How to Query BambooHR Data in MySQL Workbench

You can use the SQL Gateway from the ODBC Driver for BambooHR to query BambooHR data through a MySQL interface. Follow the procedure below to start the MySQL remoting service of the SQL Gateway and work with live BambooHR data in MySQL Workbench.

Connect to BambooHR Data

If you have not already done so, provide values for the required connection properties in the data source name (DSN). You can use the built-in Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure the DSN. This is also the last step of the driver installation. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for a guide to using the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure a DSN.

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

BambooHR API Profile Settings

In order to authenticate to BambooHR, you'll need to provide your API Key. To generate an API key, log in and click your name in the upper right-hand corner of any page to get to the user context menu. If you have sufficient permissions, there will be an "API Keys" option in that menu to go to the page, where you can create a new API Key. Additionally, you will need to set the Domain, found in the domain name of your BambooHR account. For example if your BambooHR account is acmeinc.bamboohr.com, then the Domain should be 'acmeinc'. Set both the API Key and Domain in the ProfileSettings property to connect.

Configure the SQL Gateway

See the SQL Gateway Overview to set up connectivity to BambooHR data as a virtual MySQL database. You will configure a MySQL remoting service that listens for MySQL requests from clients. The service can be configured in the SQL Gateway UI.

Query BambooHR from MySQL Workbench

The steps below outline connecting to the virtual BambooHR database created in the SQL Gateway from MySQL Workbench and issuing basic queries to work with live BambooHR data.

Connect to BambooHR through the SQL Gateway

1. In MySQL Workbench, click to add a new MySQL connection.
2. Name the connection (CData SQL Gateway for BambooHR).
3. Set the Hostname, Port, and Username parameters to connect to the SQL Gateway.
4. Click Store in Vault to set and store the password.
5. Click Test Connection to ensure the connection is configured properly and click OK.

Query BambooHR Data

1. Open the connection you just created (CData SQL Gateway for BambooHR).
2. Click File -> New Query Tab.
3. Write a SQL query to retrieve BambooHR data, like SELECT * FROM `CData API Sys`.Employees;

With access to live BambooHR data from MySQL Workbench, you can easily query and update BambooHR, just like you would a MySQL database. Get started now with a free, 30-day trial of the CData API Driver for ODBC and the CData SQL Gateway.