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

Prerequisites

Before connecting the CData JDBC Driver for streaming SAP Netweaver Gateway 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 SAP Netweaver Gateway data

1. Download CData JDBC Driver for SAP Netweaver Gateway 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 SAP Netweaver Gateway

      		mkdir SAPGateway
      		

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

      		mv SAPGatewayJDBCDriver.zip SAPGateway/
      		

   3. Unzip the CData SAPGatewayJDBCDriver contents into this new directory

      		unzip SAPGatewayJDBCDriver.zip
      		

3. Open the SAP Netweaver Gateway directory and navigate to the lib folder

   ls
   cd lib/
   

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

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

   	java -jar cdata.jdbc.sapgateway.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 SAP Netweaver Gateway 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_sapgateway_01", 
   		"config": { 
   			"connector.class": "io.confluent.connect.jdbc.JdbcSourceConnector", 
   			"connection.url": "jdbc:sapgateway:User=user;Password=password;URL=https://sapes5.sapdevcenter.com/sap/opu/odata/IWBEP/GWSAMPLE_BASIC/;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;",
   		"topic.prefix": "sapgateway-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 SAP Netweaver Gateway 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 SAP Netweaver Gateway. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     		java -jar cdata.jdbc.sapgateway.jar
     		

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

     SAP Gateway allows both basic and OAuth 2.0 authentication. You can use basic authentication to connect to your own account, or you can use OAuth to enable other users to retrieve data from your service with their accounts. In addition to authenticating, set the following connection properties to access SAP Gateway tables.

     • Url: Set this to the URL of your environment, or to the full URL of the service. For example, the full URL might appear as: https://sapes5.sapdevcenter.com/sap/opu/odata/IWBEP/GWSAMPLE_BASIC/. In this example, the environment URL would just be: https://sapes5.sapdevcenter.com.
     • Namespace: Set the appropriate Service Namespace. In the example above, IWBEP is the namespace. It is optional if the full URL to the service is specified.
     • Service: Set this to the service you want to retrieve data from. In the example above, the service is GWSAMPLE_BASIC. It is not required if the full URL is specified.

     Authenticate via Basic Authentication

     In basic authentication, you use your login credentials to connect. Set the following properties:

     • User: This is the username you use to log in to SAP Gateway.
     • Password: This is the password you use to log in to SAP Gateway.

     Authenticate via OAuth Authentication

     You can connect to SAP Gateway using the embedded OAuth connectivity (without setting any additional authentication connection properties). When you connect, the OAuth endpoint opens in your browser. Log in and grant permissions to complete the OAuth process. See the OAuth section in the online Help documentation for more information on other OAuth authentication flows.

     👁 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 "sapgateway-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 SAP Netweaver Gateway 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 SAP Netweaver Gateway and start streaming SAP Netweaver Gateway data into Apache Kafka. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.