Extract, Transform, and Load Salesforce Data in Informatica PowerCenter

Informatica provides a powerful, elegant means of transporting and transforming your data. By utilizing the CData ODBC Driver for Salesforce, you are gaining access to a driver based on industry-proven standards that integrates seamlessly with Informatica's powerful data transportation and manipulation features. This tutorial shows how to create a simple Workflow in Informatica PowerCenter to extract Salesforce data and load it into a flat file.

Getting Started

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Add Salesforce as an ODBC Data Source

If you have not already, install the driver on the PowerCenter server and client machines. On both machines, specify the connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

There are several authentication methods available for connecting to Salesforce: OAuth, Login (or basic), and SSO. The Login method requires you to have the username, password, and security token of the user.

OAuth Authentication (default)

The default authentication mechanism (and the one preferred by Salesforce) is OAuth. To use OAuth with CData's embedded OAuth application, leave the connection properties blank. If you have configured your own custom OAuth application with Salesforce (see the Help documentation for more information), set OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL to the properties for you application. Set InitiateOAuth to the desired OAuth flow ("GETANDREFRESH" will have the connector manage the entire OAuth flow).

Login (or Basic) Authentication

If you do not wish do not wish to use OAuth authentication, you can use Login (or basic) authentication. Set AuthScheme to Basic, and set the User, Password, and SecurityToken properties. You can configure your security token in Salesforce.

SSO (single sign-on) Authentication

SSO (single sign-on) can be used by setting the SSOProperties, SSOLoginUrl, and SSOExchangeURL connection properties, which allow you to authenticate to an identity provider. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the Help documentation for more information.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

If your Salesforce org has MFA enforcement enabled, set MFACode to the time-based one-time passcode (TOTP) generated by your authenticator app (such as Salesforce Authenticator or Google Authenticator). MFACode applies to both OAuth and Login authentication flows.

Create an ETL Workflow in PowerCenter

Follow the steps below to create a workflow in PowerCenter to pull Salesforce data and push it into a flat file.

Create a Source Using the ODBC Driver

1. In PowerCenter Workflow Manager, add a new ODBC relational connection by going to Connections -> Relational, and in the first window select the ODBC type and click New. 👁 Create a Relational Connection to the DSN. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
2. In the Relational Connection Editor, set the name of the newly created connection and set the User Name and Password based on the credentials utilized to connect to your Repository. Under the Connection String input your System DSN, which by default is called 'CData Salesforce Sys'. 👁 Relational Connection Editor. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
3. In PowerCenter Designer, connect to your repository and open your folder. If you do not already have a folder created, you will need to manually create a folder for your repository. To create a folder, open Informatica PowerCenter Repository Manager, connect to your Repository Service and go to Folder -> Create to create a new folder. 👁 Create a new Folder.
   
4. Select the Source Analyzer, click the sources menu, and select Import from Database... 👁 Import from Database.
   
5. In the drop-down menu for ODBC data source, select the DSN you previously configured (CData Salesforce Sys).
6. Click connect and select the tables and views to include.
7. Click OK. 👁 Select DSN and Tables/Views to Import. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

Create a Flat File Target Based on the Source

1. Select the Target Designer and drag and drop the previously created source onto the workspace. Using the existing source copies the columns into the target.
2. Right-click the new target, click edit, and change the database type to flat file. 👁 Create a Flat File target for the Workflow. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

Create a Mapping to Between Salesforce Data and a Flat File

1. Click on the Mapping Designer.
2. Drag the source and target to the workspace (name the new mapping, if prompted).
3. Right-click on the workspace and select Autolink by Name.
4. Drag the columns from the source qualifier to the target definition. 👁 Link columns from source to target. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
5. Save the folder (Ctrl + S).

Create Workflow Based on the Mapping

With the source, target, and mapping created and saved, you are now ready to create the workflow.

1. Right-click the mapping and select generate workflow to open the Workflow Generation wizard.
2. Create a workflow with a non-reusable session.
3. Ensure that you have properly configured the connection object and set the prefixes. If you have not already done so, you will need to create an Integration Service. To create an Integration Service, open your Administrator site, and under Domain, create a new PowerCenter Integration Service. Under the PowerCenter Repository Service, select the Repository you are referring to, and as Username and Password, use your Administrator login information. 👁 Created Integration Service. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
4. Configure the Connection as needed.
5. Review the Workflow and click Finish. 👁 Review the Workflow. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

With a workflow created, you can open the PowerCenter Workflow Manager to access and start the workflow, quickly transferring Salesforce data into a flat file. With the CData ODBC Driver for Salesforce, you can configure sources and targets in PowerCenter to integrate Salesforce data into any of the elegant and powerful features in Informatica PowerCenter.