Access Redshift Data in Mule Applications Using the CData JDBC Driver

The CData JDBC Driver for Amazon Redshift connects Redshift data to Mule applications enabling read , write, update, and delete functionality with familiar SQL queries. The JDBC Driver allows users to easily create Mule applications to backup, transform, report, and analyze Redshift data.

This article demonstrates how to use the CData JDBC Driver for Amazon Redshift inside of a Mule project to create a Web interface for Redshift data. The application created allows you to request Redshift data using an HTTP request and have the results returned as JSON. The exact same procedure outlined below can be used with any CData JDBC Driver to create a Web interface for the 200+ available data sources.

1. Create a new Mule Project in Anypoint Studio.
2. Add an HTTP Connector to the Message Flow.
3. Configure the address for the HTTP Connector.
4. Add a Database Select Connector to the same flow, after the HTTP Connector.
5. Create a new Connection (or edit an existing one) and configure the properties.
   • Set Connection to "Generic Connection"
   • Select the CData JDBC Driver JAR file in the Required Libraries section (e.g. cdata.jdbc.redshift.jar).
   • Set the URL to the connection string for Redshift

     To connect to Redshift, set the following:

     • Server: Set this to the host name or IP address of the cluster hosting the Database you want to connect to.
     • Port: Set this to the port of the cluster.
     • Database: Set this to the name of the database. Or, leave this blank to use the default database of the authenticated user.
     • User: Set this to the username you want to use to authenticate to the Server.
     • Password: Set this to the password you want to use to authenticate to the Server.

     You can obtain the Server and Port values in the AWS Management Console:

     1. Open the Amazon Redshift console (http://console.aws.amazon.com/redshift).
     2. On the Clusters page, click the name of the cluster.
     3. On the Configuration tab for the cluster, copy the cluster URL from the connection strings displayed.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Redshift JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.redshift.jar

     Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

   • Set the Driver class name to cdata.jdbc.redshift.RedshiftDriver.
   • Click Test Connection.
6. Set the SQL Query Text to a SQL query to request Redshift data. For example: SELECT ShipName, ShipCity FROM Orders
7. Add a Transform Message Component to the flow.
8. Set the Output script to the following to convert the payload to JSON:

   %dw 2.0
   output application/json
   ---
   payload
           

9. To view your Redshift data, navigate to the address you configured for the HTTP Connector (localhost:8081 by default): http://localhost:8081. The Redshift data is available as JSON in your Web browser and any other tools capable of consuming JSON endpoints.

At this point, you have a simple Web interface for working with Redshift data (as JSON data) in custom apps and a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools. Download a free, 30 day trial of the JDBC Driver for Redshift and see the CData difference in your Mule Applications today.