Vault Safety supports AS2 (system-to-system) communication to exchange ICSRs with other organizations.
About Custom AS2 Connections
Note: Vault Safety AS2 Connections are replacing Vault Safety Gateways. AS2 Connections provide significant technical improvements including Admin management of Internet Protocol (IP) lists, more concise outbound IP lists, and improved Certificate Management. Though Gateways are still supported, we recommend replacing any Custom AS2 Gateways in your Vault with an equivalent Custom AS2 Connection. See Replace a Gateway Profile with an AS2 Connection for instructions on how to do this.
To configure Vault Safety to communicate with another organization through an AS2 Connection, you must set up a Transmission Profile and an AS2 Connection. Create a Transmission Profile and AS2 Connection for each organization that you want to exchange information with. You need only one (1) profile and connection per trading partner, which includes both sending and receiving transmissions.
Vault Safety supports both synchronous and asynchronous AS2 interchange. Set up your AS2 Connection to match the external gateway with which you want to communicate.
Note: If you are configuring a CRO Vault, which multiple sponsor organizations can access, consider setting up multiple AS2 Connections for sponsor Transmissions to a common destination. A unique AS2 Connection for each sponsor enforces organization-specific Transmission security.
Prerequisites
Your environment must meet the following requirements before you set up an AS2 Connection:
- You must contact Veeva Support to enable configurable AS2 Gateways in your Vault.
- You must have your own public and private certificate pair set up for communication with the destination gateway.
- You must send your public certificate and URL to the destination gateway.
- You must have the public certificate and URL for the destination gateway.
Create an AS2 Gateway Transmission Profile
You must first create a Transmission Profile of the type AS2 Gateway. Manage Transmission Profiles provides instructions on setting up Transmission Profiles.
Configure a Vault Safety AS2 Connection
- Go to Admin > Connections, then select Create.
- For the Connection Type, select AS2, then select Continue.
- Complete the AS2 Connection Fields.
- Select Save.
AS2 Connection Fields
Field | Description |
---|---|
Name |
Enter a name for the AS2 Connection. This name must be unique in your Vault. |
API Name |
Enter an API Name for the AS2 Connection. This name must be unique in your Vault. |
Contact Email | Enter the Sender's Email. |
Description | Enter a description for the AS2 Connection. |
AS2 Vault Gateway State |
Vault populates this field with the current state of the AS2 Vault Gateway, which consists of one (1) of the following options:
|
AS2 Additional ACK Stages |
If required, select one (1) or more of the following options:
Note: We do not recommend using any additional ACK stages. |
AS2 Encryption |
The algorithm Vault uses to encrypt outbound AS2 messages and decrypt inbound messages. Vault supports the following algorithms:
|
AS2 MDN Setting |
Whether the Message Delivery Notification (MDN) can be exchanged synchronously (Sync) or asynchronously (Async). Select the AS2 MDN Setting used by the Partner organization. |
AS2 Signature |
The method Vault uses to sign outbound AS2 messages. Vault supports the following signing methods:
|
AS2 Compress Before Sign |
If you select this option, Vault compresses messages before applying the Signing Algorithm. If you do not select this option, Vault compresses messages after applying the Signing Algorithm. Note: We recommend leaving this option unselected. |
AS2 Partner ID | Enter the Partner ID. |
AS2 Partner URL | Enter the Partner URL. |
AS2 Partner Certificate Expiry | Vault automatically populates this field when your Admin uploads the Partner Certificate. |
AS2 Vault ID | Enter the AS2 ID of your Vault. |
AS2 Vault URL |
Enter the AS2 URL of your Vault in the following format, replacing
The following example demonstrates how to form the AS2 Vault URL for a Vault with the following values:
Informing the Partner of your AS2 Vault URL
When informing the Partner of the URL they need to use for this AS2 connection, use the value you entered in this field appended with
In the example shown above, this is |
AS2 Vault Certificate Expiry | Vault automatically populates this field when your Admin uploads the Sponsor Certificate. |
AS2 Vault Domain / IP Configuration |
Select the method the Partner uses to interface with the AS2 Connection.
|
AS2 Ingress IPs | If you set the AS2 Vault Domain / IP Configuration field to AS2 Vault URL: Domain Name bound to static IP addresses, Vault populates this field automatically. |
Upload the Partner and Sponsor Certificates
Vault Safety uses the Partner and Sponsor certificates to communicate securely with the Partner.
