Power BI

Connect Power BI to an e6data cluster using the Starburst ODBC driver, with optional on-premises data gateway setup.

Power BI is Microsoft's business intelligence platform for visualizing and analyzing data. Connect it to an e6data cluster through the Starburst ODBC driver.

Requirements

• A cluster with gateway connectivity enabled. For a Serverless cluster, enable the gateway connectivity toggle under the cluster's connection details - see Endpoints and cluster ingress.
• Power BI Desktop.
• The Starburst ODBC driver, installed.
• Your connection credentials:

  • Username - used to log in to e6data.
  • Password - a personal access token.
  • Host - the host of the cluster.
  • Database and Catalog (optional) - the database and catalog names.

Connect

1. Open Power BI Desktop.
2. Go to Home → Get data, search for the Starburst connector, and click Connect.
3. Enter the connection details:

   • Host - the cluster host.
   • Port - 443.
   • Catalog (optional) - the catalog name.
   • Import / DirectQuery - choose based on your needs. For a custom SQL query, qualify tables as database.schema.table.
4. Click OK. On the next screen, choose LDAP, enter your e6data username and personal access token, and click Connect.
5. Select the catalog and tables to visualize, then click Load.

You can now build charts and run SQL queries against e6data in Power BI.

On-premises data gateway

To let the Power BI Service reach e6data for scheduled refresh or live queries, configure Microsoft's on-premises data gateway.

1. Download and install

1. Go to the Microsoft gateway install guide.
2. Select Standard mode (recommended for enterprise use), download, and run the installer.
3. Sign in with your Power BI (Azure) credentials.

2. Register the gateway

1. Choose Register a new gateway (or migrate, restore, or take over an existing one).
2. Provide a unique gateway name.
3. Set a recovery key - you'll need it to restore the gateway later.

3. Configure the data source

1. In the Power BI Service, go to Settings → Manage connections and gateways.
2. Under your gateway, click Add data source and set:

   • Connection type - Starburst
   • Server name - your cluster host
   • Port - 443
3. For authentication, enter your e6data username and personal access token.

4. Enable refresh or live query

• Import mode: open the dataset settings, enable Scheduled refresh, and set the frequency and time zone.
• DirectQuery / live connection: keep the gateway always online; Power BI queries in real time.

Install the gateway on a dedicated server or VM (not a workstation), keep it online and updated, and use Power BI's gateway monitoring to track availability.

Troubleshooting

SSL certificate problem: unable to get local issuer certificate - install the Amazon Root CA certificates:

1. Go to the Amazon Trust repository.
2. Under Root CAs, download all five certificates using the DER option in the Self-Signed Certificate column.
3. Open each certificate and select Install Certificate → Current User → Automatically select the certificate store → Finish.
4. Verify under Start → Manage computer certificates → Trusted Root Certification Authorities → Certificates - you should see Amazon Root CA 1, 2, and so on.
5. Restart Power BI and reconnect.

Limitations

• Drag-and-drop of date and datetime types is not supported.
• Joining multiple tables in the Power BI data model is not supported; use a custom SQL query to join.
• Some functions may not be supported in measures and calculated columns.

See also

• Endpoints and cluster ingress
• Access tokens