Neo4j
The Neo4j connector lets you perform insert, delete, update, and read operations on Neo4j database.
Before you begin
Before using the Neo4J connector, do the following tasks:
- In your Google Cloud project:
- Grant the roles/connectors.admin IAM role to the user configuring the connector.
- Grant the following IAM roles to the service account that you want to use for the connector:
roles/secretmanager.viewer
roles/secretmanager.secretAccessor
A service account is a special type of Google account intended to represent a non-human user that needs to authenticate and be authorized to access data in Google APIs. If you don't have a service account, you must create a service account. For more information, see Creating a service account.
- Enable the following services:
secretmanager.googleapis.com
(Secret Manager API)connectors.googleapis.com
(Connectors API)
To understand how to enable services, see Enabling services.
If these services or permissions have not been enabled for your project previously, you are prompted to enable them when configuring the connector.
Configure the connector
Configuring the connector requires you to create a connection to your data source (backend system). A connection is specific to a data source. It means that if you have many data sources, you must create a separate connection for each data source. To create a connection, do the following steps:
- In the Cloud console, go to the Integration Connectors > Connections page and then select or create a Google Cloud project.
- Click CREATE NEW to open the Create Connection page.
- In the Location section, choose the location for the connection.
- Region: Select a location from the drop-down list.
For the list of all the supported regions, see Locations.
- Click NEXT.
- Region: Select a location from the drop-down list.
- In the Connection Details section, complete the following:
- Connector: Select Neo4J from the drop down list of available Connectors.
- Connector version: Select the Connector version from the drop down list of available versions.
- In the Connection Name field, enter a name for the Connection instance.
Connection names must meet the following criteria:
- Connection names can use letters, numbers, or hyphens.
- Letters must be lower-case.
- Connection names must begin with a letter and end with a letter or number.
- Connection names cannot exceed 63 characters.
- Optionally, enter a Description for the connection instance.
- Optionally, enable Cloud logging,
and then select a log level. By default, the log level is set to
Error
. - Service Account: Select a service account that has the required roles.
- Optionally, configure the Connection node settings:
- Minimum number of nodes: Enter the minimum number of connection nodes.
- Maximum number of nodes: Enter the maximum number of connection nodes.
A node is a unit (or replica) of a connection that processes transactions. More nodes are required to process more transactions for a connection and conversely, fewer nodes are required to process fewer transactions. To understand how the nodes affect your connector pricing, see Pricing for connection nodes. If you don't enter any values, by default the minimum nodes are set to 2 (for better availability) and the maximum nodes are set to 50.
- User Defined Views: A filepath pointing to the JSON configuration file containing your custom views.
- Use proxy: Select this checkbox to configure a proxy server for the connection and configure the following values:
-
Proxy Auth Scheme: Select the authentication type to authenticate with the proxy server. The following authentication types are supported:
- Basic: Basic HTTP authentication.
- Digest: Digest HTTP authentication.
- Proxy User: A user name to be used to authenticate with the proxy server.
- Proxy Password: The Secret manager secret of the user's password.
-
Proxy SSL Type: The SSL type to use when connecting to the proxy server. The following authentication types are supported:
- Auto: Default setting. If the URL is an HTTPS URL, then the Tunnel option is used. If the URL is an HTTP URL, then the NEVER option is used.
- Always: The connection is always SSL enabled.
- Never: The connection is not SSL enabled.
- Tunnel: The connection is through a tunneling proxy. The proxy server opens a connection to the remote host and traffic flows back and forth through the proxy.
- In the Proxy Server section, enter details of the proxy server.
- Click Add destination.
- Select a Destination Type.
- Host address: Specify the hostname or IP address of the destination.
If you want to establish a private connection to your backend system, do the following:
- Create a PSC service attachment.
- Create an endpoint attachment and then enter the details of the endpoint attachment in the Host address field.
- Host address: Specify the hostname or IP address of the destination.
- Optionally, click ADD LABEL to add a label to the Connection in the form of a key/value pair.
- Click NEXT.
- In the Destinations section, enter details of the remote host (backend system) you want to connect to.
- Destination Type: Select a Destination Type.
- Select Host address from the list to specify the hostname or IP address of the destination.
- If you want to establish a private connection to your backend systems, select Endpoint attachment from the list, and then select the required endpoint attachment from the Endpoint Attachment list.
If you want to establish a public connection to your backend systems with additional security, you can consider configuring static outbound IP addresses for your connections, and then configure your firewall rules to allowlist only the specific static IP addresses.
To enter additional destinations, click ADD DESTINATION.
- Click NEXT.
- Destination Type: Select a Destination Type.
-
In the Authentication section, enter the authentication details.
- Select an Authentication type and enter the relevant details.
