Integrate DB2 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 DB2, in their SnapLogic workflows.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live DB2 data. When platforms issue complex SQL queries to DB2, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to DB2 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 DB2 data using native data types.

Connect to DB2 in SnapLogic

To connect to DB2 data in SnapLogic, download and install the CData DB2 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 IBM DB2/lib by default).

Upload the DB2 JDBC Driver

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

👁 Uploaded JDBC Driver (Salesforce & QuickBooks Online are shown)

Configure the Connection

Once the JDBC Driver is uploaded, we can create the connection to DB2.

1. Navigate to the Designer tab
2. Expand "JDBC" from Snaps and drag a "Generic JDBC - Select" snap onto the designer 👁 Adding a Generic JDBC 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.db2.DB2Driver

   • Set JDBC URL to a JDBC connection string for the DB2 JDBC Driver, for example:

     jdbc:db2:Server=10.0.1.2;Port=50000;User=admin;Password=admin;Database=test;RTK=XXXXXX;

     NOTE: RTK is a trial or full key. Contact our Support team for more information. 👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
     

     Built-In Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the DB2 JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.db2.jar

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

     Set the following properties to connect to DB2:

     • Server: Set this to the name of the server running DB2.
     • Port: Set this to the port the DB2 server is listening on.
     • Database: Set this to the name of the DB2 database.
     • User: Set this to the username of a user allowed to access the database.
     • Password: Set this to the password of a user allowed to access the database.

     You will also need to install the corresponding DB2 driver:

     • Windows: Install the IBM Data Server Provider for .NET.

       On Windows, installing the IBM Data Server Provider is sufficient, as the installation registers it in the machine.config.

     • Java: Install the IBM Data Server Driver for JDBC.

       In the Java version, place the IBM Data Server Driver JAR in the www\WEB-INF\lib\ folder for this application.

     👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)
     
5. After entering the connection properties, click "Validate" and "Apply"

Read DB2 Data

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

• Set Schema name to "DB2"
• Set Table name to a table for DB2 using the schema name, for example: "DB2"."Orders" (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

👁 Configuring a Select snap (Salesforce is shown)

Save the Generic JDBC - Select snap.

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

👁 Click the end of the snap to preview the data.

Once you confirm the results are what you expect, you can add additional snaps to funnel your DB2 data to another endpoint.

👁 Previewing data (Salesforce is shown).

Piping DB2 Data 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 👁 Connecting to Google
   
3. Configure the Worksheet Writer snap to write your DB2 data to a Google Spreadsheet 👁 Writing to a Google Spreadsheet
   

You can now execute the fully configured pipeline to extract data from DB2 and push it into a Google Spreadsheet.

👁 Data written to Google Spreadsheets (Salesforce is shown)

Piping External Data to DB2

As mentioned above, you can also use the JDBC Driver for DB2 in SnapLogic to write data to DB2. 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 "DB2"
   • Set Table name to a table for DB2 using the schema name, for example: "DB2"."Orders" (use the drop-down to see the full list of available tables)
   👁 Configuring a INSERT snap (Salesforce is shown)
   
3. Save the Generic JDBC - Insert/Update snap

At this point, you have configured a snap to write data to DB2, inserting new records or updating existing ones.

More Information & Free Trial

Using the CData JDBC Driver for IBM DB2 you can create a pipeline in SnapLogic for integrating DB2 data with external services. For more information about connecting to DB2, check at our CData JDBC Driver for IBM DB2 page. Download a free, 30 day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for IBM DB2 and get started today.