Fivetran - Import
Bridge Specifications
| Vendor | Fivetran |
| Tool Name | Fivetran |
| Tool Version | Current |
| Tool Web Site | https://www.fivetran.com/ |
| Supported Methodology | [Data Integration] Multi-Model, Data Store (Physical Data Model) via REST API |
| Data Profiling |  |
| Incremental Harvesting | |
| Multi-Model Harvesting |  |
| Remote Repository Browsing for Model Selection | |
SPECIFICATIONS
Tool: Fivetran / Fivetran version Current via REST API
See https://www.fivetran.com/
Metadata: [Data Integration] Multi-Model, Data Store (Physical Data Model)
Component: Fivetran version 11.2.0
OVERVIEW
Fivetran is a cloud-based Data Integration (DI/ELT) platform that automates the process of extracting and loading data from various SaaS applications, databases, and other sources into centralized cloud data warehouses and data lakes. It is optimized for ease of use, minimal configuration, and automated schema management. Fivetran focuses primarily on the Extract and Load steps of the ELT pipeline, while Transformations are commonly handled downstream by tools such as dbt.
https://www.fivetran.com/
Fivetran stores metadata in the Fivetran Platform repository, which logs information about connector operations, source-to-destination mappings, and schema changes. This lineage metadata must be loaded into a JDBC-accessible database - such as Microsoft SQL Server - using the Fivetran Platform Connector.
https://fivetran.com/docs/logs/fivetran-platform
The bridge connects to this database via a generic JDBC connection, queries relevant metadata tables, and parses the results to extract information about source systems, destination schemas, table-level and column-level mappings, and job execution histories.
To ensure the most accurate lineage, the Fivetran repository database must contain recent and valid job execution logs and connector metadata. Users should confirm that the repository is actively maintained and reflects current Fivetran job activity.
REQUIREMENTS
See the PERMISSIONS section below.
PERMISSIONS
Any import bridge is warranted to be read only and only extracts metadata. Therefore the user of this import bridge requires much less permissions than classic users needing to read/write data.
However, this import bridge needs a user with (read only) access to system tables in order to access advanced metadata such as the SQL of views or stored procedures which are not implemented in the metadata portion of the JDBC driver, therefore the Database Administrator (DBA) needs to be involved in order get the proper user with enough permissions.
Note that there are no specific instructions as to what are the minimal set of permissions required as it varies from different database types and versions. In order to ensure that this import bridge is working properly, one must first import using this import bridge with a FULL Sys Admin type username (all permissions), i.e., the same type of username that is used to create and maintain the DB. Once this import bridge is working properly against a given DB, then the DBA may create a user with lesser privileges that still produce a successful result.
LIMITATIONS
Refer to the current general known limitations at MIMB Known Limitations
- Case Sensitivity:
When reading or writing metadata, the bridge does not preserve information about whether column names were case-sensitive or case-insensitive in the original system. This detail is not retained in the Fivetran metadata and cannot be inferred reliably.
To ensure accurate connections stitching across systems, use the miscellaneous options -connection.casesensitive to explicitly define case handling behavior.
- Transformations:
The bridge does not support any transformations performed within Fivetran or external tools. It captures only the Extract and Load (EL) steps. To import transformation metadata, use the corresponding bridge (e.g., dbt Core or dbt Cloud import bridges).
SUPPORT
Provide a troubleshooting package with:
- the debug log (can be set in the UI or in conf/conf.properties with MIR_LOG_LEVEL=6)
- the metadata backup if available (can be set in the Miscellaneous parameter with -backup option, although this common option is not implemented on all bridges for technical reasons).
