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

Connect to ServiceDesk Plus Data as a JDBC Data Source

To connect to ServiceDesk Plus 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.api.APIDriver
  

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

  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.

  

  A typical JDBC URL is below:

  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;
  

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 ServiceDesk Plus Data as a PostgreSQL Database

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

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

   CREATE EXTENSION jdbc2_fdw;
   

3. Create a server object for ServiceDesk Plus:

   CREATE SERVER API 
   FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER jdbc2_fdw OPTIONS (
   drivername 'cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver',
   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;',
   querytimeout '15',
   jarfile '/home/MyUser/CData/CData\ JDBC\ Driver\ for\ Salesforce MyDriverEdition/lib/cdata.jdbc.api.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 API OPTIONS (
   username 'admin', 
   password 'test');
   

5. Create a foreign table in your local database:

   postgres=# CREATE FOREIGN TABLE announcementcomments (
   announcementcomments_id text,
   announcementcomments_ text,
   announcementcomments_ numeric) 
   SERVER API OPTIONS (
   table_name 'announcementcomments');
   

postgres=# SELECT * FROM announcementcomments;