How to Connect Azure Data Explorer in Bold BI

Azure Data Explorer (ADX) is a robust data analytics service designed for handling large volumes of data in real-time. It is optimized for complex queries, enabling users to gain insights from their data swiftly. The Azure Data Explorer connector in Bold BI Dashboard Designer allows you to access data from Azure Data Explorer clusters.

Steps to Connect Azure Data Explorer in Bold BI

To configure the Azure Data Explorer data source, follow these steps:

1. Click on ‘Data Sources’ in the configuration panel to add a new data connection.
2. Select the Azure Data Explorer connection in the connection panel.
   
   

Creating Azure Data Explorer Data Source

After clicking the data source, the ‘NEW DATA SOURCE’ configuration panel opens. Follow the given steps to create an Azure Data Explorer data source:

1. Enter a name and description (optional) for the data source.
2. Enter the Server Name and tenant ID (authority) of the server.
3. Enter a valid Azure Data Explorer application Client ID in the ApplicationClientID text box.
4. Enter a valid Azure Data Explorer application secret key in the ApplicationKey text box.
5. Select a database that you want to query in the listed database associated with the given Azure Data Explorer server in the database combo box.
   
   
6. Click ‘Connect’. The schema represents the collection list retrieved from the Azure Data Explorer. This dialog box displays a list of schemas in a tree view and their corresponding tables/views.
7. Now, the data design view page with the selected table schema opens. Drag the table.
8. Click ‘Save’ to save the data source with a relevant name.

How to Get Azure Data Explorer Credentials

The authority is a GUID that contains the tenant id of Azure Directory. The client ID is the unique Application (client) ID assigned to your app by Azure AD when the app was registered. The application key is the secret key generated to your app by Azure AD when the app was registered.

To get these credentials in Azure Portal:

1. Login to the Azure Portal.
2. Navigate to Azure Active Directory.
3. Select App Registrations, locate the Azure AD App that you’re trying to find the Client ID and Client Secret Key for.
4. Within the Azure AD App, select Certificates & Secrets.
   
   
   
   Note: Once a Secret is created and you navigate away from the Certificates & Secrets page, the Secret value is no longer available to be seen or copied.

For more detailed steps on how to get these values, you can reference - Get tenant and app ID values for signing in

Limitations

1. Some expressions are not supported. Total, TotalPercentage, DateName, IFNULL, Coalesce, and Row functions.
2. Widget Measure filter is not supported.
3. Data Sampling is not supported.
4. Azure Data Explorer connector is unable to support column names with dots. In such cases, you can address this limitation by hiding the affected column in the table.

Additional References

• How to generate client id and secret in Azure app