How to integrate Metabase with Azure Table Data

Metabase is an open source data visualization tool that allows users to create interactive dashboards. When paired with CData Connect AI, users can easily create visualizations and dashboards linked to live Azure Table data. This article describes how to connect to Azure Table and build a simple visualization using Azure Table data.

CData Connect provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Azure Table, allowing you to easily integrate with live Azure Table data in Metabase — without replicating the data. Connect looks exactly like a SQL Server database to Metabase and uses optimized data processing out of the box to push all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Azure Table, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Azure Table data.

Configure Azure Table Connectivity for Metabase

Connectivity to Azure Table from Metabase is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Azure Table data from Metabase, we start by creating and configuring a Azure Table connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection

2. Select "Azure Table" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Azure Table.

   Specify your AccessKey and your Account to connect. Set the Account property to the Storage Account Name and set AccessKey to one of the Access Keys. Either the Primary or Secondary Access Keys can be used. To obtain these values, navigate to the Storage Accounts blade in the Azure portal. You can obtain the access key by selecting your account and clicking Access Keys in the Settings section.

   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Azure Table Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions
   

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
   
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to Azure Table data from Metabase.

Connect to CData Connect AI from Metabase

After creating the connection in Connect AI, navigate to your Metabase instance. Use the SQL Server interface to connect to Connect AI.

1. Navigate to the administration screen (Settings -> Admin) and click "Add Database" from the "Databases" tab 👁 Adding a new database connection to Metabase.
   
2. Configure the connection to Connect AI and click "Save"
   • Database type: Select "SQL Server"
   • Name: Name the connection (e.g. "Azure Table (Connect AI)")
   • Host: tds.cdata.com
   • Port: 14333
   • Database name: The name of the connection you just created (e.g. AzureTables1)
   • Username: A Connect AI username (e.g. [email protected])
   • Password: The PAT previously created
   • Click to Use a secure connection (SSL)
   👁 Configuring the connection to Connect AI.
   

Execute Azure Table Data with Metabase

Once you configure the connection to Connect AI, you can query Azure Table and build visualizations.

1. Use the "Write SQL" tool to retrieve the Azure Table data 👁 Click the 'Write SQL' button.
   
2. Write a SQL query based on the Azure Table connection in CData Connect AI, e.g.
   
   

   SELECT Name, Price FROM NorthwindProducts

   👁 Collected data (Salesforce is shown).
   
3. Navigate to the "Visualization" screen, choose a visualization, and configure the visualization 👁 Collected data (Salesforce is shown).
   

More Information & Free Trial

At this point, you have built a simple visualization from Azure Table data in Metabase. You can continue to work with live Azure Table data in Metabase just like you would any SQL Server database. For more information on creating a live connection to Azure Table (and more than 100 other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live Azure Table data in Metabase today.