Discovering content from data sources

To discover content from diverse sources of data, you need a defined data source, which is a specialized type of credential providing a mechanism to access the target. Use a data source to access information held in centralized data stores. These data stores might be a centralized asset database, a file system on a host, or a store accessed by using a REST API. You write patterns that specify the target data source, and provide queries to extract the information required. Use a data source to query an asset database to find the location of hosts as they are discovered. The data source types are:

• REST APIs
• Databases
• Hosts

To discover content from a data source

The basic method is the same for each type of data source:

1. Create the data source.
2. Write a pattern that specifies: 
   1. The data source by name.
   2. A query to access the required information.
3. Upload and activate the pattern.
4. Scan the endpoint.

Data sources are used in patterns. The patterns also supply the query used to extract the data from the target. Each data source has a label that is used by the pattern to access the data source.

discovery.dataSource("data_source_name");

Where data_source_name is the name of the data source.