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Using Providers

Providers are reusable cloud-provider and network-share records that profile sources reference when ntkDrive should read remote assets. Instead of embedding connection details inside each profile, you configure a provider instance once and then assign it to as many profiles as you need. When a profile is deployed, the Config Build Service inlines the resolved credentials into the artifact automatically.

Prerequisites

Security notice: Deployment artifacts embed full provider credentials by design. Profile JSON preview and export files are redacted by default, but treat any deployment artifact as sensitive material.

Provider types

ntkDeploy supports nine provider types across two families:

Type Label in UI Credential-bearing
NetworkShare Network Share No
AmazonS3 Amazon S3 Yes
MinIO MinIO Yes
Wasabi Wasabi Yes
iDriveE2 iDrive E2 Yes
S3Compatible S3 Compatible Yes
OneDrive OneDrive No
DropBox DropBox No
GoogleDrive Google Drive No

S3-like providers (Amazon S3, MinIO, Wasabi, iDrive E2, S3 Compatible) require a region or endpoint and a bucket catalog in addition to access credentials.

Network Share requires only a UNC path.

Select Providers from the sidebar. The page is divided into three panels:

Panel Purpose
Left — Provider Types Filter rail listing every provider type in your database, with instance counts. New Provider button at the bottom.
Center — Provider Grid Paginated, searchable, sortable list of all provider instances. Columns: Display Name, Type, Summary, Used By, Status, Actions.
Right — Editor Drawer Create or edit form. Closed by default; opens when you click New Provider or select a row in the grid.

Creating a provider instance

  1. Click New Provider at the bottom of the left filter rail. The editor drawer opens in Create Provider mode.
  2. A security notice banner appears at the top of the form as a reminder that secrets are stored locally.
  3. Select a Provider Type from the dropdown. The form fields adapt to the chosen type. The type cannot be changed after saving.
  4. Enter a Display Name — this is the label shown throughout the UI.
  5. Fill in the type-specific fields:

For Network Share:

Field Description
Location UNC path to the share, e.g. \\server\share\configs. Must start with \\, include both server and share name, and use \ as the separator. Forward slashes are not accepted.

For S3-like providers (Amazon S3, MinIO, Wasabi, iDrive E2, S3 Compatible):

Field Description
Region Select a preset from the dropdown (e.g. us-east-1, eu-central-1).
Endpoint Derived automatically from the selected region and displayed read-only. No manual entry required.
Buckets Semicolon-separated list of bucket names available on this account, e.g. configs-prod;configs-staging. This becomes the catalog that sources pick an Assigned Bucket from.
Access Key Sensitive — masked by default. Click the eye icon to reveal temporarily.
Secret Key Sensitive — masked by default. Click the eye icon to reveal temporarily.
  1. Click Save. The provider appears in the grid and is immediately available for assignment to profile sources.

Tip: For S3-like providers, add every bucket name you may ever need in the Buckets field at creation time. You can edit the provider later to extend the catalog.

Editing a provider instance

  1. Click any row in the provider grid. The editor drawer opens in Edit Provider mode, pre-populated with the current values.
  2. You can update the Display Name and any configuration fields. The Provider Type is locked and cannot be changed.
  3. Secret fields are masked. Click the eye icon to reveal the current value before editing.
  4. Click Save to apply. All profiles that reference this provider instance will use the updated configuration on their next deployment.

Disabling vs. deleting a provider

Action When to use What happens
Disable Provider is still referenced by profiles but must be taken out of service. Sets an internal disabled flag. The provider remains in the database and is shown with an Invalid status in the grid. Preflight will surface a warning for any profile that references a disabled provider.
Delete Provider record is no longer needed. Permanently removes the provider record. The Delete action is always visible in row actions. If Used By > 0, the confirmation flow blocks hard delete and offers a Disable fallback instead.

Warning: When profile references exist (Used By > 0), confirming delete opens a second step that offers Disable as a safe fallback. To fully remove the provider, first reassign or remove all referencing profile sources, then delete.

Assigning a provider to a profile source

Provider assignments are made per source in the Profile editor, not on the Providers page. Each source in a profile can have one or more provider instances assigned to it.

  1. Open a profile for editing — see Creating a Profile.
  2. Navigate to the Sources section of the profile form.
  3. Expand the source you want to configure and locate the Providers used by this source card.
  4. Click Add Provider (or the add icon). A picker dialog lists available provider instances.
  5. Duplicate assignments are prevented — a provider already assigned to this source will not appear in the picker.
  6. Select the desired provider instance and confirm.
  7. For S3-like providers: An Assigned Bucket dropdown appears on the assignment card. You must select one bucket from the provider's bucket catalog before the profile can be saved. If the previously assigned bucket is no longer listed in the provider's catalog, an error message prompts you to reselect before saving.
  8. To jump directly to a provider record, click Open in Providers on the assignment card — the Providers page opens with that instance selected in the editor drawer.
  9. To remove an assignment, click the Delete (trash) icon on the assignment card.

Important: Any source that uses a credential-bearing provider (S3-like type) will display a warning banner inside the profile editor. This is a reminder that the credentials will be embedded in every deployment artifact built from this profile.

Filtering and searching providers

  • Filter by type: Click a type name in the left filter rail. Click All Providers to clear the filter.
  • Search: Type in the search bar above the grid. Results filter in real time across Display Name and summary fields.
  • Sort: Click any column header to sort ascending; click again for descending.
  • Pagination: Use the page controls below the grid to navigate pages or change the page size.

Secret redaction defaults

ntkDeploy applies secret-safe defaults at every stage:

Context Default behaviour
Provider editor — secret fields Masked; requires explicit eye-icon reveal
Profile JSON preview Redacted; an explicit override is needed to view full values
Profile copy to clipboard Redacted; explicit confirmation required for full reveal
Profile export to JSON Redacted — credentials replaced with placeholder markers
Deployment artifacts Full secrets included — treat artifacts as sensitive files

Practical example: configuring an Amazon S3 provider

Goal: Add an S3 provider for a US East bucket and assign it to a profile source.

  1. Navigate to Providers → New Provider.
  2. Set Provider Type to Amazon S3.
  3. Enter Display Name: Production S3 — US East.
  4. Set Region to us-east-1.
  5. In Buckets, enter ntk-configs-prod;ntk-configs-staging.
  6. Enter your IAM Access Key and Secret Key.
  7. Click Save. The grid shows the provider with a summary of us-east-1 · ntk-configs-prod · ••••••.
  8. Open the target profile for editing.
  9. Under Sources → Providers used by this source, click Add Provider and select Production S3 — US East.
  10. Set Assigned Bucket to ntk-configs-prod.
  11. Save the profile. The source is now linked to the S3 provider and ready for deployment.

Next Steps