> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.aristotlemetadata.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.aristotlemetadata.com/special-features/federator/setting-up-the-federator.md).
# Setting up the Federator
Federation rules are set up via federation configurations, which can then be run manually, or automatically via individually-configurable frequency settings. Before setting up a configuration, the external (source) registry must be specified in the Federator's 'Registry List'.
## Specifying an external (source) registry
1. Select 'Administrator tools' from the dashboard side panel.
2. Select 'Manage Federation Configurations'.
3. Select 'Add new federation registry'.
**Note:** Existing entries in the registry list can also be edited or deleted from this screen (below).
4. Populate the 'Registry Name' field as desired. This name is for human identification of the source registry.
5. Populate the 'Registry URL' field with the URL of the source registry, **not including** any page-related URL elements (e.g. '/home').
6. Select 'Add Registry'. The registry will appear in the registry list.
## Creating a federation configuration
1. Select 'Administrator tools' from the dashboard side panel.
2. Select 'Manage Federation Configurations'.
3. Select the registry that you wish to set up a federation configuration for.
4. Select 'Create New Federation Configuration'.
5. Populate the 'Name' and 'Description' fields as desired to provide context for the configuration.
6. Select the frequency with which this configuration will be run via the 'Frequency' dropdown. Options are defined as follows:
* 'Manually': The configuration is only run when manually activated
* 'Daily': The configuration will run every day at 12:00am UTC
* 'Weekly': The configuration will run every Monday at 12:30am UTC
* 'Monthly': The configuration will run on the 1st of every month at 12:15am UTC.
7. Select the Stewardship Organisation and workgroup that the federated metadata will belong to via the 'Stewardship Organisation' and 'Workgroup' fields respectively.
8. Select the items you wish to federate from the source registry using the 'Items' dropdown.
9. **If you wish to see what items will be federated**, select 'Preview'. A list of all items related to the items you chose will be displayed, along with whether or not they are federable.
10. Select 'Create Federator Configuration' once satisfied.
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