Connect N-able N-central to Conduit

This walkthrough connects N-able N-central (RMM) to Conduit. You generate a User-API Token (a JWT) for an N-central user, then add it — together with your server URL — as an organization connection in Conduit. Once connected, any MCP client your organization uses can call N-central tools through Conduit’s gateway.

N-central runs either on-premises or N-able hosted, so unlike single-cloud vendors Conduit needs to know where your server lives — that’s what the Server URL field is for.

Menu labels can change

The N-central steps below stay deliberately generic; menu labels can shift between N-central releases. N-able’s getting-started guide for the N-central APIs is the authority for generating a User-API Token (N-able does not publish a separate credential-creation page — the getting-started guide covers it).

Before you start

You need:

• A Conduit role that can manage connections — owner or admin on your organization.
• An N-central user with API access enabled. The token acts as that user, so its role needs to cover whatever you want the AI to do. MFA must be disabled for the API user — N-central rejects API tokens for MFA-enabled users.
• Your N-central server URL — the address you use to reach your N-central server, on-prem or N-able hosted (e.g. https://ncentral.yourcompany.com).

Step 1 — Generate a User-API Token in N-central

1. Sign in to your N-central server as an administrator.
2. Generate a User-API Token (JWT) for the API user, following N-able’s guide. In current releases this lives under Administration → User Management → Users → API Access. Expected: a long JWT string.
3. Copy the token.

Caution

Copy the token now and store it somewhere safe. Don’t paste it into chat, email, or a shared document — the next step moves it directly into Conduit, which encrypts it at rest. If you accidentally expose the token, regenerate it in N-central first (Administration → User Management → Users → API Access); the exposed token becomes useless immediately.

Step 2 — Connect N-central in Conduit

1. In Conduit, go to Connections (/org/catalog). Expected: the vendor catalog.
2. Find N-able N-central in the catalog (under RMM) and click Connect. Expected: a credential form with two fields.
3. Fill the fields:
   • Server URL (required) — your N-central server address, on-prem or N-able hosted (e.g. https://ncentral.yourcompany.com). A bare hostname or a trailing slash is fine — Conduit normalizes both. The server must be reachable from the internet on a public address; private/internal addresses are rejected.
   • User-API Token (JWT) (required) — from Step 1.
4. Click Connect. Expected: Conduit authenticates against your server immediately and shows a green Connected status. A bad token or unreachable server is rejected here, not on the first tool call.

The credential is stored at the organization scope, so every technician in your org shares this N-central connection. (For per-technician tokens, connect at the personal scope instead — see Vendor connections.)

Verify it worked

Connect an MCP client to Conduit — Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client (see Connecting an AI client) — and ask it to run a read-only N-central tool, such as listing customers or devices. You should get real data back, and the call appears in your audit log with the correct user, vendor (ncentral), and a successful status.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause
Connect fails with “N-central rejected the User-API Token. Regenerate it under Administration → User Management → Users → API Access, and ensure MFA is disabled for the API user.”	The token is wrong, expired, or the user has MFA enabled. Do exactly what the message says: regenerate the token and confirm the API user has MFA disabled.
Connect fails with “N-central returned HTTP <status>.”	The server answered but with an unexpected error — a proxy in front of N-central, a wrong path, or a transient server issue. Confirm the URL points at the N-central server itself.
Connect fails with a Server URL rejection	Conduit blocks server URLs that resolve to private, loopback, or internal addresses. The N-central server must be reachable at a public address from Conduit’s gateway.
Tool calls return 403 “no credentials for vendor”	N-central isn’t connected at a scope this user can resolve. Connect it at the organization scope, or confirm the user’s team has a token.
Tool calls succeed but specific actions are denied	The token acts as the N-central user it was generated for. Adjust that user’s role, then regenerate the token.
Need to rotate the token	Regenerate it in N-central (Administration → User Management → Users → API Access), then update the credential at /org/catalog.

Related

• Vendor connections — credential scopes, rotation, and the full vendor catalog.
• Security — how Conduit encrypts and resolves the credential you just stored.
• Getting started with N-central APIs — N-able’s API and token documentation.