What it keeps is the enumeration machinery: three levels are available, so a job can read a list of identifiers from one call and issue a per-identifier envelope for each. Use the JSON or XML REST connectors for anything that answers on a REST-style URL, and this one only when the service genuinely speaks SOAP.

The connector is declared as bidirectional and a small outbound job form is exposed, but see the issue below: the outbound form is missing the fields an outbound SOAP call needs, and no outbound template ships.

NOTE: The one shipped inbound template points at the literal placeholder path /api/endpoint and is enabled. Change the endpoint or disable the job before saving a connection, or you will schedule a daily job that cannot succeed.

Connector Properties

Property	Value
Identifier	`SOAP`
Name	Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)
Description	Access an API using the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)
Job Types	Both Inbound and Outbound
Order	80
Enabled	Yes
Locked	Yes
Block Update	No
Single Authentication	No
Windows Only	No
Connector Version	2025-03-12
Hooks	None
Additional Job Fields	None
Image

Authentication Methods

Two authentication methods are shipped: one for services that need no credential, and one modelled on VMware’s session-token exchange.

Method	Identifier	Base Method	Script	Order	Enabled	Config Fields
No Authentication	`SOAP_0ae9e4263c`	`SOAP_0ae9e4263c`	`soap.php`	10	Yes	4
VMWARE SOAP: username / password – return authorization token	`SOAP_4d5eceffd4`	`SOAP_4d5eceffd4`	`soap.php`	20	Yes	9

NOTE: Neither method implements WS-Security. If your service expects a UsernameToken or a signed security header, put it in the Soap Envelope field on the connection or in the per-job XML Envelope Payload.

NOTE: Both methods set SSL_VERIFYHOST and SSL_VERIFYPEER to false, so the service certificate is not validated.

Method 1: No Authentication (`SOAP_0ae9e4263c`)

Connect to a SOAP API with no authentication

Posts the envelope with no credential attached. Use it for services open to the collector’s network, or as the base when the credential travels inside the envelope body itself, which is how most WS-Security and custom SOAP logins work.

Connection Configuration Fields (4)

Order	Label	Type	Required	Default	Max Len	Tooltip
10	API Domain	text	Yes		255	Enter API domain of the Connection
30	Server Temporary Working Path	text	Yes	`storage/etl5`	255	Enter path where temporary files are stored during data processing (exclude starting and ending backslash)
240	Single Authentication	radio	Yes	`0`		Choose if authentication is only to be done once and not on each enumeration or pagination loop
250	Additional Job Fields	fields_list	No			Enter list of additional fields to add to staging data for all jobs

Authentication Configuration

cURL options:

Option	Authentication Call	Data Calls
`USERAGENT`	`Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64; rv:47.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/47.0`	Same
`SSL_VERIFYHOST`	`false`	Same
`SSL_VERIFYPEER`	`false`	Same
`RETURNTRANSFER`	`true`	Same
`FOLLOWLOCATION`	`true`	Same
`FAILONERROR`	`true`	Same

Method 2: VMWARE SOAP: username / password – return authorization token (`SOAP_4d5eceffd4`)

Connect to a SOAP method API with a username / password retrieving value for authorization token

A two-step exchange shaped for VMware. It posts the Soap Envelope you supply to the Authentication Token End Point, pulls the token out of the response at the node you name in Authentication Token JSON Node, and then sends that value on every data call as a vmware-api-session-id header while carrying the session cookie forward. The cookie handling makes it usable against other session-based SOAP services, but the header name is fixed to VMware’s.

