Integrate LDAP with External Services using SnapLogic

SnapLogic is an integration platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) that allows users to create data integration flows with no code. When paired with the CData JDBC Drivers, users get access to live data from more than 250+ SaaS, Big Data and NoSQL sources, including LDAP, in their SnapLogic workflows.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live LDAP objects. When platforms issue complex SQL queries to LDAP, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to LDAP and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying lets you work with LDAP objects using native data types.

Connect to LDAP in SnapLogic

To connect to LDAP objects in SnapLogic, download and install the CData LDAP JDBC Driver. Follow the installation dialog. When the installation is complete, the JAR file can be found in the installation directory (C:/Program Files/CData/CData JDBC Driver for LDAP/lib by default).

Upload the LDAP JDBC Driver

After installation, upload the JDBC JAR file to a location in SnapLogic (for example, projects/Jerod Johnson) from the Manager tab.

Configure the Connection

Once the JDBC Driver is uploaded, we can create the connection to LDAP.

1. Navigate to the Designer tab
2. Expand "JDBC" from Snaps and drag a "Generic JDBC - Select" snap onto the designer
3. Click Add Account (or select an existing one) and click "Continue"
4. In the next form, configure the JDBC connection properties:
   • Under JDBC JARs, add the JAR file we previously uploaded
   • Set JDBC Driver Class to cdata.jdbc.ldap.LDAPDriver

   • Set JDBC URL to a JDBC connection string for the LDAP JDBC Driver, for example:

     jdbc:ldap:User=Domain\BobF;Password=bob123456;Server=10.0.1.1;Port=389;RTK=XXXXXX;

     NOTE: RTK is a trial or full key. Contact our Support team for more information.

     Built-In Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.ldap.jar

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

     To establish a connection, the following properties under the Authentication section must be provided:

     • Valid User and Password credentials (e.g., Domain\BobF or cn=Bob F,ou=Employees,dc=Domain).
     • Server information, including the IP or host name of the Server, as well as the Port.

     • BaseDN: This will limit the scope of LDAP searches to the height of the distinguished name provided.

       Note: Specifying a narrow BaseDN may greatly increase performance; for example, cn=users,dc=domain will only return results contained within cn=users and its children.

5. After entering the connection properties, click "Validate" and "Apply"

Read LDAP Objects

In the form that opens after validating and applying the connection, configure your query.

• Set Schema name to "LDAP"
• Set Table name to a table for LDAP using the schema name, for example: "LDAP"."User" (use the drop-down to see the full list of available tables)
• Add Output fields for each item you wish to work with from the table

Save the Generic JDBC - Select snap.

With connection and query configured, click the end of the snap to preview the data (highlighted below).

Once you confirm the results are what you expect, you can add additional snaps to funnel your LDAP objects to another endpoint.

Piping LDAP Objects to External Services

For this article, we will load data in a Google Spreadsheet. You can use any of the supported snaps, or even use a Generic JDBC snap with another CData JDBC Driver, to move data into an external service.

1. Start by dropping a "Worksheet Writer" snap onto the end of the "Generic JDBC - Select" snap.
2. Add an account to connect to Google Sheets
3. Configure the Worksheet Writer snap to write your LDAP objects to a Google Spreadsheet

You can now execute the fully configured pipeline to extract data from LDAP and push it into a Google Spreadsheet.

Piping External Data to LDAP

As mentioned above, you can also use the JDBC Driver for LDAP in SnapLogic to write data to LDAP. Start by adding a Generic JDBC - Insert or Generic JDBC - Update snap to the dashboard.

1. Select the existing "Account" (connection) or create a new one
2. Configure the query:
   • Set Schema name to "LDAP"
   • Set Table name to a table for LDAP using the schema name, for example: "LDAP"."User" (use the drop-down to see the full list of available tables)
3. Save the Generic JDBC - Insert/Update snap

At this point, you have configured a snap to write data to LDAP, inserting new records or updating existing ones.

More Information & Free Trial

Using the CData JDBC Driver for LDAP you can create a pipeline in SnapLogic for integrating LDAP objects with external services. For more information about connecting to LDAP, check at our CData JDBC Driver for LDAP page. Download a free, 30 day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for LDAP and get started today.