Query, Visualize, and Share live Salesforce CRM Analytics Data in Redash

Redash is a collaboration tool that lets you query, visualize, and share your data. When paired with CData Connect AI, Redash gets access to live Salesforce CRM Analytics data. This article demonstrates how to connect to Salesforce CRM Analytics using Connect AI and work with live Salesforce CRM Analytics data in Redash.

CData Connect AI provides a pure SQL Server interface for Salesforce CRM Analytics, allowing you to query data from Salesforce CRM Analytics without replicating the data to a natively supported database. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to Salesforce CRM Analytics, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested Salesforce CRM Analytics data quickly.

Configure Salesforce CRM Analytics Connectivity for Redash

Connectivity to Salesforce CRM Analytics from Redash is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Salesforce CRM Analytics data in Redash, we start by creating and configuring a Salesforce CRM Analytics connection.

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

2. Select "Salesforce CRM Analytics" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Salesforce CRM Analytics.

   Salesforce CRM Analytics uses the OAuth 2 authentication standard. Obtain the OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret by registering an app with Salesforce CRM Analytics.

   See the Getting Started section of the Help documentation for an authentication guide.

   Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

   If the connected Salesforce org has MFA enforcement enabled, set MFACode to the time-based one-time passcode (TOTP) generated by your authenticator app (such as Salesforce Authenticator or Google Authenticator). MFACode applies alongside the standard OAuth flow.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Salesforce CRM Analytics Connection page and update the User-based 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.
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 Salesforce CRM Analytics data from Redash.

Connect to Salesforce CRM Analytics from Redash using Connect AI

To establish a connection from Redash to CData Connect AI using the Virtual SQL Server, follow these steps:

1. Log into Redash.
2. Click the settings widget on the top right.
3. Click New Data Source.
4. Select Microsoft SQL Server as the Data Source Type.
5. On the configuration tab, set the following properties:
   • Database Name: enter the Connection Name of the CData Connect AI data source you want to connect to (for example, Salesforce1).
   • Server: enter the virtual SQL Server host name (tds.cdata.com)
   • User: 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: enter the PAT you generated on the Settings page.
   • Port: enter 14333
   
6. Click Create.
7. Click Test Connection to ensure that the connection is configured properly.

You can now work with live Salesforce CRM Analytics data in Redash.

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