How to Build an ETL App for AlloyDB Data in Python with CData Connect AI

The rich ecosystem of Python modules lets you get to work quickly and integrate your systems more effectively. With the CData Connect AI Python SDK and the petl framework, you can build AlloyDB-connected applications and pipelines for extracting, transforming, and loading AlloyDB data. This article shows how to connect to Connect AI and use petl to extract, transform, and load AlloyDB data.

The Connect AI Python SDK (cdata-connect-ai) is a DB-API 2.0 (PEP 249) compliant client, so petl can read directly from the SDK connection with etl.fromdb. There is no driver to install per source: connect with a Personal Access Token and build your pipeline.

Connect to AlloyDB in Connect AI

CData Connect AI uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "AlloyDB" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to AlloyDB.

   The following connection properties are usually required in order to connect to AlloyDB.

   • Server: The host name or IP of the server hosting the AlloyDB database.
   • User: The user which will be used to authenticate with the AlloyDB server.
   • Password: The password which will be used to authenticate with the AlloyDB server.

   You can also optionally set the following:

   • Database: The database to connect to when connecting to the AlloyDB Server. If this is not set, the user's default database will be used.
   • Port: The port of the server hosting the AlloyDB database. This property is set to 5432 by default.

   Authenticating with Standard Authentication

   Standard authentication (using the user/password combination supplied earlier) is the default form of authentication.

   No further action is required to leverage Standard Authentication to connect.

   Authenticating with pg_hba.conf Auth Schemes

   There are additional methods of authentication available which must be enabled in the pg_hba.conf file on the AlloyDB server.

   Find instructions about authentication setup on the AlloyDB Server here.

   Authenticating with MD5 Authentication

   This authentication method must be enabled by setting the auth-method in the pg_hba.conf file to md5.

   Authenticating with SASL Authentication

   This authentication method must be enabled by setting the auth-method in the pg_hba.conf file to scram-sha-256.

   Authenticating with Kerberos

   The authentication with Kerberos is initiated by AlloyDB Server when the ∏ is trying to connect to it. You should set up Kerberos on the AlloyDB Server to activate this authentication method. Once you have Kerberos authentication set up on the AlloyDB Server, see the Kerberos section of the help documentation for details on how to authenticate with Kerberos.

4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab and update the user-based permissions.

Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT)

The Python SDK authenticates to Connect AI with your account email and a Personal Access Token (PAT). It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each application to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the Settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create.
4. The PAT is only visible at creation, so copy it and store it securely.

Install Required Modules

Install the SDK and the petl framework using the pip utility:

pip install cdata-connect-ai
pip install petl

Build an ETL App for AlloyDB Data in Python

Once the required modules are installed, you are ready to build the ETL app. Code snippets follow, but the full source code is available at the end of the article.

First, import the modules and connect to Connect AI with your account email and PAT:

import petl as etl
import cdata_connect_ai

conn = cdata_connect_ai.connect(
    username="[email protected]",
    password="<your_pat>",
)

Create a SQL Statement to Query AlloyDB

Use SQL to create a statement for querying AlloyDB. In this article, we read data from the Orders entity. Identifiers are three-part: <Connection>.<Schema>.<Table>, where the connection name defaults to the source name (for example, AlloyDB1).

sql = (
    "SELECT ShipName, ShipCity "
    "FROM [AlloyDB1].[AlloyDB].[Orders] "
    "WHERE ShipCountry = 'USA'"
)

Extract, Transform, and Load the AlloyDB Data

With a connection and query in hand, use petl to extract, transform, and load the AlloyDB data. In this example, we extract AlloyDB data, sort the data by the ShipCity column, and load the data into a CSV file.

table1 = etl.fromdb(conn, sql)

table2 = etl.sort(table1, 'ShipCity')

etl.tocsv(table2, 'orders_data.csv')

Load New Rows Back into AlloyDB

When AlloyDB supports writes, load rows back with a batch INSERT. The SDK's executemany takes @name placeholders and a list of parameter dictionaries, one per row.

cur = conn.cursor()
cur.executemany(
    "INSERT INTO [AlloyDB1].[AlloyDB].[Orders] (ShipName, ShipCity) "
    "VALUES (@val1, @val2)",
    [
        {"@val1": "New value 1", "@val2": "New value 1"},
        {"@val1": "New value 2", "@val2": "New value 2"},
    ],
)
print(f"Rows inserted: {cur.rowcount}")

conn.close()

Note: Even for writable sources, a read-only PAT or connection permission will reject write operations.

With the CData Connect AI Python SDK, you can work with AlloyDB data just like you would with any database, including direct access to data in ETL packages like petl.

More Information and Free Trial

Now you can pipe live AlloyDB data through petl using the CData Connect AI Python SDK. For more information on connecting to AlloyDB (and hundreds of other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start building data pipelines for live AlloyDB data in Python.

Full Source Code

import petl as etl
import cdata_connect_ai

conn = cdata_connect_ai.connect(
    username="[email protected]",
    password="<your_pat>",
)

sql = (
    "SELECT ShipName, ShipCity "
    "FROM [AlloyDB1].[AlloyDB].[Orders] "
    "WHERE ShipCountry = 'USA'"
)

table1 = etl.fromdb(conn, sql)

table2 = etl.sort(table1, 'ShipCity')

etl.tocsv(table2, 'orders_data.csv')

cur = conn.cursor()
cur.executemany(
    "INSERT INTO [AlloyDB1].[AlloyDB].[Orders] (ShipName, ShipCity) "
    "VALUES (@val1, @val2)",
    [
        {"@val1": "New value 1", "@val2": "New value 1"},
        {"@val1": "New value 2", "@val2": "New value 2"},
    ],
)
print(f"Rows inserted: {cur.rowcount}")
conn.close()