You can configure your Perspectium DataSync Agent to share data from ServiceNow or Salesforce to a Microsoft SQL Server database or a Microsoft Azure SQL database by changing some additional configurations in your agent.xml file. Since Azure SQL is Microsoft's cloud database service of SQL Server, the DataSync Agent configurations are the same as configuring to connect to a SQL Server database you host.
NOTE: A DataSync Agent configured to share to a MS SQL Server database or a Microsoft Azure SQL Server database will create large fields (fields defined with a size of 251+ characters) with a searchable nvarchar(max) data type.
Prerequisites
First, you will need to install DataSync Agent.
You will also need to create a ServiceNow dynamic share/bulk share.
Make sure to stop running your DataSync Agent before making any Agent configuration changes.
Finally, you will need to create a database in the server you choose, MS SQL Server or MS Azure SQL Server, that will store data replicated via the DataSync Agent.
Procedure
To set up your DataSync Agent to share application data to a MS SQL Server database or MS Azure SQL Server database, follow these steps:
Install and configure your DataSync Agent
Follow the steps to install the DataSync Agent for ServiceNow or the DataSync for Salesforce Agent and make sure that your agent.xml file is configured correctly.
Access your agent.xml configuration file
Navigate to the directory where you saved your agent.xml file when installing your DataSync Agent.
Update database directives to point to the server you choose: MS SQL Server or MS Azure SQL Server
Open your agent.xml file in a text editing application. Then, locate the <task> directive(s) within your <subscribe> directive, and update the following database-related directives:
| Directive | Value to enter |
|---|---|
| <database_type> | sqlserver |
| <database_server> | URL for your MS SQL Server database. If MS SQL Server is installed locally, enter localhost |
| <database_port> | 1433 The agent also supports using an instance name when the SQL server is using dynamic ports. For example you can enter the value \MSSQLSERVER here |
| <database_user> | Username used to access your MS SQL Server database or MS Azure SQL Server database |
| <database_password> | Password used to access your MS SQL Server database or MS Azure SQL Server database |
| <database_parms> | loginTimeout=30
|
Add the <skip_database_creation/> directive
Locate the <task> directive(s) in your <subscribe> directive, nest the following directive:
| Directive | Description |
|---|---|
| <skip_database_creation/> | Bypasses the dynamic creation of the replicated database
|
Your agent.xml file should look similar to the example shown below:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
<config>
<agent>
<share/>
<subscribe>
<task instances="1">
<task_name>servicenow_to_mssqlserver</task_name>
<message_connection password="encrypted:vlOtU71yu8N/EFIJH85SSBtaIt7qEEfvqiqft9VZyYE=" queue="psp.out.replicator.test" use_basic_consume="false" user="exampleuser">https://example.perspectium.net</message_connection>
<instance_connection password="encrypted:vlOtU71yu8N/EFIJH85SSPN9aF0P5/YViVwPEVFcGW4=" user="test.user">https://myinstance.service-now.com</instance_connection>
<handler>com.perspectium.replicator.sql.SQLSubscriber</handler>
<decryption_key>The cow jumped over the moon</decryption_key>
<database_type>sqlserver</database_type>
<database_server>localhost</database_server>
<database_port>1433</database_port>
<database_user>perspectium</database_user>
<database_password>perspectium123</database_password>
<database_parms/>
<database_column_max_size>251</database_column_max_size>
<database>psp_repl</database>
<skip_database_creation/>
</task>
</subscribe>
<max_reads_per_connect>4000</max_reads_per_connect>
<polling_interval>5</polling_interval>
<skip_message_set_processing/>
</agent>
</config>
Save your agent.xml file
Save the changes you made to your agent.xml file and close the file.
Run your DataSync Agent
After configuring your agent.xml file to support replication to your MS SQL Server database, start running your DataSync Agent again.
Optional Configurations
The following table reflects the available optional configuration directives:
| Directive | Example | Use | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| amqp_uri | <amqp_uri>amqp://localhost</amqp_uri> | Primary Message Bus Location | Optional |
| amqp_user | <amqp_user>admin</amqp_user> | User for logging into primary bus | Optional |
| amqp_password | <amqp_password>adminadmin</amqp_password> | User's password for message bus | Optional |
| polling_interval | <polling_interval>20</polling_interval> | Interval between each run | Optional |
| max_reads_per_connect | <max_reads_per_connect>1500</max_reads_per_connect> | Messages to process per interval | Optional |
| max_writes_per_connect | <max_writes_per_connect>1500</max_writes_per_connect> | Messages to process per interval | Optional |
| schedule | <schedule>* * * * *</schedule> | Process messages every minutes | Optional |
| schemas_directory | <schemas_directory>directory name</schemas_directory> | directory holding the schema definitions | Optional |
| cant_access_directory | <cant_access_directory>directory name</cant_access_directory> | directory holding the name of table which can't be accessed. | Optional |
| date_format | <date_format>MM/dd/yyyy</date_format> | format of the date for all tables. | Optional |
| date_time_format | <date_time_format>MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss</date_time_format> | format of the date and time for all tables. | Optional |
| key | <key>ven0001</key> | to specify a “key” or instance to subscribe to and ignore records from all other sources e.g. only records coming from the ServiceNow instance ven0001 will be subscribed to and all other messages will be skipped. Introduced in v3.8.0 | Optional |
The following table provides the optional target database configuration options.
| Directive | Example | Use | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| database_type | <database_type>mysql|sqlserver|oracle|postgres|etc</database_type> | The type of database replicated to | Required |
| database | <database>psp_repl</database> | Name of the target database | Optional |
| database_server | <database_server>IP or FQDN of the database server</database_server> | IP or FQDN of the database server | Required |
| database_user | <database_user>database user name</database_user> | User for logging into the database | Required |
| database_password | <database_password>database user password</database_password> | Password for logging into the database | Required |
| database_port | <database_port>port used by the server</database_port> | Port used by the server | Optional |
| database_parms | <database_parms>parms passed to the database server</database_parms> | Parameters passed to the database server | Optional |
| database_sid | <database_sid>SID (Oracle Only) </database_sid> | SID used for Oracle database | Optional |