Connect to SQL Server Data in Aqua Data Studio

The CData JDBC Driver for SQL Server integrates SQL Server data with wizards and analytics in IDEs like Aqua Data Studio. This article shows how to connect to SQL Server data through the connection manager and execute queries.

Create a JDBC Data Source

You can use the connection manager to define connection properties and save them in a new JDBC data source. The SQL Server data source can then be accessed from Aqua Data Studio tools.

1. In Aqua Data Studio, select Register Server from the Servers menu.
2. In the Register Server form, select the 'Generic - JDBC' connection.
3. Enter the following JDBC connection properties:
   • Name: Enter a name for the data source; for example, SQL Server.
   • Driver Location: Click the Browse button and select the cdata.jdbc.sql.jar file, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
   • Driver: Enter the Driver's class name, cdata.jdbc.sql.SQLDriver.

   • URL: Enter the JDBC URL, which starts with jdbc:sql: and is followed by a semicolon-separated list of connection properties.

     Connecting to Microsoft SQL Server

     Connect to Microsoft SQL Server using the following properties:

     • Server: The name of the server running SQL Server.
     • User: The username provided for authentication with SQL Server.
     • Password: The password associated with the authenticating user.
     • Database: The name of the SQL Server database.

     Connecting to Azure SQL Server and Azure Data Warehouse

     You can authenticate to Azure SQL Server or Azure Data Warehouse by setting the following connection properties:

     • Server: The server running Azure. You can find this by logging into the Azure portal and navigating to "SQL databases" (or "SQL data warehouses") -> "Select your database" -> "Overview" -> "Server name."
     • User: The name of the user authenticating to Azure.
     • Password: The password associated with the authenticating user.
     • Database: The name of the database, as seen in the Azure portal on the SQL databases (or SQL warehouses) page.

     SSH Connectivity for SQL Server

     You can use SSH (Secure Shell) to authenticate with SQL Server, whether the instance is hosted on-premises or in supported cloud environments. SSH authentication ensures that access is encrypted (as compared to direct network connections).

     SSH Connections to SQL Server in Password Auth Mode

     To connect to SQL Server via SSH in Password Auth mode, set the following connection properties:

     • User: SQL Server User name
     • Password: SQL Server Password
     • Database: SQL Server database name
     • Server: SQL Server Server name
     • Port: SQL Server port number like 3306
     • UserSSH: "true"
     • SSHAuthMode: "Password"
     • SSHPort: SSH Port number
     • SSHServer: SSH Server name
     • SSHUser: SSH User name
     • SSHPassword: SSH Password

     SSH Connections to SQL Server in Public Key Auth Mode

     To connect to SQL Server via SSH in Password Auth mode, set the following connection properties:

     • User: SQL Server User name
     • Password: SQL Server Password
     • Database: SQL Server database name
     • Server: SQL Server Server name
     • Port: SQL Server port number like 3306
     • UserSSH: "true"
     • SSHAuthMode: "Public_Key"
     • SSHPort: SSH Port number
     • SSHServer: SSH Server name
     • SSHUser: SSH User name
     • SSHClientCret: the path for the public key certificate file

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.sql.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 JDBC URL is below:

     jdbc:sql:User=myUser;Password=myPassword;Database=NorthWind;Server=myServer;Port=1433;

   👁 The JDBC data source, defined by the JAR path, driver class, and JDBC URL. (QuickBooks is shown.)
   

Query SQL Server Data

You can now query the tables exposed.