The following authentication types are supported by the Neo4J connection:
- Username and password
- Click NEXT.
To understand how to configure these authentication types, see Configure authentication.
- Select an Authentication type and enter the relevant details.
- Review: Review your connection and authentication details.
- Click Create.
Configure authentication
Enter the details based on the authentication you want to use.
-
Username and password
- Username: Username for connector
- Password: Secret Manager Secret containing the password associated with the connector.
Entities, operations, and actions
All the Integration Connectors provide a layer of abstraction for the objects of the connected application. You can access an application's objects only through this abstraction. The abstraction is exposed to you as entities, operations, and actions.
- Entity: An entity can be thought of as an object, or a collection of properties, in the
connected application or service. The definition of an entity differs from a connector to a
connector. For example, in a database connector, tables are the entities, in a
file server connector, folders are the entities, and in a messaging system connector,
queues are the entities.
However, it is possible that a connector doesn't support or have any entities, in which case the
Entities
list will be empty. - Operation: An operation is the activity that you can perform on an entity. You can perform
any of the following operations on an entity:
Selecting an entity from the available list, generates a list of operations available for the entity. For a detailed description of the operations, see the Connectors task's entity operations. However, if a connector doesn't support any of the entity operations, such unsupported operations aren't listed in the
Operations
list. - Action: An action is a first class function that is made available to the integration
through the connector interface. An action lets you make changes to an entity or entities, and
vary from connector to connector. Normally, an action will have some input parameters, and an output
parameter. However, it is possible
that a connector doesn't support any action, in which case the
Actions
list will be empty.
System limitations
The Neo4j connector can process 5 transactions per second, per node, and throttles any transactions beyond this limit. By default, Integration Connectors allocates 2 nodes (for better availability) for a connection.
For information on the limits applicable to Integration Connectors, see Limits.
Actions
This section lists the actions supported by the connector. To understand how to configure the actions, see Action examples.
ExecuteCustomQuery action
This action lets you execute a custom query.
To create a custom query, follow these steps:
- Follow the detailed instructions to add a connectors task.
- When you configure the connector task, in the type of action you want to perform, select Actions.
- In the Action list, select Execute custom query, and then click Done.
- Expand the Task input section, and then do the following:
- In the Timeout after field, enter the number of seconds to wait till the query executes.
Default value:
180
seconds. - In the Maximum number of rows field, enter the maximum number of rows to be returned from the database.
Default value:
25
. - To update the custom query, click Edit Custom Script. The Script editor dialog opens.
- In the Script editor dialog, enter the SQL query and click Save.
You can use a question mark (?) in a SQL statement to represent a single parameter that must be specified in the query parameters list. For example, the following SQL query selects all rows from the
Employees
table that matches the values specified for theLastName
column:SELECT * FROM Employees where LastName=?
- If you've used question marks in your SQL query, you must add the parameter by clicking Add Parameter Name for each question mark. While executing the integration, these parameters replace the question marks (?) in the SQL query sequentially. For example, if you have added three question marks (?), then you must add three parameters in order of sequence.
To add query parameters, do the following:
- From the Type list, select the data type of the parameter.
- In the Value field, enter the value of the parameter.
- To add multiple parameters, click Add Query Parameter.
- In the Timeout after field, enter the number of seconds to wait till the query executes.
On successful execution, this action returns the status 200 (OK) with a response body that has the query results.
Action examples
This section describes how to perform some of the actions in this connector.
Example - Create a node
This example shows how to create a new node.
- In the
Configure Connector
dialog, selectRegion, Connection, and Actions
. - Select
Execute Custom Query
from the actions, and then click Done. - In the Task Input section of Connector, click on
Edit Custom Script
and then enter a value similar to the following in theCustom Query
field:CREATE (:Movie {title: 'Hey', release_year: 2010})
If the action is successful, the
Execute Custom Query
task's connectorOutputPayload
response parameter gives a blank payload [ ].
Example - Update a node
This example shows how to update a node.
- In the
Configure Connector
dialog, selectRegion, Connection and Actions
. - Select
Execute Custom Query
from the actions, and then click Done. - In the Task Input section of Connector, click on
Edit Custom Script
and then enter a value similar to the following in theCustom Query
field:match(m:Movie{title: 'Inception'}) set m.release_year=2011 return m
If the action is successful, the
Execute Custom Query
task's connectorOutputPayload
response
parameter value is similar to the following:
[{ "m": "{\"release_year\":2011,\"title\":\"Inception\"}" }]
Example - Delete a node
This example shows how to delete a node.
