The Transform Manager tool allows for the addition of Transform Application Servers (TAS) as well as configuration of Transforms from those servers and sets (groupings of Transforms).
Clicking the Transform Manager button will open the Transform Manager Window which is split between three tabs:
- All Transforms
- Transform Servers, and
- Transform Sets
All Transforms
Transforms can be edited from the default Transform Manager window (see above). From this window, you can sort Transforms by:
- Transform: The name of the Transform.
- Status: Whether the Transform is ‘ready’ or has requirements such as a disclaimer or input that needs to be set.
- Location: The Transform Application Servers (TAS) that this Transform is found on.
- Default Set: The default set this Transform can be found in.
- Input: The input Entity type (what you click on to run this Transform).
- Output: The output Entity type(s) (What is returned after running this Transform).
This window can also be searched via the search control in the top right of the window, which will search the Transform "names" column:
With the default layout of the Transform Manager the following sections are also available:
- Transform Information (bottom left): This section describes the Transform, gives additional Transform information such as Transform author and informs of any user action needed, such as accepting disclaimers or if additional settings are needed.
- Transform Settings (bottom right): This section allows the modification of Transform specific settings such as API keys, timeouts, setting fields to popup and so on.
Transform Servers
The Transform Servers tab displays the servers that are available to you which you can easily turn on and off to set if they are used. This is useful when you have multiple servers and would prefer not to specify every time you run a Transform which server it should be run on. You can also view Transforms on specific servers by expanding each server with the (+) icon, as seen below:
Transform Sets
Sets are a way of grouping Transforms that are commonly run together. With the default installation of Maltego you will notice various sets have been pre-configured for you, such as the Resolve to IP set which groups the Transforms that convert DNSName, MXRecord, NSRecord and Website Entities to IP Addresses. This has been done so that instead of having to select each individual Entity type you can run a set of Transforms on them.
Creating a Set
To create a new set simply select the New Set button and fill in the Set Name (mandatory) and a Description for the set (optional).
Editing Sets
To add or remove Transforms from a set, select the Transform from the left-hand pane and drag it drag it to the right-hand pane, over the Transform set you wish to modify.
To add more than one Transform to the set simply select multiple Transforms by using either the shift or Ctrl modifiers and then drag the selection from the left-hand pane to the preferred set in the right-hand pane. Alternatively, you can also select the Transforms you wish to add, right-click on them and use the Add to Set-> context menu, then select the set you wish to use.
To remove specific Transforms from a set, select the Transforms that you wish to remove within the selected set, right-click on the selection and click Remove from set.
Deleting a Set
To permanently delete a set, select the set from the right-hand pane, right-click on it and click the Delete option from the dropdown.
A dialogue box will open, prompting confirmation to delete the selected Transform set.
Selecting OK on this dialog box will delete the set permanently.
Technical Tips: How to use Maltego's Transform Manager to lookup all Transforms in an Integration
The Transform Manager window in the Maltego Desktop Client allows investigators to look over all available Transforms, without being limited by the particular Entity currently selected. All possible Transforms are listed here.