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Build ETL pipelines based on Paylocity data in the Pentaho Data Integration tool.
The CData JDBC Driver for Paylocity enables access to live data from data pipelines. Pentaho Data Integration is an Extraction, Transformation, and Loading (ETL) engine that data, cleanses the data, and stores data using a uniform format that is accessible.This article shows how to connect to Paylocity data as a JDBC data source and build jobs and transformations based on Paylocity data in Pentaho Data Integration.
Configure to Paylocity Connectivity
Set the following to establish a connection to Paylocity:
- RSAPublicKey: Set this to the RSA Key associated with your Paylocity, if the RSA Encryption is enabled in the Paylocity account.
This property is required for executing Insert and Update statements, and it is not required if the feature is disabled.
- UseSandbox: Set to true if you are using sandbox account.
- CustomFieldsCategory: Set this to the Customfields category. This is required when IncludeCustomFields is set to true. The default value for this property is PayrollAndHR.
- Key: The AES symmetric key(base 64 encoded) encrypted with the Paylocity Public Key. It is the key used to encrypt the content.
Paylocity will decrypt the AES key using RSA decryption.
It is an optional property if the IV value not provided, The driver will generate a key internally. - IV: The AES IV (base 64 encoded) used when encrypting the content. It is an optional property if the Key value not provided, The driver will generate an IV internally.
Connect Using OAuth Authentication
You must use OAuth to authenticate with Paylocity. OAuth requires the authenticating user to interact with Paylocity using the browser. For more information, refer to the OAuth section in the Help documentation.
The Pay Entry API
The Pay Entry API is completely separate from the rest of the Paylocity API. It uses a separate Client ID and Secret, and must be explicitly requested from Paylocity for access to be granted for an account. The Pay Entry API allows you to automatically submit payroll information for individual employees, and little else. Due to the extremely limited nature of what is offered by the Pay Entry API, we have elected not to give it a separate schema, but it may be enabled via the UsePayEntryAPI connection property.
Please be aware that when setting UsePayEntryAPI to true, you may only use the CreatePayEntryImportBatch & MergePayEntryImportBatchgtable stored procedures, the InputTimeEntry table, and the OAuth stored procedures. Attempts to use other features of the product will result in an error. You must also store your OAuthAccessToken separately, which often means setting a different OAuthSettingsLocation when using this connection property.
Built-in Connection String Designer
For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Paylocity JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.
java -jar cdata.jdbc.paylocity.jar
Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

When you configure the JDBC URL, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.
Below is a typical JDBC URL:
jdbc:paylocity:OAuthClientID=YourClientId;OAuthClientSecret=YourClientSecret;RSAPublicKey=YourRSAPubKey;Key=YourKey;IV=YourIV;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH
Save your connection string for use in Pentaho Data Integration.
Connect to Paylocity from Pentaho DI
Open Pentaho Data Integration and select "Database Connection" to configure a connection to the CData JDBC Driver for Paylocity
- Click "General"
- Set Connection name (e.g. Paylocity Connection)
- Set Connection type to "Generic database"
- Set Access to "Native (JDBC)"
- Set Custom connection URL to your Paylocity connection string (e.g.
jdbc:paylocity:OAuthClientID=YourClientId;OAuthClientSecret=YourClientSecret;RSAPublicKey=YourRSAPubKey;Key=YourKey;IV=YourIV;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH
- Set Custom driver class name to "cdata.jdbc.paylocity.PaylocityDriver"
- Test the connection and click "OK" to save.
Create a Data Pipeline for Paylocity
Once the connection to Paylocity is configured using the CData JDBC Driver, you are ready to create a new transformation or job.
- Click "File" >> "New" >> "Transformation/job"
- Drag a "Table input" object into the workflow panel and select your Paylocity connection.
- Click "Get SQL select statement" and use the Database Explorer to view the available tables and views.
- Select a table and optionally preview the data for verification.
At this point, you can continue your transformation or jb by selecting a suitable destination and adding any transformations to modify, filter, or otherwise alter the data during replication.

Free Trial & More Information
Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Paylocity and start working with your live Paylocity data in Pentaho Data Integration today.