How to load Drift data into Elasticsearch via Logstash

Elasticsearch is a popular distributed full-text search engine. By centrally storing data, you can perform ultra-fast searches, fine-tuning relevance, and powerful analytics with ease. Elasticsearch has a pipeline tool for loading data called "Logstash". You can use CData JDBC Drivers to easily import data from any data source into Elasticsearch for search and analysis.

This article explains how to use the CData JDBC Driver for Drift to load data from Drift into Elasticsearch via Logstash.

Using CData JDBC Driver for Drift with Elasticsearch Logstash

• Install the CData JDBC Driver for Drift on the machine where Logstash is running.
• The JDBC Driver will be installed at the following path (the year part, e.g. 20XX, will vary depending on the product version you are using). You will use this path later. Place this .jar file (and the .lic file if it's a licensed version) in Logstash.
  C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for API 20XX\lib\cdata.jdbc.api.jar
  
• Next, install the JDBC Input Plugin, which connects Logstash to the CData JDBC driver. The JDBC Plugin comes by default with the latest version of Logstash, but depending on the version, you may need to add it.
  https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/logstash/5.4/plugins-inputs-jdbc.html
• Move the CData JDBC Driver’s .jar file and .lic file to Logstash's "/logstash-core/lib/jars/".

Sending Drift data to Elasticsearch with Logstash

Now, let's create a configuration file for Logstash to transfer Drift data to Elasticsearch.

• Write the process to retrieve Drift data in the logstash.conf file, which defines data processing in Logstash. The input will be JDBC, and the output will be Elasticsearch. The data loading job is set to run at 30-second intervals.
• Set the CData JDBC Driver's .jar file as the JDBC driver library, configure the class name, and set the connection properties to Drift in the form of a JDBC URL. The JDBC URL allows detailed configuration, so please refer to the product documentation for more specifics.

Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Drift Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Drift.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Drift (see below).

Drift API Profile Settings

Drift uses OAuth-based authentication.

You must first register an application here: https://dev.drift.com. Your app will be assigned a client ID and a client secret. Set these in your connection string via the OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret properties. More information on setting up an OAuth application can be found at https://devdocs.drift.com/docs/.

After setting the following options in the ProfileSettings connection property, you are ready to connect:

• AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
• OAuthClientId: Set this to the Client Id that is specified in your app settings.
• OAuthClientSecret: Set this to Client Secret that is specified in your app settings.
• CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI you specified in your app settings.
• InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage the process to obtain the OAuthAccessToken.

Executing data movement with Logstash

Now let's run Logstash using the created "logstash.conf" file.

A log indicating success will appear. This means the Drift data has been loaded into Elasticsearch.

For example, let's view the data transferred to Elasticsearch in Kibana.

    GET api_table/_search
    {
        "query": {
            "match_all": {}
        }
    }

We have confirmed that the data is stored in Elasticsearch.

By using the CData JDBC Driver for Drift with Logstash, it functions as a Drift connector, making it easy to load data into Elasticsearch. Please try the 30-day free trial.