---
title: Synchronization configuration overview
description: This section describes the high-level steps required to set up synchronization between two resources. A basic synchronization configuration involves the following steps:
component: pingidm
version: 8.1
page_id: pingidm:synchronization-guide:sync-config
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingidm/8.1/synchronization-guide/sync-config.html
keywords: ["Synchronization", "Configuration"]
---

# Synchronization configuration overview

This section describes the high-level steps required to set up synchronization between two resources. A basic synchronization configuration involves the following steps:

1. Set up a connection between the source and target resource.

   A connector configuration *(tooltip: You can create and change connector configurations over REST at the /openidm/config/provisioner.openicf/\<connector-name> endpoint, or in files named conf/provisioner.openicf-\<connector-name>.json.)* references a specific connector type and indicates the connection details of the external resource. You must define a connector configuration for each external resource to which you are connecting.

   For more information, refer to [Connections between resources](sync-connections.html).

2. Map source objects to target objects.

   The mapping configuration *(tooltip: You can manage the mapping configuration over REST at the config/sync endpoint, directly in the conf/sync.json file, or in individual conf/mapping-\<mappingName>.json files.)* your project's `conf/sync.json` file or in individual mapping files. Mappings are synchronized in the order in which they are specified in the `sync.json` file. If there are multiple mapping files, the `syncAfter` property dictates the order in which they are processed.

   For more information, refer to [Resource mapping](mappings.html).

3. Configure any scripts that are required to check source and target objects, and to manipulate attributes.

4. In addition to these configuration elements, IDM stores a `links` table in its repository. The links table maintains a record of relationships established between source and target objects.

The following diagram illustrates the high-level synchronization configuration:

![sync-config](_images/sync-config.png)