Build a PostgreSQL Interface for Redshift Data using the CData JDBC Driver

There are a vast number of PostgreSQL clients available on the Internet. From standard Drivers to BI and Analytics tools, PostgreSQL is a popular interface for data access. Using our JDBC Drivers, you can now create PostgreSQL entry-points that you can connect to from any standard client.

To access Redshift data as a PostgreSQL database, use the CData JDBC Driver for Redshift and a JDBC foreign data wrapper (FDW). In this article, we compile the FDW, install it, and query Redshift data from PostgreSQL Server.

Connect to Redshift Data as a JDBC Data Source

To connect to Redshift as a JDBC data source, you will need the following:

• Driver JAR path: The JAR is located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.

• Driver class:

  cdata.jdbc.redshift.RedshiftDriver
  

• JDBC URL: The URL must start with "jdbc:redshift:" and can include any of the connection properties in name-value pairs separated with semicolons.

  To connect to Redshift, set the following:

  • Server: Set this to the host name or IP address of the cluster hosting the Database you want to connect to.
  • Port: Set this to the port of the cluster.
  • Database: Set this to the name of the database. Or, leave this blank to use the default database of the authenticated user.
  • User: Set this to the username you want to use to authenticate to the Server.
  • Password: Set this to the password you want to use to authenticate to the Server.

  You can obtain the Server and Port values in the AWS Management Console:

  1. Open the Amazon Redshift console (http://console.aws.amazon.com/redshift).
  2. On the Clusters page, click the name of the cluster.
  3. On the Configuration tab for the cluster, copy the cluster URL from the connection strings displayed.

  Built-in Connection String Designer

  For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Redshift JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

  java -jar cdata.jdbc.redshift.jar
  

  Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

  

  A typical JDBC URL is below:

  jdbc:redshift:User=admin;Password=admin;Database=dev;Server=examplecluster.my.us-west-2.redshift.amazonaws.com;Port=5439;
  

Build the JDBC Foreign Data Wrapper

The Foreign Data Wrapper can be installed as an extension to PostgreSQL, without recompiling PostgreSQL. The jdbc2_fdw extension is used as an example (downloadable here).

1. Add a symlink from the shared object for your version of the JRE to /usr/lib/libjvm.so. For example:

   ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre/lib/amd64/server/libjvm.so /usr/lib/libjvm.so
   

2. Start the build:

   make install USE_PGXS=1
   

Query Redshift Data as a PostgreSQL Database

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

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

   CREATE EXTENSION jdbc2_fdw;
   

3. Create a server object for Redshift:

   CREATE SERVER Redshift 
   FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER jdbc2_fdw OPTIONS (
   drivername 'cdata.jdbc.redshift.RedshiftDriver',
   url 'jdbc:redshift:User=admin;Password=admin;Database=dev;Server=examplecluster.my.us-west-2.redshift.amazonaws.com;Port=5439;',
   querytimeout '15',
   jarfile '/home/MyUser/CData/CData\ JDBC\ Driver\ for\ Salesforce MyDriverEdition/lib/cdata.jdbc.redshift.jar'); 
   

4. Create a user mapping for the username and password of a user known to the MySQL daemon.

   CREATE USER MAPPING for postgres SERVER Redshift OPTIONS (
   username 'admin', 
   password 'test');
   

5. Create a foreign table in your local database:

   postgres=# CREATE FOREIGN TABLE orders (
   orders_id text,
   orders_ShipName text,
   orders_ShipCity numeric) 
   SERVER Redshift OPTIONS (
   table_name 'orders');
   

postgres=# SELECT * FROM orders;