Bridge Parameters
| Parameter Name | Description | Type | Values | Default | Scope |
| Driver class | This value is database and driver dependent, e.g. 'IBM DB2' com.ibm.db2.jcc.DB2Driver 'Microsoft SQL Server' com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver 'Oracle 7' oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver 'Oracle 8 Thin' oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver |
STRING | com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver | Mandatory | |
| URL | The URL is fully qualified JDBC connection string used by JDBC to connect to the database server, e.g. jdbc:URLSubProtocol:URLSubName This value is database and driver dependent, e.g. 'IBM DB2 8.1 Net' jdbc:db2://COMPUTER_NAME_OR_IP:PORT/DATABASE_NAME 'IBM DB2 8.1 App' jdbc:db2:DATABASE_NAME 'Microsoft SQL Server' jdbc:sqlserver://COMPUTER_NAME_OR_IP:PORT 'Oracle 7 Thin' jdbc:oracle:thin:@COMPUTER_NAME_OR_IP:PORT:ORACLE_SID 'Oracle 8 Thin' jdbc:oracle:thin:@(description=(address=(host=DATABASE_HOST)(protocol=tcp)(port=1521))(connect_data=(sid=SID))) 'PostgreSQL' jdbc:postgresql://COMPUTER_NAME_OR_IP:PORT/DATABASE_NAME |
STRING | jdbc:[jdbc-prefix]:COMPUTER_NAME_OR_IP:PORT/DATABASE_NAME | Mandatory | |
| User | The user name for the JDBC connection to the Fivetran Platform log or repository database server. USER PERMISSIONS As with any other bridges, this import bridge is warranted to be read only and only extracts metadata. |
STRING | Mandatory | ||
| Password | The password for the JDBC connection to the Fivetran Platform log or repository database server. | PASSWORD | Mandatory | ||
| Database | The Fivetran Platform log or Fivetran Platform repository database instance name. | REPOSITORY_SUBSET | Mandatory | ||
| Schema | The Fivetran Platform log or Fivetran Platform repository database schema name. | REPOSITORY_SUBSET | fivetran_log | Mandatory | |
| Connections | A list of Fivetran connections to import. When the list is empty all available connections are imported. The list can have one or more connection ids separated by semicolons (e.g. connect_first; connect_second). |
REPOSITORY_SUBSET | |||
| Destinations | A list of Fivetran destinations. Only connections have one of the specified destination would be imported. When the list is empty all available connections are imported. This parameter is integrated with the 'Connections' parameter with the AND operation. The list can have one or more destination names separated by semicolons (e.g. destination_first; destination_second). |
REPOSITORY_SUBSET | |||
| Miscellaneous | INTRODUCTION Specify miscellaneous options starting with a dash and optionally followed by parameters, e.g. -connection.cast MyDatabase1="MICROSOFT SQL SERVER" Some options can be used multiple times if applicable, e.g. -connection.rename NewConnection1=OldConnection1 -connection.rename NewConnection2=OldConnection2; As the list of options can become a long string, it is possible to load it from a file which must be located in ${MODEL_BRIDGE_HOME}\data\MIMB\parameters and have the extension .txt. In such case, all options must be defined within that file as the only value of this parameter, e.g. ETL/Miscellaneous.txt JAVA ENVIRONMENT OPTIONS -java.memory <Java Memory's maximum size> (previously -m) 1G by default on 64bits JRE or as set in conf/conf.properties, e.g. -java.memory 8G -java.memory 8000M -java.parameters <Java Runtime Environment command line options> (previously -j) This option must be the last one in the Miscellaneous parameter as all the text after -java.parameters is passed "as is" to the JRE, e.g. -java.parameters -Dname=value -Xms1G The following option must be set when a proxy is used to access internet (this is critical to access https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/ and exceptionally a few other tool sites) in order to download the necessary third-party software libraries. Note: The majority of proxies are concerned with encrypting (HTTPS) the outside (of the company) traffic and trust the inside traffic that can access proxy over HTTP. In this case, an HTTPS request reaches the proxy over HTTP where the proxy HTTPS-encrypts it. -java.parameters -java.parameters -Dhttp.proxyHost=127.0.0.1 -Dhttp.proxyPort=3128 -Dhttp.proxyUser=user -Dhttp.proxyPassword=pass MODEL IMPORT OPTIONS -model.name <model name> Override the model name, e.g. -model.name "My Model Name" -prescript <script name> This option allows running a script before the bridge execution. The script must be located in the bin directory (or as specified with M_SCRIPT_PATH in conf/conf.properties), and have .bat or .sh extension. The script path must not include any parent directory symbol (..). The script should return exit code 0 to indicate success, or another value to indicate failure. For example: -prescript "script.bat arg1 arg2" -postscript <script name> This option allows running a script after successful execution of the bridge. The script must be located in the bin directory (or as specified with M_SCRIPT_PATH in conf/conf.properties), and have .bat or .sh extension. The script path must not include any parent directory symbol (..). The script should return exit code 0 to indicate success, or another value to indicate failure. For example: -postscript "script.bat arg1 arg2" -cache.clear Clears the cache before the import, and therefore will run a full import without incremental harvesting. If the model was not changed and the -cache.clear parameter is not used (incremental harvesting), then a new version will not be created. If the model was not changed and the -cache.clear parameter is set (full source import instead of incremental), then a new version will be