Data Sources

An external data source is a third-party database that resides outside of Laserfiche Cloud. You can use remote agents to query external data sources and transmit the results to Laserfiche Cloud. This allows you to store sensitive data securely within your organization's firewalls, while providing a secure method to share this data with Laserfiche Cloud.

Getting Started with External Data Sources

Laserfiche Process Automation supports the following data sources:

Note: If you previously used your remote agent only for SQL Server data sources, you may need to download a newer version of the remote agent to use PostGreSQL, Oracle, MySQL, or CSV data sources.

Note: Our system currently limits support to 10,000 query tables in the default namespace/schema. Tables in a customized namespace/schema or larger than 10,000 require the creation of a new database view.

Note: To avoid exceeding the Remote Agent timeout, it is recommended to create a database view that only exposes the necessary tables to the Remote Agent plug-in. The scanning process may take longer if there are too many tables in the database.

Creating a Data Source

  1. In Integrations, select Data Sources and click New.
  2. Type a name for the data source. This name will be used to reference the data source in your data queries.
  3. Optional: Type a description to help you remember details about the data source.
  4. Specify the type of database. You cannot change this type later.
  5. Specify the remote agent that will carry out data queries on that data source. The remote agent must contain a queue with the data query plugin.
  6. Click Next.
  7. Specify the data source's details, including server, port, database name, and authentication details. If the data source is a CSV file, specify its folder path.
  8. Click Verify. This option tests the connection between process automation and the data source. When a connection is made, the status of the data source is updated to display a check mark.
  9. Click Create.

Importing and Exporting a Data Source

The import and export options allow you to migrate a data source from one account to another (e.g., from a test account to a production account). The export feature allows you to extract the contents of the connection onto a .dsi file (Data Source Import file). When the data source is imported, you must verify the connection on the new account.

To export a data source

  1. Click the Export button in the toolbar.
  2. Provide a name for the file.
  3. Click Export.

To import a data source

  1. Click the Import button in the toolbar.
  2. Select the .dsi file that contains the data source connection that you want to import.
  3. Click Next.
  4. If a data source with the same name exists on the machine, select an action to resolve the conflicts.
  5. Click Next.
  6. Review the provided import summary. If everything looks correct, click Finish.