How to integrate Asana using Azure Data Factory (Pipeline)

Integrate Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) and Asana
Integrate Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) and Asana

Learn how to quickly and efficiently connect Asana with Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) for smooth data access.

Read and write Asana data effortlessly. Integrate, manage, and automate tasks, projects, workspaces, and time entries — almost no coding required. You can do it all using the high-performance Asana ODBC Driver (powered by Asana Connector for ZappySys API Driver). We'll walk you through the entire setup.

Ready to dive in? Download the product to jump right in, or follow the step-by-step guide below to see how it works.

Create data source using Asana ODBC Driver

Video instructions

Watch this quick walkthrough to see how to configure your Asana ODBC data source, or scroll down for the step-by-step written guide.

While this video uses the OData Connector as an example, the core concepts and setup process are exactly the same for the Asana Connector.

Step-by-step instructions

To get data from Asana using Azure Data Factory (Pipeline), we first need to create an ODBC data source. We will later read this data in Azure Data Factory (Pipeline). Perform these steps:

  1. Download and install ODBC PowerPack (if you haven't already).

  2. Search for odbc and open the ODBC Data Sources (64-bit):

    Open ODBC Data Source

  3. Create a User data source (User DSN) based on the ZappySys API Driver driver:

    ZappySys API Driver
    Create new User DSN for ZappySys API Driver
    • Create and use a User DSN if the client application runs under a User Account. This is the ideal option at design time (e.g., when developing in Visual Studio). Use it for both types of applications (64-bit and 32-bit).
    • Create and use a System DSN if the client application runs under a System Account (e.g., as a Windows Service). This is usually the required option in a production environment. If your Windows Service is a 32-bit application, you must use the 32-bit ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure this
    When deployed to production, Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) runs under a Service Account. Therefore, for the production environment, you must create and use a System DSN.

  4. When the Configuration window appears give your data source a name if you haven't done that already, then select "Asana" from the list of Popular Connectors. If "Asana" is not present in the list, then click "Search Online" and download it. Then set the path to the location where you downloaded it. Finally, click Continue >> to proceed with configuring the DSN:

    AsanaDSN
    Asana
    ODBC DSN Template Selection

  5. Select your authentication scenario below to expand connection configuration steps to:

    • Configure the authentication in Asana.
    • Enter those details into the ZappySys API Driver data source configuration.

    Personal Access Token

    Asana authentication
    Here is how to obtain a Personal Access Token (PAT) in Asana:
    1. Open My apps in Asana portal and click Create new token button: Create Personal Access Token in Asana
    2. Once a popup opens, name your new token: Name Personal Access Token in Asana
    3. Then click Copy button to copy the token: Use Personal Access Token to get Asana data via REST API
    4. Now go to SSIS package or ODBC data source and use this token in Personal Access Token authentication configuration.
    5. Choose Default Workspace and Default Project to work with.
    6. Click Test Connection to confirm the connection is working.
    7. Done! Now you are ready to use Asana Connector!
    API Connection Manager configuration

    Just perform these simple steps to finish authentication configuration:

    1. Set Authentication Type to Personal Access Token [Http]
    2. Optional step. Modify API Base URL if needed (in most cases default will work).
    3. Fill in all the required parameters and set optional parameters if needed.
    4. Finally, hit OK button:
    AsanaDSN
    Asana
    Personal Access Token [Http]
    https://app.asana.com/api/1.0
    Required Parameters
    Enter Token (Personal Access Token - PAT) Fill-in the parameter...
    Default Workspace Fill-in the parameter...
    Default Project Fill-in the parameter...
    Optional Parameters
    RetryMode RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
    RetryStatusCodeList 429
    RetryCountMax 5
    RetryMultiplyWaitTime True
    ODBC DSN HTTP Connection Configuration
    Find full details in the Asana Connector authentication reference.

