Import Sugar CRM Data Using Azure Data Factory

Microsoft Azure Data Factory (ADF)) is a completely managed, serverless data integration service. When combined with CData Connect Cloud, ADF enables immediate cloud-to-cloud access to Sugar CRM data within data flows. This article outlines the process of connecting to Sugar CRM through Connect Cloud and accessing Sugar CRM data within ADF.

CData Connect Cloud offers a cloud-to-cloud interface tailored for Sugar CRM, granting you the ability to access live data from Sugar CRM data within Azure Data Factory without the need for data replication to a natively supported database. Equipped with optimized data processing capabilities by default, CData Connect Cloud seamlessly channels all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, directly to Sugar CRM. This harnesses server-side processing to expedite the retrieval of the desired Sugar CRM data.

Configure Sugar CRM Connectivity for ADF

Connectivity to Sugar CRM from Azure Data Factory is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Sugar CRM data from Azure Data Factory, we start by creating and configuring a Sugar CRM connection.

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

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Sugar CRM" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Sugar CRM.

   The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid SugarCRM user credentials. This will use the default OAuth token created to allow client logins. OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret are required if you do not wish to use the default OAuth token.

   You can generate a new OAuth consumer key and consumer secret in Admin -> OAuth Keys. Set the OAuthClientId to the OAuth consumer key. Set the OAuthClientSecret to the consumer secret.

   Additionally, specify the URL to the SugarCRM account.

   Note that retrieving SugarCRM metadata can be expensive. It is advised that you store the metadata locally as described in the "Caching Metadata" chapter of the help documentation.

4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Sugar CRM Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your 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, you are ready to connect to Sugar CRM data from Azure Data Factory.

Access Live Sugar CRM Data in Azure Data Factory

To establish a connection from Azure Data Factory to the CData Connect Cloud Virtual SQL Server API, follow these steps.

1. Login to Azure Data Factory.
2. If you have not yet created a Data Factory, Click New -> Dataset.
3. In the search bar, enter SQL Server and select it when it appears. On the following screen, enter a name for the server. In the Linked service field, select New.
4. Enter the connection settings.
   • Name - enter a name of your choice.
   • Server name - enter the Virtual SQL Server endpoint and port separated by a comma: tds.cdata.com,14333
   • Database name - enter the Connection Name of the CData Connect Cloud data source you want to connect to (for example, SugarCRM1).
   • User Name - enter your CData Connect Cloud username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect Cloud interface. For example, test@cdata.com.
   • Password - select Password (not Azure Key Vault) and enter the PAT you generated on the Settings page.
   • Click Create.
5. In Set properties, set the Name, choose the Linked service we just created, select a Table name from those available, and Import schema from connection/store. Click OK.
6. After creating the linked service, the following screen should appear:
7. Click preview data to see the imported Sugar CRM table.
You can now use this dataset when creating data flows in Azure Data Factory.

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