Stream Oracle Eloqua Reporting Data into Apache Kafka Topics

Apache Kafka is an open-source stream processing platform that is primarily used for building real-time data pipelines and event-driven applications. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver for Oracle Eloqua Reporting, Kafka can work with live Oracle Eloqua Reporting data. This article describes how to connect, access and stream Oracle Eloqua Reporting data into Apache Kafka Topics and to start Confluent Control Center to help users secure, manage, and monitor the Oracle Eloqua Reporting data received using Kafka infrastructure in the Confluent Platform.

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

Prerequisites

Before connecting the CData JDBC Driver for streaming Oracle Eloqua Reporting data in Apache Kafka Topics, install and configure the following in the client Linux-based system.

1. Confluent Platform for Apache Kafka
2. Confluent Hub CLI Installation
3. Self-Managed Kafka JDBC Source Connector for Confluent Platform

Define a New JDBC Connection to Oracle Eloqua Reporting data

1. Download CData JDBC Driver for Oracle Eloqua Reporting on a Linux-based system
2. Follow the given instructions to create a new directory extract all the driver contents into it:
   1. Create a new directory named Oracle Eloqua Reporting

      		mkdir OracleEloquaReporting
      		

   2. Move the downloaded driver file (.zip) into this new directory

      		mv OracleEloquaReportingJDBCDriver.zip OracleEloquaReporting/
      		

   3. Unzip the CData OracleEloquaReportingJDBCDriver contents into this new directory

      		unzip OracleEloquaReportingJDBCDriver.zip
      		

3. Open the Oracle Eloqua Reporting directory and navigate to the lib folder

   ls
   cd lib/
   

4. Copy the contents of the lib folder of the CData JDBC Driver for Oracle Eloqua Reporting into the lib folder of Kafka Connect JDBC. Check the Kafka Connect JDBC folder contents to confirm that the cdata.jdbc.oracleeloquareporting.jar file is successfully copied into the lib folder

   cp -r /path/to/CData JDBC Driver for Oracle Eloqua Reporting/lib/* /usr/share/confluent-hub-components/confluentinc-kafka-connect-jdbc/lib/
   cd /usr/share/confluent-hub-components/confluentinc-kafka-connect-jdbc/lib/
   

5. Install the CData Oracle Eloqua Reporting JDBC driver license using the given command, followed by your Name and Email ID

   	java -jar cdata.jdbc.oracleeloquareporting.jar -l
   	

6. Enter the product key or "TRIAL" (In the scenarios of license expiry, please contact our CData Support team)
7. Start the Confluent local services using the command:

   	confluent local services start
   	

   This starts all the Confluent Services like Zookeeper, Kafka, Schema Registry, Kafka REST, Kafka CONNECT, ksqlDB and Control Center. You are now ready to use the CData JDBC driver for Oracle Eloqua Reporting to stream messages using Kafka Connect Driver into Kafka Topics on ksqlDB.

   👁 Start the Confluent local services
   
8. Create the Kafka topics manually using a POST HTTP API Request:

    curl --location 'server_address:8083/connectors' 
   	--header 'Content-Type: application/json'
   	--data '{ 
   		"name": "jdbc_source_cdata_oracleeloquareporting_01", 
   		"config": { 
   			"connector.class": "io.confluent.connect.jdbc.JdbcSourceConnector", 
   			"connection.url": "jdbc:oracleeloquareporting:AuthScheme=Basic;User=user;Password=password;Company=MyCompany;",
   		"topic.prefix": "oracleeloquareporting-01-", 
   		"mode": "bulk" 
   		} 
   	}'
   

   Let us understand the fields used in the HTTP POST body (shown above):

   • connector.class: Specifies the Java class of the Kafka Connect connector to be used.
   • connection.url: The JDBC connection URL to connect with Oracle Eloqua Reporting data.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     		java -jar cdata.jdbc.oracleeloquareporting.jar
     		

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

     Oracle Eloqua Reporting supports the following authentication methods:

     • Basic authentication (User and Password)
     • OAuth 2.0 code grant flow
     • OAuth 2.0 password grant flow

     Basic Authentication (User and Password)

     To perform authentication with a user and password, specify these properties:

     • AuthScheme: Basic.
     • Company: The company name associated with your Oracle Eloqua Reporting account.
     • User: Your login account name.
     • Password: Your login password.

     OAuth Authentication (Code Grant Flow)

     To authenticate with the OAuth code grant flow, you must set AuthScheme to OAuth and create a custom OAuth application. For information about how to create a custom OAuth application, see the Help documentation.

     Then set the following properties:

     • InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. Used to automatically get and refresh the OAuthAccessToken.
     • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your application.
     • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret that was assigned when you registered your application.
     • CallbackURL: The redirect URI that was defined when you registered your application.

     When you connect, the driver opens Oracle Eloqua Reporting's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application. When the access token expires, the driver refreshes it automatically.

     OAuth Authentication (Password Grant Flow)

     With the OAuth password grant flow, you can use your OAuth application's credentials alongside your user credentials to authenticate without the need to grant permission manually via a browser prompt. You must create an OAuth app (see the Help documentation) to use this authentication method.

     Set the following properties:

     • AuthScheme: OAuthPassword
     • Company: The company's unique identifier.
     • User: Your login account name.
     • Password: Your login password.
     • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
     • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
     👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)
     
   • topic.prefix: A prefix that will be added to the Kafka topics created by the connector. It's set to "oracleeloquareporting-01-".
   • mode: Specifies the mode in which the connector operates. In this case, it's set to "bulk", which suggests that the connector is configured to perform bulk data transfer.

   This request adds all the tables/contents from Oracle Eloqua Reporting as Kafka Topics.

   Note: The IP Address (server) to POST the request (shown above) is the Linux Network IP Address.

9. Run ksqlDB and list the topics. Use the commands:

   ksql
   list topics;
   

   👁 List the Kafka Topics (BigCommerce is shown)
   
10. To view the data inside the topics, type the SQL Statement:

    PRINT topic FROM BEGINNING;
    

Connecting with the Confluent Control Center

To access the Confluent Control Center user interface, ensure to run the "confluent local services" as described in the above section and type http://<server address>:9021/clusters/ on your local browser.

Get Started Today

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Oracle Eloqua Reporting and start streaming Oracle Eloqua Reporting data into Apache Kafka. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.