Connection Configuration Fields (9)

Order	Label	Type	Required	Default	Max Len	Tooltip
10	API Domain	text	Yes		255	Enter API domain of the Connection
30	Server Temporary Working Path	text	Yes	`storage/etl5`	255	Enter path where temporary files are stored during data processing (exclude starting and ending backslash)
40	Username	text	No		1024	Tooltip for Username
50	Password	password	No		64000	Tooltip for Password
180	Soap Envelope	textarea	No			Enter the SOAP Envelope for the authentication call
190	Authentication Token End Point	text	No		500	Tooltip for Authentication End Point
200	Authentication Token JSON Node	text	No		255	Tooltip for Authentication Data Node
240	Single Authentication	radio	Yes	`0`		Choose if authentication is only to be done once and not on each enumeration or pagination loop
250	Additional Job Fields	fields_list	No			Enter list of additional fields to add to staging data for all jobs

Authentication Configuration

Headers sent on the authentication call:

Header	Value	Base64
`>SetCookie`		Off

Headers sent on the data calls:

Header	Value	Base64
`>GetCookie`		Off
`vmware-api-session-id:`	`%auth_data%`	Off

cURL options:

Option	Authentication Call	Data Calls
`USERAGENT`	`Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64; rv:47.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/47.0`	Same
`SSL_VERIFYHOST`	`false`	Same
`SSL_VERIFYPEER`	`false`	Same
`RETURNTRANSFER`	`true`	Same
`FOLLOWLOCATION`	`true`	Same
`FAILONERROR`	`true`	Same

NOTE: The Soap Envelope, Authentication Token End Point and Authentication Token JSON Node fields are all optional on the form, yet the method cannot work without all three. Fill in every one.

Inbound Job Fields Enabled (32)

The inbound job form carries the envelope and XML parsing controls, the three enumeration levels and Maximum API Calls, and omits the whole pagination group.

Order	Label	Type	Required	Default	Tooltip
10	Job Description	text	Yes		Enter description of the Job
20	Job Schedule	lookup	Yes	Daily	Select frequency Job should run
30	Enabled	radio	Yes	Yes	Choose if Job is enabled
40	Use Unparsed Data	radio	No	No	Choose if you wish to parse the incoming data, or leave it in its raw format
50	Log Raw API Calls	radio	Yes	No	Choose if raw API calls are logged
70	Destination Table	text	Yes		Enter name of the destination table
80	Data Identity	text	No		Enter identity of the Job
100	XML Envelope Payload	textarea	No		Enter job XML envelope payload for the SOAP call
120	Append New Data to Existing Tables	radio	No	No	Choose if new data will append to the existing destination table, or will create a new destination table
130	Fields to Index	text	No		Enter fields to index
170	Method Type	select	Yes	`GET`	Select method type of the Job
190	API End Point	text	No		Enter API end point of the Job
230	API Return Data Node	text	No		Enter API return data node of the Job
240	Ignore XML Attributes	radio	No	No	When parsing XML ignore field attributes and do not include them in the data
310	Maximum API Calls	text	No		Enter maximum number of API calls for the Job to make
320	Enumeration 1 Type	select	No	None	Enter enumeration level 1 type
330	Enumeration 1 ETL Job	lookup	No		Select ETL job for the enumeration 1 values
340	Enumeration 1 Data Type	data_type	No		Select the data type and fields for enumeration 1 values
370	Enumeration 1 Fields	fields_list	No		Enter enumeration 1 fields of the Job
380	Enumeration 2 Type	select	No	None	Enter enumeration level 2 type
390	Enumeration 2 ETL Job	lookup	No		Select ETL job for the enumeration 2 values
400	Enumeration 2 Data Type	data_type	No		Select the data type and fields for enumeration 2 values
430	Enumeration 2 Fields	fields_list	No		Enter enumeration 2 fields of the Job
440	Enumeration 3 Type	select	No	None	Enter enumeration level 3 type
450	Enumeration 3 ETL Job	lookup	No		Select ETL job for the enumeration 3 values
460	Enumeration 3 Data Type	data_type	No		Select the data type and fields for enumeration 3 values
490	Enumeration 3 Fields	fields_list	No		Enter enumeration 3 fields of the Job
500	Pause Enumeration	text	No		Enter values for pausing enumeration every X calls for Y seconds
510	Kill Enumeration on Error	radio	No	No	Choose to stop the enumeration loop on an error or continue processing the loop
520	Additional Fields	fields_list	No		Enter list of additional fields to add to staging data
550	Retry Pause	text	No		Enter values for retrying a failed API connection. Retry X times, waiting Y seconds between each try, with an API timeout of Z seconds.
560	Order	text	Yes		Enter order of the Job

NOTE: XML Envelope Payload is the SOAP body for the job. It accepts %token% substitution, so an enumeration field named enum_id_1 can be referenced as %enum_id_1% inside the envelope to build one call per identifier.

