Zapier is an online automation tool that connects your apps and services. When paired with CData Connect AI, you get access to live Elasticsearch data for your workflows. This article shows how to connect to Elasticsearch and build workflows with live Elasticsearch data in Zapier.
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
Connect to Elasticsearch from Zapier
To work with Elasticsearch in Zapier, we need to connect to Elasticsearch from Connect AI, provide user access to
the connection, and create a Workspace for the Elasticsearch data.
Connect to Elasticsearch from Connect AI
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 "Elasticsearch" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source
-
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)
-
Click Save & Test
-
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.
-
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.
Configure Elasticsearch Endpoints for Zapier
After connecting to Elasticsearch, create a workspace for your desired table(s).
-
Navigate to the Workspaces page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace).
👁 The Workspaces page.
👁 Adding a new Workspace.
-
Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
-
Select the Elasticsearch connection (e.g. Elasticsearch1) and click Next.
👁 Selecting an Asset (Salesforce is shown).
-
Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm.
👁 Selecting Tables (Salesforce is shown).
-
Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}
With the connection, PAT, and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to Elasticsearch data from Zapier.
Connect to Elasticsearch Data in Zapier Workflows
To establish a connection from Zapier to CData Connect AI using the OData protocol, follow these steps.
- Log into Zapier.
- Click Create Zap.
- In the dialog that appears, search for "Webhooks by Zapier", and click the option underneath.
👁 Creating a Webhooks by Zapier Zap.
- Under Event, select Retrieve Poll.
👁 Creating a Retrieve Poll event.
- Fill in the connection details:
- URL: Enter the OData URL (e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}).
- Key: Enter "value.name."
- Authentication details: Fill in the Basic Auth or Headers. The basic option requires a user (your Connect AI username, e.g. [email protected]) and password (the PAT you've previously created) separated by a pipe symbol: |. The headers option requires a request type header with encoded credentials.
👁 Configuring the connection to Connect AI OData or Workspace URLs.
- Click Test. If the connection is set up properly, sample records will appear.
👁 Testing the connection.
Simplified Access to Elasticsearch Data from Cloud Applications
At this point, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Elasticsearch data from Zapier. For more information on gaining simplified access to data from more than 100 SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources in cloud applications like Zapier, refer to our Connect AI page.
