Query, Visualize, and Share live Oracle Data in Redash

Redash is a collaboration tool that lets you query, visualize, and share your data. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, Redash gets access to live Oracle data. This article demonstrates how to connect to Oracle using Connect Cloud and work with live Oracle data in Redash.

CData Connect Cloud provides a pure SQL Server interface for Oracle, allowing you to query data from Oracle without replicating the data to a natively supported database. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to Oracle, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested Oracle data quickly.

Configure Oracle Connectivity for Redash

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

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

2. Select "Oracle" from the Add Connection panel

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

   To connect to Oracle, you'll first need to update your PATH variable and ensure it contains a folder location that includes the native DLLs. The native DLLs can be found in the lib folder inside the installation directory. Once you've done this, set the following to connect:

   • Port: The port used to connect to the server hosting the Oracle database.
   • User: The user Id provided for authentication with the Oracle database.
   • Password: The password provided for authentication with the Oracle database.
   • Service Name: The service name of the Oracle database.
   
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Oracle Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect Cloud 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 Cloud. 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 Cloud 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 Oracle data from Redash.

Connect to Oracle from Redash using Connect Cloud

To establish a connection from Redash to CData Connect Cloud using the Virtual SQL Server, follow these steps:

1. Log into Redash.
2. Click the settings widget on the top right.
3. Click New Data Source.
4. Select Microsoft SQL Server as the Data Source Type.
5. On the configuration tab, set the following properties:
   • Database Name: enter the Connection Name of the CData Connect Cloud data source you want to connect to (for example, Salesforce1).
   • Server: enter the virtual SQL Server host name (tds.cdata.com)
   • User: enter your CData Connect Cloud username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect Cloud interface. For example, [email protected].
   • Password: enter the PAT you generated on the Settings page.
   • Port: enter 14333
   
6. Click Create.
7. Click Test Connection to ensure that the connection is configured properly.

You can now work with live Oracle data in Redash.

Get CData Connect Cloud

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