Connect to FTP Data in Airbyte ELT Pipelines

Airbyte empowers users to load your data into any data warehouse, data lake, or database. When combined with CData Connect AI, Airbyte users can create Extract, Load, Transform (ELT) pipelines directly from live FTP data. This article illustrates the process of connecting to FTP through Connect AI and constructing ELT pipelines for FTP data within Airbyte.

CData Connect AI offers a dedicated SQL Server interface for FTP, facilitating data querying without the need for data replication to a native database. With built-in optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect AI efficiently directs all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, straight to FTP. This harnesses server-side processing to swiftly retrieve the desired FTP data.

Configure FTP Connectivity for Airbyte

Connectivity to FTP from Airbyte is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with FTP data from Airbyte, we start by creating and configuring a FTP connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "FTP" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to FTP.

   To connect to FTP or SFTP servers, specify at least RemoteHost and FileProtocol. Specify the port with RemotePort.

   Set User and Password to perform Basic authentication. Set SSHAuthMode to use SSH authentication. See the Getting Started section of the data provider help documentation for more information on authenticating via SSH.

   Set SSLMode and SSLServerCert to secure connections with SSL.

   The data provider lists the tables based on the available folders in your FTP server. Set the following connection properties to control the relational view of the file system:

   • RemotePath: Set this to the current working directory.
   • TableDepth: Set this to control the depth of folders to list as views.
   • FileRetrievalDepth: Set this to retrieve and list files recursively from the root table.

   Stored Procedures are available to download files, upload files, and send protocol commands. See the Data Model chapter of the FTP data provider documentation for more information.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add FTP Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to FTP data from Airbyte.

Connect to FTP from Airbyte

To establish a connection from Airbyte to CData Connect AI, follow these steps.

1. Log in to your Airbyte account
2. On the left panel, click Sources, then Add New Source
   • Set Source Type to MSSQL Server to connect the TDS endpoint
   • Set Source Name
   • Set Host URL to tds.cdata.com
   • Set Port to 14333
   • Set Database to the name of the connection you previously configured, e.g. FTP1.
   • Set Username to your Connect AI username
   • Set SSL Method to Encrypted (trust server certificate), leave the Replication Method as standard, and set SSH Tunnel Method to No Tunnel
   • (Optional) Set Schema to anything you want to apply to the source
   • Set Password to your Connect AI PAT
   • (Optional) Enter any needed JBDC URL Params
3. Click Test and Save to create the data source.

Create ELT Pipelines for FTP Data

To connect FTP data with a new destination, click Sources and then Set Up Connection to connect to your destination. Select the source created above and your desired destination, then allow Airbyte to process. When it is done, your connection is ready for use.

Get CData Connect AI

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