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Get the Report →Integrate Bullhorn CRM Data in Pentaho Data Integration
Build ETL pipelines based on Bullhorn CRM data in the Pentaho Data Integration tool.
The CData JDBC Driver for Bullhorn CRM enables access to live data from data pipelines. Pentaho Data Integration is an Extraction, Transformation, and Loading (ETL) engine that data, cleanses the data, and stores data using a uniform format that is accessible.This article shows how to connect to Bullhorn CRM data as a JDBC data source and build jobs and transformations based on Bullhorn CRM data in Pentaho Data Integration.
Configure to Bullhorn CRM Connectivity
Begin by providing your Bullhorn CRM account credentials in the following:
- DataCenterCode: Set this to the data center code which responds to your data center. Refer to the list of data-center-specific Bullhorn API URLs: https://bullhorn.github.io/Data-Center-URLs/
If you are uncertain about your data center code, codes like CLS2, CLS21, etc. are cluster IDs that are contained in a user's browser URL (address bar) once they are logged in.
Example: https://cls21.bullhornstaffing.com/BullhornSTAFFING/MainFrame.jsp?#no-ba... indicates that the logged in user is on CLS21.
Authenticating with OAuth
Bullhorn CRM uses the OAuth 2.0 authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, create and configure a custom OAuth app. See the Help documentation for more information.
Built-in Connection String Designer
For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Bullhorn CRM JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.
java -jar cdata.jdbc.bullhorncrm.jar
Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

When you configure the JDBC URL, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.
Below is a typical JDBC URL:
jdbc:bullhorncrm:DataCenterCode=CLS33;OAuthClientId=myoauthclientid;OAuthClientSecret=myoauthclientsecret;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH
Save your connection string for use in Pentaho Data Integration.
Connect to Bullhorn CRM from Pentaho DI
Open Pentaho Data Integration and select "Database Connection" to configure a connection to the CData JDBC Driver for Bullhorn CRM
- Click "General"
- Set Connection name (e.g. Bullhorn CRM Connection)
- Set Connection type to "Generic database"
- Set Access to "Native (JDBC)"
- Set Custom connection URL to your Bullhorn CRM connection string (e.g.
jdbc:bullhorncrm:DataCenterCode=CLS33;OAuthClientId=myoauthclientid;OAuthClientSecret=myoauthclientsecret;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH
- Set Custom driver class name to "cdata.jdbc.bullhorncrm.BullhornCRMDriver"
- Test the connection and click "OK" to save.
Create a Data Pipeline for Bullhorn CRM
Once the connection to Bullhorn CRM is configured using the CData JDBC Driver, you are ready to create a new transformation or job.
- Click "File" >> "New" >> "Transformation/job"
- Drag a "Table input" object into the workflow panel and select your Bullhorn CRM connection.
- Click "Get SQL select statement" and use the Database Explorer to view the available tables and views.
- Select a table and optionally preview the data for verification.
At this point, you can continue your transformation or jb by selecting a suitable destination and adding any transformations to modify, filter, or otherwise alter the data during replication.

Free Trial & More Information
Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Bullhorn CRM and start working with your live Bullhorn CRM data in Pentaho Data Integration today.