ETL Salesforce in Oracle Data Integrator



This article shows how to transfer Salesforce data into a data warehouse using Oracle Data Integrator.

Leverage existing skills by using the JDBC standard to read and write to Salesforce: Through drop-in integration into ETL tools like Oracle Data Integrator (ODI), the CData JDBC Driver for Salesforce connects real-time Salesforce data to your data warehouse, business intelligence, and Big Data technologies.

JDBC connectivity enables you to work with Salesforce just as you would any other database in ODI. As with an RDBMS, you can use the driver to connect directly to the Salesforce APIs in real time instead of working with flat files.

This article walks through a JDBC-based ETL -- Salesforce to Oracle. After reverse engineering a data model of Salesforce entities, you will create a mapping and select a data loading strategy -- since the driver supports SQL-92, this last step can easily be accomplished by selecting the built-in SQL to SQL Loading Knowledge Module.

About Salesforce Data Integration

Accessing and integrating live data from Salesforce has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:

  • Access to custom entities and fields means Salesforce users get access to all of Salesforce.
  • Create atomic and batch update operations.
  • Read, write, update, and delete their Salesforce data.
  • Leverage the latest Salesforce features and functionalities with support for SOAP API versions 30.0.
  • See improved performance based on SOQL support to push complex queries down to Salesforce servers.
  • Use SQL stored procedures to perform actions like creating, retrieving, aborting, and deleting jobs, uploading and downloading attachments and documents, and more.

Users frequently integrate Salesforce data with:

  • other ERPs, marketing automation, HCMs, and more.
  • preferred data tools like Power BI, Tableau, Looker, and more.
  • databases and data warehouses.

For more information on how CData solutions work with Salesforce, check out our Salesforce integration page.


Getting Started


Install the Driver

To install the driver, copy the driver JAR (cdata.jdbc.salesforce.jar) and .lic file (cdata.jdbc.salesforce.lic), located in the installation folder, into the ODI appropriate directory:

  • UNIX/Linux without Agent: ~/.odi/oracledi/userlib
  • UNIX/Linux with Agent: ~/.odi/oracledi/userlib and $ODI_HOME/odi/agent/lib
  • Windows without Agent: %APPDATA%\Roaming\odi\oracledi\userlib
  • Windows with Agent: %APPDATA%\odi\oracledi\userlib and %APPDATA%\odi\agent\lib

Restart ODI to complete the installation.

Reverse Engineer a Model

Reverse engineering the model retrieves metadata about the driver's relational view of Salesforce data. After reverse engineering, you can query real-time Salesforce data and create mappings based on Salesforce tables.

  1. In ODI, connect to your repository and click New -> Model and Topology Objects.
  2. On the Model screen of the resulting dialog, enter the following information:
    • Name: Enter Salesforce.
    • Technology: Select Generic SQL (for ODI Version 12.2+, select Microsoft SQL Server).
    • Logical Schema: Enter Salesforce.
    • Context: Select Global.
  3. On the Data Server screen of the resulting dialog, enter the following information:
    • Name: Enter Salesforce.
    • Driver List: Select Oracle JDBC Driver.
    • Driver: Enter cdata.jdbc.salesforce.SalesforceDriver
    • URL: Enter the JDBC URL containing the connection string.

      There are several authentication methods available for connecting to Salesforce: Login, OAuth, and SSO. The Login method requires you to have the username, password, and security token of the user.

      If you do not have access to the username and password or do not wish to require them, you can use OAuth authentication.

      SSO (single sign-on) can be used by setting the SSOProperties, SSOLoginUrl, and TokenUrl connection properties, which allow you to authenticate to an identity provider. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for more information.

      Built-in Connection String Designer

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

      java -jar cdata.jdbc.salesforce.jar

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

      Below is a typical connection string:

      jdbc:salesforce:User=username;Password=password;SecurityToken=Your_Security_Token;
  4. On the Physical Schema screen, enter the following information:
    • Name: Select from the Drop Down menu.
    • Database (Catalog): Enter CData.
    • Owner (Schema): If you select a Schema for Salesforce, enter the Schema selected, otherwise enter Salesforce.
    • Database (Work Catalog): Enter CData.
    • Owner (Work Schema): If you select a Schema for Salesforce, enter the Schema selected, otherwise enter Salesforce.
  5. In the opened model click Reverse Engineer to retrieve the metadata for Salesforce tables.

Edit and Save Salesforce Data

After reverse engineering you can now work with Salesforce data in ODI. To edit and save Salesforce data, expand the Models accordion in the Designer navigator, right-click a table, and click Data. Click Refresh to pick up any changes to the data. Click Save Changes when you are finished making changes.

Create an ETL Project

Follow the steps below to create an ETL from Salesforce. You will load Account entities into the sample data warehouse included in the ODI Getting Started VM.

  1. Open SQL Developer and connect to your Oracle database. Right-click the node for your database in the Connections pane and click new SQL Worksheet.

    Alternatively you can use SQLPlus. From a command prompt enter the following:

    sqlplus / as sysdba
  2. Enter the following query to create a new target table in the sample data warehouse, which is in the ODI_DEMO schema. The following query defines a few columns that match the Account table in Salesforce: CREATE TABLE ODI_DEMO.TRG_ACCOUNT (ANNUALREVENUE NUMBER(20,0),Industry VARCHAR2(255));
  3. In ODI expand the Models accordion in the Designer navigator and double-click the Sales Administration node in the ODI_DEMO folder. The model is opened in the Model Editor.
  4. Click Reverse Engineer. The TRG_ACCOUNT table is added to the model.
  5. Right-click the Mappings node in your project and click New Mapping. Enter a name for the mapping and clear the Create Empty Dataset option. The Mapping Editor is displayed.
  6. Drag the TRG_ACCOUNT table from the Sales Administration model onto the mapping.
  7. Drag the Account table from the Salesforce model onto the mapping.
  8. Click the source connector point and drag to the target connector point. The Attribute Matching dialog is displayed. For this example, use the default options. The target expressions are then displayed in the properties for the target columns.
  9. Open the Physical tab of the Mapping Editor and click ACCOUNT_AP in TARGET_GROUP.
  10. In the ACCOUNT_AP properties, select LKM SQL to SQL (Built-In) on the Loading Knowledge Module tab.

You can then run the mapping to load Salesforce data into Oracle.

Ready to get started?

Download a free trial of the Salesforce Driver to get started:

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