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URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/dynamicscrm-sync-azure.rst

⇱ Automated Continuous Dynamics CRM Replication to Azure SQL Database

Automated Continuous Dynamics CRM Replication to Azure SQL Database

👁 Cameron Leblanc
Cameron Leblanc
Senior Technology Evangelist
Use CData Sync for automated, continuous, customizable Dynamics CRM replication to Azure SQL Database.

Always-on applications rely on automatic failover capabilities and real-time data access. CData Sync integrates live Dynamics CRM data into your Azure SQL Database instance, allowing you to consolidate all of your data into a single location for archiving, reporting, analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence and more.

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 Azure SQL Database as a Replication Destination

Using CData Sync, you can replicate Dynamics CRM data to Azure SQL Database. To add a replication destination, navigate to the Connections tab.

  1. Click Add Connection. 👁 Add a new connection.
  2. Select the Destinations tab and locate the Azure SQL Database connector. 👁 Configure a Destination connection to Azure SQL Database.
  3. Click the Configure Connection icon at the end of that row to open the New Connection page. If the Configure Connection icon is not available, click the Download Connector icon to install the Azure SQL Database connector. For more information about installing new connectors, see Connections in the Help documentation.
  4. To connect to Azure SQL database, set the following connection properties:
    • Connection Name: Enter a connection name of your choice for the Azure SQL database connection.
    • Server: Enter the host name or IP of the server that hosts the Azure SQL database.
    • Port: Enter the port number of the server that hosts the Azure SQL database. The default port value is 1433
    • Database: Enter the name of the database.
    • Auth Scheme: Select the authentication scheme. The default auth scheme is SqlPassword.
    • User: Enter the user ID provided for authentication with the Azure SQL database.
    • Password: Enter the password provided for authentication with the Azure SQL database.
    5. 👁 Enter the connection details.
  5. Once connected, click Create & Test to create, test and save the connection.

You are now connected to Azure SQL database and can use it as both a source and a destination.

NOTE: You can use the Label feature to add a label for a source or a destination.

👁 Add a label.

In this article, we will demonstrate how to load Dynamics CRM data into Azure SQL database and utilize it as a destination.

Configure the Dynamics CRM Connection

You can configure a connection to Dynamics CRM from the Connections tab. To add a connection to your Dynamics CRM account, navigate to the Connections tab.

  1. Click Add Connection.
  2. Select a source (Dynamics CRM).
  3. Configure the connection properties.

    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 Source connection (Salesforce is shown).
  4. Click Connect to Dynamics CRM to ensure that the connection is configured properly.
  5. Click Save & Test to save the changes.

Configure Replication Queries

CData Sync enables you to control replication with a point-and-click interface and with SQL queries. For each replication you wish to configure, navigate to the Jobs tab and click Add Job. Select the Source and Destination for your replication.

👁 Select Source and Destination connections for the replication.

Replicate Entire Tables

To replicate an entire table, navigate to the Task tab in the Job, click Add Tasks, choose the table(s) from the list of Dynamics CRM tables you wish to replicate into Azure SQL database, and click Add Tasks again.

👁 Choose entire tables to replicate (Salesforce is shown).

Customize Your Replication

You can use the Columns and Query tabs of a task to customize your replication. The Columns tab allows you to specify which columns to replicate, rename the columns at the destination, and even perform operations on the source data before replicating. The Query tab allows you to add filters, grouping, and sorting to the replication with the help of SQL queries. 👁 Configure a replication Transform.

Schedule Your Replication

Select the Overview tab in the Job, and click Configure under Schedule. You can schedule a job to run automatically by configuring it to run at specified intervals, ranging from once every 10 minutes to once every month.

👁 Schedule your job to run automatically.

Once you have configured the replication job, click Save Changes. You can configure any number of jobs to manage the replication of your Dynamics CRM data to Azure SQL database.

Run the Replication Job

Once all the required configurations are made for the job, select the Dynamics CRM table you wish to replicate and click Run. After the replication completes successfully, a notification appears, showing the time taken to run the job and the number of rows replicated.

👁 Run the job.

Free Trial & More Information

Now that you have seen how to replicate Dynamics CRM data into Azure SQL Database, visit our CData Sync page to explore more about CData Sync and download a free 30-day trial. Start consolidating your enterprise data today!

As always, our world-class Support Team is ready to answer any questions you may have.