Connect via API

Follow the instructions below to connect Violet to Teamcenter via the Teamcenter API.

If you wish to bypass the Teamcenter API (recommended for faster performance), you can instead connect directly to the Teamcenter SQL database. Skip ahead to the instructions here. If you wish to connect to TeamcenterX, head to the instructions here.

Configure the connection to your server

First, you'll need to ensure Violet can access your Teamcenter server via one of the below methods:

Option 1: Direct Violet Access (Preferred Method)

In this method, Violet will communicate directly with your Teamcenter server on a dedicated port.

To do so, you will need to open your firewall to our IP address:

1. By default, Violet will connect to port TCP:8080 on your Teamcenter server

   1. To ensure that the connection between Violet and Teamcenter is secure, it is important that the endpoint on your Teamcenter server is protected with a valid SSL certificate.

   2. If you prefer to use a different port, let us know. Any port is fine as long as JsonRestServices is available there.

2. If you are using Teamcenter Active Workspace, we will also need to communicate with port 3000 (in particular if you plan to transfer Teamcenter files)

3. Allowlist our IP address (below) at the selected ports

   1. For Violet: 50.19.87.143

   2. For VioletGov: 3.31.169.141

Option 2: Connect via VPN

In this method, we’ll need to establish a VPN tunnel (we recommend Tailscale) between Violet’s AWS VPC and the network where your Teamcenter is hosted.

See more detail on how to set this up here.

We also support connecting via AWS PrivateLink.

Either way, we’ll need to work directly with your team to configure and confirm the connection.

Confirm access

Your Teamcenter instance will need to be running JsonRestServices in order to allow Violet to connect. For most implementations, you can expect that this will be enabled out of the box.

If you're not sure whether your instance is running JsonRestServices, you can run the quick test below.

Test if your Teamcenter is running JsonRestServices

1. Open a web browser and navigate to: http://yourteamcenter.yourdomain.com:8080/tc/JsonRestServices

   1. (Note, replace yourteamcenter.yourdomain.com with the location of your Teamcenter sever).

2. You should see an error page with the below error message. This confirms that JsonRestServices are running at that endpoint.

The request could not be understood by the server due to malformed syntax.

If you see a response other than this message, you may not have JsonRestServices enabled. We'll need to connect with your Teamcenter implementation team to enable this.

Create a service account

We suggest that you create a dedicated read-only service account in Teamcenter for Violet. Unless you have ActiveWorkspace, this is actually required to allow Violet to access the REST API without locking out another user.

Even with ActiveWorkspace (which allows simultaneous logins for a single user), having a dedicated service account will help prevent ambiguity in your data, and it will allow the Violet team to most reliably test and maintain your integration.

Your Violet representative will share a dedicated 1Password vault with you to securely exchange credentials.

Connect Teamcenter

1. In Violet (or VioletGov), navigate to Apps and click to add a new integration.

1. Select Teamcenter

[Optional] You can also provide a unique name for the connection based on the credentials you're using, and you can create restricted permissions to users or groups:

1. Enter the server URL followed by the port number you selected during configuration (typically :8080).

2. Enter your Teamcenter username and password, then click Connect.

   1. You are free to use your own user account or a service account. We typically recommend using a service account to avoid ambiguity in your data, especially for larger organizations.

Once your connection is live, you're ready to set up your Teamcenter integration.