Delphix Masking Engine Quick Start Guide
Delphix Masking / Delphix Masking Engine Quick Start Guide

Purpose of this Quick Guide 

The Delphix Masking Engine Quick Start Guide is aimed at all users interested in using the Delphix Masking Engine in conjunction with Data as a Service Engine. This guide serves as a brief overview and refresher of important Delphix Masking Engine concepts as well as a guide for the common masking workflows when using either and or both the Delphix Masking Engine and Data as a Service Engine. The workflows below describe different options and configurations available for masking virtualized data using both the Masking Engine along with the Data as a Service Engine.

What Is Delphix Masking?

Delphix Masking combines the Data as a Service Engine with the Delphix Masking Engine to provide the ability to provision, mask, and manage data in a standardized and automated way. Masking technology works behind the scenes to replace sensitive data with fictitious data, which you can then move out of your production environment and into non-prod environments.

Common Use Cases

Masking Production Data for Non-Production Environments

Developers commonly need access to data from the production environment when they are:

  • developing new applications
  • maintaining or enhancing existing applications
  • working in test environments to test the functionality of applications

Production data commonly includes sensitive information that by law needs to be protected. However, it is not uncommon in the app/dev life cycle for the same sensitive data that is found in production to appear in non-production environments used for application development and testing. 

The masking features in the Delphix Masking Engine can be used to ensure that application/test environments do not transmit the sensitive information contained in the parent source. The Delphix Masking Engine removes or alters sensitive information without changing the character of the production data, allowing developers and testers to work with the highest quality test data for software development.

Before You Begin

Before getting started, familiarize yourself with the terminology in the Delphix Masking Engine Terms Overview. The Delphix Masking Engine introduces new terms and concepts that may not be familiar to a Delphix administrator or user.

You will also need a fully installed Delphix Masking Engine prior to performing the workflows on this page. If your Delphix Masking Engine is not yet configured, see the guide at: Delphix Masking Engine Install, System Configuration, and Network Setup.



Virtualization and Masking Engine

Who is using this deployment type?

Masking installations on Delphix 5.0 and above

Installation and deployment details

Delphix Engine - Includes the Delphix Masking Engine on VMware. See Installing the Delphix Engine.

Delphix Masking Engine only on VMware. See Installing the Delphix Engine.

Delphix Masking Engine only on AWS EC2. See Installing the Delphix Engine.

Once the Delphix Masking Engine is installed, follow the Delphix Masking Engine Install, System Configuration, and Network Setup for instructions to start the masking service.

Where to Log Inhttp://<Delphix Engine IP or DNS name>:8282/dmsuite

Initial Requirements for all Masking Activities

In the Delphix Masking Engine interface:

  1. Prepare data for masking.

  2. Create a masking job.

For detailed instructions, see Prepare Data for Masking and Mask Data.

To mask data

Masking jobs can be created in the Delphix Masking Engine GUI and run via the GUI or API just like Standalone Masking Engines.

You can also use the Data as a Service Engine GUI to provision masked virtual databases (VDBs). See Provisioning Masked VDBs for more details.

Post-Masking Features

Enabling the Delphix Masking Engine

Every Delphix 5.0 and above engine includes the Delphix Masking Engine. For this installation type: 

  1. Review Masking Engine System Requirements. 
  2. Download Delphix 5.0 or above from Delphix Downloads using your Support credentials.
  3. Install the Delphix Engine 5.0 or above. For requirements and details, see Installing the Delphix Engine.
  4. Connect to the CLI via SSH as sysadmin or with other system administrator credentials. Then start the Delphix Masking Engine with: cd /; system ; startMasking ; commit ; exit
  5. Connect to the Delphix Masking Engine at: http://<Delphix Engine IP or DNS name>:8282/dmsuite as the user delphix_admin and password Delphix_123.

Delphix Masking Engine Workflows

Ultimately, the way you use the Delphix Masking Engine will depend on your business needs and security practices. However, there are several common workflows that you will need to understand in order to perform various masking tasks.

Prepare Data for Masking

  1. Link a dSource.
  2. Provision a normal VDB in the Delphix Engine.

To learn more, visit Prepare Data for Masking.

Create and Run a Simple Masking Job 

To create and run a simple masking job in the Delphix Masking Engine:

  1. Identify all sensitive data.
  2. Select methods for securing data.
  3. Validate that the methods will work for your needs.
  4. Implement and create new masking jobs for your target environments.

To learn more, visit Delphix Masking Engine Activities. If you are interested in running jobs through the API for automation, you can learn more at Masking API Cookbook

Provision a Masked VDB 

  1. Associate masking jobs with a dSource in the Delphix Management application.

  2. Use the dSource provision wizard to provision a VDB with a masking job.

  3. Provision from a masked VDB to create a new masked VDB in the Delphix Engine.

To learn more, visit Provisioning Masked VDBs.

Advanced Integrated Masking Workflows

Other advanced workflows include using masked VDBs for selective data distribution and Delphix Self-Service (Jet Stream).  

To learn more, visit Advanced Integrated Delphix Masking Workflows.

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