Create Reports from Databricks Data in Looker Studio

Looker Studio, formerly known as Google Data Studio, empowers users to craft customized reports featuring data visualizations that can be shared with clients while reflecting your brand identity. When combined with CData Connect Cloud, you gain immediate cloud-to-cloud access to Databricks data to create visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article provides step-by-step instructions on establishing a virtual database for Databricks and generating reports from Databricks data within Looker Studio.

CData Connect Cloud offers a seamless cloud-to-cloud interface tailored for Databricks, making it straightforward to construct reports directly from live Databricks data within Looker Studio without the need for data replication. As you create visualizations, Looker Studio generates queries to retrieve data. With its inherent optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect Cloud efficiently channels all supported query operations, including filters, JOINs, and more, directly to Databricks. This leverages server-side processing to swiftly provide the requested Databricks data.

Configure Databricks Connectivity for Looker Studio

Connectivity to Databricks from Looker Studio is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Databricks data from Looker Studio, we start by creating and configuring a Databricks connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Databricks" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Databricks.

   To connect to a Databricks cluster, set the properties as described below.

   Note: The needed values can be found in your Databricks instance by navigating to Clusters, and selecting the desired cluster, and selecting the JDBC/ODBC tab under Advanced Options.

   • Server: Set to the Server Hostname of your Databricks cluster.
   • HTTPPath: Set to the HTTP Path of your Databricks cluster.
   • Token: Set to your personal access token (this value can be obtained by navigating to the User Settings page of your Databricks instance and selecting the Access Tokens tab).
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Databricks Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Databricks data from Looker Studio.

Visualize Live Databricks Data from Looker Studio

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect Cloud from Looker Studio to create a new Databricks data source and build a simple visualization from the data.

1. Log into Looker Studio, click data sources, create a new data source, and choose CData Connect Cloud Connector.
2. Click Authorize and allow access to your Google account.
3. Click Authorize to authenticate with your CData Connect Cloud instance
4. In the CData Connect Cloud Connector in Looker Studio select a Connection (e.g. Databricks1) and click Next
5. Select a Table (e.g. Customers) or use a Custom Query and click Connect to continue
6. If needed, modify columns, click Create Report, and add the data source to the report.
7. Select a visualization style and add it to the report.
8. Select Dimensions and Measures to customize your visualization.

Live Access to Databricks Data from Cloud Applications

Now you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Databricks data from your Looker Studio workbook. You can create more data sources and new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating Databricks data.

Try CData Connect Cloud and get real-time data access to 100+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications.