Build a PostgreSQL Interface for Zendesk Data using the CData JDBC Driver

There are a vast number of PostgreSQL clients available on the Internet. From standard Drivers to BI and Analytics tools, PostgreSQL is a popular interface for data access. Using our JDBC Drivers, you can now create PostgreSQL entry-points that you can connect to from any standard client.

To access Zendesk data as a PostgreSQL database, use the CData JDBC Driver for Zendesk and a JDBC foreign data wrapper (FDW). In this article, we compile the FDW, install it, and query Zendesk data from PostgreSQL Server.

Connect to Zendesk Data as a JDBC Data Source

To connect to Zendesk as a JDBC data source, you will need the following:

• Driver JAR path: The JAR is located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.

• Driver class:

  cdata.jdbc.zendesk.ZendeskDriver
  

• JDBC URL: The URL must start with "jdbc:zendesk:" and can include any of the connection properties in name-value pairs separated with semicolons.

  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.

  Built-in Connection String Designer

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

  java -jar cdata.jdbc.zendesk.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:zendesk:URL=https://subdomain.zendesk.com;[email protected];Password=test123;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;
  

Build the JDBC Foreign Data Wrapper

The Foreign Data Wrapper can be installed as an extension to PostgreSQL, without recompiling PostgreSQL. The jdbc2_fdw extension is used as an example (downloadable here).

1. Add a symlink from the shared object for your version of the JRE to /usr/lib/libjvm.so. For example:

   ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre/lib/amd64/server/libjvm.so /usr/lib/libjvm.so
   

2. Start the build:

   make install USE_PGXS=1
   

Query Zendesk Data as a PostgreSQL Database

After you have installed the extension, follow the steps below to start executing queries to Zendesk data:

1. Log into your database.
2. Load the extension for the database:

   CREATE EXTENSION jdbc2_fdw;
   

3. Create a server object for Zendesk:

   CREATE SERVER Zendesk 
   FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER jdbc2_fdw OPTIONS (
   drivername 'cdata.jdbc.zendesk.ZendeskDriver',
   url 'jdbc:zendesk:URL=https://subdomain.zendesk.com;[email protected];Password=test123;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;',
   querytimeout '15',
   jarfile '/home/MyUser/CData/CData\ JDBC\ Driver\ for\ Salesforce MyDriverEdition/lib/cdata.jdbc.zendesk.jar'); 
   

4. Create a user mapping for the username and password of a user known to the MySQL daemon.

   CREATE USER MAPPING for postgres SERVER Zendesk OPTIONS (
   username 'admin', 
   password 'test');
   

5. Create a foreign table in your local database:

   postgres=# CREATE FOREIGN TABLE tickets (
   tickets_id text,
   tickets_Id text,
   tickets_Subject numeric) 
   SERVER Zendesk OPTIONS (
   table_name 'tickets');
   

You can now execute read/write commands to Zendesk:

postgres=# SELECT * FROM tickets;