Skip to content
M↓ View as Markdown ↗

SQL Server

SQL Server can be hosted on prem or run in Azure, GCP or AWS.

Creating a Connection

To connect to SQL Server, you'll need to provide the below details:

Note

Fill in following details in the form. We use Azure SQL service as an example here:

  1. Connection Type: MS SQL Server
  2. Name: A name for the connection
  3. Description: An optional description
  4. Schema: The schema to connect to
  5. Server: The server name. It can be found in Azure Portal: SQL Server -> Server Name -> Overview -> Server Name
  6. Database: The database name. This can be found in the Azure Portal at the following location: SQL Server -> Server Name -> Overview -> Available Resources -> (x) databases.
  7. Port: The server port, typically 1433
  8. Authentication Scheme: How Actian Data Observability authenticates to the server — see Authentication schemes below
  9. User and Password: The credentials, when the selected scheme requires them

Creating an MS SQL Server connection, with the Authentication Scheme list open.

Select Test Connection to validate the details. The connection can only be created once a test succeeds.

Authentication Schemes

Scheme What it uses
SQL Server Authentication A SQL Server username and password, stored on the connection
Microsoft Entra Password A Microsoft Entra username and password, stored on the connection
Managed Identity (connection) A managed identity registered by a Actian Data Observability administrator — no user or password is stored.
Available on Azure-based Actian Data Observability deployments only; see Azure SQL Server: Managed Identity Authentication

Note

  • The User and Password fields apply to the SQL Server Authentication and Microsoft Entra Password schemes. Managed Identity (connection) replaces them with an identity picker and stores no password at all.

  • In order to connect to a privately hosted instance, the customer will need to whitelist the IPs from Actian Data Observability. Please reach out to Actian Data Observability support for the updated list of IP’s for whitelisting.

Connecting an Asset

Once a connection is defined, you can start using it to create assets. To create assets, you will need to select existing table, or run a custom SQL query.

Warning

JSON data type is not supported for SQL Server connections out of the box. Please reach out to Actian Data Observability support if it needs to be enabled.

Note

Please ensure that your environment has whitelisted Actian Data Observability IP list.