Connect to Zendesk Data in Airbyte ELT Pipelines

Airbyte empowers users to load your data into any data warehouse, data lake, or database. When combined with CData Connect AI, Airbyte users can create Extract, Load, Transform (ELT) pipelines directly from live Zendesk data. This article illustrates the process of connecting to Zendesk through Connect AI and constructing ELT pipelines for Zendesk data within Airbyte.

CData Connect AI offers a dedicated SQL Server interface for Zendesk, facilitating data querying without the need for data replication to a native database. With built-in optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect AI efficiently directs all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, straight to Zendesk. This harnesses server-side processing to swiftly retrieve the desired Zendesk data.

Configure Zendesk Connectivity for Airbyte

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

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection

2. Select "Zendesk" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Zendesk.

   Connecting to Zendesk

   To connect, set the URL and provide authentication. The URL is your Zendesk Support URL: https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com.

   Authenticating to Zendesk

   You can authenticate using the Basic or OAuth methods.

   Using Basic Authentication

   To use Basic authentication, specify your email address and password or your email address and an API token. Set User to your email address and follow the steps below to provide the Password or ApiToken.

   • Enable password access in the Zendesk Support admin interface at Admin > Channels > API.
   • Manage API tokens in the Zendesk Support Admin interface at Admin > Channels > API. More than one token can be active at the same time. Deleting a token deactivates it permanently.

   Using OAuth Authentication

   See the Getting Started guide in the CData driver documentation for an authentication guide.

   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Zendesk 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.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
   
4. 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 Zendesk data from Airbyte.

Connect to Zendesk from Airbyte

To establish a connection from Airbyte to CData Connect AI, follow these steps.

1. Log in to your Airbyte account 👁 Logging into Airbyte
   
2. On the left panel, click Sources, then Add New Source
   • Set Source Type to MSSQL Server to connect the TDS endpoint
   • Set Source Name
   • Set Host URL to tds.cdata.com
   • Set Port to 14333
   • Set Database to the name of the connection you previously configured, e.g. Zendesk1.
   • Set Username to your Connect AI username
   • Set SSL Method to Encrypted (trust server certificate), leave the Replication Method as standard, and set SSH Tunnel Method to No Tunnel
   • (Optional) Set Schema to anything you want to apply to the source
   • Set Password to your Connect AI PAT
   • (Optional) Enter any needed JBDC URL Params
3. Click Test and Save to create the data source.

Create ELT Pipelines for Zendesk Data

To connect Zendesk data with a new destination, click Sources and then Set Up Connection to connect to your destination. Select the source created above and your desired destination, then allow Airbyte to process. When it is done, your connection is ready for use.

Get CData Connect AI

To get live data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from Airbyte, try CData Connect AI today!