How to load Blackbaud FE NXT 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 Blackbaud FE NXT to load data from Blackbaud FE NXT into Elasticsearch via Logstash.

Using CData JDBC Driver for Blackbaud FE NXT with Elasticsearch Logstash

• Install the CData JDBC Driver for Blackbaud FE NXT 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 FinancialEdgeNXT 20XX\lib\cdata.jdbc.financialedgenxt.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 Blackbaud FE NXT data to Elasticsearch with Logstash

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

• Write the process to retrieve Blackbaud FE NXT 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 Blackbaud FE NXT in the form of a JDBC URL. The JDBC URL allows detailed configuration, so please refer to the product documentation for more specifics.

Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT 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 guide in the CData driver documentation for more information.

Executing data movement with Logstash

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

 logstash-7.8.0\bin\logstash -f logstash.conf

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

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

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

We have confirmed that the data is stored in Elasticsearch.

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