Import Avalara AvaTax Data Using Azure Data Factory

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

CData Connect Cloud offers a cloud-to-cloud interface tailored for Avalara AvaTax, granting you the ability to access live data from Avalara AvaTax 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 Cloud seamlessly channels all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, directly to Avalara AvaTax. This harnesses server-side processing to expedite the retrieval of the desired Avalara AvaTax data.

Configure Avalara AvaTax Connectivity for ADF

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

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

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection

2. Select "Avalara AvaTax" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Avalara AvaTax.

   The primary method for performing basic authentication is to provide your login credentials, as follows:

   • User: Set this to your username.
   • Password: Set this to your password.

   Optionally, if you are making use of a sandbox environment, set the following:

   • UseSandbox: Set this to true if you are authenticating with a sandbox account.

   Authenticating Using Account Number and License Key

   Alternatively, you can authenticate using your account number and license key. Connect to data using the following:

   • AccountId: Set this to your Account Id. The Account Id is listed in the upper right hand corner of the admin console.
   • LicenseKey: Set this to your Avalara Avatax license key. You can generate a license key by logging into Avalara Avatax as an account administrator and navigating to Settings -> Reset License Key.
   
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Avalara AvaTax Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your 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, you are ready to connect to Avalara AvaTax data from Azure Data Factory.

Access Live Avalara AvaTax Data in Azure Data Factory

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

1. Login to Azure Data Factory.

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

3. 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.

4. 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 Cloud data source you want to connect to (for example, AvalaraAvatax1).
   • User Name - enter your CData Connect Cloud username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect Cloud interface. For example, test@cdata.com.
   • Password - select Password (not Azure Key Vault) and enter the PAT you generated on the Settings page.
   • Click Create.

5. 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.

6. After creating the linked service, the following screen should appear:

7. Click preview data to see the imported Avalara AvaTax table.
You can now use this dataset when creating data flows in Azure Data Factory.

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