How to integrate Metabase with AlloyDB 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 AlloyDB data. This article describes how to connect to AlloyDB and build a simple visualization using AlloyDB data.

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

Configure AlloyDB Connectivity for Metabase

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

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

   The following connection properties are usually required in order to connect to AlloyDB.

   • Server: The host name or IP of the server hosting the AlloyDB database.
   • User: The user which will be used to authenticate with the AlloyDB server.
   • Password: The password which will be used to authenticate with the AlloyDB server.

   You can also optionally set the following:

   • Database: The database to connect to when connecting to the AlloyDB Server. If this is not set, the user's default database will be used.
   • Port: The port of the server hosting the AlloyDB database. This property is set to 5432 by default.

   Authenticating with Standard Authentication

   Standard authentication (using the user/password combination supplied earlier) is the default form of authentication.

   No further action is required to leverage Standard Authentication to connect.

   Authenticating with pg_hba.conf Auth Schemes

   There are additional methods of authentication available which must be enabled in the pg_hba.conf file on the AlloyDB server.

   Find instructions about authentication setup on the AlloyDB Server here.

   Authenticating with MD5 Authentication

   This authentication method must be enabled by setting the auth-method in the pg_hba.conf file to md5.

   Authenticating with SASL Authentication

   This authentication method must be enabled by setting the auth-method in the pg_hba.conf file to scram-sha-256.

   Authenticating with Kerberos

   The authentication with Kerberos is initiated by AlloyDB Server when the ∏ is trying to connect to it. You should set up Kerberos on the AlloyDB Server to activate this authentication method. Once you have Kerberos authentication set up on the AlloyDB Server, see the Kerberos section of the help documentation for details on how to authenticate with Kerberos.

4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add AlloyDB 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 AlloyDB 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. "AlloyDB (Connect Cloud)")
   • Host: tds.cdata.com
   • Port: 14333
   • Database name: The name of the connection you just created (e.g. AlloyDB1)
   • 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 AlloyDB Data with Metabase

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

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

   SELECT ShipName, ShipCity FROM Orders WHERE ShipCountry = 'USA'

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