The ODBC/JDBC Connector¶

Kinetica provides a SQL-92 interface through its ODBC connector. For details on the extent of SQL-92 coverage, see the SQL Support section.

Client/Server¶

There are two parts of the Kinetica ODBC driver, which translates SQL for Kinetica: the small ODBC Client wrapper, and main ODBC Server. The client sends SQL to the server, and the server translates the SQL and sends it as a request to the Kinetica server.

The ODBC Server should be started when all the Kinetica components are started via gpudb start. The client runs on Linux, Mac, and Windows. There is also a JDBC Client for connecting from Java programs.

Installation¶

The ODBC Server is installed by default in a standard Kinetica installation.

The ODBC Client must be installed for the environment in which it will be used. The following sections will detail how to install & configure the client in Linux & Windows.

Linux¶

The Unix ODBC library and our ODBC Client driver are both provided in the RPM and Deb in /opt/gpudb/connectors/odbcserver/client. Specifically, the ODBC Client driver itself is at /opt/gpudb/connectors/odbcserver/client/lib/libSimbaClient.so. Instructions on configuring it are in /opt/gpudb/connectors/odbcserver/README.md.

If installing a different version of the library to a Kinetica server or if installing to a server other than a Kinetica one, use the following procedure.

Installing unixODBC¶

Install the unixODBC package.

Ubuntu:
```
$ sudo apt-get install unixodbc
```
CentOS:
```
$ sudo yum install unixODBC
```

Copy the Simba library from an existing Kinetica server to the target server running unixODBC. The Simba library is installed by default at /opt/gpudb/connectors/odbcserver/client/lib/libSimbaClient.so on any Kinetica server with the Kinetica ODBC Connector component. There is no requirement that the Simba library be copied to any specific directory on the target unixODBC server.
Register the Kinetica ODBC driver on the unixODBC server by adding the following entry to the end of the /etc/odbcinst.ini file (create the file if it doesn't already exist). Note that Driver is the new location of the Simba library file on the unixODBC server:
```
[SimbaODBCClientDSIIDriver]
APILevel=1
ConnectFunctions=YYY
Description=Kinetica Simba Client Driver
Driver=</path/to/Simba/lib>/libSimbaClient.so
DriverODBCVer=03.80
SQLLevel=1
```
Add a system DSN entry for the Kinetica database server to which the unixODBC client will connect. The entry should be added to /etc/odbc.ini on the unixODBC server, and this file can be created if it does not exist. Note that Driver refers to the same Simba library path as above, ServerList is the host & port of the Kinetica ODBC Server, and URL is the URL of the primary Kinetica database server:
```
[KINETICA]
Description=Kinetica Connection
Driver=</path/to/Simba/lib>/libSimbaClient.so
Locale=en-US
UseSsl=0
ServerList=<odbc.host> 9292
ParentSet=MASTER
URL http://<database.host>:9191
PWD=
UID=
```
Create a user DSN by copying the system DSN file to a given user's home directory, prepending a dot to the file name in order to make it hidden:
```
$ cp /etc/odbc.ini ~/.odbc.ini
```

Add the ODBC Client driver directory to the LD_LIBRARY_PATH:

$ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=</path/to/Simba/lib>:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

Check the ODBC configuration. Running the following commands should generate similar output:

$ which isql
/usr/bin/isql

$ isql --version
unixODBC 2.3.1

$ odbcinst -q -d
[SimbaODBCClientDSIIDriver]

$ odbcinst -q -s
[KINETICA]

$ odbcinst -j
unixODBC 2.3.1
DRIVERS............: /etc/odbcinst.ini
SYSTEM DATA SOURCES: /etc/odbc.ini
FILE DATA SOURCES..: /etc/ODBCDataSources
USER DATA SOURCES..: /home/<user>/.odbc.ini
SQLULEN Size.......: 8
SQLLEN Size........: 8
SQLSETPOSIROW Size.: 8

Connect to Kinetica and request a list of tables:

$ isql -3 -m20 -v kinetica
+---------------------------------------+
| Connected!                            |
|                                       |
| sql-statement                         |
| help [tablename]                      |
| quit                                  |
|                                       |
+---------------------------------------+
SQL> help
+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| TABLE_QUALIFIER     | TABLE_OWNER         | TABLE_NAME          | TABLE_TYPE          | REMARKS             |
+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+
+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+
SQLRowCount returns 0
SQL>

Tip

Using the -v option will show troubleshooting information if any error occurs in connecting.

Windows¶

Kinetica provides both a 32-bit & 64-bit Windows ODBC Client driver. The 32-bit version of Windows requires the 32-bit driver. The 64-bit version of Windows can use either the 32-bit or 64-bit driver, or both, as needs warrant. For instance, a user running 64-bit Windows and wanting to make ODBC connections to Kinetica from a 32-bit version of Excel will need the 32-bit driver. A user with the same OS using the 64-bit Tableau will need the 64-bit driver. A user wanting to use both will need both drivers.

