How to connect and process HCL Domino Data from Azure Databricks

Databricks is a cloud-based service that provides data processing capabilities through Apache Spark. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver, customers can use Databricks to perform data engineering and data science on live HCL Domino data. This article walks through hosting the CData JDBC Driver in Azure, as well as connecting to and processing live HCL Domino data in Databricks.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live HCL Domino data. When you issue complex SQL queries to HCL Domino, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to HCL Domino 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 HCL Domino data using native data types.

Install the CData JDBC Driver in Azure

To work with live HCL Domino data in Databricks, install the driver on your Azure cluster.

1. Navigate to your Databricks administration screen and select the target cluster.
2. On the Libraries tab, click "Install New."
3. Select "Upload" as the Library Source and "Jar" as the Library Type.
4. Upload the JDBC JAR file (cdata.jdbc.domino.jar) from the installation location (typically C:\Program Files\CData[product_name]\lib).

Connect to HCL Domino from Databricks

With the JAR file installed, we are ready to work with live HCL Domino data in Databricks. Start by creating a new notebook in your workspace. Name the notebook, select Python as the language (though Scala is available as well), and choose the cluster where you installed the JDBC driver. When the notebook launches, we can configure the connection, query HCL Domino, and create a basic report.

Configure the Connection to HCL Domino

Connect to HCL Domino by referencing the class for the JDBC Driver and constructing a connection string to use in the JDBC URL. Additionally, you will need to set the RTK property in the JDBC URL (unless you are using a Beta driver). You can view the licensing file included in the installation for information on how to set this property.

driver = "cdata.jdbc.domino.DominoDriver"
url = "jdbc:domino:RTK=5246...;Server=https://domino.corp.com;Database=names.nsf;Port=3002;SSLClientCertType=PEMKEY_FILE;SSLClientCert=full_path_of_certificate.pem;SSLServerCert=*"

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

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

Prerequisites

The connector requires the Proton component to be installed. Normally, Proton is distributed as part of the AppDev pack. See the HCL documentation for instructions on acquiring and installing Proton or the AppDev pack.

Once the Proton service is installed and running, you will also need to create a user account and download its Internet certificate. This certificate can be used to set the connector certificate connection properties.

Authenticating to Domino

• Server: The name or IP address of the server running Domino with the Proton service.
• Port: The port number that the Proton service is listening on.
• Database: The name of the database file, including the .nsf extension.
• SSLClientCertType: This must match the format of the certificate file. Typically this will be either PEMKEY_FILE for .pem certificates or PFXFILE for .pfx certificates.
• SSLClientCert: The path to the certificate file.
• SSLServerCert: This can be set to (*) if you trust the server. This is usually the case, but if you want to perform SSL validation, you may provide a certificate or thumbprint instead. See the documentation for SSLServerCert for details.

Additional Server Configuration

The connector supports querying Domino views if any are defined. Before views can be queried by the connector they must be registered with the design catalog.

Please refer to the Catalog Administration section of the AppDev pack documentation for details on how to do this.

Load HCL Domino Data

Once the connection is configured, you can load HCL Domino data as a dataframe using the CData JDBC Driver and the connection information.

remote_table = spark.read.format ( "jdbc" ) \
	.option ( "driver" , driver) \
	.option ( "url" , url) \
	.option ( "dbtable" , "ByName") \
	.load ()

Display HCL Domino Data

Check the loaded HCL Domino data by calling the display function.

display (remote_table.select ("Name"))

Analyze HCL Domino Data in Azure Databricks

If you want to process data with Databricks SparkSQL, register the loaded data as a Temp View.

remote_table.createOrReplaceTempView ( "SAMPLE_VIEW" )

The SparkSQL below retrieves the HCL Domino data for analysis.

% sql

SELECT Name, Address FROM ByName WHERE City = 'Miami'

The data from HCL Domino is only available in the target notebook. If you want to use it with other users, save it as a table.

remote_table.write.format ( "parquet" ) .saveAsTable ( "SAMPLE_TABLE" )

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for HCL Domino and start working with your live HCL Domino data in Azure Databricks. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.