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URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/elasticsearch-cloud-linked-server.rst

⇱ Connect to Elasticsearch Data as a SQL Server Linked Server

Connect to Elasticsearch Data as a SQL Server Linked Server

👁 Dibyendu Datta
Dibyendu Datta
Lead Technology Evangelist
Use CData Connect AI to create a linked server for live Elasticsearch data.

SQL Server Linked Servers enable the SQL Server Database Engine to read data from remote data sources and execute commands against the remote database servers outside of the instance of SQL Server. Typically, linked servers are configured to enable the execution of a T-SQL statement that includes tables in another instance of SQL Server, or another database product such as Oracle. When paired with CData Connect AI, linked servers provides instant access to Elasticsearch data from your SQL Server database. This article demonstrates how to connect to Elasticsearch using Connect AI and query Elasticsearch data in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).

CData Connect AI provides a pure SQL Server interface for Elasticsearch, allowing you to query data from Elasticsearch without replicating the data to a natively supported database. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to Elasticsearch, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested Elasticsearch data quickly.

About Elasticsearch Data Integration

Accessing and integrating live data from Elasticsearch has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:

  • Access both the SQL endpoints and REST endpoints, optimizing connectivity and offering more options when it comes to reading and writing Elasticsearch data.
  • Connect to virtually every Elasticsearch instance starting with v2.2 and Open Source Elasticsearch subscriptions.
  • Always receive a relevance score for the query results without explicitly requiring the SCORE() function, simplifying access from 3rd party tools and easily seeing how the query results rank in text relevance.
  • Search through multiple indices, relying on Elasticsearch to manage and process the query and results instead of the client machine.

Users frequently integrate Elasticsearch data with analytics tools such as Crystal Reports, Power BI, and Excel, and leverage our tools to enable a single, federated access layer to all of their data sources, including Elasticsearch.

For more information on CData's Elasticsearch solutions, check out our Knowledge Base article: CData Elasticsearch Driver Features & Differentiators.


Getting Started


Configure Elasticsearch Connectivity for SQL Server

Connectivity to Elasticsearch from SQL Linked Servers is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Elasticsearch data from SQL Linked Servers, we start by creating and configuring a Elasticsearch connection.

  1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
    2. 👁 Adding a Connection
  2. Select "Elasticsearch" from the Add Connection panel
    3. 👁 Selecting a data source
  3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Elasticsearch.

    Set the Server and Port connection properties to connect. To authenticate, set the User and Password properties, PKI (public key infrastructure) properties, or both. To use PKI, set the SSLClientCert, SSLClientCertType, SSLClientCertSubject, and SSLClientCertPassword properties.

    The data provider uses X-Pack Security for TLS/SSL and authentication. To connect over TLS/SSL, prefix the Server value with 'https://'. Note: TLS/SSL and client authentication must be enabled on X-Pack to use PKI.

    Once the data provider is connected, X-Pack will then perform user authentication and grant role permissions based on the realms you have configured.

    👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
  4. Click Save & Test
  5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Elasticsearch 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.

  1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
  2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
  3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
  4. 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 Elasticsearch data from .

Connect to Elasticsearch from SQL Server using Connect AI

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

  1. Open Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio.
  2. In the Object Explorer pane, open Server Objects, right-click Linked Servers, and select New Linked Server.
    3. 👁 Selecting new linked server
  3. The New Linked Server dialogue opens. On the General page, enter the following information:
    • Enter a name for the server in the Linked server field.
    • Select the radio button Other data source and select SQL Server Native Client 11.0 as the provider.
    • In the Data source field, enter tds.cdata.com,14333
    • In the Catalog field, enter enter the Connection Name of the CData Connect AI data source you want to connect to (for example, Elasticsearch1).
      • 👁 Configuring the new linked server
  4. Select the Security page. At the bottom, select the radio button labeled Be made using this security context and enter the following information:
    • Remote login - enter your CData Connect AI username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect AI interface. For example, [email protected].
    • With password - enter the PAT you generated on the Settings page.
      • 👁 Entering credentials
  5. Click OK to create the server.
    6. Your linked server can now be used to access the data in the data source you specified. If you need to access data from more sources, create another linked server for each one.

Execute Queries

You can now execute queries to the Elasticsearch linked server from any tool that can connect to SQL Server. An example SQL query would be: 

		SELECT * FROM [CDATA CONNECT CLOUD].[Elasticsearch1].[Elasticsearch].[Orders]
👁 Querying live data in SQL Server Management Studio (Excel Online is shown)
We have successfully created a linked server that allows us to query Elasticsearch data.

Get CData Connect AI

To get live data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your SQL Server database, try CData Connect AI today!