Single IA Node Overview

Purpose

This guide shows how to build, start, and validate a single local IA Node deployment. The IA Node provides the core integration runtime responsible for secure data ingestion, transformation, storage, and publication within an organisational domain. It establishes the foundational capabilities required before federation with external domains.

For a conceptual overview (what it is and how it fits), see Understanding a single ia node.
For the source developer documentation, see the IA Node Access README on Github.

Outcome

By the end of this guide you will:

• Build the IA Node Java artefacts and Docker images
• Start a single local IA Node runtime
• Configure identity, certificates, and MTLS trust relationships
• Connect to Kafka topics for ingestion and publication
• Validate RDF ingestion and processing pipelines
• Confirm policy and securityLabel enforcement
• Verify local persistence and state management
• Confirm readiness for downstream federation via the Federator

How this guide is structured

Each section introduces and validates one Federator capability in a series of Stages (1-10):

1. Environment Set Up
   Confirm platform requirements and tooling for running the IA Node locally.

2. Identity Set Up
   Configure certificates, MTLS trust relationships, and authorisation required for secure operation.

3. Build Components
   Build Java artefacts and Docker images from source.

4. Run & Validate
   Start the IA Node runtime and validate ingestion, processing, and publication behaviour.

5. Optional Integration
   Prepare the node for federation via a Federator or integration with downstream systems.

6. Reference
   Configuration reference, operational checks, and troubleshooting guidance.

Next steps

Environment Set Up