Work with Live DB2 Data in Power Query

Power Query is a data transformation and data preparation engine. When paired with CData Connect AI, you get instant, cloud-to-cloud access to DB2 data from Power Query. This article shows how to connect to Connect AI from Power Query through Microsoft Excel and get live access to DB2 data for transformation and preparation.

CData Connect AI provides a pure SQL, cloud-to-cloud interface for DB2, allowing you to easily integrate with live DB2 data in Power Query — without replicating the data. CData Connect AI looks exactly like a SQL Server database to Power Query and uses optimized data processing out of the box to push all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to DB2, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return DB2 data.

Configure DB2 Connectivity for Power Query

Connectivity to DB2 from Power Query is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with DB2 data from Power Query, we start by creating and configuring a DB2 connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "DB2" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to DB2.

   Set the following properties to connect to DB2:

   • Server: Set this to the name of the server running DB2.
   • Port: Set this to the port the DB2 server is listening on.
   • Database: Set this to the name of the DB2 database.
   • User: Set this to the username of a user allowed to access the database.
   • Password: Set this to the password of a user allowed to access the database.

   You will also need to install the corresponding DB2 driver:

   • Windows: Install the IBM Data Server Provider for .NET.

     On Windows, installing the IBM Data Server Provider is sufficient, as the installation registers it in the machine.config.

   • Java: Install the IBM Data Server Driver for JDBC.

     In the Java version, place the IBM Data Server Driver JAR in the www\WEB-INF\lib\ folder for this application.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add DB2 Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the 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 and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to DB2 data from Power Query.

Working with Live DB2 Data in Power Query

With the connection to Connect AI configured, you are ready to work with live DB2 data in Power Query.

1. In Microsoft Excel, open the Power Query Editor (from the Data ribbon, click Get Data -> Launch Power Query Editor)
2. Click New Source -> SQL Server
3. In the SQL Server database modal:
   • Set Server to tds.cdata.com,14333
   • (Optional) Set Database to the name of the DB2 connection (e.g. DB21 )
   
4. In the SQL Server credentials modal, select "Database" and
   • Set User to your Connect AI username (e.g. [email protected] )
   • Set Password to the PAT for the above user
   
5. Click Connect
6. Select the table(s) you wish to work with in the Navigator and click "OK"

At this point, you have live access to DB2 data from Power Query for transformation and preparation.

SQL Access to DB2 Data

Now you have a direct connection to live DB2 data from Microsoft Power Query. You can create more connections and transform and preparte your data to better drive business — all without replicating DB2 data.

To get real-time data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, sign up for a free trial of CData Connect AI.