Connect to FTP Data in RapidMiner

This article shows how you can easily integrate the CData JDBC driver for FTP into your processes in RapidMiner. This article uses the CData JDBC Driver for FTP to transfer FTP data to a process in RapidMiner.

Connect to FTP in RapidMiner as a JDBC Data Source

You can follow the procedure below to establish a JDBC connection to FTP:

1. Add a new database driver for FTP: Click Connections -> Manage Database Drivers.
2. In the resulting wizard, click the Add button and enter a name for the connection.
3. Enter the prefix for the JDBC URL:

   jdbc:ftp:
   

4. Enter the path to the cdata.jdbc.ftp.jar file, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
5. Enter the driver class:

   cdata.jdbc.ftp.FTPDriver
   

   👁 The JDBC driver configuration. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
6. Create a new FTP connection: Click Connections -> Manage Database Connections.
7. Enter a name for your connection.
8. For Database System, select the FTP driver you configured previously.
9. Enter your connection string in the Host box.

   To connect to FTP or SFTP servers, specify at least RemoteHost and FileProtocol. Specify the port with RemotePort.

   Set User and Password to perform Basic authentication. Set SSHAuthMode to use SSH authentication. See the Getting Started section of the data provider help documentation for more information on authenticating via SSH.

   Set SSLMode and SSLServerCert to secure connections with SSL.

   The data provider lists the tables based on the available folders in your FTP server. Set the following connection properties to control the relational view of the file system:

   • RemotePath: Set this to the current working directory.
   • TableDepth: Set this to control the depth of folders to list as views.
   • FileRetrievalDepth: Set this to retrieve and list files recursively from the root table.

   Stored Procedures are available to download files, upload files, and send protocol commands. See the Data Model chapter of the FTP data provider documentation for more information.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.ftp.jar
   

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

   👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)
   

   A typical connection string is below:

   RemoteHost=MyFTPServer;
   

10. Enter your username and password if necessary. 👁 The connection to the JDBC data source. (Salesforce is shown.)
    

You can now use your FTP connection with the various RapidMiner operators in your process. To retrieve FTP data, drag the Retrieve operator from the Operators view. 👁 A Retrieve operation to select data. (Salesforce is shown.)
With the Retrieve operator selected, you can then define which table to retrieve in the Parameters view by clicking the folder icon next to the "repository entry." In the resulting Repository Browser, you can expand your connection node to select the desired example set.

Finally, wire the output to the Retrieve process to a result, and run the process to see the FTP data.