Stream Paylocity 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 Paylocity, Kafka can work with live Paylocity data. This article describes how to connect, access and stream Paylocity data into Apache Kafka Topics and to start Confluent Control Center to help users secure, manage, and monitor the Paylocity 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 Paylocity data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Paylocity, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Paylocity 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 Paylocity data using native data types.

Prerequisites

Before connecting the CData JDBC Driver for streaming Paylocity 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 Paylocity data

1. Download CData JDBC Driver for Paylocity 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 Paylocity

      		mkdir Paylocity
      		

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

      		mv PaylocityJDBCDriver.zip Paylocity/
      		

   3. Unzip the CData PaylocityJDBCDriver contents into this new directory

      		unzip PaylocityJDBCDriver.zip
      		

3. Open the Paylocity directory and navigate to the lib folder

   ls
   cd lib/
   

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

   cp -r /path/to/CData JDBC Driver for Paylocity/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 Paylocity JDBC driver license using the given command, followed by your Name and Email ID

   	java -jar cdata.jdbc.paylocity.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 Paylocity 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_paylocity_01", 
   		"config": { 
   			"connector.class": "io.confluent.connect.jdbc.JdbcSourceConnector", 
   			"connection.url": "jdbc:paylocity:OAuthClientID=YourClientId;OAuthClientSecret=YourClientSecret;RSAPublicKey=YourRSAPubKey;Key=YourKey;IV=YourIV;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;",
   		"topic.prefix": "paylocity-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 Paylocity 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 Paylocity. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     		java -jar cdata.jdbc.paylocity.jar
     		

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

     Set the following to establish a connection to Paylocity:

     • RSAPublicKey: Set this to the RSA Key associated with your Paylocity, if the RSA Encryption is enabled in the Paylocity account.

       This property is required for executing Insert and Update statements, and it is not required if the feature is disabled.

     • UseSandbox: Set to true if you are using sandbox account.
     • CustomFieldsCategory: Set this to the Customfields category. This is required when IncludeCustomFields is set to true. The default value for this property is PayrollAndHR.
     • Key: The AES symmetric key(base 64 encoded) encrypted with the Paylocity Public Key. It is the key used to encrypt the content.

       Paylocity will decrypt the AES key using RSA decryption.
       It is an optional property if the IV value not provided, The driver will generate a key internally.

     • IV: The AES IV (base 64 encoded) used when encrypting the content. It is an optional property if the Key value not provided, The driver will generate an IV internally.

     Connect Using OAuth Authentication

     You must use OAuth to authenticate with Paylocity. OAuth requires the authenticating user to interact with Paylocity using the browser. For more information, refer to the OAuth section in the Help documentation.

     The Pay Entry API

     The Pay Entry API is completely separate from the rest of the Paylocity API. It uses a separate Client ID and Secret, and must be explicitly requested from Paylocity for access to be granted for an account. The Pay Entry API allows you to automatically submit payroll information for individual employees, and little else. Due to the extremely limited nature of what is offered by the Pay Entry API, we have elected not to give it a separate schema, but it may be enabled via the UsePayEntryAPI connection property.

     Please be aware that when setting UsePayEntryAPI to true, you may only use the CreatePayEntryImportBatch & MergePayEntryImportBatchgtable stored procedures, the InputTimeEntry table, and the OAuth stored procedures. Attempts to use other features of the product will result in an error. You must also store your OAuthAccessToken separately, which often means setting a different OAuthSettingsLocation when using this connection property. 👁 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 "paylocity-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 Paylocity 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 Paylocity and start streaming Paylocity data into Apache Kafka. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.