How do I connect Microsoft SQL Server to Salesforce.com?

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Easysoft ODBC-Salesforce Driver

How do I connect Microsoft SQL Server to Salesforce.com?

Article:: 01050

Last Reviewed:: 5th January 2024

Revision:: 3

New! Our optimal solution for working with Salesforce data by using Transact-SQL (T-SQL) is now available.

New! The Salesforce ODBC driver now includes two ODBC drivers, one which supports SQL and one which supports SOQL. This article is for the SQL version of the driver (Easysoft Salesforce ODBC Driver). For the SOQL version of the driver please refer to this blog.

Use the Salesforce.com ODBC Driver to connect Microsoft SQL Server to Salesforce.com and:

Use a linked server to work with Salesforce.com data, just as if you were working with data stored in a SQL Server table.
Integrate Salesforce.com with SQL Server by using SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS).

The Salesforce.com ODBC Driver is available to download from the Easysoft web site:

Download the Windows Salesforce.com ODBC Driver.
Install and license the Salesforce.com ODBC Driver on the machine where SQL Server is installed.
Note If you want to use the linked server in a clustered environment, you need to install the ODBC Driver on each node in the cluster.

For installation instructions, see the Salesforce.com ODBC Driver documentation.

Before you can use the Salesforce.com ODBC Driver to connect SQL Server to Salesforce.com, you need to configure an ODBC data source. An ODBC data source stores the connection details for the target database (e.g. Salesforce.com) and the ODBC driver that is required to connect to it (e.g. the Salesforce.com ODBC driver).

Note If you want to use the linked server in a clustered environment, you need to configure the data source on each node in the cluster.

You can configure a User ODBC data source, which is only available to the user who creates it, or a System ODBC data source, which is available to all users on the machine. You configure ODBC data sources in ODBC Administrator, which is included with Windows.

64-bit Windows There are two versions of ODBC Administrator on this platform. (If you are not sure whether your version of Windows is 32-bit or 64-bit, follow the instructions in this Microsoft Knowledge Base article to find out.) The version of ODBC Administrator that you need to run depends on whether you have a 32-bit or a 64-bit version of SQL Server. To find out which version of SQL Server you have, connect to your SQL Server instance, and then run this SQL statement:

select SERVERPROPERTY('edition')

If you have the 64-bit version of SQL Server and want to use a linked server with the Salesforce.com ODBC driver, you need to run the 64-bit version of ODBC Administrator. To do this, open Administrative Tools in Control Panel, and then open ODBC Data Sources (64-bit). (On Windows Server 2003 and earlier, the Control Panel applet that launches ODBC Administrator is labelled Data Sources.)

If you have the 32-bit version of SQL Server or want to use SSIS with the Salesforce.com ODBC driver, you need to run the 32-bit version of ODBC Administrator. To do this, in the Windows Run dialog box, type:

%windir%\syswow64\odbcad32.exe

32-bit Windows To run ODBC Administrator on 32-bit Windows, open Administrative Tools in Control Panel, and then open Data Sources (ODBC). (On older versions of Windows, the Control Panel applet that launches ODBC Administrator is labelled Data Sources.)

Use ODBC Administrator to create your Salesforce.com ODBC Driver data source:

Do one of the following:
- To create a User data source, in the User DSN tab, choose Add.
  Important This will only succeed if the SQL Server instance is running under the same user account as the one used to create the data source. Otherwise, you must create a System ODBC data source instead.
  
  –Or–
- To create a System data source, choose the System DSN tab, and then choose Add.
In the Create New Data Source dialog box, choose Easysoft ODBC-Salesforce Driver, and then choose Finish.

Complete the Easysoft ODBC-Salesforce Driver DSN Setup dialog box:

Setting	Value
DSN	Salesforce.com
User Name	The name of your Salesforce.com user. For example, myuser@mydomain.com.
Password	The password for your Salesforce.com user.
Token	The security token for your Salesforce.com user, if required. To find out whether you need to supply a security token, choose the Test button. If the connection attempt fails with an error which contains `LOGIN_MUST_USE_SECURITY_TOKEN`, you need to supply one. Salesforce.com emails the security token to the email address associated with your Salesforce.com user account. If you have not received a security token, you can regenerate it. Salesforce.com will then email the new security token to you. To regenerate your security token, log in to Salesforce.com and then choose Setup from the user menu. Search for "security token" in the Quick Find box. Click Reset Security Token in the Reset Security Token page. When you receive the token in your email client, copy it and then paste it into the Token field.

Use the Test button to verify that you can successfully connect to Salesforce.com.

You can now connect SQL Server to Salesforce.com.

