Use the CData ODBC Driver for Azure Active Directory in MicroStrategy Desktop

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When paired with the CData ODBC Driver for Azure Active Directory, you gain database-like access to live Azure Active Directory data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through adding Azure Active Directory as a data source in MicroStrategy Desktop and creating a simple visualization of Azure Active Directory data.

The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Azure Active Directory data in MicroStrategy due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from MicroStrategy to Azure Active Directory, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Azure Active Directory and utilizes the embedded SQL Engine to process unsupported operations (often SQL functions and JOIN operations) client-side. With built-in dynamic metadata querying, you can visualize and analyze Azure Active Directory data using native MicroStrategy data types.

Connect to Azure Active Directory as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to Azure Active Directory follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments.

Azure Active Directory uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, create an app to obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL connection properties. See the OAuth section in the Help documentation for an authentication guide.

When you configure the DSN, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

Windows

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Linux

If you are installing the CData ODBC Driver for Azure Active Directory in a Linux environment, the driver installation predefines a system DSN. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties.

/etc/odbc.ini

[CData AzureAD Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Azure Active Directory
Description = My Description
OAuthClientId = MyApplicationId
OAuthClientSecret = MySecretKey
CallbackURL = http://localhost:33333
InitiateOAuth = GETANDREFRESH

For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

Connect to and Visualize Azure Active Directory Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

In addition to connecting Azure Active Directory in MicroStrategy enterprise products, you can connect to Azure Active Directory in MicroStrategy Desktop. Follow the steps below to add Azure Active Directory data as a dataset and create visualizations and reports of Azure Active Directory data.

1. Open MicroStrategy Desktop and create a new dossier.
2. In the datasets panel, click New Data, select Databases, and select Type a Query as the Import Option.
3. Add a new data source and choose DSN data sources.
4. Choose the DSN you previously configured (likely CData AzureAD Sys) and select Generic DBMS in the Version menu.
5. Set the User and Password properties for the DSN (or use placeholder values) and name the data source.
👁 Creating a new data source for Azure Active Directory.

6. Select the new database instance to view the tables. You may need to manually click the search icon in the Available Tables section to see the tables.
7. Create a SQL query for the Azure Active Directory data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query.

   SELECT * FROM Domains
   

   👁 Querying Azure Active Directory for data.
   NOTE: Since we create a live connection, we can execute a SELECT * query and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products.
8. Click Finish and choose to connect live.
9. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display (data types are discovered automatically through dynamic metadata discovery) and apply any filters to create a new visualization of Azure Active Directory data. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to Azure Active Directory, while any unsupported operations (which can include SQL functions and JOIN operations) will be managed client-side by the CData SQL Engine embedded in the driver. 👁 Visualize Azure Active Directory data.
   
10. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

Using the CData ODBC Driver for Azure Active Directory in MicroStrategy Desktop, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on Azure Active Directory data. Read our other articles on connecting to Azure Active Directory in MicroStrategy and connecting to Azure Active Directory in MicroStrategy Web for more examples.