Configure Neo4j 4.x database connection in PDI

Configure Neo4j 4.x database connection in PDI

Once your Pentaho server is installed and working, you will want to establish a connection to your Neo4j database.

This tutorial will show you how to enable connectivity between Pentaho and Neo4j:

What you need to before you begin

Configured and running Neo4j 4.x database server Configured and working Pentaho Data Integration 9.x server Neo4j JDBC database driver Pentaho PDI neo4j output plugin

Because I frequently use both the generic "Execute SQL script" tasks - which uses the generic PDI database connections and supports multi-transaction CYPHER statements, and ALSO the open source Neo4j output plugin by @mattcasters because it handles data maps and parameters passed from other steps WAY more elegantly than the "Execute SQL script" task.  We will need to configure two neo4j database configurations.

For this tutorial the neo4j server is the same server as the Pentaho Data Integration server. (So you will see the 127.0.0.1 address) - If you have these on separate computers, either use the FQDN or IP address of your neo4j server in the various name/address fields.

1. Download the latest Neo4j database JDBC driver and place the jar file in the /lib folder of your Pentaho server installation.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Download the latest PDI neo4j output plugin, unzip and place the neo4j output folder in the /plugins folder of your Pentaho server installation.
   
   
   
   
   


3. Launch Spoon
   Create a new transformation, and select the "Execute SQL Script" Step and drag it onto the transformation.
   
   
   
   
   
4. View the properties dialog
   by double clicking on it, or right-click → Edit
   Then on the Connection property, click New
   
   
   
   
   
5. Use the following Connection Settings:
   Use the following settings (These would be typical settings for a default neo4j installation.  You may need to customize these according to your server settings):
   

   Connection Name	<A unique descriptive name>
   Connection Type	Generic database
   Access	Native (JDBC)
   Custom connection URL	jdbc:neo4j:bolt://<servername>:<bolt port>
   Custom driver class name	org.neo4j.jdbc.Driver *note this is case sensitive!
   Username	<neo4j username>
   Password	<neo4j password>

   
   
   
   
6. Click "Test" and verify connectivity to your neo4j database
   
   If successful you should see the following message:
   
   
   
   
   
7. "SHARE" this database connection
   with other transformations/jobs, otherwise you would have to repeat these steps for EACH Transformation/Job.
   
   Switch from the Design to the View Tab
   
   

   

   
   
   
   
8. Expand Database connections

   

   Right-Click on your new database connection and select Share
   
   You will know the connection is shared if it is displayed in "BOLD"
   
   Now this connection is available to all jobs/transformations for this installation of Spoon/PDI
   
   Now you have a Neo4j data connection for all the generic tasks that support SQL style tasks.  Next we want configure the custom Neo4j Output plugin:
   
   
9. At the top under the Neo4j header select "Create connection"
   
   
   
   
   
10. Use the following settings (These would be typical settings for a default neo4j installation.  You may need to customize these according to your server settings):
    
    

    Connection name	<A unique descriptive name> I use the same connection name as above to keep things simple!
    Server or IP address	<address of your neo4j server>
    Database name (4.0)	neo4j
    Version 4 database?	checked
    Bolt Port	7687
    Browser Port	7474
    Use routing, neo4j:// protocol	unchecked
    Routing Policy
    Username	<neo4j username>
    Password	<neo4j password>
    Use encryption

    
    
    
    
    
11. Click Test to verify your connection
    
    
    
    
    
12. Now you can use The Neo4j functions like Neo4J Output, Neo4j Cypher, Graph Output and others.  Here's an article that dives much deeper into their functionality.