MicroStrategy ONE

Setting up ODBC

The following information assists you in setting up ODBC between Intelligence Server and your metadata database and data warehouse.

ODBC is a standard method of communicating with database servers. Intelligence Server uses ODBC to connect to and communicate with all database servers in the system. Specifically, ODBC connects to and transfers data to and from data sources within relational databases.

ODBC permits maximum interoperability—an application can access data in diverse DBMSs through a single framework. A client application uses a database driver and a driver manager to make a connection to the data source. A data source, identified by a data source name, is the database or file accessed by a driver. Data source is another term for a logical database within a database server. A database server can contain multiple logical databases or data sources.

When setting up your MicroStrategy environment, you must create a separate connection to the data warehouse and metadata repository. This requirement is true even if both databases are accessed through the same DBMS. Further description of these two requirements is below:

  • A data warehouse stores the data that users of the system must analyze to track and respond to business trends, and to facilitate forecasting and planning efforts.
  • Metadata is a repository whose data associates the tables and columns of a data warehouse with user-defined attributes and facts to enable the mapping of business views, terms, and needs to the underlying database structure. Metadata can reside on the same server as the data warehouse or on a different server. It can be stored in different relational DBMSs.

A successful ODBC connection requires the following information:

  • A data source name (DSN) is the name for a pointer used by a client application to find and connect to a data source. A data source is the database accessed by a driver. The information obtained through a DSN generally includes the host computer name or IP address, instance name, and database name. However, the exact information varies depending on the type of database server.
  • An ODBC driver is a type of software that translates information between the client application (Intelligence Server) and the database server API. For more information on ODBC drivers and how they work with MicroStrategy, see ODBC drivers.
  • A connection string stores the information required to connect to a database server. A connection string usually includes a DSN, as well as the user ID and password required to log in to the database server. This information varies depending on the particular database server. For MicroStrategy environments, a connection string is commonly provided by a database instance (see Creating a database instance).

ODBC drivers

ODBC drivers are DBMS-specific and must be installed on MicroStrategy Intelligence Server prior to creating the ODBC connection to the warehouse and metadata databases. MicroStrategy embeds and brands Progress and Magnitude ODBC drivers in the MicroStrategy platform. These drivers are certified to work with MicroStrategy products.

The purpose of an ODBC driver is to translate MicroStrategy Intelligence Server requests into commands that the DBMS understands. Users of the MicroStrategy platform can employ the MicroStrategy-branded ODBC drivers to connect MicroStrategy products to various DBMSs. For a list of the available ODBC drivers for Windows and Linux that are certified for Intelligence Server and different DBMS types, see Certified ODBC Drivers for MicroStrategy Intelligence Server.

Although it is possible to use a non-certified driver, it is strongly recommended that you contact your database vendor to obtain a certified driver if the selected driver is not certified as valid.

MicroStrategy products include certified ODBC drivers for you to use. The MicroStrategy Readme lists these MicroStrategy ODBC drivers.

Default location for ODBC and driver files for Windows

MicroStrategy components require 64-bit drivers to achieve ODBC connectivity.

The ODBC driver manager and support libraries are commonly installed in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM or C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 directories. Refer to your third-party documentation for the locations of ODBC support and driver files.

The database-specific ODBC drivers are installed in the locations specified during the installation of the drivers. MicroStrategy-branded drivers are installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\MicroStrategy on a 64-bit Windows environment.

Default location for ODBC and driver files for Linux

MicroStrategy components require 64-bit drivers to achieve ODBC connectivity.

The ODBC driver manager and support libraries are usually installed in INSTALL_PATH/lib

The database-specific ODBC drivers are installed in the locations specified during the installation of the drivers. MicroStrategy-branded ODBC drivers are installed in INSTALL_PATH/lib, where INSTALL_PATH is the directory you specified as the Install Directory in the Install Wizard.

The MicroStrategy Connectivity Wizard lists only the MicroStrategy-branded ODBC drivers. However, this guide also provides information on how to install drivers from other vendors with MicroStrategy. For more information, see Creating DSNs for Specific Data Sources.