How to integrate Metabase with LDAP Objects

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

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

Configure LDAP Connectivity for Metabase

Connectivity to LDAP from Metabase is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with LDAP objects from Metabase, we start by creating and configuring a LDAP connection.

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

2. Select "LDAP" from the Add Connection panel

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

   To establish a connection, the following properties under the Authentication section must be provided:

   • Valid User and Password credentials (e.g., Domain\BobF or cn=Bob F,ou=Employees,dc=Domain).
   • Server information, including the IP or host name of the Server, as well as the Port.

   • BaseDN: This will limit the scope of LDAP searches to the height of the distinguished name provided.

     Note: Specifying a narrow BaseDN may greatly increase performance; for example, cn=users,dc=domain will only return results contained within cn=users and its children.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add LDAP 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 LDAP objects from Metabase.

Connect to CData Connect AI from Metabase

After creating the connection in Connect AI, navigate to your Metabase instance. Use the SQL Server interface to connect to Connect AI.

1. Navigate to the administration screen (Settings -> Admin) and click "Add Database" from the "Databases" tab
2. Configure the connection to Connect AI and click "Save"
   • Database type: Select "SQL Server"
   • Name: Name the connection (e.g. "LDAP (Connect AI)")
   • Host: tds.cdata.com
   • Port: 14333
   • Database name: The name of the connection you just created (e.g. LDAP1)
   • Username: A Connect AI username (e.g. [email protected])
   • Password: The PAT previously created
   • Click to Use a secure connection (SSL)
   

Execute LDAP Objects with Metabase

Once you configure the connection to Connect AI, you can query LDAP and build visualizations.

1. Use the "Write SQL" tool to retrieve the LDAP objects
2. Write a SQL query based on the LDAP connection in CData Connect AI, e.g.
   
   

   SELECT Id, LogonCount FROM User

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