Integrate ServiceDesk Plus Data in Pentaho Data Integration

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Build ETL pipelines based on ServiceDesk Plus data in the Pentaho Data Integration tool.

The CData API Driver for JDBC 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 ServiceDesk Plus data as a JDBC data source and build jobs and transformations based on ServiceDesk Plus data in Pentaho Data Integration.

Configure to ServiceDesk Plus Connectivity

Using OAuth Authentication

ServiceDeskPlus uses Zoho OAuth 2.0 for secure authentication. To set up OAuth access:

  1. Register your application in the Zoho Developer Console at https://api-console.zoho.com
  2. Configure your redirect URI to match your application setup
  3. Note your Client ID and Client Secret from the application settings

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

  • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
  • OAuthClientId: Set this to your Zoho application Client ID.
  • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to your Zoho application Client Secret.
  • Scope: Set this to the required ServiceDeskPlus permissions (default includes read access to requests, problems, assets, and projects).
  • Domain: Set this to your ServiceDeskPlus domain
  • Portal: Set this to your ServiceDeskPlus portal

Example Connection String

Profile=C:\profiles\ServiceDeskPlus.apip;ProfileSettings="Portal=itdesk;Domain=.in;Scope=SDPOnDemand.requests.READ SDPOnDemand.problems.READ SDPOnDemand.assets.READ SDPOnDemand.projects.READ";AuthScheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.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:api:Profile=C:\profiles\ServiceDeskPlus.apip;ProfileSettings="Portal=itdesk;Domain=.in;Scope=SDPOnDemand.requests.READ SDPOnDemand.problems.READ SDPOnDemand.assets.READ SDPOnDemand.projects.READ";AuthScheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;

Save your connection string for use in Pentaho Data Integration.

Connect to ServiceDesk Plus from Pentaho DI

Open Pentaho Data Integration and select "Database Connection" to configure a connection to the CData API Driver for JDBC

  1. Click "General"
  2. Set Connection name (e.g. ServiceDesk Plus Connection)
  3. Set Connection type to "Generic database"
  4. Set Access to "Native (JDBC)"
  5. Set Custom connection URL to your ServiceDesk Plus connection string (e.g.
    jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\ServiceDeskPlus.apip;ProfileSettings="Portal=itdesk;Domain=.in;Scope=SDPOnDemand.requests.READ SDPOnDemand.problems.READ SDPOnDemand.assets.READ SDPOnDemand.projects.READ";AuthScheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;
  6. Set Custom driver class name to "cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver"
  7. Test the connection and click "OK" to save.

Create a Data Pipeline for ServiceDesk Plus

Once the connection to ServiceDesk Plus is configured using the CData JDBC Driver, you are ready to create a new transformation or job.

  1. Click "File" >> "New" >> "Transformation/job"
  2. Drag a "Table input" object into the workflow panel and select your ServiceDesk Plus connection.
  3. Click "Get SQL select statement" and use the Database Explorer to view the available tables and views.
  4. 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 API Driver for JDBC and start working with your live ServiceDesk Plus data in Pentaho Data Integration today.

Ready to get started?

Connect to live data from ServiceDesk Plus with the API Driver

Connect to ServiceDesk Plus