    OAuth app

    Asana authentication
    Here is how to register an OAuth app in Asana:
    1. Open My apps in Asana portal and click Create new app button: Create new OAuth app in Asana
    2. Once a popup opens, name your app and check two options, and click Create app button: Name OAuth app in Asana
    3. Then copy Client ID and Client secret and save them in a file (we will need them for authentication): Use OAuth app to get Asana data via REST API
    4. Continue by selecting OAuth menu item on your left and click Add redirect URL button (you can have your own or use https://zappysys.com/oauth): Add redirect URL to Asana OAuth app
    5. Proceed by clicking on the Manage distribution section on your left.
    6. Then specify workspaces your app needs to access (use Any workspace to access them all): Choose distribution method in Asana OAuth app
    7. Once you do that, click Save changes button.
    8. Now go to SSIS package or ODBC data source and use Client ID, Client Secret, and Redirect URL in OAuth app authentication configuration.
    9. When you are done with that, click Generate Token button to generate Access and Refresh Tokens.
    10. Choose Default Workspace and Default Project to work with.
    11. Click Test Connection to confirm the connection is working.
    12. Done! Now you are ready to use Asana Connector!
    API Connection Manager configuration

    Just perform these simple steps to finish authentication configuration:

    1. Set Authentication Type to OAuth app [OAuth]
    2. Optional step. Modify API Base URL if needed (in most cases default will work).
    3. Fill in all the required parameters and set optional parameters if needed.
    4. Press Generate Token button to generate the tokens.
    5. Finally, hit OK button:
    AsanaDSN
    Asana
    OAuth app [OAuth]
    https://app.asana.com/api/1.0
    Required Parameters
    ClientId Fill-in the parameter...
    Client Secret Fill-in the parameter...
    Default Workspace (** Select after Token is generated **) Fill-in the parameter...
    Default Project (** Select after Token is generated **) Fill-in the parameter...
    Optional Parameters
    Permissions default
    Redirect URL https://zappysys.com/oauth
    RetryMode RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
    RetryStatusCodeList 429
    RetryCountMax 5
    RetryMultiplyWaitTime True
    ODBC DSN OAuth Connection Configuration
    Find full details in the Asana Connector authentication reference.

  6. Once the data source connection has been configured, it's time to configure the SQL query. Select the Preview tab and then click Query Builder button to configure the SQL query:

    ZappySys API Driver - Asana
    Read and write Asana data effortlessly. Integrate, manage, and automate tasks, projects, workspaces, and time entries — almost no coding required.
    AsanaDSN
    Open Query Builder in API ODBC Driver to read and write data to REST API

  7. Start by selecting the Table or Endpoint you are interested in and then configure the parameters. This will generate a query that we will use in Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) to retrieve data from Asana. Hit OK button to use this query in the next step. 

    SELECT * FROM Workspaces
    Configure table/endpoint parameters in ODBC data source based on API Driver
    Some parameters configured in this window will be passed to the Asana API, e.g. filtering parameters. It means that filtering will be done on the server side (instead of the client side), enabling you to get only the meaningful data much faster.

  8. Now hit Preview Data button to preview the data using the generated SQL query. If you are satisfied with the result, use this query in Azure Data Factory (Pipeline):

    ZappySys API Driver - Asana
    Read and write Asana data effortlessly. Integrate, manage, and automate tasks, projects, workspaces, and time entries — almost no coding required.
    AsanaDSN
    SELECT * FROM Workspaces
    API ODBC Driver-based data source data preview
    You can also access data quickly from the tables dropdown by selecting <Select table>.
    A WHERE clause, LIMIT keyword will be performed on the client side, meaning that the whole result set will be retrieved from the Asana API first, and only then the filtering will be applied to the data. If possible, it is recommended to use parameters in Query Builder to filter the data on the server side (in Asana servers).

  9. Click OK to finish creating the data source.

Read data in Azure Data Factory (ADF) from ODBC datasource (Asana)

  1. Sign in to Azure Portal

    • Open your browser and go to: https://portal.azure.com

    • Enter your Azure credentials and complete MFA if required.

    • After login, go to Data factories.

    Azure Portal

  2. Under Azure Data Factory Resource - Create or select the Data Factory you want to work with.

    Select the Data Factory

  3. Inside the Data Factory resource page, click Launch studio.

    Launch Azure Data Factory Studio

  4. Create a New Integration Runtime (Self-Hosted):

    • In Azure Data Factory Studio, go to the Manage section (left menu).

    • Under Connections, select Integration runtimes.

    • Click + New to create a new integration runtime.

