PowerShell Scripting to Replicate Freshdesk Data to MySQL

The CData Cmdlets for Freshdesk offer live access to Freshdesk data from within PowerShell. Using PowerShell scripts, you can easily automate regular tasks like data replication. This article will walk through using the CData Cmdlets for Freshdesk and the CData Cmdlets for MySQL in PowerShell to replicate Freshdesk data to a MySQL database.

After obtaining the needed connection properties, accessing Freshdesk data in PowerShell and preparing for replication consists of four basic steps.

FreshDesk makes use of basic authentication. To connect to data, set the following connection properties:

• Domain: Set this to the domain associated with your FreshDesk account. For example, in your URL: https://my_domain.freshdesk.com.
• APIKey: Set this to the API key associated with your FreshDesk account. To retrieve your API key, Log into your support Portal -> Click on profile picture in the top right corner -> profile settings page. The API key will be available below the change password section to the right.

Collecting Freshdesk Data

1. Install the module:

   Install-Module FreshDeskCmdlets

2. Connect to Freshdesk:

    $freshdesk = Connect-FreshDesk -Domain $Domain -APIKey $APIKey
    

3. Retrieve the data from a specific resource:

    $data = Select-FreshDesk -Connection $freshdesk -Table "Tickets"
    

   You can also use the Invoke-FreshDesk cmdlet to execute pure SQL-92 statements:

    $data = Invoke-FreshDesk -Connection $freshdesk -Query 'SELECT * FROM Tickets WHERE Status = @Status' -Params @{'@Status'='2'}
    

4. Save a list of the column names from the returned data.

    $columns = ($data | Get-Member -MemberType NoteProperty | Select-Object -Property Name).Name
    

Inserting Freshdesk Data into the MySQL Database

With the data and column names collected, you are ready to replicate the data into a MySQL database.

1. Install the module:

   Install-Module MySQLCmdlets

2. Connect to MySQL, using the server address and port of the MySQL server, valid user credentials, and a specific database with the table in which the data will be replicated:

    $mysql = Connect-MySQL -User $User -Password $Password -Database $Database -Server $Server -Port $Port
    

3. Loop through the Freshdesk data, store the values, and use the Add-MySQL cmdlet to insert the data into the MySQL database, one row at a time. In this example, the table will need to have the same name as the Freshdesk resource (Tickets) and to exist in the database.

    $data | % {
    $row = $_
    $values = @()
    $columns | % {
    $col = $_
    $values += $row.$($col)
    }
    Add-MySQL -Connection $mysql -Table "Tickets" -Columns $columns -Values $values
    }
    

You have now replicated your Freshdesk data to a MySQL database. This gives you freedom to work with Freshdesk data in the same way that you work with other MySQL tables, whether that is performing analytics, building reports, or other business functions.

Notes

• Once you have connected to Freshdesk and MySQL in PowerShell, you can pipe command results to perform the replication in a single line:

   Select-FreshDesk -Connection $freshdesk -Table "Tickets" | % {
   $row = $_
   $values = @()
   $columns | % {
   $col = $_
   $values += $row.$($col)
   }
   Add-MySQL -Connection $mysql -Table "Tickets" -Columns $columns -Values $values
   }
   

• If you wish to replicate the Freshdesk data to another database using another PowerShell module, you will want to exclude the Columns, Connection, and Table columns from the data returned by the Select-FreshDesk cmdlet since those columns are used to help pipe data from one CData cmdlet to another:

   $columns = ($data | Get-Member -MemberType NoteProperty | Select-Object -Property Name).Name | ? {$_ -NotIn @('Columns','Connection','Table')}