Can I Switch My Incremental Sync Method From Fivetran Teleport Sync to CDC?

Question

Can I change my connection's incremental sync method from Fivetran Teleport Sync to change data capture (CDC)?

Environment

Connector: SQL Server

Answer

Yes, you can change your SQL Server connection's incremental sync method from Fivetran Teleport Sync to CDC in Fivetran. However, this change triggers a historical sync of all tables so that we can start from a clean CDC cursor.

To change the incremental sync method:

1. Make sure CDC is enabled on your SQL Server database and tables. For more information, see Change data capture.
2. In Fivetran, go to your SQL Server connection page.
3. Select the Settings tab.
4. Click Edit connection.
5. In the Replication Method drop-down menu, select Read changes using CTor CDC mechanisms.
6. Click Save & Test.

Fivetran validates that the required CDC jobs exist and that it can read them. When the historical sync finishes, we read from the CDC change tables during incremental syncs.

Will changing the update method affect my destination schema?

No, table and column names don't change. The Fivetran system columns, such as _fivetran_synced and _fivetran_deleted, are already present from when you initially set up the connection.

We don't create duplicate rows during the historical sync because we use upsert semantics in the destination. Existing rows are matched by primary key, or by _fivetran_id for tables without a primary key, and overwritten.