    Create new Self-Hosted integration runtime

  5. Select Azure, Self-Hosted option:

    Create new Self-Hosted integration runtime

  6. Select Self-Hosted option:

    Create new Self-Hosted integration runtime

  7. Set a name, we will use OnPremisesRuntime:

    Set a name for IR

  8. Download and install Microsoft Integration Runtime.

    Download and install Microsoft Integration Runtime

  9. Launch Integration Runtime and copy/paste Authentication Key from Integration Runtime configuration in Azure Portal:

    Copy/paste Authentication Key

  10. After finishing registering the Integration Runtime node, you should see a similar view:

    Check Integration Runtime node status

  11. Go back to Azure Portal and finish adding new Integration Runtime. You should see it was successfully added:

    Integration Runtime status

  12. Create a New Linked service:

    • In the Manage section (left menu).

    • Under Connections, select Linked services.

    • Click + New to create a new Linked service based on ODBC.

    Add new Linked service

  13. Select ODBC service:

    Add new ODBC service

  14. Configure new ODBC service. Use the same DSN name we used in the previous step and copy it to Connection string box:

    AsanaDSN
    DSN=AsanaDSN
    Configure new ODBC service

  15. For created ODBC service create ODBC-based dataset:

    Add new ODBC dataset

  16. Go to your pipeline and add Copy data connector into the flow. In Source section use OdbcDataset we created as a source dataset:

    Set source in Copy data

  17. Then go to Sink section and select a destination/sink dataset. In this example we use precreated AzureBlobStorageDataset which saves data into an Azure Blob:

    Set sink in Copy data

  18. Finally, run the pipeline and see data being transferred from OdbcDataset to your destination dataset:

    Run the flow

Executing SQL queries using Lookup activity

If you need to execute commands in Asana instead of retrieving data, use the Lookup activity for that purpose. Use this approach when you want data to be changed on the Asana side, but you don't need the data on your side (a "fire-and-forget" scenario).

Perform these simple steps to accomplish that:

  1. Go to your pipeline in Azure Data Factory

  2. Find Lookup activity in the Activities pane

  3. Then drag-and-drop the Lookup activity onto your pipeline canvas

  4. Click Settings tab

  5. Select OdbcDataset in the Source dataset field

  6. Finally, enter your SQL query in the Query text box:

SELECT * FROM Workspaces
Configuring Lookup activity in ADF pipeline to perform a command in Asana

Optional: Centralized data access via ZappySys Data Gateway

In some situations, you may need to provide Asana data access to multiple users or services. Configuring the data source on a Data Gateway creates a single, centralized connection point for this purpose.

This configuration provides two primary advantages:

  • Centralized data access
    The data source is configured once on the gateway, eliminating the need to set it up individually on each user's machine or application. This significantly simplifies the management process.
  • Centralized access control
    Since all connections route through the gateway, access can be governed or revoked from a single location for all users.
Data Gateway
Local ODBC
data source
Simple configuration
Installation Single machine Per machine
Connectivity Local and remote Local only
Connections limit Limited by License Unlimited
Central data access
Central access control
More flexible cost

To achieve this, you must first create a data source in the Data Gateway (server-side) and then create an ODBC data source in Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) (client-side) to connect to it.

Let's not wait and get going!

Create Asana data source in the gateway

In this section we will create a data source for Asana in the Data Gateway. Let's follow these steps to accomplish that:

  1. Search for gateway in the Windows Start Menu and open ZappySys Data Gateway Configuration:

    Open ZappySys Data Gateway Service Manager

  2. Go to the Users tab and follow these steps to add a Data Gateway user:

    • Click the Add button
    • In the Login field enter a username, e.g., john
    • Then enter a Password
    • Check the Is Administrator checkbox
    • Click OK to save
    Data Gateway - Add User

  3. Now we are ready to add a data source:

    • Click the Add button
    • Give the Data source a name (have it handy for later)
    • Then select Native - ZappySys API Driver
    • Finally, click OK
    AsanaDSN
    ZappySys API Driver
    Data Gateway - Add data source

  4. When the ZappySys API Driver configuration window opens, go back to ODBC Data Source Administrator where you already have the Asana ODBC data source created and configured, and follow these steps on how to Import data source configuration into the Gateway:

    • Open ODBC data source configuration and click Copy settings:
      ZappySys API Driver - Configuration [Version: 2.0.1.10418]
      ZappySys API Driver - Asana
      Read and write Asana data effortlessly. Integrate, manage, and automate tasks, projects, workspaces, and time entries — almost no coding required.
      AsanaDSN
      Copy connection string for ODBC application
    • The window opens, telling us the connection string was successfully copied to the clipboard: Successful connection string copying for ODBC application

    • Then go to Data Gateway configuration and in data source configuration window click Load settings:

      AsanaDSN
      ZappySys API Driver - Configuration [Version: 2.0.1.10418]
      ZappySys API Driver - Asana
      Read and write Asana data effortlessly. Integrate, manage, and automate tasks, projects, workspaces, and time entries — almost no coding required.
      AsanaDSN
      Load configuration in ZappySys Data Gateway data source
    • Once a window opens, just paste the settings by pressing CTRL+V or by clicking right mouse button and then Paste option.