Download & install the ODBC Client for Windows following the instructions provided there
Launch ODBC Data Source Administrator (64-bit or 32-bit, as needed)
Click the System DSN tab
Click the Add button to add a DSN
Choose Kinetica ODBC Client, and click Finish
Fill in the DSN Setup parameters (the following settings are examples - you may have to change some for your environment):
- Data Source Name: Kinetica
- Description: Kinetica
- Leave Username and Password blank
- URL: http://127.0.0.1:9191/
- Parent Set: MASTER
- Server IP: <specify your ODBC Server IP address - probably the same as your Kinetica Server IP address>
- Server Port: 9292
Click OK

Configuration¶

The configuration parameters are the same in Linux & Windows, though the locations of the configurations are not.

ODBC Server¶

ODBC Server settings are set in the /opt/gpudb/connectors/odbcserver/bin/GISFederal.GPUdbODBC.ini file on Linux. In Windows, these are set in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Kinetica\Server registry key.

Config Parameter	Default Value	Description
ConsoleOutput	`0`	Whether debug logging is turned off or written to `stdout`; this information is redirected to `odbcserver.log` `0` = No additional logging `1` = Additional debug logging to `stdout`
DontCombine	`0`	Whether or not SQL statements merging multiple tables (UNION/JOIN) will be done in 1 call or multiple calls `0` = UNION & JOIN statements are processed in full, one call for each, no matter how many tables are involved `1` = UNION & JOIN statements are separated into multiple calls, merging only 2 tables at a time
FailPartialPassdown	`0`	Whether or not to have the server fail any queries which cannot be fully optimized `0` = Execute queries that can't be optimized `1` = Fail queries that can't be optimized
KeepTempTables	`0`	Whether or not temporary tables will automatically be cleaned up by the system `0` = Remove temporary tables automatically `1` = Don't remove temporary tables automatically
ListenPort	`9292`	Kinetica database server listen port
LogLevel	`4`	Controls how much information is written to the `odbcserver.log`; the higher the number, the more info that is written `6` = Trace `5` = Debug `4` = Info `3` = Warn `2` = Error `1` = Fatal `0` = Off
LogNamespace	`GISFederal::GPUdbODBC`
LogPath	`/opt/gpudb/connectors/odbcserver/logs`	Where to write log files
LogTree	`0`	Whether or not algebraic expression trees (AE Trees) are written to the `AETree.log` file. This log can be used to determine what is happening within the AE Tree representation of each query performed `0` = No AE Tree logging `1` = Output query AE Trees to `AETree.log`
MaxConnections	`64`	Maximum number of clients that can have connections simultaneously
MaxQueryDimensions	`10`	Number of tables in a single query allowed to be joined on columns that are not primary keys
MaxRowsToFetch	`100000`	Maximum number of response records to send to the client for a given query (may be overridden by client)
NoPassdown	`0`	Whether or not to execute queries with no optimization `0` = Execute queries with optimization `1` = Execute queries without optimization
ParentSet	`MASTER`	Collection containing tables that clients will use by default (may be overridden by client)
PWD		Password to use, if none specified by client
ReceivedLinesToShow	`0`	Output received data and types to `stdout` (if ConsoleOutput is on)
RowsPerFetch	`1000`	Number of response records to send to the client at a time (may be overridden by client)
TTL	`5`	Time to Live (TTL) for temp sets, in minutes. Other possible values: `-2` = use server's default TTL `-1` = no TTL (temp sets will not expire) `0` = expire immediately (at next clean-up interval)
UID		User ID to use, if none specified by client
URL	http://127.0.0.1:9191/	URL of Kinetica database server to connect to

ODBC Client¶

In Linux, the ODBC Client DSN settings are configured via the /opt/gpudb/connectors/odbcserver/client/etc/odbc.ini file. In Windows, these settings are stored in the registry in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ODBC\ODBC.INI\<DSN NAME>. Some settings of note follow.

Config Parameter	Default Value	Description
UID		User ID for database connection (blank to use default credentials)
PWD		Password for database connection (blank to use default credentials)
ReadOnly	`0`	Whether connection is read-only or read-write: `0` = read-write `1` = read-only
ServerList	`127.0.0.1 9292`	Host and port of the ODBC Server

The following are optional parameters that could be used to override the server's settings but usually should be left blank (or not supplied) to use the server's settings.

Config Parameter	Default Value	Description
DontCombine	`0`	Whether or not SQL statements merging multiple tables (UNION/JOIN) will be done in 1 call or multiple calls `0` = UNION & JOIN statements are processed in full, one call for each, no matter how many tables are involved `1` = UNION & JOIN statements are separated into multiple calls, merging only 2 tables at a time
FailPartialPassdown	`0`	Whether or not to have the server fail any queries which cannot be fully optimized `0` = Execute queries that can't be optimized `1` = Fail queries that can't be optimized
KeepTempTables	`0`	Whether or not temporary tables will automatically be cleaned up by the system `0` = Remove temporary tables automatically `1` = Don't remove temporary tables automatically
MaxQueryDimensions	`10`	Number of tables in a single query allowed to be joined on columns that are not primary keys
MaxRowsToFetch	`100000`	Maximum number of records to request from the server for a given query
NoPassdown	`0`	Whether or not to execute queries with no optimization `0` = Execute queries with optimization `1` = Execute queries without optimization
ParentSet	`MASTER`	Collection containing tables to access
RowsPerFetch	`10000`	Number of records to request from the server at a time
TTL	`5`	TTL for temp sets, in minutes. Other possible values: `-2` = use server's default TTL `-1` = no TTL (temp sets will not expire) `0` = expire immediately (at next clean-up interval)
URL	http://127.0.0.1:9191	URL of Kinetica database server to connect to

Important

If a list of tables is requested through the ODBC Client driver, the set of tables in the collection specified by the ParentSet parameter will be returned. New tables will also be created in this collection, by default. Tables not in this collection can be accessed by name, even though they won't be returned in a table list request.