created. -backup <directory> Allows to save the input metadata for further troubleshooting. The provided <directory> must be empty. -restore <directory> Specify the backup <directory> to be restored. DATA CONNECTION OPTIONS Data Connections are produced by the import bridges typically from ETL/DI and BI tools to refer to the source and target data stores they use. These data connections are then used by metadata management tools to connect them (metadata stitching) to their actual data stores (e.g. databases, file system, etc.) in order to produce the full end to end data flow lineage and impact analysis. The name of each data connection is unique by import model. The data connection names used within DI/BI design tools are used when possible, otherwise connection names are generated to be short but meaningful such as the database / schema name, the file system path, or Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). The following option allows to manipulate connections. These options replaces the legacy options -c, -cd, and -cs. -connection.cast ConnectionName=ConnectionType Casts a generic database connection (e.g. ODBC/JDBC) to a precise database type (e.g. ORACLE) for SQL Parsing, e.g. -connection.cast "My Database"="MICROSOFT SQL SERVER". The list of supported data store connection types includes: ACCESS APACHE CASSANDRA DB2/UDB DENODO GOOGLE BIGQUERY HIVE MYSQL NETEZZA ORACLE POSTGRESQL PRESTO REDSHIFT SALESFORCE SAP HANA SNOWFLAKE MICROSOFT SQL AZURE MICROSOFT SQL SERVER SYBASE SQL SERVER SYBASE AS ENTERPRISE TERADATA VECTORWISE HP VERTICA -connection.rename OldConnection=NewConnection Renames an existing connection to a new name, e.g. -connection.rename OldConnectionName=NewConnectionName Multiple existing database connections can be renamed and merged into one new database connection, e.g. -connection.rename MySchema1=MyDatabase -connection.rename MySchema2=MyDatabase -connection.split oldConnection.Schema1=newConnection Splits a database connection into one or multiple database connections. A single database connection can be split into one connection per schema, e.g. -connection.split MyDatabase All database connections can be split into one connection per schema, e.g. -connection.split * A database connection can be explicitly split creating a new database connection by appending a schema name to a database, e.g. -connection.split MyDatabase.schema1=MySchema1 -connection.map SourcePath=DestinationPath Maps a source path to destination path. This is useful for file system connections when different paths points to the same object (directory or file). On Hadoop, a process can write into a CSV file specified with the HDFS full path, but another process reads from a Hive table implemented (external) by the same file specified using a relative path with default file name and extension, e.g. -connection.map /user1/folder=hdfs://host:8020/users/user1/folder/file.csv On Linux, a given directory (or file) like /data can be referred to by multiple symbolic links like /users/john and /users/paul, e.g. -connection.map /data=/users/John -connection.map /data=/users/paul On Windows, a given directory like C:\data can be referred to by multiple network drives like M: and N:, e.g. -connection.map C:\data=M:\ -connection.map C:\data=N:\ -connection.casesensitive ConnectionName... Overrides the default case insensitive matching rules for the object identifiers inside the specified connection, provided the detected type of the data store by itself supports this configuration (e.g. Microsoft SQL Server, MySql etc.), e.g. -connection.casesensitive "My Database" -connection.caseinsensitive ConnectionName... Overrides the default case sensitive matching rules for the object identifiers inside the specified connection, provided the detected type of the data store by itself supports this configuration (e.g. Microsoft SQL Server, MySql etc.), e.g. -connection.caseinsensitive "My Database" -connection.level AggregationLevel Specifies the aggregation level for the external connections, e.g.-connection.level catalog The list of the supported values: server catalog schema (default) ETL OPTIONS These options are available on all ETL/DI tools and scripting import bridges in order to: - Process all SQL parsing - Build runtime models from design models and runtime variables - Calculate runtime summary lineage -etl.summary.add.ultimate (previously -ppus) Adds the ultimate runtime lineage summary (may generate a very large model). -etl.summary.only.ultimate (previously -ppsp) Only produces the ultimate runtime lineage summary (may generate a very large model). -etl.connections.add.internal.design (previously -pppd) Adds the internal ETL design data connectors (needed for ETL conversion). -etl.connections.remove.input (previously -ri) Removes all input (source) data connections (to reduce the size of the generated model). -etl.transformations.enable.xml This option enables the parsing and support of XML transformations in DI/ETL import bridges such as Informatica PowerCenter, Informatica Developer, Microsoft SSIS, IBM DataStage, and Talend Data Integration. In case of Informatica, such XML transformations corresponds to the following PowerCenter features https://docs.informatica.com/data-integration/powercenter/10-5/xml-guide/midstream-xml-transformations.html https://docs.informatica.com/data-integration/powercenter/10-5/xml-guide/xml-source-qualifier-transformation.html Note that this option may significantly slow down the import. -cache.clear Clears the cache before the import, and therefore will run a full import without incremental harvesting. |
STRING |
Bridge Mapping
Mapping information is not available