Back Up REST data to SQL Server through SSIS

This article illustrates using the REST ADO.NET Data Provider within a SQL Server SSIS workflow for the direct transfer of REST data to a Microsoft SQL Server database. It's worth noting that the identical process detailed below is applicable to any CData ADO.NET Data Providers, enabling the direct connection of SQL Server with remote data through SSIS.

1. Open Visual Studio and create a new Integration Services project.
2. Add a new Data Flow task from the toolbox onto the Control Flow screen.

3. In the Data Flow screen, add an ADO.NET Source and an OLE DB Destination from the toolbox.

4. Add a new connection and select .NET Providers\CData ADO.NET Provider for REST.

5. In the connection manager, enter the connection details for REST data.

   See the Getting Started chapter in the data provider documentation to authenticate to your data source: The data provider models REST APIs as bidirectional database tables and XML/JSON files as read-only views (local files, files stored on popular cloud services, and FTP servers). The major authentication schemes are supported, including HTTP Basic, Digest, NTLM, OAuth, and FTP. See the Getting Started chapter in the data provider documentation for authentication guides.

   After setting the URI and providing any authentication values, set Format to "XML" or "JSON" and set DataModel to more closely match the data representation to the structure of your data.

   The DataModel property is the controlling property over how your data is represented into tables and toggles the following basic configurations.

   • Document (default): Model a top-level, document view of your REST data. The data provider returns nested elements as aggregates of data.
   • FlattenedDocuments: Implicitly join nested documents and their parents into a single table.
   • Relational: Return individual, related tables from hierarchical data. The tables contain a primary key and a foreign key that links to the parent document.

   See the Modeling REST Data chapter for more information on configuring the relational representation. You will also find the sample data used in the following examples. The data includes entries for people, the cars they own, and various maintenance services performed on those cars.

6. Open the DataReader editor and set the following information:

   • ADO.NET connection manager: In the Connection Managers menu, select the Data Connection you just created.
   • Data access mode: Select 'SQL command'.
   • SQL command text: In the DataReader Source editor, open the Component Properties tab and enter a SELECT command, such as the one below:
     SELECT [people].[personal.age] AS age, [people].[personal.gender] AS gender, [people].[personal.name.first] AS first_name, [people].[personal.name.last] AS last_name, [vehicles].[model], FROM [people] JOIN [vehicles] ON [people].[_id] = [vehicles].[people_id]

7. Close the DataReader editor and drag the arrow below the DataReader Source to connect it to the OLE DB Destination.

8. Open the OLE DB Destination and enter the following information in the Destination Component Editor.

   • Connection manager: Add a new connection. Enter your server and database information here. In this example, SQLExpress is running on a separate machine.
   • Data access mode: Set your data access mode to "table or view" and select the table or view to populate in your database.

9. Configure any properties you wish on the Mappings screen.

10. Close the OLE DB Destination Editor and run the project. After the SSIS task has finished executing, your database will be populated with data obtained from REST data.