  5. Once done, go to the Network Settings tab and Add a firewall rule for inbound traffic:

    Data Gateway - Add firewall rule for inbound connections
    • This will initially allow all inbound traffic.
    • Click Edit IP filters to restrict access to specific IP addresses or ranges.

  6. Crucial Step: After creating or modifying the data source, you must:

    • Click the Save button to persist your changes.
    • Hit Yes when prompted to restart the Data Gateway service.

    This ensures all changes are properly applied:

    ZappySys Data Gateway - Save Changes
    Skipping this step may cause the new settings to fail, preventing you from connecting to the data source.

Create ODBC data source to connect to the gateway

In this part we will create an ODBC data source to connect to the ZappySys Data Gateway from Azure Data Factory (Pipeline). To achieve that, let's perform these steps:

  1. Search for odbc and open the ODBC Data Sources (64-bit):

    Open ODBC Data Source

  2. Create a User data source (User DSN) based on the ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server driver:

    ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server
    Create new User DSN for ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server
    If you don't see the ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server driver in the list, choose a similar version.

  3. Then set a Name for the data source (e.g. Gateway) and the address of the Data Gateway:

    ZappySysGatewayDSN
    localhost,5000
    ODBC driver for SQL Server - Setting hostname and port
    Make sure you separate the hostname and port with a comma, e.g. localhost,5000.

  4. Proceed with the authentication part:

    • Select SQL Server authentication
    • In the Login ID field enter the user name you created in the Data Gateway, e.g., john
    • Set Password to the one you configured in the Data Gateway
    ODBC driver for SQL Server - Selecting SQL Authentication

  5. Then set the default database property to AsanaDSN (the one we used in the Data Gateway):

    AsanaDSN
    AsanaDSN
    ODBC driver for SQL Server - Selecting database
    Make sure to type the data source name manually or copy/paste it directly into the field. Using the dropdown might fail because the Trust server certificate option is not enabled yet (next step).

  6. Continue by checking the Trust server certificate option:

    ODBC driver for SQL Server - Trusting certificate

  7. Once you do that, test the connection:

    ODBC driver for SQL Server - Testing connection

  8. If the connection is successful, everything is good:

    ODBC driver for SQL Server - Testing connection succeeded

  9. Done!

We are ready to move to the final step. Let's do it!

Access data in Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) via the gateway

Finally, we are ready to read data from Asana in Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) via the Data Gateway. Follow these final steps:

  1. Go back to Azure Data Factory (Pipeline).

  2. Create a New Linked service:

    • In the Manage section (left menu).

    • Under Connections, select Linked services.

    • Click + New to create a new Linked service based on ODBC.

    Add new Linked service

  3. Select ODBC service:

    Add new ODBC service

  4. Configure new ODBC service. Use the same DSN name we used in the previous step and copy it to Connection string box:

    ZappySysGatewayDSN
    DSN=ZappySysGatewayDSN
    Configure new ODBC service

  5. Read the data the same way we discussed at the beginning of this article.

  6. That's it!

Now you can connect to Asana data in Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) via the Data Gateway.

If you are asked for authentication details, use Database authentication, SQL authentication or Basic authentication option and enter the credentials you used when configuring the Data Gateway, e.g. john and your password.

Supported Asana Connector actions

Got a specific use case in mind? We've mapped out exactly how to perform a variety of essential Asana operations directly in Azure Data Factory (Pipeline), so you don't have to figure out the setup from scratch. Check out the step-by-step guides below:

Conclusion

In this article we showed you how to connect to Asana in Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) and integrate data without writing complex code — all of this was powered by Asana ODBC Driver.

Download ODBC PowerPack now or ping us via chat if you have any questions or are looking for a specific feature (you can also reach out to us by submitting a ticket):

Download Chat

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