Copy data from PostgreSQL using Azure Data Factory or Synapse Analytics
Article
APPLIES TO:
Azure Data Factory
Azure Synapse Analytics
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This article outlines how to use the Copy Activity in Azure Data Factory and Synapse Analytics pipelines to copy data from a PostgreSQL database. It builds on the copy activity overview article that presents a general overview of copy activity.
Important
The new PostgreSQL connector provides improved native PostgreSQL support. If you are using the legacy PostgreSQL connector in your solution, please upgrade your PostgreSQL connector before October 31, 2024. Refer to this section for details on the difference between the legacy and latest version.
Supported capabilities
This PostgreSQL connector is supported for the following capabilities:
① Azure integration runtime ② Self-hosted integration runtime
For a list of data stores that are supported as sources/sinks by the copy activity, see the Supported data stores table.
Specifically, this PostgreSQL connector supports PostgreSQL version 12 and above.
Prerequisites
If your data store is located inside an on-premises network, an Azure virtual network, or Amazon Virtual Private Cloud, you need to configure a self-hosted integration runtime to connect to it.
If your data store is a managed cloud data service, you can use the Azure Integration Runtime. If the access is restricted to IPs that are approved in the firewall rules, you can add Azure Integration Runtime IPs to the allow list.
You can also use the managed virtual network integration runtime feature in Azure Data Factory to access the on-premises network without installing and configuring a self-hosted integration runtime.
For more information about the network security mechanisms and options supported by Data Factory, see Data access strategies.
The Integration Runtime provides a built-in PostgreSQL driver starting from version 3.7, therefore you don't need to manually install any driver.
Getting started
To perform the Copy activity with a pipeline, you can use one of the following tools or SDKs:
Search for Postgre and select the PostgreSQL connector.
Configure the service details, test the connection, and create the new linked service.
Connector configuration details
The following sections provide details about properties that are used to define Data Factory entities specific to PostgreSQL connector.
Linked service properties
The following properties are supported for PostgreSQL linked service:
Property
Description
Required
type
The type property must be set to: PostgreSqlV2
Yes
server
Specifies the host name - and optionally port - on which PostgreSQL is running.
Yes
port
The TCP port of the PostgreSQL server.
No
database
The PostgreSQL database to connect to.
Yes
username
The username to connect with. Not required if using IntegratedSecurity.
Yes
password
The password to connect with. Not required if using IntegratedSecurity.
Yes
sslMode
Controls whether SSL is used, depending on server support. - Disable: SSL is disabled. If the server requires SSL, the connection will fail. - Allow: Prefer non-SSL connections if the server allows them, but allow SSL connections. - Prefer: Prefer SSL connections if the server allows them, but allow connections without SSL. - Require: Fail the connection if the server doesn't support SSL. - Verify-ca: Fail the connection if the server doesn't support SSL. Also verifies server certificate. - Verify-full: Fail the connection if the server doesn't support SSL. Also verifies server certificate with host's name. Options: Disable (0) / Allow (1) / Prefer (2) (Default) / Require (3) / Verify-ca (4) / Verify-full (5)
No
authenticationType
Authentication type for connecting to the database. Only supports Basic.
Yes
connectVia
The Integration Runtime to be used to connect to the data store. Learn more from Prerequisites section. If not specified, it uses the default Azure Integration Runtime.
No
Additional connection properties:
schema
Sets the schema search path.
No
pooling
Whether connection pooling should be used.
No
connectionTimeout
The time to wait (in seconds) while trying to establish a connection before terminating the attempt and generating an error.
No
commandTimeout
The time to wait (in seconds) while trying to execute a command before terminating the attempt and generating an error. Set to zero for infinity.
No
trustServerCertificate
Whether to trust the server certificate without validating it.
No
sslCertificate
Location of a client certificate to be sent to the server.
No
sslKey
Location of a client key for a client certificate to be sent to the server.
No
sslPassword
Password for a key for a client certificate.
No
readBufferSize
Determines the size of the internal buffer Npgsql uses when reading. Increasing may improve performance if transferring large values from the database.
No
logParameters
When enabled, parameter values are logged when commands are executed.
No
timezone
Gets or sets the session timezone.
No
encoding
Gets or sets the .NET encoding that will be used to encode/decode PostgreSQL string data.
No
Note
In order to have full SSL verification via the ODBC connection when using the Self Hosted Integration Runtime you must use an ODBC type connection instead of the PostgreSQL connector explicitly, and complete the following configuration:
Set up the DSN on any SHIR servers.
