Connect to SQL Server Data in RapidMiner

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

Connect to SQL Server in RapidMiner as a JDBC Data Source

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

1. Add a new database driver for SQL Server: 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:sql:
   

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

   cdata.jdbc.sql.SQLDriver
   

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

   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 connection string is below:

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

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

You can now use your SQL Server connection with the various RapidMiner operators in your process. To retrieve SQL Server 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 SQL Server data.