- In the
Configure Connector
dialog, selectRegion, Connection and Actions
. - Select
Execute Custom Query
from the actions, and then click Done. - In the Task Input section of Connector, click on
Edit Custom Script
and then enter a value similar to the following in theCustom Query
field:match(m:Movie{title: 'hey'}) delete m
If the action is successful, the
Execute Custom Query
task's connectorOutputPayload
response parameter gives a blank payload [ ].
Example - Create a relationship
This example shows how to create a relationship.
- In the
Configure Connector
dialog, selectRegion, Connection and Actions
. - Select
Execute Custom Query
from the actions, and then click Done. - In the Task Input section of Connector, click on
Edit Custom Script
and then enter a value similar to the following in theCustom Query
field:CREATE(movie:Movie {title: 'bcon'}), (actor:Actor {name: 'leo'}) CREATE(actor)-[:ACTED_IN]->(movie)
If the action is successful, the
Execute Custom Query
task's connectorOutputPayload
response parameter gives a blank payload [ ].
Example - Update a relationship
This example shows how to update a relationship.
- In the
Configure Connector
dialog, selectRegion, Connection and Actions
. - Select
Execute Custom Query
from the actions, and then click Done. - In the Task Input section of Connector, click on
Edit Custom Script
and then enter a value similar to the following in theCustom Query
field:match(movie:Movie {title: 'demo'}), (actor:Actor {name: 'first'}) match(actor)-[r:ACTED_IN]->(movie) set actor.name='second',r.year=2024 return actor,r,movie
If the action is successful, the
Execute Custom Query
task's connectorOutputPayload
response
parameter value is similar to the following:
[{ "actor": "{\"name\":\"second\"}", "r": "{\"year\":2024}", "movie": "{\"title\":\"demo\"}" }]
Example - Delete a relationship
This example shows how to delete a relationship.
- In the
Configure Connector
dialog, selectRegion, Connection and Actions
. - Select
Execute Custom Query
from the actions, and then click Done. - In the Task Input section of Connector, click on
Edit Custom Script
and then enter a value similar to the following in theCustom Query
field:MATCH(movie:Movie {title: 'bcon44'}), (actor:Actor {name: 'jacky'}) MATCH(actor)-[r:ACTED_IN]->(movie) delete r
If the action is successful, the
Execute Custom Query
task's connectorOutputPayload
response parameter gives a blank payload [ ].
Example - Update a node label
This example shows how to update a node label.
- In the
Configure Connector
dialog, selectRegion, Connection and Actions
. - Select
Execute Custom Query
from the actions, and then click Done. - In the Task Input section of Connector, click on
Edit Custom Script
and then enter a value similar to the following in theCustom Query
field:MATCH (n:Person) where id(n)=18 set n:Actor RETURN n
If the action is successful, the
Execute Custom Query
task's connectorOutputPayload
response
parameter value is similar to the following:
[{ "n": "{\"born\":1962,\"name\":\"Demi Moore\"}" }]
Example - Update relationship type
This example shows how to update a relationship type.
- In the
Configure Connector
dialog, selectRegion, Connection and Actions
. - Select
Execute Custom Query
from the actions, and then click Done. - In the Task Input section of Connector, click on
Edit Custom Script
and then enter a value similar to the following in theCustom Query
field:MATCH (n:Person) where id(n)=18 set n.born=1963 RETURN n
If the action is successful, the
Execute Custom Query
task's connectorOutputPayload
response
parameter value is similar to the following:
[{ "n": "{\"born\":1963,\"name\":\"Demi Moore\"}" }]
Example - Create a datatype
This example shows how to create a datatype.
- In the
Configure Connector
dialog, selectRegion, Connection and Actions
. - Select
Execute Custom Query
from the actions, and then click Done. - In the Task Input section of Connector, click on
Edit Custom Script
and then enter a value similar to the following in theCustom Query
field:CREATE (:Product {unitPrice: 109.50, unitsInStock: 390, supplierID: "1", productID: "dumy-2", discontinued: false, quantityPerUnit: "10 boxes x 20 bags", productName: "productName-1", unitsOnOrder: 0, reorderLevel: 10, supplier: ["1"], expiry: Duration("P14DT18H12M"), categoryID: "1", updatedAt: DateTime("1984-11-11T12:31:14Z")})
If the action is successful, the
Execute Custom Query
task's connectorOutputPayload
response parameter gives a blank payload [ ].
Example - Update a datatype
This example shows how to update a datatype.