Put the proper certificate for PostgreSQL in C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\DIAHostService\AppData\Roaming\postgresql\root.crt on the SHIR servers. This is where the ODBC driver looks > for the SSL cert to verify when it connects to the database.
In your data factory connection, use an ODBC type connection, with your connection string pointing to the DSN you created on your SHIR servers.
For a full list of sections and properties available for defining datasets, see the datasets article. This section provides a list of properties supported by PostgreSQL dataset.
To copy data from PostgreSQL, the following properties are supported:
Property
Description
Required
type
The type property of the dataset must be set to: PostgreSqlV2Table
If you were using RelationalTable typed dataset, it's still supported as-is, while you are suggested to use the new one going forward.
Copy activity properties
For a full list of sections and properties available for defining activities, see the Pipelines article. This section provides a list of properties supported by PostgreSQL source.
PostgreSQL as source
To copy data from PostgreSQL, the following properties are supported in the copy activity source section:
Property
Description
Required
type
The type property of the copy activity source must be set to: PostgreSqlV2Source
Yes
query
Use the custom SQL query to read data. For example: "query": "SELECT * FROM \"MySchema\".\"MyTable\"".
No (if "tableName" in dataset is specified)
queryTimeout
The wait time before terminating the attempt to execute a command and generating an error, default is 120 minutes. If parameter is set for this property, allowed values are timespan, such as "02:00:00" (120 minutes). For more information, see CommandTimeout. If both commandTimeout and queryTimeout are configured, queryTimeout takes precedence.
No
Note
Schema and table names are case-sensitive. Enclose them in "" (double quotes) in the query.
If you were using RelationalSource typed source, it is still supported as-is, while you are suggested to use the new one going forward.
Data type mapping for PostgreSQL
When copying data from PostgreSQL, the following mappings are used from PostgreSQL data types to interim data types used by the service internally. See Schema and data type mappings to learn about how copy activity maps the source schema and data type to the sink.
PostgreSql data type
Interim service data type
Interim service data type for PostgreSQL (legacy)
SmallInt
Int16
Int16
Integer
Int32
Int32
BigInt
Int64
Int64
Decimal (Precision <= 28)
Decimal
Decimal
Decimal (Precision > 28)
Unsupport
String
Numeric
Decimal
Decimal
Real
Single
Single
Double
Double
Double
SmallSerial
Int16
Int16
Serial
Int32
Int32
BigSerial
Int64
Int64
Money
Decimal
String
Char
String
String
Varchar
String
String
Text
String
String
Bytea
Byte[]
Byte[]
Timestamp
DateTime
DateTime
Timestamp with time zone
DateTime
String
Date
DateTime
DateTime
Time
TimeSpan
TimeSpan
Time with time zone
DateTimeOffset
String
Interval
TimeSpan
String
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Point
String
String
Line
String
String
Iseg
String
String
Box
String
String
Path
String
String
Polygon
String
String
Circle
String
String
Cidr
String
String
Inet
String
String
Macaddr
String
String
Macaddr8
String
String
Tsvector
String
String
Tsquery
String
String
UUID
Guid
Guid
Json
String
String
Jsonb
String
String
Array
String
String
Bit
Byte[]
Byte[]
Bit varying
Byte[]
Byte[]
XML
String
String
IntArray
String
String
TextArray
String
String
NumericArray
String
String
DateArray
String
String
Range
String
String
Bpchar
String
String
Lookup activity properties
To learn details about the properties, check Lookup activity.
Upgrade the PostgreSQL connector
Here are steps that help you upgrade your PostgreSQL connector:
The data type mapping for the latest PostgreSQL linked service is different from that for the legacy version. To learn the latest data type mapping, see Data type mapping for PostgreSQL.
Differences between PostgreSQL and PostgreSQL (legacy)
The table below shows the data type mapping differences between PostgreSQL and PostgreSQL (legacy).
PostgreSQL data type
Interim service data type for PostgreSQL
Interim service data type for PostgreSQL (legacy)
Money
Decimal
String
Timestamp with time zone
DateTime
String
Time with time zone
DateTimeOffset
String
Interval
TimeSpan
String
BigDecimal
Not supported. As an alternative, utilize to_char() function to convert BigDecimal to String.
String
Related content
For a list of data stores supported as sources and sinks by the copy activity, see supported data stores.
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