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 SQL Server data. This article describes how to connect to SQL Server and build a simple visualization using SQL Server data.
CData Connect provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for SQL Server, allowing you to easily integrate with live SQL Server 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 SQL Server, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return SQL Server data.
Configure SQL Server Connectivity for Metabase
Connectivity to SQL Server from Metabase is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with SQL Server data from Metabase, we start by creating and configuring a SQL Server connection.
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Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection
- Select "SQL Server" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source
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Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SQL Server.
Connecting to Microsoft SQL Server
Connect to Microsoft SQL Server using the following properties:
- Server: The name of the server running SQL Server.
- User: The username provided for authentication with SQL Server.
- Password: The password associated with the authenticating user.
- Database: The name of the SQL Server database.
Connecting to Azure SQL Server and Azure Data Warehouse
You can authenticate to Azure SQL Server or Azure Data Warehouse by setting the following connection properties:
- Server: The server running Azure. You can find this by logging into the Azure portal and navigating to "SQL databases" (or "SQL data warehouses") -> "Select your database" -> "Overview" -> "Server name."
- User: The name of the user authenticating to Azure.
- Password: The password associated with the authenticating user.
- Database: The name of the database, as seen in the Azure portal on the SQL databases (or SQL warehouses) page.
SSH Connectivity for SQL Server
You can use SSH (Secure Shell) to authenticate with SQL Server, whether the instance is hosted on-premises or in supported cloud environments. SSH authentication ensures that access is encrypted (as compared to direct network connections).
SSH Connections to SQL Server in Password Auth Mode
To connect to SQL Server via SSH in Password Auth mode, set the following connection properties:
- User: SQL Server User name
- Password: SQL Server Password
- Database: SQL Server database name
- Server: SQL Server Server name
- Port: SQL Server port number like 3306
- UserSSH: "true"
- SSHAuthMode: "Password"
- SSHPort: SSH Port number
- SSHServer: SSH Server name
- SSHUser: SSH User name
- SSHPassword: SSH Password
SSH Connections to SQL Server in Public Key Auth Mode
To connect to SQL Server via SSH in Password Auth mode, set the following connection properties:
- User: SQL Server User name
- Password: SQL Server Password
- Database: SQL Server database name
- Server: SQL Server Server name
- Port: SQL Server port number like 3306
- UserSSH: "true"
- SSHAuthMode: "Public_Key"
- SSHPort: SSH Port number
- SSHServer: SSH Server name
- SSHUser: SSH User name
- SSHClientCret: the path for the public key certificate file
👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
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Click Save & Test
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Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add SQL Server 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.
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Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
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On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
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Give the PAT a name and click Create.
👁 Creating a new PAT
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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 SQL Server 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.
- Navigate to the administration screen (Settings -> Admin) and click "Add Database" from the "Databases" tab
👁 Adding a new database connection to Metabase.
- Configure the connection to Connect AI and click "Save"
- Database type: Select "SQL Server"
- Name: Name the connection (e.g. "SQL Server (Connect AI)")
- Host: tds.cdata.com
- Port: 14333
- Database name: The name of the connection you just created (e.g. SQL1)
- 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 SQL Server Data with Metabase
Once you configure the connection to Connect AI, you can query SQL Server and build visualizations.
- Use the "Write SQL" tool to retrieve the SQL Server data
👁 Click the 'Write SQL' button.
- Write a SQL query based on the SQL Server connection in CData Connect AI, e.g.
SELECT ShipName, Freight FROM Orders
👁 Collected data (Salesforce is shown).
- 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 SQL Server data in Metabase. You can continue to work with live SQL Server data in Metabase just like you would any SQL Server database. For more information on creating a live connection to SQL Server (and more than 100 other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live SQL Server data in Metabase today.
