Import Xero Data Using Azure Data Factory

Dibyendu Datta
Lead Technology Evangelist

Use CData Connect AI to connect to Xero Data from Azure Data Factory and import live Xero data.

Microsoft Azure Data Factory (ADF) is a completely managed, serverless data integration service. When combined with CData Connect AI, ADF enables immediate cloud-to-cloud access to Xero data within data flows. This article outlines the process of connecting to Xero through Connect AI and accessing Xero data within ADF.

CData Connect AI offers a cloud-to-cloud interface tailored for Xero, granting you the ability to access live data from Xero data within Azure Data Factory without the need for data replication to a natively supported database. Equipped with optimized data processing capabilities by default, CData Connect AI seamlessly channels all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, directly to Xero. This harnesses server-side processing to expedite the retrieval of the desired Xero data.

About Xero Data Integration

Accessing and integrating live data from Xero has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:

Connect to Xero Accounts and both US and Australian Payroll APIs.
Read, write, update, and delete Xero objects like Customers, Transactions, Invoices, Sales Receipts and more.
Use SQL stored procedures for actions like adding items to a cart, submitting orders, and downloading attachments.
Work with accounting, payroll, file, fixed asset, and project data.

Customers regularly integrate their Xero data with preferred tools, like Tableau, Qlik Sense, or Excel, and integrate Xero data into their database or data warehouse.

Getting Started

Configure Xero Connectivity for ADF

Connectivity to Xero from Azure Data Factory is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Xero data from Azure Data Factory, we start by creating and configuring a Xero connection.

CData Connect AI uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

👁 Adding a Connection

Select "Xero" from the Add Connection panel

👁 Selecting a data source

Xero uses OAuth to authenticate. Click "Sign in" to authenticate with Xero. 👁 Authenticating with OAuth (Salesforce is shown).
Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Xero Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to Xero data from Azure Data Factory.

Access Live Xero Data in Azure Data Factory

To establish a connection from Azure Data Factory to the CData Connect AI Virtual SQL Server API, follow these steps.

👁 Logging in to ADF

If you have not yet created a Data Factory, Click New -> Dataset.

👁 Creating new data factory

In the search bar, enter SQL Server and select it when it appears. On the following screen, enter a name for the server. In the Linked service field, select New.

👁 Selecting SQL Server

Enter the connection settings.
- Name - enter a name of your choice.
- Server name - enter the Virtual SQL Server endpoint and port separated by a comma: tds.cdata.com,14333
- Database name - enter the Connection Name of the CData Connect AI data source you want to connect to (for example, Xero1).
- User Name - enter your CData Connect AI username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect AI interface. For example, [email protected].
- Password - select Password (not Azure Key Vault) and enter the PAT you generated on the Settings page.
- Click Create.

👁 Configuring new linked service

In Set properties, set the Name, choose the Linked service we just created, select a Table name from those available, and Import schema from connection/store. Click OK.