NOTE: With no pagination controls available, Maximum API Calls and the enumeration settings are the only limits on how many requests a job makes. Set Maximum API Calls on anything that enumerates.

Outbound Job Fields Enabled (7)

Seven outbound job fields are exposed, covering the job identity, the outbound and body sending methods and the outbound and return field lists.

Order	Label	Type	Required	Default	Tooltip
10	Job Description	text	Yes		Enter description of the Job
30	Enabled	radio	Yes	Yes	Choose if Job is enabled
180	Data Sending Method	select	Yes	JSON Encoded Data	Select method for sending the outbound data
210	Body Data Sending Method	select	Yes	JSON Encoded Data	Select method for sending the body data
260	Return Data Fields List	fields_list	Yes		Enter return data fields of the Job
530	Outbound Fields List	fields_list	Yes		Enter outbound fields of the Job
560	Order	text	Yes		Enter order of the Job

Inbound Job Templates (1)

One inbound template ships. It is a skeleton, and it is enabled with a placeholder endpoint.

#	Job Description	Destination Table	API End Point	Enabled	What It Pulls
1	Sample Job	`soap_data`	`/api/endpoint`	Yes	A GET against the placeholder path /api/endpoint, writing to a staging table called soap_data. Nothing real is retrieved. It exists to be copied: set the endpoint to your service path, switch Method Type to POST, and put the operation envelope in XML Envelope Payload.

Job Template Configuration

Settings

Setting	Value
Order	10
Enabled	Yes
Job Schedule	Daily (15 1 * * *)
Destination Table	`soap_data`
Data Identity
Allow Empty Table	Yes
Append Files to Same Destination Table	No
Append New Data to Existing Tables	No
Use Unparsed Data	No
Convert UUID-Keyed Objects to Rows	No
Ignore XML Attributes	No
Log Raw API Calls	No
Method Type	`GET`
API End Point	`/api/endpoint`
Body Data Sending Method	JSON Encoded Data

NOTE: This template is the one shipped job in this set that is enabled by default. Disable or configure it before the first daily run.

Outbound Job Templates (0)

No outbound templates are shipped, and the outbound job form as configured cannot express a complete SOAP call. Treat the connector as inbound in practice.

Table of Contents

Overview

Connector Properties

Authentication Methods

Method 1: No Authentication (`SOAP_0ae9e4263c`)

Connection Configuration Fields (4)

Authentication Configuration

Method 2: VMWARE SOAP: username / password – return authorization token (`SOAP_4d5eceffd4`)

Connection Configuration Fields (9)

Authentication Configuration

Inbound Job Fields Enabled (32)

Outbound Job Fields Enabled (7)

Inbound Job Templates (1)

Job Template Configuration

Settings

Outbound Job Templates (0)

Attachments

Table of Contents

Overview

Connector Properties

Authentication Methods

Method 1: No Authentication (SOAP_0ae9e4263c)

Connection Configuration Fields (4)

Authentication Configuration

Method 2: VMWARE SOAP: username / password – return authorization token (SOAP_4d5eceffd4)

Connection Configuration Fields (9)

Authentication Configuration

Inbound Job Fields Enabled (32)

Outbound Job Fields Enabled (7)

Inbound Job Templates (1)

Job Template Configuration

Settings

Outbound Job Templates (0)

Attachments

Method 1: No Authentication (`SOAP_0ae9e4263c`)

Method 2: VMWARE SOAP: username / password – return authorization token (`SOAP_4d5eceffd4`)