Stream Clio Data into Apache Kafka Topics

Apache Kafka is an open-source stream processing platform that is primarily used for building real-time data pipelines and event-driven applications. When paired with the CData API Driver for JDBC, Kafka can work with live Clio data. This article describes how to connect, access and stream Clio data into Apache Kafka Topics and to start Confluent Control Center to help users secure, manage, and monitor the Clio data received using Kafka infrastructure in the Confluent Platform.

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

Prerequisites

Before connecting the CData JDBC Driver for streaming Clio data in Apache Kafka Topics, install and configure the following in the client Linux-based system.

1. Confluent Platform for Apache Kafka
2. Confluent Hub CLI Installation
3. Self-Managed Kafka JDBC Source Connector for Confluent Platform

Define a New JDBC Connection to Clio data

1. Download CData API Driver for JDBC on a Linux-based system
2. Follow the given instructions to create a new directory extract all the driver contents into it:
   1. Create a new directory named Clio mkdir API
   2. Move the downloaded driver file (.zip) into this new directory mv APIJDBCDriver.zip API/
   3. Unzip the CData APIJDBCDriver contents into this new directory unzip APIJDBCDriver.zip
3. Open the Clio directory and navigate to the lib folder ls cd lib/
4. Copy the contents of the lib folder of Clio into the lib folder of Kafka Connect JDBC. Check the Kafka Connect JDBC folder contents to confirm that the cdata.jdbc.api.jar file is successfully copied into the lib folder cp * ../../confluent-7.5.0/share/confluent-hub-components/confluentinc-kafka-connect-jdbc/lib/ cd ../../confluent-7.5.0/share/confluent-hub-components/confluentinc-kafka-connect-jdbc/lib/
5. Install the CData Clio JDBC driver license using the given command, followed by your Name and Email ID java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.jar -l
6. Enter the product key or "TRIAL" (In the scenarios of license expiry, please contact our CData Support team)
7. Start the Confluent local services using the command: confluent local services start

   This starts all the Confluent Services like Zookeeper, Kafka, Schema Registry, Kafka REST, Kafka CONNECT, ksqlDB and Control Center. You are now ready to use the CData JDBC driver for Clio to stream messages using Kafka Connect Driver into Kafka Topics on ksqlDB.

8. Create the Kafka topics manually using a POST HTTP API Request: curl --location 'server_address:8083/connectors' --header 'Content-Type: application/json' --data '{ "name": "jdbc_source_cdata_api_01", "config": { "connector.class": "io.confluent.connect.jdbc.JdbcSourceConnector", "connection.url": "jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Clio.apip;ProfileSettings='Region=your_region';Authscheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackUrl=your_callback_url;", "topic.prefix": "api-01-", "mode": "bulk" } }'

   Let us understand the fields used in the HTTP POST body (shown above):

   • connector.class: Specifies the Java class of the Kafka Connect connector to be used.
   • connection.url: The JDBC connection URL to connect with Clio data.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Clio 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 Clio Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Clio.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Clio (see below).

     Clio API Profile Settings

     Clio uses OAuth-based authentication.

     First, register an OAuth application with Clio. You can do so by logging to your Developer Account and clicking the Add button. Enter details and select the scope of your application here - these details will be shown to Clio users when they're asked to authorize your application. Your Oauth application will be assigned a client id (key) and a client secret (secret). Additionally you will need to set the Region in ProfileSettings connection property.

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

     • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
     • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage the process to obtain the OAuthAccessToken.
     • OAuthClientId: Set this to the client_id that is specified in you app settings.
     • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client_secret that is specified in you app settings.
     • CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI that is specified in your app settings.
     • Region: Set this in ProfileSettings to your Clio geographic region. Defaults to app.clio.com.

   • topic.prefix: A prefix that will be added to the Kafka topics created by the connector. It's set to "api-01-".
   • mode: Specifies the mode in which the connector operates. In this case, it's set to "bulk", which suggests that the connector is configured to perform bulk data transfer.

   This request adds all the tables/contents from Clio as Kafka Topics.

   Note: The IP Address (server) to POST the request (shown above) is the Linux Network IP Address.

9. Run ksqlDB and list the topics. Use the commands: ksql list topics;
10. To view the data inside the topics, type the SQL Statement: PRINT topic FROM BEGINNING;

Connecting with the Confluent Control Center

To access the Confluent Control Center user interface, ensure to run the "confluent local services" as described in the above section and type http://<server address>:9021/clusters/ on your local browser.

Get Started Today

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData API Driver for JDBC and start streaming Clio data into Apache Kafka. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.