Connecting¶

iSQL in Linux¶

$ PATH=${PATH}:/opt/gpudb/connectors/odbcserver/client/bin
$ isql -3 -m20 -v <DSN> [UID [PWD]]

DSN is the name of the configured ODBC connection to Kinetica. If configured as in the Installation > Linux section, this will be kinetica; on servers with Kinetica installed, a DSN of GPUDBDSN is pre-configured for that server's database instance. UID and PWD are the User ID and Password parameters, respectively, which are optional on some systems. The -3 option instructs isql to use ODBC 3 calls, the -m20 option reduces column widths to 20 characters (the default causes severe line-wrapping), and the -v option puts isql into verbose mode. You should see something like this:

$ isql -3 -m20 -v kinetica
+---------------------------------------+
| Connected!                            |
|                                       |
| sql-statement                         |
| help [tablename]                      |
| quit                                  |
|                                       |
+---------------------------------------+
SQL>

You can type help for a list of all tables & views in the database:

SQL> help
+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| TABLE_QUALIFIER     | TABLE_OWNER         | TABLE_NAME          | TABLE_TYPE          | REMARKS             |
+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+
+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+
SQLRowCount returns 0

You may now type SQL commands at the SQL> prompt, and the responses will be displayed. For example:

SQL> select x, y from calcs

You can exit this mode by typing quit.

The documentation for isql can be found at: https://www.mankier.com/1/isql

Tableau¶

Install the ODBC Client - see ODBC Installation above
In Tableau, connect to Other Databases (ODBC)
- DSN: Kinetica
- Click Connect
- Click Sign In
- Database: MASTER
- (Skip Schema)
- Pick your table

Excel¶

Install the ODBC Client - see ODBC Installation above
In Excel, click the Data tab at the top
Click the Get External Data > From Other Sources button, then click From Data Connection Wizard
In the Connection Wizard, choose ODBC DSN and click Next >
Select one of the ODBC data sources (i.e., DSNs) you created above (e.g., Kinetica), and click Next >
Continue with the wizard to create a link to all the tables or a specific table, and save an ODC file, etc.
Click the Finish button

To read in data using the ODC file created above:

In Excel, click the Data tab at the top
Click Get External Data > Existing Connections
Choose the ODC file you created above, and click Open
Select a Table to import
Select where you want the data to appear, and click the OK button

Java Client (via JDBC)¶

Download the JDBC Client JAR file.
Install a Java SQL client:
- SQuirreL SQL
  - Download SQuirreL SQL
  - Read this to adjust the fonts
- DBeaver
  - Download & install DBeaver
  - In DBeaver, on the Database menu, select Driver Manager
  - Click New to create a new driver connection
  - Complete the DBeaver configuration page:
    - Driver Name: Kinetica
    - Class Name: com.simba.client.core.jdbc4.SCJDBC4Driver
    - URL Template (optional): jdbc:simba://localhost:9292;URL=http://localhost:9191;ParentSet=MASTER
    - Click Add File and select the downloaded SimbaJDBCClient4.jar
    - Click OK
  - Click Close to exit Driver Manager
  - Configure a connection:
    - On the File menu, select New
    - Ensure that Database Connection is selected and click Next >
    - Select Kinetica and click Next >
    - Enter a User name, (admin for database administrator connection); this should result in the JDBC URL being populated automatically
    - Enter the Password for the database user
    - Click Next > twice and click Test Connection ... to verify the configuration
    - Click OK to clear the successful connection pop-up and then Finish to complete the connection configuration
The DBeaver configuration is given above; for other clients, the following is the general driver and connection information that should be used when configuring a client.
- Driver: <point to the downloaded JAR file>
- URL: jdbc:simba://<machine running ODBC Server>:<port>
  - e.g., jdbc:simba://127.0.0.1:9292
  - Default port is 9292
- Class Name: com.simba.client.core.jdbc4.SCJDBC4Driver
  - Note: Most of the programs have an option to find this from the specified JAR file for you

Tip

There are many Java SQL clients available, e.g., DBClient and HeidiSQL. You can find even more here.

Logging¶

The ODBC Server logs events from the ODBC Server driver to /opt/gpudb/connectors/odbcserver/logs/GPUdbODBC_driver.log. The interactions between the ODBC Server driver and the database are logged to /opt/gpudb/connectors/odbcserver/logs/odbcserver.log. To change the location of the log files see ODBC Configuration above.

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