Use the CData ODBC Driver for SQL Server in MicroStrategy Desktop

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

The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live SQL Server data in MicroStrategy due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from MicroStrategy to SQL Server, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to SQL Server 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 SQL Server data using native MicroStrategy data types.

Connect to SQL Server as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to SQL Server follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments.

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

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 SQL Server 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 SQL Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for SQL Server
Description = My Description
User = myUser
Password = myPassword
Database = NorthWind
Server = myServer
Port = 1433

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

Connect to and Visualize SQL Server Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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 SQL Server data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query.

   SELECT * FROM Orders
   

   👁 Querying SQL Server 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 SQL Server data. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to SQL Server, 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 SQL Server data.
   
10. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

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