Integrate with live FTP Data in Jitterbit

Jitterbit is an enterprise iPaaS (integration platform as a service) that lets you streamline your data workflows. When paired with CData Connect AI, Jitterbit gets access to live FTP data. This article demonstrates how to connect to FTP using Connect AI and integrate with live FTP data in Jitterbit.

CData Connect AI provides a pure OData interface for FTP, allowing you to query data from FTP without replicating the data to a natively supported database. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to FTP, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested FTP data quickly.

Configure FTP Connectivity for Jitterbit

To work with FTP data from Jitterbit, we need to connect to FTP from Connect AI, provide user access to the connection, and create a Workspace for the FTP data.

Connect to FTP from Connect AI

CData Connect AI uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

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.

Configure FTP Endpoints for Jitterbit

After connecting to FTP, create a workspace for your desired table(s).

1. Navigate to the Workspaces page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace).
2. Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
3. Select the FTP connection (e.g. FTP1) and click Next.
4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm.
5. Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}

With the connection, PAT, and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to FTP data from Jitterbit.

Connect to FTP from Jitterbit using Connect AI

To establish a connection from Jitterbit to CData Connect AI using the OData protocol, follow these steps.

1. Log into Jitterbit.
2. Create a project in Cloud Studio and provide a workspace environment for it.
3. click Sources and enter OData in the search bar.
4. Select the OData connector.
5. Enter the OData connection properties.
• Connection Name: enter a connection name.
• OData Metadata URL: enter https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}.
• Authentication: select Basic Auth.
• User Name: enter your CData Connect AI username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect AI interface. For example, [email protected].
• Password: enter the PAT you generated on the Settings page.

6. Click Test to test the connection, and then click Save Changes.
7. Choose the operation you want to perform and drag it to the workflow in your project.
8. Double-click the query operation to see all the tables and derived views available in your OData endpoint.
9. Select a table and configure the query.

You can now transform and integrate live FTP data in Jitterbit.

Get CData Connect AI

To get live data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from Jitterbit, try CData Connect AI today!