How to integrate Metabase with Microsoft Exchange Data

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

CData Connect provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Microsoft Exchange, allowing you to easily integrate with live Microsoft Exchange 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 Microsoft Exchange, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Microsoft Exchange data.

Configure Microsoft Exchange Connectivity for Metabase

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

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

   Specify the User and Password to connect to Exchange. Additionally, specify the address of the Exchange server you are connecting to and the Platform associated with the server.

4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Microsoft Exchange Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
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, you are ready to connect to Microsoft Exchange data from Metabase.

Connect to CData Connect from Metabase

After creating the virtual database, navigate to your Metabase instance. Use the SQL Server interface to connect to Connect Cloud.

1. Navigate to the administration screen (Settings -> Admin) and click "Add Database" from the "Databases" tab
2. Configure the connection to Connect Cloud and click "Save"
   • Database type: Select "SQL Server"
   • Name: Name the connection (e.g. "Microsoft Exchange (Connect Cloud)")
   • Host: tds.cdata.com
   • Port: 14333
   • Database name: The name of the connection you just created (e.g. Exchange1)
   • Username: A Connect Cloud username (e.g. user@mydomain.com)
   • Password: The PAT for the above Connect Cloud user
   • Click to Use a secure connection (SSL)

Execute Microsoft Exchange Data with Metabase

Once you configure the connection to Connect Cloud, you can query Microsoft Exchange and build visualizations.

1. Use the "Write SQL" tool to retrieve the Microsoft Exchange data
2. Write a SQL query based on the Microsoft Exchange connection in CData Connect Cloud, e.g.
   
   

   SELECT GivenName, Size FROM Contacts

3. Navigate to the "Visualization" screen, choose a visualization, and configure the visualization

More Information & Free Trial

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