In my previous article, I launched RudderStack, an open supply, warehouse-first buyer information pipeline. In this text, I reveal how simple Rudderstack makes it to arrange and use occasion streams.
An occasion stream is a pipeline between a supply you outline and a vacation spot of your selection. Rudderstack gives you with SDKs and plugins that can assist you ingest occasion information out of your web site, cellular apps, and server-side sources — together with JavaScript, Gatsby, Android, iOS, Unity, ReactNative, Node.js, and plenty of extra. Similarly, Rudderstack’s Event Stream module options over 80 vacation spot and warehouse integrations, together with Firebase, Google Analytics, Salesforce, Zendesk, Snowflake, BigQuery, RedShift, and extra, making it simple to ship occasion information to downstream instruments that may use it in addition to construct a buyer information lake on a knowledge warehouse for analytical use circumstances.
This tutorial exhibits the way to monitor and route occasions utilizing RudderStack.
How to arrange an occasion stream
Before you get began, be sure you perceive these phrases used on this tutorial:
- Source: A supply refers to a software or a platform from which RudderStack ingests your occasion information. Your web site, cellular app, or your back-end server are widespread examples of sources.
- Destination: A vacation spot refers to a software that receives your occasion information from RudderStack. These vacation spot instruments can then use this information on your activation use circumstances. Tools like Google Analytics, Salesforce, and HubSpot are widespread examples of locations.
The steps for establishing an occasion stream in RudderStack open supply are:
- Instrumenting an occasion stream supply
- Configuring a warehouse vacation spot
- Configuring a software vacation spot
- Sending occasions to confirm the occasion stream
Step 1: Instrument an occasion stream supply
To arrange an occasion stream supply in RudderStack:
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Log into your RudderStack dashboard. If you do not have a RudderStack account, please enroll. You can use the RudderStack open supply management airplane to set up your event streams.
RudderStack’s hosted management airplane is an choice to handle your occasion stream configurations. It is totally free, requires no setup, and has some extra superior options than the open supply management airplane.
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Once you’ve got logged into RudderStack, it is best to see the next dashboard:
Note: Make certain to avoid wasting the Data Plane URL. It is required in your RudderStack JavaScript SDK snippet to trace occasions out of your web site.
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To instrument the supply, click on Add Source. Optionally, you too can choose the Directory possibility on the left navigation bar, and choose Event Streams underneath Sources. This tutorial will arrange a easy JavaScript supply that permits you to monitor occasions out of your web site.
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Assign a reputation to your supply, and click on Next.
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That’s it! Your occasion supply is now configured.
Note: Save the supply Write Key. Your RudderStack JavaScript SDK snippet requires it to trace occasions out of your web site.
Now it’s good to set up the RudderStack JavaScript SDK in your web site. To do that, it’s good to place both the minified or non-minified model of the snippet along with your Data Plane URL and supply Write Key in your web site’s <head> part. Consult the docs for info on the way to install and use the RudderStack JavaScript SDK.
Step 2: Configure a warehouse vacation spot
Important: Before you configure your information warehouse as a vacation spot in RudderStack, it’s good to arrange a brand new venture in your warehouse and create a RudderStack consumer function with the related permissions. The docs present detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to do that for the warehouse of your selection.
This tutorial units up a Google BigQuery warehouse vacation spot. You do not need to configure a warehouse vacation spot, however I like to recommend it. The docs present instructions on setting up a Google BigQuery venture and a service account with the required permissions.
Then configure BigQuery as a warehouse vacation spot in RudderStack by following these steps:
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On the left navigation bar, click on on Directory, after which click on on Google BigQuery from the record of locations:
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Assign a reputation to your vacation spot, and click on on Next.
- Choose which supply you need to use to ship the occasions to your vacation spot. Select the supply that you just created within the earlier part. Then, click on on Next.
- Specify the required connection credentials. For this vacation spot, enter the BigQuery Project ID and the staging bucket identify; info on how to get this information is within the docs.
- Copy the contents of the non-public JSON file you created, as the docs clarify.
That’s it! You have configured your BigQuery warehouse as a vacation spot in RudderStack. Once you begin sending occasions out of your supply (an internet site on this case), RudderStack will mechanically route them into your BigQuery and construct your identification graph there as nicely.
Once you’ve got added a supply, observe these steps to configure a vacation spot within the RudderStack dashboard:
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To add a brand new vacation spot, click on on the Add Destination button as proven:
Note: If you’ve gotten configured a vacation spot earlier than, use the Connect Destinations possibility to attach it to any supply.
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RudderStack helps over 80 locations to which you’ll ship your occasion information. Choose your most well-liked vacation spot platform from the record. This instance configures Google Analytics as a vacation spot.
- Add a reputation to your vacation spot, and click on Next.
- Next, select the popular supply. If you are following together with this tutorial, select the supply you configured above.
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In this step, you could add the related Connection Settings. Enter the Tracking ID for this vacation spot (Google Analytics). You may configure different optionally available settings per your necessities. Once you’ve got added the required settings, click on Next.
Note: RudderStack additionally offers you the choice of reworking the occasions earlier than sending them to your vacation spot. Read extra about user transformations in RudderStack within the docs.
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That’s it! The vacation spot is now configured. You ought to now see it linked to your supply.
Step four: Send take a look at occasions to confirm the occasion stream
This tutorial arrange a JavaScript supply to trace occasions out of your web site. Once you’ve gotten positioned the JavaScript code snippet in your web site’s <head> part, RudderStack will mechanically monitor and gather consumer occasions from the web site in actual time.
However, to rapidly take a look at in case your occasion stream is ready up appropriately, you’ll be able to ship some take a look at occasions. To accomplish that, observe these steps:
Note: Before you get began, you have to to clone the rudder-server repo and have a RudderStack server put in in your setting. Follow this tutorial to arrange a RudderStack server.
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Make certain you’ve gotten arrange a supply and vacation spot by following the steps within the earlier sections and have your Data Plane URL and supply Write Key obtainable.
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Start the RudderStack server.
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The rudder-server repo features a shell script that generates take a look at occasions. Get the supply Write Key from step 2, and run the next command:
./scripts/generate-event <YOUR_WRITE_KEY> <YOUR_DATA_PLANE_URL>/v1/batch
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To test if the take a look at occasions are delivered, go to your Google Analytics dashboard, navigate to Realtime underneath Reports, and click on Events.
Note: Make certain you test the occasions related to the identical Tracking ID you supplied whereas instrumenting the vacation spot.
You ought to now be capable of see the take a look at occasion obtained in Google Analytics and BigQuery.
If you come throughout any points whereas establishing or configuring RudderStack open supply, be a part of our Slack and begin a dialog in our #open-source channel. We shall be glad to assist.
If you need to attempt RudderStack however do not need to host your personal, join our free, hosted providing, RudderStack Cloud Free. Explore our open supply repos on GitHub, subscribe to our blog, and observe us on our socials: Twitter, LinkedIn, dev.to, Medium, and YouTube.