Import Dynamics CRM Data Using Azure Data Factory

Dibyendu Datta
Lead Technology Evangelist

Use CData Connect AI to connect to Dynamics CRM Data from Azure Data Factory and import live Dynamics CRM data.

Microsoft Azure Data Factory (ADF) is a completely managed, serverless data integration service. When combined with CData Connect AI, ADF enables immediate cloud-to-cloud access to Dynamics CRM data within data flows. This article outlines the process of connecting to Dynamics CRM through Connect AI and accessing Dynamics CRM data within ADF.

CData Connect AI offers a cloud-to-cloud interface tailored for Dynamics CRM, granting you the ability to access live data from Dynamics CRM data within Azure Data Factory without the need for data replication to a natively supported database. Equipped with optimized data processing capabilities by default, CData Connect AI seamlessly channels all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, directly to Dynamics CRM. This harnesses server-side processing to expedite the retrieval of the desired Dynamics CRM data.

About Dynamics CRM Data Integration

CData simplifies access and integration of live Microsoft Dynamics CRM data. Our customers leverage CData connectivity to:

Read and write data in the Dynamics CRM 2011+ Services and Dynamics CRM Online.
Extend the native features of Dynamics CRM with customizable caching and intelligent query aggregation and separation.
Authenticate securely with Dynamics CRM in a variety of ways, including Azure Active Directory, Azure Managed Service Identity credentials, and Azure Service Principal using either a client secret or a certificate.

CData customers use our Dynamics CRM connectivity solutions for a variety of reasons, whether they're looking to replicate their data into a data warehouse (alongside other data sources) or analyze live Dynamics CRMa data from their preferred data tools inside the Microsoft ecosystem (Power BI, Excel, etc.) or with external tools (Tableau, Looker, etc.).

Getting Started

Configure Dynamics CRM Connectivity for ADF

Connectivity to Dynamics CRM from Azure Data Factory is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Dynamics CRM data from Azure Data Factory, we start by creating and configuring a Dynamics CRM connection.

CData Connect AI uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

👁 Adding a Connection

Select "Dynamics CRM" from the Add Connection panel

👁 Selecting a data source

Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Dynamics CRM.
The connection string options meet the authentication and connection requirements of different Dynamics CRM instances. To connect to your instance, set the User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, to valid Dynamics CRM user credentials and set the Url to a valid Dynamics CRM server organization root. Additionally, set the CRMVersion property to 'CRM2011+' or 'CRMOnline'. IFD configurations are supported as well; set InternetFacingDeployment to true.

Additionally, you can provide the security token service (STS) or AD FS endpoint in the STSURL property. This value can be retrieved with the GetSTSUrl stored procedure. Office 365 users can connect to the default STS URL by simply setting CRMVersion.
👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
Click Save & Test
Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Dynamics CRM Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to Dynamics CRM data from Azure Data Factory.

Access Live Dynamics CRM Data in Azure Data Factory

To establish a connection from Azure Data Factory to the CData Connect AI Virtual SQL Server API, follow these steps.

👁 Logging in to ADF

If you have not yet created a Data Factory, Click New -> Dataset.

👁 Creating new data factory

In the search bar, enter SQL Server and select it when it appears. On the following screen, enter a name for the server. In the Linked service field, select New.

👁 Selecting SQL Server

Enter the connection settings.
- Name - enter a name of your choice.
- Server name - enter the Virtual SQL Server endpoint and port separated by a comma: tds.cdata.com,14333
- Database name - enter the Connection Name of the CData Connect AI data source you want to connect to (for example, DynamicsCRM1).
- User Name - enter your CData Connect AI username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect AI interface. For example, [email protected].
- Password - select Password (not Azure Key Vault) and enter the PAT you generated on the Settings page.
- Click Create.

👁 Configuring new linked service

In Set properties, set the Name, choose the Linked service we just created, select a Table name from those available, and Import schema from connection/store. Click OK.