Example: Retrieve Salesforce.com Data by using a Linked Server

In Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio, connect to the SQL Server instance you want to create the linked server against.
You need to log on with an account that is a member of the SQL Server sysadmin fixed server role to create a linked server.
Right-click Server Objects. From the pop-up menu choose New > Linked Server.
In the Linked server box, type "Salesforce".
(If you want to call the Linked server "Salesforce.com", you will have to enclose this name in double quotes in your SQL statements. For example, SELECT * FROM "SALESFORCE.COM"...Account.)
From the Provider list, choose Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers.
In the Data source box, type the name of your Salesforce.com ODBC data source, and then choose OK.
SQL Server verifies the linked server by testing the connection.
- If you get the error "Specified driver could not be loaded due to system error 126: The specified module could not be found", choose Yes when prompted whether to keep the linked server. You need to restart your SQL Server instance before you can use the linked server. If SQL Server was already running when you installed the Salesforce.com ODBC driver, it will not have the latest version of the System PATH environment variable. The Salesforce.com ODBC driver Setup program adds entries for the driver to the System PATH. Restarting the instance makes these changes available to SQL Server, allowing it to load the Salesforce.com ODBC driver.
- If you made a mistake when specifying the Salesforce.com ODBC data source, you get the error "Data source name not found and no default driver specified. If you get this error, choose No when prompted whether to keep the linked server and edit the value in the Data source box.
You can query your Salesforce.com data either by using a:
- Four part table name in a distributed query.
  A four part table name has the format:
  
  server_name.[database_name].[schema_name].table_name.
  
  Even though with Salesforce.com there is no database or schema, the Easysoft ODBC-Salesforce Driver returns a "dummy" value for both identifiers, because some ODBC applications expect there to be a database and a schema. The database that the driver returns is SF. The schema that the driver returns is DBO. Include these identifiers in your SQL statements. For example:
```
SELECT * FROM SALESFORCE.SF.DBO.Account
```
  The capitalisation of the table name must be the same as it is in Salesforce.com. For example, the following query is invalid:
```
SELECT * FROM SALESFORCE.SF.DBO.ACCOUNT
```
  To check the capitalisation of the Salesforce.com tables (objects), run:
```
EXEC sp_tables_ex @table_server = 'SALESFORCE'
```
- Pass-through query in an OPENQUERY function. For example:
```
SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY(SALESFORCE, 'SELECT * FROM ACCOUNT')
```
  SQL Server sends pass-through queries as uninterpreted query strings to the Salesforce.com ODBC driver. This means that SQL Server does not apply any kind of logic to the query or try to estimate what that query will do.

Example: Retrieve Salesforce.com Data by using OPENDATASOURCE / OPENROWSET

The OPENDATASOURCE / OPENROWSET functions enable you to work with Salesforce.com data in SQL Server without configuring a linked server. There are some security implications associated with their use and these functions are therefore not enabled by default.

In Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio, run these commands to enable the OPENDATASOURCE / OPENROWSET functions:

EXEC sp_configure 'show advanced options', 1
RECONFIGURE
GO
EXEC sp_configure 'ad hoc distributed queries', 1
RECONFIGURE
GO

Run:

SELECT * FROM OPENDATASOURCE('MSDASQL', 'DSN=MY_SALESFORCE_ODBC_DATA_SOURCE;') .SF.DBO.Account

—Or—

SELECT * FROM OPENROWSET('MSDASQL', 'DSN=MY_SALESFORCE_ODBC_DATA_SOURCE;', 'select * from Account;')

Example: Back Up a Salesforce.com Table in SQL Server

This command creates a copy of the Account table, it assumes the linked server is named SALESFORCE.

IF OBJECT_ID('dbo.Account', 'U') IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE dbo.Account;
SELECT * INTO Account FROM OPENQUERY(SALESFORCE,'SELECT * FROM Account')

Example: Integrate Salesforce.com with SQL Server by using SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)

These instructions assume that you have Microsoft Visual Studio and SQL Server Data Tools for Visual Studio installed.

Create a .csv file named product.csv with the following contents:

Name,Description,Family
Easysoft ODBC-Salesforce Driver,"ODBC Driver for Salesforce.com, Force.com, Database.com",Easysoft Data Access
Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver,"ODBC Driver for SQL Server, SQL Azure",Easysoft Data Access

In Visual Studio, create a new Integration Services Project.
Drag a Data Flow Task from the Toolbox to the Control Flow tab.
Choose the Data Flow tab.
Drag a Flat File Source from the Toolbox to the Data Flow tab, and then press Return.
Flat File Source is under the Other Sources list.
In the Flat File Source Editor, choose New.
In the Flat File Connection Manager Editor dialog box, browse for your .csv file.
In the Text qualifier box, enter ".
Choose Preview, and then choose OK to exit the dialog boxes.
Drag an ODBC Destination from the Toolbox to the Data Flow tab, and then press Return.
ODBC Destination is in the Other Destinations list.
Select the Flat File Source. Drag the blue arrow over to the ODBC Destination.
Select the ODBC Destination, and then press Return.
In the ODBC Destination dialog box, choose New.
In the Configure ODBC Connection Manager dialog box, choose New.
In the Connection Manager dialog box, choose your Salesforce.com ODBC data source, and then use the OK button to return to the ODBC Source dialog box.
In the Name of the table or the view list, choose Product2.
Choose Mappings.

Map the Name, Description and Family columns in the Input list to the same columns in the Destination list.

Your Input and Destination columns should look like this:

Input Column	Destination Column
Name	Name
<ignore>	ProductCode
Description	Description
<ignore>	IsActive
<ignore>	CreatedDate
<ignore>	CreatedById
<ignore>	LastModifiedDate
<ignore>	LastModifiedById
<ignore>	SystemModstamp
Family	Family

Choose the Start button to insert the records from the .csv file into Salesforce.com.

Easysoft ODBC-Salesforce Driver