Use the CData ODBC Driver for AlloyDB in MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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

Connect to AlloyDB as an ODBC Data Source

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

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.

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 AlloyDB 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

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

Connect to and Visualize AlloyDB Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

In addition to connecting AlloyDB in MicroStrategy enterprise products, you can connect to AlloyDB in MicroStrategy Desktop. Follow the steps below to add AlloyDB data as a dataset and create visualizations and reports of AlloyDB 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 AlloyDB 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.
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 AlloyDB data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query. SELECT * FROM Orders 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 AlloyDB data. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to AlloyDB, 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.
10. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

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