Integrate IBM Cloud Object Storage Data into Power Automate Desktop using CData Connect

CData Connect enables you to access live IBM Cloud Object Storage data in workflow automation tools like Power Automate. This article shows how to integrate IBM Cloud Object Storage data into a simple workflow, saving IBM Cloud Object Storage data into a CSV file.

CData Connect provides a live interface for IBM Cloud Object Storage, allowing you to integrate with live IBM Cloud Object Storage data in Power Automate — without replicating the data. Connect uses optimized data processing out of the box to push all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to IBM Cloud Object Storage, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return IBM Cloud Object Storage data.

Configure IBM Cloud Object Storage Connectivity for Power Automate

Connectivity to IBM Cloud Object Storage from Power Automate is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with IBM Cloud Object Storage data from Power Automate, we start by creating and configuring a IBM Cloud Object Storage connection.

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

2. Select "IBM Cloud Object Storage" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to IBM Cloud Object Storage.

   Register a New Instance of Cloud Object Storage

   If you do not already have Cloud Object Storage in your IBM Cloud account, follow the procedure below to install an instance of SQL Query in your account:

   1. Log in to your IBM Cloud account.
   2. Navigate to the page, choose a name for your instance and click Create. You will be redirected to the instance of Cloud Object Storage you just created.

   Connecting using OAuth Authentication

   There are certain connection properties you need to set before you can connect. You can obtain these as follows:

   API Key

   To connect with IBM Cloud Object Storage, you need an API Key. You can obtain this as follows:

   1. Log in to your IBM Cloud account.
   2. Navigate to the Platform API Keys page.
   3. On the middle-right corner click "Create an IBM Cloud API Key" to create a new API Key.
   4. In the pop-up window, specify the API Key name and click "Create". Note the API Key as you can never access it again from the dashboard.

   Cloud Object Storage CRN

   If you have multiple accounts, specify the CloudObjectStorageCRN explicitly. To find the appropriate value, you can:

   • Query the Services view. This will list your IBM Cloud Object Storage instances along with the CRN for each.
   • Locate the CRN directly in IBM Cloud. To do so, navigate to your IBM Cloud Dashboard. In the Resource List, Under Storage, select your Cloud Object Storage resource to get its CRN.

   Connecting to Data

   You can now set the following to connect to data:

   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
   • ApiKey: Set this to your API key which was noted during setup.
   • CloudObjectStorageCRN (Optional): Set this to the cloud object storage CRN you want to work with. While the connector attempts to retrieve this automatically, specifying this explicitly is recommended if you have more than Cloud Object Storage account.

   When you connect, the connector completes the OAuth process.

   1. Extracts the access token and authenticates requests.
   2. Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation to be persisted across connections.
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add IBM Cloud Object 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 IBM Cloud Object Storage data from Power Automate Desktop.

Integrate IBM Cloud Object Storage Data into Power Automate Workflows

After configuring CData Connect with IBM Cloud Object Storage, you are ready to integrate IBM Cloud Object Storage data into your Power Automate workflows. Open Microsoft Power Automate, add a new flow, and name the flow.

In the flow editor, you can add the options to connect to IBM Cloud Object Storage, query IBM Cloud Object Storage using SQL, and write the query results to a CSV document.

Add an Open SQL Connection Action

Add an "Open SQL connection" action (Action -> Database) and click the option to build the Connection string. In the Data Link Properties wizard:

1. On the Provider tab: select Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server
2. On the Connection tab:
   1. Select or enter a server name: set to tds.cdata.com,14333
   2. Enter information to lag onto the server: select "Use a specific username and password"
      • Set User name to your CData Connect AI user name (e.g. [email protected])
      • Set Password to your PAT
      • Select the database: use the database configured above (e.g. IBMCloudObjectStorage1)
3. Click "Test Connection" to ensure the connection is configured properly
4. Click "OK"

After building the connection string in the Data Link Properties wizard, save the action.

Add an Execute SQL Statement Action

Add an "Execute SQL statement" action (Action -> Database) and configure the properties.

• Get connection by: SQL connection variable
• SQL connection: %SQLConnection% (the variable from the "Open SQL connection" action above)
• SQL statement: SELECT * FROM Objects

After configuring the properties, save the action.

Add a Write to CSV File Action

Add a "Write to CSV file" action (Action -> File) and configure the properties.

• Variable to write to: %QueryResult% (the variable from the "Execute SQL statement" action above)
• File path: set to a file on disk
• Configure Advanced settings as needed.

After configuring the properties, save the action.

Add a Close SQL Connection Action

Add a "Close SQL connection" action (Action -> Database) and configure the properties.

• SQL Connection: %SQLConnection% (the variable from the "Open SQL connection" action above)

After configuring the properties, save the action.

Save & Run the Flow

Once you have configured all the options for the flow, click the disk icon to save the flow. Click the play icon to run the flow.

Now you have a workflow to save IBM Cloud Object Storage data into a CSV file.

With CData Connect AI, you get live connectivity to IBM Cloud Object Storage data within your Microsoft Power Automate workflows.

SQL Access to IBM Cloud Object Storage Data from Cloud Applications

Now you have a direct connection to live IBM Cloud Object Storage data from Power Automate tasks. You can create more connections and workflows to drive business — all without replicating IBM Cloud Object Storage data.

To get SQL data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, sign up for a free trial of CData Connect AI.

Related Power Automate Articles

This article explains how to use CData Connect AI with Power Automate Desktop. Check out our other articles for more ways to work with Power Automate (Desktop & Online):

• IBM Cloud Object Storage Data in Power Automate Desktop via ODBC
• IBM Cloud Object Storage Data in Power Automate (Online) using CData Connect AI