- In the
Configure Connector
dialog, selectRegion, Connection and Actions
. - Select
Execute Custom Query
from the actions, and then click Done. - In the Task Input section of Connector, click on
Edit Custom Script
and then enter a value similar to the following in theCustom Query
field:match(p:Product{productID: "dumy-1"}) set p.duration = Duration("P15DT19H12M"), p.updatedAt=DateTime("1984-11-12T12:31:14Z") return p
If the action is successful, the
Execute Custom Query
task's connectorOutputPayload
response
parameter value is similar to the following:
[{ "p": "{\"unitPrice\":109.5, \"unitsInStock\":390, \"supplierID\":\"1\", \"productID\":\"dumy-1\", \"discontinued\":false, \"quantityPerUnit\":\"10 boxes x 20 bags\", \"productName\":\"productName-1\", \"unitsOnOrder\":0, \"duration\":\"P15DT19H12M\", \"reorderLevel\":10, \"supplier\":[\"1\"], \"expiry\":\"P14DT18H12M\", \"categoryID\":\"1\", \"updatedAt\":\"1984-11-12T12:31:14Z\"}" }, { "p":"{\"unitPrice\":109.5, \"unitsInStock\":390, \"supplierID\":\"1\", \"productID\":\"dumy-1\", \"discontinued\":false, \"quantityPerUnit\":\"10 boxes x 20 bags\", \"productName\":\"productName-1\", \"unitsOnOrder\":0, \"duration\":\"P15DT19H12M\", \"reorderLevel\":10, \"supplier\":[\"1\"], \"expiry\":\"P14DT18H12M\", \"categoryID\":\"1\", \"updatedAt\":\"1984-11-12T12:31:14Z\"}" }]
Example - Delete a datatype
This example shows how to delete a datatype.
- In the
Configure Connector
dialog, selectRegion, Connection and Actions
. - Select
Execute Custom Query
from the actions, and then click Done. - In the Task Input section of Connector, click on
Edit Custom Script
and then enter a value similar to the following in theCustom Query
field:match(p:Product{productID: "dumy-2"}) delete p
This example shows how to delete a datatype.
If the action is successful, the
Execute Custom Query
task's connectorOutputPayload
response parameter gives a blank payload [ ].
Example - Get the count of nodes
This example shows how to get the count of nodes.
- In the
Configure Connector
dialog, selectRegion, Connection and Actions
. - Select
Execute Custom Query
from the actions, and then click Done. - In the Task Input section of Connector, click on
Edit Custom Script
and then enter a value similar to the following in theCustom Query
field:MATCH () RETURN count(*) AS numNodes
If the action is successful, the
Execute Custom Query
task's connectorOutputPayload
response parameter gives the payload which is similar to the following:
[{ "numNodes": 6267.0 }]
Entity operation examples
This section shows how to perform some of the entity operations in this connector.
Example - List all languages
This example shows how to list all languages.
- In the
Configure connector task
dialog, clickEntities
. - Select multilanguage_table from the
Entity
list. - Select the
List
operation, and then click Done. - In the Data Mapper section click on Open Data Mapping Editor and, there you can set the filterClause as per your requirement.
Example - Get a language
This example shows how to get a language.
- In the
Configure connector task
dialog, clickEntities
. - Select multilanguage_table from the
Entity
list. - Select the
Get
operation, and then click Done. - Set the entity ID to Get single Language. To set the entity ID, in
the Data Mapper section, click on Open Data Mapping Editor, and
then enter
58.0
in the Input Value field and choose the entityId as Local variable.
Use terraform to create connections
You can use the Terraform resource to create a new connection.To learn how to apply or remove a Terraform configuration, see Basic Terraform commands.
To view a sample terraform template for connection creation, see sample template.
When creating this connection by using Terraform, you must set the following variables in your Terraform configuration file:
Parameter name | Data type | Required | Description |
---|---|---|---|
proxy_enabled | BOOLEAN | False | Select this checkbox to configure a proxy server for the connection. |
proxy_auth_scheme | ENUM | False | The authentication type to use to authenticate to the ProxyServer proxy. Supported values are: BASIC, DIGEST, NONE |
proxy_user | STRING | False | A user name to be used to authenticate to the ProxyServer proxy. |
proxy_password | SECRET | False | A password to be used to authenticate to the ProxyServer proxy. |
proxy_ssltype | ENUM | False | The SSL type to use when connecting to the ProxyServer proxy. Supported values are: AUTO, ALWAYS, NEVER, TUNNEL |
user_defined_views | STRING | False | A filepath pointing to the JSON configuration file containing your custom views. |
Use the Neo4J connection in an integration
After you create the connection, it becomes available in both Apigee Integration and Application Integration. You can use the connection in an integration through the Connectors task.
- To understand how to create and use the Connectors task in Apigee Integration, see Connectors task.
- To understand how to create and use the Connectors task in Application Integration, see Connectors task.
Get help from the Google Cloud community
You can post your questions and discuss this connector in the Google Cloud community at Cloud Forums.What's next
- Understand how to suspend and resume a connection.
- Understand how to monitor connector usage.
- Understand how to view connector logs.