You will have received the Partner certificate as part of creating your account with the Partner.
If you need help generating a Sponsor certificate, contact your Veeva Representative.
Upload Partner Certificate
- Go to Admin > Connections > [Connection].
- From the All Actions menu, select Upload Partner Certificate.
- Select Choose, then select the Partner’s Public Certificate.
The following accepted formats are:- PKCS7 (
.p7b
or.p7c
) - DER (
.cer
or.der
) - PEM (
.cer
,.crt
, or.pem
)
Vault checks the expiry date of the certificate. If the certificate is no longer valid, you cannot save the record.
- PKCS7 (
- Select Continue.
Upload Sponsor Certificate
- Go to Admin > Connections > [Connection].
- From the All Actions menu, select Upload Sponsor Certificate.
- Select Choose, then select the Sponsor’s Public Certificate.
The accepted formats are PKCS12 (.pfx
or.p12
)
Vault checks the expiry date of the certificate. If the certificate is no longer valid, you cannot save the record. - Select Continue.
Add Connection Allowed IPs
Specify one (1) or more Allowed Connections for the AS2 Connection. These are Internet Protocol (IP) addresses that Vault will allow to connect with this AS2 Connection.
Note: Contact the Partner organization to obtain their list of allowed connections.
Perform the following steps for each Allowed Connection you want to add to the AS2 Connection:
- Go to Admin > Connections > [Connection].
- Go to the Connection Allowed Lists section, then select Create.
- On the Create Connection Allowed List window, complete the following information:
- Name: Enter a name for the Allowed Connection.
- (Optional) Description: Enter a description for the Allowed Connection.
- IP: Enter the address of the Allowed Connection.
Ensure the format of the IP address isXX.XX.XX.XX
orXX.XX.XX.XX/{subnet mask}
where the{subnet mask}
is a number between 24 and 32.
- Repeat the above steps for each Allowed Connection.
- When you have added all the Allowed Connections, select Save.
Note: By default, Vaults are limited to 512 Allowed Connections. If your organization requires more, contact your Veeva Representative.
Synchronize the Connection
Once you have entered all the details of the AS2 Connection, the Connection must be synchronized with the Gateway.
From the All Actions menu, select Sync Connection to Gateway.
When Vault successfully completes this action, the Connection’s AS2 Vault Gateway State changes to Registered and Vault can send and receive messages using this Connection.
Note: If the Sync Connection to Gateway action is not successful, ensure each field value on the AS2 Connection is correct before retrying the action again. If the issue persists, contact your Veeva Representative.
If you make any changes to the Connection object or its Connection Allowed List, the AS2 Vault Gateway State changes to Registered - Out of Sync. Vault cannot send or receive any messages using this Connection while it is in the Registered - Out of Sync state. You will need to repeat the All Actions > Sync to Gateway action to restore the Connection to the Registered state.
Result
The AS2 Connection is active and available to use to exchange data with external organizations.
Note: For partner gateways that transmit MDNs asynchronously, the partner gateway should send the MDN to the URL included in the header of the Vault Safety Transmission.
Configure Transmission Lifecycles and Workflows
We recommend that you configure Transmission lifecycles and workflows to align with your organization’s standard operating procedures. The following items are best practices and recommendations:
- Configure a Case Transmission Error workflow to handle transmission errors.
- Configure a workflow to prevent a Transmission record from entering a Ready for Submission state until a Transmission Profile is specified.
About Object Lifecycles and About Object Workflows provide more information about configuring lifecycles and workflows.