Process & Analyze HCL Domino Data in Databricks (AWS)

Databricks is a cloud-based service that provides data processing capabilities through Apache Spark. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver, customers can use Databricks to perform data engineering and data science on live HCL Domino data. This article explains how to host the CData JDBC Driver in AWS, as well as connect to and process live HCL Domino data in Databricks.

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

Install the CData JDBC Driver in Databricks

To work with live HCL Domino data in Databricks, install the driver on your Databricks cluster.

1. Navigate to your Databricks administration screen and select the target cluster.
2. On the Libraries tab, click "Install New."
3. Select "Upload" as the Library Source and "Jar" as the Library Type.
4. Upload the JDBC JAR file (cdata.jdbc.domino.jar) from the installation location (typically C:\Program Files\CData[product_name]\lib).

👁 Loading the JDBC JAR File into AWS

Access HCL Domino Data in your Notebook: Python

With the JAR file installed, we are ready to work with live HCL Domino data in Databricks. Start by creating a new notebook in your workspace. Name the notebook, select Python as the language (though Scala is available as well), and choose the cluster where you installed the JDBC driver. When the notebook launches, we can configure the connection, query HCL Domino, and create a basic report.

Configure the Connection to HCL Domino

Connect to HCL Domino by referencing the JDBC Driver class and constructing a connection string to use in the JDBC URL. Additionally, you will need to set the property in the JDBC URL (unless you are using a Beta driver). You can view the licensing file included in the installation for information on how to set this property.

Step 1: Connection Information

driver = "cdata.jdbc.domino.DominoDriver"
url = "jdbc:domino:RTK=5246...;Server=https://domino.corp.com;AuthScheme=OAuthPassword;User=my_domino_user;Password=my_domino_password;"

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

java -jar cdata.jdbc.domino.jar

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

Connecting to Domino

To connect to Domino data, set the following properties:

• URL: The host name or IP of the server hosting the Domino database. Include the port of the server hosting the Domino database. For example: http://sampleserver:1234/
• DatabaseScope: The name of a scope in the Domino Web UI. The driver exposes forms and views for the schema governed by the specified scope. In the Domino Admin UI, select the Scopes menu in the sidebar. Set this property to the name of an existing scope.

Authenticating with Domino

Domino supports authenticating via login credentials or an Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) OAuth application:

Login Credentials

To authenticate with login credentials, set the following properties:

• AuthScheme: Set this to "OAuthPassword"
• User: The username of the authenticating Domino user
• Password: The password associated with the authenticating Domino user

The driver uses the login credentials to automatically perform an OAuth token exchange.

EntraID (formerly AzureAD)

This authentication method uses Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) as an IdP to obtain a JWT token. You need to create a custom OAuth application in Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) and configure it as an IdP. To do so, follow the instructions in the Help documentation. Then set the following properties:

• AuthScheme: Set this to "EntraID (formerly AzureAD)"
• InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
• OAuthClientId: The Client ID obtained when setting up the custom OAuth application.
• OAuthClientSecret: The Client secret obtained when setting up the custom OAuth application.
• CallbackURL: The redirect URI defined when you registered your app. For example: https://localhost:33333
• AzureTenant: The Microsoft Online tenant being used to access data. Supply either a value in the form companyname.microsoft.com or the tenant ID.

  The tenant ID is the same as the directory ID shown in the Azure Portal's Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) > Properties page.

👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)

Load HCL Domino Data

Once you configure the connection, you can load HCL Domino data as a dataframe using the CData JDBC Driver and the connection information.

Step 2: Reading the data

remote_table = spark.read.format ( "jdbc" ) \
	.option ( "driver" , driver) \
	.option ( "url" , url) \
	.option ( "dbtable" , "ByName") \
	.load ()

Display HCL Domino Data

Check the loaded HCL Domino data by calling the display function.

Step 3: Checking the result

display (remote_table.select ("Name"))

👁 Displaying HCL Domino Data

Analyze HCL Domino Data in Databricks

If you want to process data with Databricks SparkSQL, register the loaded data as a Temp View.

Step 4: Create a view or table

remote_table.createOrReplaceTempView ( "SAMPLE_VIEW" )

With the Temp View created, you can use SparkSQL to retrieve the HCL Domino data for reporting, visualization, and analysis.

% sql

SELECT Name, Address FROM SAMPLE_VIEW ORDER BY Address DESC LIMIT 5

👁 Displaying HCL Domino Data

The data from HCL Domino is only available in the target notebook. If you want to use it with other users, save it as a table.

remote_table.write.format ( "parquet" ) .saveAsTable ( "SAMPLE_TABLE" )

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for HCL Domino and start working with your live HCL Domino data in Databricks. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.