Integrate Apache Airflow with External Services using SnapLogic

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Use CData JDBC drivers in SnapLogic to integrate Apache Airflow with External Services.

SnapLogic is an integration platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) that allows users to create data integration flows with no code. When paired with the CData JDBC Drivers, users get access to live data from more than 250+ SaaS, Big Data and NoSQL sources, including Apache Airflow, in their SnapLogic workflows.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Apache Airflow data. When platforms issue complex SQL queries to Apache Airflow, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Apache Airflow and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying lets you work with Apache Airflow data using native data types.

Connect to Apache Airflow in SnapLogic

To connect to Apache Airflow data in SnapLogic, download and install the CData Apache Airflow JDBC Driver. Follow the installation dialog. When the installation is complete, the JAR file can be found in the installation directory (C:/Program Files/CData/CData API Driver for JDBC/lib by default).

Upload the Apache Airflow JDBC Driver

After installation, upload the JDBC JAR file to a location in SnapLogic (for example, projects/Jerod Johnson) from the Manager tab.

Uploaded JDBC Driver (Salesforce & QuickBooks Online are shown)

Configure the Connection

Once the JDBC Driver is uploaded, we can create the connection to Apache Airflow.

  1. Navigate to the Designer tab
  2. Expand "JDBC" from Snaps and drag a "Generic JDBC - Select" snap onto the designer Adding a Generic JDBC snap onto the designer
  3. Click Add Account (or select an existing one) and click "Continue"
  4. In the next form, configure the JDBC connection properties:
    • Under JDBC JARs, add the JAR file we previously uploaded
    • Set JDBC Driver Class to cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver
    • Set JDBC URL to a JDBC connection string for the Apache Airflow JDBC Driver, for example:

      jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\ApacheAirflow.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_jwt_token;Server=http://localhost:8080';RTK=XXXXXX;

      NOTE: RTK is a trial or full key. Contact our Support team for more information. Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)

      Built-In Connection String Designer

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

      java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.jar

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

      Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the ApacheAirflow Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\ApacheAirflow.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for ApacheAirflow (see below).

      ApacheAirflow API Profile Settings

      Apache Airflow 3 uses JWT Bearer tokens for API authentication. You can generate a token from the Airflow web UI under Settings or via the Airflow CLI using airflow users create and the /api/v2/auth/token endpoint. Note that this profile targets Apache Airflow 3.x using the /api/v2 REST API. The legacy /api/v1 endpoint used by Airflow 2.x is not supported.

      After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

      • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
      • APIKey: Set this to your Apache Airflow JWT Bearer token.
      • Server: Set this to the base URL of your Airflow instance (e.g. http://localhost:8080).
      Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)
  5. After entering the connection properties, click "Validate" and "Apply"

Read Apache Airflow Data

In the form that opens after validating and applying the connection, configure your query.

  • Set Schema name to "API"
  • Set Table name to a table for Apache Airflow using the schema name, for example: "API"."DagRuns" (use the drop-down to see the full list of available tables)
  • Add Output fields for each item you wish to work with from the table
Configuring a Select snap (Salesforce is shown)

Save the Generic JDBC - Select snap.

With connection and query configured, click the end of the snap to preview the data (highlighted below).

Click the end of the snap to preview the data.

Once you confirm the results are what you expect, you can add additional snaps to funnel your Apache Airflow data to another endpoint.

Previewing data (Salesforce is shown).

Piping Apache Airflow Data to External Services

For this article, we will load data in a Google Spreadsheet. You can use any of the supported snaps, or even use a Generic JDBC snap with another CData JDBC Driver, to move data into an external service.

  1. Start by dropping a "Worksheet Writer" snap onto the end of the "Generic JDBC - Select" snap.
  2. Add an account to connect to Google Sheets Connecting to Google
  3. Configure the Worksheet Writer snap to write your Apache Airflow data to a Google Spreadsheet Writing to a Google Spreadsheet

You can now execute the fully configured pipeline to extract data from Apache Airflow and push it into a Google Spreadsheet.

Data written to Google Spreadsheets (Salesforce is shown)

More Information & Free Trial

Using the CData API Driver for JDBC you can create a pipeline in SnapLogic for integrating Apache Airflow data with external services. For more information about connecting to Apache Airflow, check at our CData API Driver for JDBC page. Download a free, 30 day trial of the CData API Driver for JDBC and get started today.

Ready to get started?

Connect to live data from Apache Airflow with the API Driver

Connect to Apache Airflow