Connect to Zendesk Data in as an External Source in Dremio

The CData JDBC Driver for Zendesk implements JDBC Standards and allows various applications, including Dremio, to work with live Zendesk data. Dremio is a data lakehouse platform designed to empower self-service, interactive analytics on the data lake. With the CData JDBC Driver, you can include live Zendesk data as a part of your enterprise data lake. This article describes how to connect to Zendesk data from Dremio as an External Source.

The CData JDBC Driver enables high-speed access to live Zendesk data in Dremio. Once you install the driver, authenticate with Zendesk and gain immediate access to Zendesk data within your data lake. By surfacing Zendesk data using native data types and handling complex filters, aggregations, & other operations automatically, the CData JDBC Driver grants seamless access to Zendesk data.

Build the ARP Connector

To use the CData JDBC Driver in Dremio, you need to build an Advanced Relation Pushdown (ARP) Connector. You can view the source code for the Connector on GitHub or download the ZIP file (GitHub.com) directly. Once you copy or extract the files, run the following command from the root directory of the connector (the directory containing the pom.xml file) to build the connector.

mvn clean install

Once the JAR file for the connector is built (in the target directory), you are ready to copy the ARP connector and JDBC Driver to your Dremio instance.

Installing the Connector and JDBC Driver

Install the ARP Connector to %DREMIO_HOME%/jars/ and the JDBC Driver for Zendesk to %DREMIO_HOME%/jars/3rdparty. You can use commands similar to the following:

ARP Connector

docker cp PATH\TO\dremio-zendesk-plugin-20.0.0.jar dremio_image_name:/opt/dremio/jars/

JDBC Driver for Zendesk

docker cp PATH\TO\cdata.jdbc.zendesk.jar dremio_image_name:/opt/dremio/jars/3rdparty/

Connecting to Zendesk

Zendesk will now appear as an External Source option in Dremio. The ARP Connector built uses a JDBC URL to connect to Zendesk data. The JDBC Driver has a built-in connection string designer that you can use (see below).

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

java -jar cdata.jdbc.zendesk.jar

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

Connecting to Zendesk

To connect, set the URL and provide authentication. The URL is your Zendesk Support URL: https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com.

Authenticating to Zendesk

You can authenticate using the Basic or OAuth methods.

Using Basic Authentication

To use Basic authentication, specify your email address and password or your email address and an API token. Set User to your email address and follow the steps below to provide the Password or ApiToken.

• Enable password access in the Zendesk Support admin interface at Admin > Channels > API.
• Manage API tokens in the Zendesk Support Admin interface at Admin > Channels > API. More than one token can be active at the same time. Deleting a token deactivates it permanently.

Using OAuth Authentication

See the Getting Started guide in the CData driver documentation for an authentication guide.

NOTE: To use the JDBC Driver in Dremio, you will need a license (full or trial) and a Runtime Key (RTK). For more information on obtaining this license (or a trial), contact our sales team.

Add the Runtime Key (RTK) to the JDBC URL. You will end up with a JDBC URL similar to the following:

jdbc:zendesk:RTK=5246...;URL=https://subdomain.zendesk.com;User=my@email.com;Password=test123;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH

Access Zendesk as an External Source

To add Zendesk as an External Source, click to add a new source and select Zendesk. Copy the JDBC URL and paste it into the New Zendesk Source wizard.

Save the connection and you are ready to query live Zendesk data in Dremio, easily incorporating Zendesk data into your data lake.

More Information & Free Trial

Using the CData JDBC Driver for Zendesk in Dremio, you can incorporate live Zendesk data into your data lake. Check out our CData JDBC Driver for Zendesk page for more information about connecting to Zendesk. Download a free, 30 day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Zendesk and get started today.