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

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

Configure Microsoft Dataverse Connectivity for Metabase

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

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

   You can connect without setting any connection properties for your user credentials. Below are the minimum connection properties required to connect.

   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
   • OrganizationUrl: Set this to the organization URL you are connecting to, such as https://myorganization.crm.dynamics.com.
   • Tenant (optional): Set this if you wish to authenticate to a different tenant than your default. This is required to work with an organization not on your default Tenant.

   When you connect the Common Data Service OAuth endpoint opens in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions. The OAuth process completes automatically.

4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Microsoft Dataverse 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 Dataverse 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 Dataverse (Connect Cloud)")
   • Host: tds.cdata.com
   • Port: 14333
   • Database name: The name of the connection you just created (e.g. CDS1)
   • 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 Dataverse Data with Metabase

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

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

   SELECT AccountId, Name FROM Accounts WHERE Name = 'MyAccount'

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