Simplify Your Integration Setup With The Connection Wizard In System Connections

Background

Setting up an API or EDI integration connection in the SAP Business Network Freight Collaboration System Connections (Carrier) app traditionally requires navigating across three separate areas: Manage Details (to create communication and authentication artifacts), Outbound Connections (to bind them to a service), and Connection Settings (to enable inbound access). For carriers and partners going live for the first time, this multi-step, multi-page process can be error-prone and time-consuming.

The Connection Wizard addresses this by consolidating the entire setup into a single guided dialog — walk through the steps, and your connection is ready.

How to Open the Wizard

In the System Connections app, navigate to the Outbound Connections page and click the Connection Wizard button in the toolbar.

Wizard Overview

The wizard contains up to 5 steps. The steps shown adapt automatically based on your chosen direction and communication type:

Step 1: Direction
Step 2: Communication Type (API / EDI)
Step 3: Service & Operation / Inbound Configuration
Step 4: Communication Details / Review & Confirm
Step 5: Authentication Details / Result

Walkthrough by Scenario

Scenario 1: Outbound API Connection

Typical use case: Receive freight tendering or subcontracting documents via HTTPS callbacks to your system.

Step 1 — Direction

Select Outbound (SAP BN4L calls your system).

Step 2 — Type

Select API.

Step 3 — Service & Operation

Choose a Service Name (e.g., Freight Tendering All) and the corresponding Operation Name (e.g., Post freight request for quotation).

Step 4 — Communication Details

Pick Use Existing to reuse a previously created HTTPS communication artifact, or
Pick Create New → select HTTPS → enter a name and Base URL.

Step 5 — Authentication Details

Pick Use Existing to reuse an existing security artifact, or pick Create New and choose an authentication method:

Basic — username and password
OAuth 2.0 — Client Credentials or Client Certificate
API Key — Key attribute and Key value

Two options are available at the bottom:

Save and Activate Connection — saves the connection and immediately activates it
Save Connection — saves the connection in an inactive state; you can activate it later from the Outbound Connections list

Scenario 2: Outbound EDI Connection

Typical use case: Receive EDIFACT or ANSI X12 EDI messages via SFTP, AS2, or Email.

Steps 1–2: Select Outbound → EDI.

Step 3 — Service & Operation

Choose a service and operation. The wizard automatically filters the list to show only EDI-compatible services.

Step 4 — Communication Details

Use Existing Communication Detail

The dropdown is filtered automatically — it only shows communication artifacts that are compatible with the service and operation you selected in Step 3. Select the appropriate one and click Next.

Create New Communication Detail

Choose a protocol and complete the form:

SFTP — always available for EDI connections. Fill in Name, Address (Hostname:Port), Message Format, Message Type, Known Host Key (click Retrieve Key to auto-fetch once the address is entered), Directory, and File Name. Message Version and Description are auto-populated based on the message type.
Email — availability depends on the service and operation selected in Step 3. Only certain operations support Email as a delivery channel. If the selected operation does not support it, the Email tile is grayed out and cannot be selected.
AS2 — coming soon.

Note: HTTPS is not available for EDI connections — it is only applicable to API-type communication.

Click Save and Next to save the new communication artifact and continue to Step 5.

Step 5 — Authentication Details

Same two-tab pattern — Use Existing or Create New. For EDI connections, the supported authentication methods are:

Basic — username and password
SFTP Private Key — username, optional password, and a private key file upload

Two options are available at the bottom:

Save and Activate Connection — saves the connection and immediately activates it
Save Connection — saves the connection in an inactive state; you can activate it later from the Outbound Connections list

Scenario 3: Inbound EDI Pull Configuration

Typical use case: Schedule BN4L to automatically pull ANSI X12 or EDIFACT inbound messages from your SFTP server on a recurring basis.

Steps 1–2: Select Inbound → EDI.

