Stream Adobe Analytics Data into Apache Kafka Topics

Apache Kafka is an open-source stream processing platform that is primarily used for building real-time data pipelines and event-driven applications. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver for Adobe Analytics, Kafka can work with live Adobe Analytics data. This article describes how to connect, access and stream Adobe Analytics data into Apache Kafka Topics and to start Confluent Control Center to help users secure, manage, and monitor the Adobe Analytics data received using Kafka infrastructure in the Confluent Platform.

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

Prerequisites

Before connecting the CData JDBC Driver for streaming Adobe Analytics data in Apache Kafka Topics, install and configure the following in the client Linux-based system.

1. Confluent Platform for Apache Kafka
2. Confluent Hub CLI Installation
3. Self-Managed Kafka JDBC Source Connector for Confluent Platform

Define a New JDBC Connection to Adobe Analytics data

1. Download CData JDBC Driver for Adobe Analytics on a Linux-based system
2. Follow the given instructions to create a new directory extract all the driver contents into it:
   1. Create a new directory named Adobe Analytics

      		mkdir AdobeAnalytics
      		

   2. Move the downloaded driver file (.zip) into this new directory

      		mv AdobeAnalyticsJDBCDriver.zip AdobeAnalytics/
      		

   3. Unzip the CData AdobeAnalyticsJDBCDriver contents into this new directory

      		unzip AdobeAnalyticsJDBCDriver.zip
      		

3. Open the Adobe Analytics directory and navigate to the lib folder

   ls
   cd lib/
   

4. Copy the contents of the lib folder of the CData JDBC Driver for Adobe Analytics into the lib folder of Kafka Connect JDBC. Check the Kafka Connect JDBC folder contents to confirm that the cdata.jdbc.adobeanalytics.jar file is successfully copied into the lib folder

   cp -r /path/to/CData JDBC Driver for Adobe Analytics/lib/* /usr/share/confluent-hub-components/confluentinc-kafka-connect-jdbc/lib/
   cd /usr/share/confluent-hub-components/confluentinc-kafka-connect-jdbc/lib/
   

5. Install the CData Adobe Analytics JDBC driver license using the given command, followed by your Name and Email ID

   	java -jar cdata.jdbc.adobeanalytics.jar -l
   	

6. Enter the product key or "TRIAL" (In the scenarios of license expiry, please contact our CData Support team)
7. Start the Confluent local services using the command:

   	confluent local services start
   	

   This starts all the Confluent Services like Zookeeper, Kafka, Schema Registry, Kafka REST, Kafka CONNECT, ksqlDB and Control Center. You are now ready to use the CData JDBC driver for Adobe Analytics to stream messages using Kafka Connect Driver into Kafka Topics on ksqlDB.

   👁 Start the Confluent local services
   
8. Create the Kafka topics manually using a POST HTTP API Request:

    curl --location 'server_address:8083/connectors' 
   	--header 'Content-Type: application/json'
   	--data '{ 
   		"name": "jdbc_source_cdata_adobeanalytics_01", 
   		"config": { 
   			"connector.class": "io.confluent.connect.jdbc.JdbcSourceConnector", 
   			"connection.url": "jdbc:adobeanalytics:GlobalCompanyId=myGlobalCompanyId; RSID=myRSID; OAuthClientId=myOauthClientId; OauthClientSecret=myOAuthClientSecret; CallbackURL=myCallbackURL;",
   		"topic.prefix": "adobeanalytics-01-", 
   		"mode": "bulk" 
   		} 
   	}'
   

   Let us understand the fields used in the HTTP POST body (shown above):

   • connector.class: Specifies the Java class of the Kafka Connect connector to be used.
   • connection.url: The JDBC connection URL to connect with Adobe Analytics data.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     		java -jar cdata.jdbc.adobeanalytics.jar
     		

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

     Adobe Analytics uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, create an app to obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL connection properties. See the "Getting Started" section of the help documentation for a guide.

     Retrieving GlobalCompanyId

     GlobalCompanyId is a required connection property. If you do not know your Global Company ID, you can find it in the request URL for the users/me endpoint on the Swagger UI. After logging into the Swagger UI Url, expand the users endpoint and then click the GET users/me button. Click the Try it out and Execute buttons. Note your Global Company ID shown in the Request URL immediately preceding the users/me endpoint.

     Retrieving Report Suite Id

     Report Suite ID (RSID) is also a required connection property. In the Adobe Analytics UI, navigate to Admin -> Report Suites and you will get a list of your report suites along with their identifiers next to the name.

     After setting the GlobalCompanyId, RSID and OAuth connection properties, you are ready to connect to Adobe Analytics.

     👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)
     
   • topic.prefix: A prefix that will be added to the Kafka topics created by the connector. It's set to "adobeanalytics-01-".
   • mode: Specifies the mode in which the connector operates. In this case, it's set to "bulk", which suggests that the connector is configured to perform bulk data transfer.

   This request adds all the tables/contents from Adobe Analytics as Kafka Topics.

   Note: The IP Address (server) to POST the request (shown above) is the Linux Network IP Address.

9. Run ksqlDB and list the topics. Use the commands:

   ksql
   list topics;
   

   👁 List the Kafka Topics (BigCommerce is shown)
   
10. To view the data inside the topics, type the SQL Statement:

    PRINT topic FROM BEGINNING;
    

Connecting with the Confluent Control Center

To access the Confluent Control Center user interface, ensure to run the "confluent local services" as described in the above section and type http://<server address>:9021/clusters/ on your local browser.

Get Started Today

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Adobe Analytics and start streaming Adobe Analytics data into Apache Kafka. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.