Connect to Live NetSuite SuiteAnalytics Data in PostGresSQL Interface through CData Connect AI

There are a vast number of PostgreSQL clients available on the Internet. PostgreSQL is a popular interface for data access. When you pair PostgreSQL with CData Connect AI, you gain database-like access to live NetSuite SuiteAnalytics data from PostgreSQL. In this article, we walk through the process of connecting to NetSuite SuiteAnalytics data in Connect AI and establishing a connection between Connect AI and PostgreSQL using a TDS foreign data wrapper (FDW).

CData Connect AI provides a pure SQL Server interface for NetSuite SuiteAnalytics, allowing you to query data from NetSuite SuiteAnalytics without replicating the data to a natively supported database. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to NetSuite SuiteAnalytics, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested NetSuite SuiteAnalytics data quickly.

Connect to NetSuite SuiteAnalytics in Connect AI

CData Connect AI uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "NetSuite SuiteAnalytics" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to NetSuite SuiteAnalytics.

   Prerequisites

   Before you can connect to NetSuite SuiteAnalytics, you must set up SuiteAnalytics Connect in your NetSuite account:

   1. Enable the Connect Service feature.

      1. Ensure that your Account Administrator has enabled your Account and Role with the Connect Service feature.

      2. Navigate to Setup > Company > Enable Features.

      3. Click the Analytics tab and check the SuiteAnalytics Connect box.

   2. Add the SuiteAnalytics Connect permission to an existing Role, and note the Role ID for later.

   3. Find the Settings portlet on your home page and click Set Up SuiteAnalytics Connect, then click Your Configuration to view your service host and account ID. These settings map directly to the Server and Account Id properties.

   Add the NetSuite SuiteAnalytics Connection

   1. Open the Sources page of the Connect Cloud dashboard.

   2. Click Add Connection and select NetSuite SuiteAnalytics from the list of connectors.

   3. Enter a Connection Name of your choice.

   Authenticate to NetSuite SuiteAnalytics

   Set the following required properties:

   • Server: The Service Host value you found when setting up SuiteAnalytics Connect.

   • Account Id: The Account ID value you found when setting up SuiteAnalytics Connect.

   • Role Id: The internal ID of the login role you granted the SuiteAnalytics Connect permission.

   Next, choose one of the supported authentication methods:

   Basic authentication

   • User: The username you use to authenticate to your NetSuite account.

   • Password: The password associated with that account.

   Token-based authentication

   • Consumer Key and Consumer Secret: Generated when you create your integration record in NetSuite.

   • Token Key and Token Secret: The access token and secret generated for that integration.

   After you enter your credentials, click Save & Test to validate the connection.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add NetSuite SuiteAnalytics Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to NetSuite SuiteAnalytics data from PostgreSQL.

Build the TDS Foreign Data Wrapper

The Foreign Data Wrapper can be installed as an extension to PostgreSQL, without recompiling PostgreSQL. The tds_fdw extension is used as an example (https://github.com/tds-fdw/tds_fdw).

1. You can clone and build the git repository via something like the following view source:

   sudo apt-get install git
   git clone https://github.com/tds-fdw/tds_fdw.git
   cd tds_fdw
   make USE_PGXS=1
   sudo make USE_PGXS=1 install
   

   Note: If you have several PostgreSQL versions and you do not want to build for the default one, first locate where the binary for pg_config is, take note of the full path, and then append PG_CONFIG= after USE_PGXS=1 at the make commands.
2. After you finish the installation, then start the server:

   sudo service postgresql start
   

3. Then go inside the Postgres database

   psql -h localhost -U postgres -d postgres
   

   Note: Instead of localhost you can put the IP where your PostgreSQL is hosted.

Connect to NetSuite SuiteAnalytics data as a PostgreSQL Database and query the data!

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

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

   CREATE EXTENSION tds_fdw;
   

3. Create a server object for NetSuite SuiteAnalytics data:

   CREATE SERVER "SuiteAnalytics1" FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER tds_fdw OPTIONS (servername'tds.cdata.com', port '14333', database 'SuiteAnalytics1');
   

4. Configure user mapping with your email and Personal Access Token from your Connect AI account:

   CREATE USER MAPPING for postgres SERVER "SuiteAnalytics1" OPTIONS (username '[email protected]', password 'your_personal_access_token' );
   

5. Create the local schema:

   CREATE SCHEMA "SuiteAnalytics1";
   

6. Create a foreign table in your local database:

   #Using a table_name definition:
   
   CREATE FOREIGN TABLE "SuiteAnalytics1".Account  (      
   id varchar,      
   NumberOfEmployees varchar)      
   SERVER "SuiteAnalytics1"
   OPTIONS(table_name 'SuiteAnalytics.Account', row_estimate_method 'showplan_all');
   
   #Or using a schema_name and table_name definition:
   
   CREATE FOREIGN TABLE "SuiteAnalytics1".Account (      
   id varchar,      
   NumberOfEmployees varchar)      
   SERVER "SuiteAnalytics1"
   OPTIONS (schema_name 'SuiteAnalytics', table_name 'Account', row_estimate_method 'showplan_all');
   
   #Or using a query definition:
   
   CREATE FOREIGN TABLE  "SuiteAnalytics1".Account (
   id varchar,      
   NumberOfEmployees varchar)      
   SERVER "SuiteAnalytics1"
   OPTIONS (query 'SELECT * FROM SuiteAnalytics.Account', row_estimate_method 'showplan_all');
   
   #Or setting a remote column name:
   
   CREATE FOREIGN TABLE "SuiteAnalytics1".Account (
   id varchar,
   col2 varchar OPTIONS (column_name 'NumberOfEmployees'))
   SERVER "SuiteAnalytics1"
   OPTIONS (schema_name 'SuiteAnalytics', table_name 'Account', row_estimate_method 'showplan_all');
   

7. You can now execute read/write commands to NetSuite SuiteAnalytics:

   SELECT id, NumberOfEmployees
   FROM "SuiteAnalytics1".Account;
   

More Information & Free Trial

Now, you have created a simple query from live NetSuite SuiteAnalytics data. For more information on connecting to NetSuite SuiteAnalytics (and more than 200 other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live NetSuite SuiteAnalytics data in PostgreSQL.