Step 3 — Service and Operation

The Service is fixed to EDI Inbound All for all Inbound EDI connections — it is read-only and cannot be changed.

Select an Operation from the dropdown:

Pull EDI — BN4L actively pulls EDI messages from your SFTP server on a scheduled basis. When this operation is selected, a Recurrence section appears below where you configure the pull schedule:
- Recurrence: Daily or Weekly (with day-of-week selection)
- Recur Start Time / Recur End Time: The time window during which pulling runs each day
- Interval: Every 1, 5, 10, 15, or 30 minutes
- Timezone: Applied to the time window above
Receive AS2 (coming soon) — BN4L receives EDI messages pushed by your system over the AS2 protocol. No pull schedule is required for this operation.

Step 4 — Communication Details

Use Existing Communication Detail

The dropdown is filtered to show only SFTP-type EDI communication artifacts compatible with the Pull EDI operation. Select one and click Next.

Create New Communication Detail

For Inbound EDI, only SFTP is available — HTTPS and Email are not applicable since BN4L needs to connect to your SFTP server to pull files. Complete the following fields:

Field	Notes
Name	A display name for this communication artifact
Address	SFTP server address in Hostname:Port format
Message Format	EDIFACT or ANSI X12
Message Type	Fixed to All Inbound Messages and read-only
Known Host Key	Click Retrieve Key to auto-fetch once the address is entered
Directory	Relative path on the SFTP server, e.g., CarrierA/BN4L

Note: Unlike outbound EDI, there is no File Name field here — BN4L is reading files from your server, not writing them.

Click Save and Next to save the artifact and proceed to authentication.

Step 5 — Authentication Details

Use Existing Authentication Detail

The dropdown is filtered to show only authentication artifacts compatible with SFTP EDI connections. Select one to proceed.

Create New Authentication Detail

For Inbound EDI, only Basic and SFTP Private Key are available — OAuth 2.0 and API Key are grayed out as they are not applicable to SFTP connections.

Basic — Name, User Name, Password, Confirm Password
SFTP Private Key — Name, User Name, optional password, and private key file upload

Testing the Connection

A Test SFTP Connectivity button is always visible on this step. Click it after selecting or creating an authentication detail to verify that BN4L can successfully connect to your SFTP server. A result strip will appear inline showing whether the test passed or failed.

Saving

Two options are available at the bottom:

Save and Activate Connection — saves the connection and immediately activates it so BN4L starts pulling EDI messages according to the configured schedule
Save Connection — saves the connection in an inactive state; you can activate it later from the Outbound Connections list

Scenario 4: Inbound API Configuration

Typical use case: Your system calls BN4L-published Provider APIs (e.g., to push tracking or location data into the network).

Steps 1–2: Select Inbound → API.

Step 3 — Inbound Connection Configuration

Toggle Enable Inbound Communication on
Use the multi-select combo box to choose which Provider APIs you need access to

Step 4 — Review & Confirm

The wizard summarizes your inbound status and selected APIs. Verify everything looks correct before proceeding.

Step 5 — Result

After submission, the page shows live save status (Pending → Saving → Success / Error). Once saved successfully, you can copy the OAuth credentials directly here to configure authentication on your system side.

Summary

The Connection Wizard streamlines what was previously a multi-page, multi-step process into a single linear flow:

Traditional Approach	With Connection Wizard
Must understand three separate UI areas before starting	Guided step-by-step — no prior knowledge of the structure needed
Communication and authentication artifacts must be created separately, then bound to a service	Create artifacts inline and bind them to a service in one pass
Inbound OAuth credentials require a separate trip to Connection Settings	Credentials are displayed and copyable on the wizard’s final step
SFTP connectivity can only be verified after saving	Built-in connectivity test before you commit

For teams onboarding to SAP Business Network Freight Collaboration for the first time, the Connection Wizard is the recommended starting point. Once your initial connections are set up, you can use the Manage Details area to maintain and update individual communication or authentication artifacts as needed.

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