Connect to Live Google Cloud Storage Data in PostGresSQL Interface through CData Connect AI

There are a vast number of PostgreSQL clients available on the Internet. PostgreSQL is a popular interface for data access. When you pair PostgreSQL with CData Connect AI, you gain database-like access to live Google Cloud Storage data from PostgreSQL. In this article, we walk through the process of connecting to Google Cloud Storage data in Connect AI and establishing a connection between Connect AI and PostgreSQL using a TDS foreign data wrapper (FDW).

CData Connect AI provides a pure SQL Server interface for Google Cloud Storage, allowing you to query data from Google Cloud Storage 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 Google Cloud Storage, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested Google Cloud Storage data quickly.

Connect to Google Cloud Storage in 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 "Google Cloud Storage" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Google Cloud Storage.

   Authenticate with a User Account

   You can connect without setting any connection properties for your user credentials. After setting InitiateOAuth to GETANDREFRESH, you are ready to connect.

   When you connect, the Google Cloud Storage OAuth endpoint opens in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions, then the OAuth process completes

   Authenticate with a Service Account

   Service accounts have silent authentication, without user authentication in the browser. You can also use a service account to delegate enterprise-wide access scopes.

   You need to create an OAuth application in this flow. See the Help documentation for more information. After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH.
   • OAuthJWTCertType: Set this to "PFXFILE".
   • OAuthJWTCert: Set this to the path to the .p12 file you generated.
   • OAuthJWTCertPassword: Set this to the password of the .p12 file.
   • OAuthJWTCertSubject: Set this to "*" to pick the first certificate in the certificate store.
   • OAuthJWTIssuer: In the service accounts section, click Manage Service Accounts and set this field to the email address displayed in the service account Id field.
   • OAuthJWTSubject: Set this to your enterprise Id if your subject type is set to "enterprise" or your app user Id if your subject type is set to "user".
   • ProjectId: Set this to the Id of the project you want to connect to.

   The OAuth flow for a service account then completes.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Google Cloud Storage 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 Google Cloud Storage data from PostgreSQL.

Build the TDS Foreign Data Wrapper

The Foreign Data Wrapper can be installed as an extension to PostgreSQL, without recompiling PostgreSQL. The tds_fdw extension is used as an example (https://github.com/tds-fdw/tds_fdw).

1. You can clone and build the git repository via something like the following view source:

   sudo apt-get install git
   git clone https://github.com/tds-fdw/tds_fdw.git
   cd tds_fdw
   make USE_PGXS=1
   sudo make USE_PGXS=1 install
   

   Note: If you have several PostgreSQL versions and you do not want to build for the default one, first locate where the binary for pg_config is, take note of the full path, and then append PG_CONFIG= after USE_PGXS=1 at the make commands.
2. After you finish the installation, then start the server:

   sudo service postgresql start
   

3. Then go inside the Postgres database

   psql -h localhost -U postgres -d postgres
   

   Note: Instead of localhost you can put the IP where your PostgreSQL is hosted.

Connect to Google Cloud Storage data as a PostgreSQL Database and query the data!

After you have installed the extension, follow the steps below to start executing queries to Google Cloud Storage data:

1. Log into your database.
2. Load the extension for the database:

   CREATE EXTENSION tds_fdw;
   

3. Create a server object for Google Cloud Storage data:

   CREATE SERVER "GoogleCloudStorage1" FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER tds_fdw OPTIONS (servername'tds.cdata.com', port '14333', database 'GoogleCloudStorage1');
   

4. Configure user mapping with your email and Personal Access Token from your Connect AI account:

   CREATE USER MAPPING for postgres SERVER "GoogleCloudStorage1" OPTIONS (username '[email protected]', password 'your_personal_access_token' );
   

5. Create the local schema:

   CREATE SCHEMA "GoogleCloudStorage1";
   

6. Create a foreign table in your local database:

   #Using a table_name definition:
   
   CREATE FOREIGN TABLE "GoogleCloudStorage1".Buckets  (      
   id varchar,      
   OwnerId varchar)      
   SERVER "GoogleCloudStorage1"
   OPTIONS(table_name 'GoogleCloudStorage.Buckets', row_estimate_method 'showplan_all');
   
   #Or using a schema_name and table_name definition:
   
   CREATE FOREIGN TABLE "GoogleCloudStorage1".Buckets (      
   id varchar,      
   OwnerId varchar)      
   SERVER "GoogleCloudStorage1"
   OPTIONS (schema_name 'GoogleCloudStorage', table_name 'Buckets', row_estimate_method 'showplan_all');
   
   #Or using a query definition:
   
   CREATE FOREIGN TABLE  "GoogleCloudStorage1".Buckets (
   id varchar,      
   OwnerId varchar)      
   SERVER "GoogleCloudStorage1"
   OPTIONS (query 'SELECT * FROM GoogleCloudStorage.Buckets', row_estimate_method 'showplan_all');
   
   #Or setting a remote column name:
   
   CREATE FOREIGN TABLE "GoogleCloudStorage1".Buckets (
   id varchar,
   col2 varchar OPTIONS (column_name 'OwnerId'))
   SERVER "GoogleCloudStorage1"
   OPTIONS (schema_name 'GoogleCloudStorage', table_name 'Buckets', row_estimate_method 'showplan_all');
   

7. You can now execute read/write commands to Google Cloud Storage:

   SELECT id, OwnerId
   FROM "GoogleCloudStorage1".Buckets;
   

More Information & Free Trial

Now, you have created a simple query from live Google Cloud Storage data. For more information on connecting to Google Cloud Storage (and more than 200 other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live Google Cloud Storage data in PostgreSQL.