Integrating Databricks with Bold BI via ODBC Connector

Published:

This guide provides a step-by-step walkthrough for connecting Databricks to Bold BI using the ODBC connector. It covers driver installation, DSN configuration, retrieving connection details, and setting up the connector in Bold BI.

Step 1: Install the Databricks ODBC Driver

Visit the official Databricks ODBC driver page:
ODBC Driver - Databricks
Download the appropriate driver for your operating system (Windows/macOS/Linux).
Run the installer and complete the installation.

Step 2: Configure DSN (Data Source Name)

Open ODBC Data Source Administrator (64-bit):
- Press Win + S and search for ODBC Data Sources (64-bit).
Go to the System DSN or User DSN tab.
Click Add → Select Simba Spark ODBC Driver → Click Finish.
Fill in the DSN configuration fields:

Field	Value
Data Source Name	`DatabricksODBC` (or any name)
Host(s)	`<domain_name>.cloud.databricks.com`
Port	`443`
HTTP Path	`/sql/1.0/endpoints/<your-endpoint-id>`
Authentication Mechanism	`Token`
User Name	`token`
Password	Your Databricks Personal Access Token
Thrift Transport	`HTTPS`
SSL	`1`

Click Test to verify the connection.

Step 3: Retrieve Connection Details from Databricks

Hostname

Log in to Databricks.
Copy the domain from the browser URL: <domain_name>.cloud.databricks.com

HTTP Path

Go to SQL → SQL Warehouses.
Click on your warehouse (e.g., Starter Warehouse).
Copy the HTTP Path from the Connection Details section.

Personal Access Token

Click your profile icon → Settings → Developer → Access Tokens.
Click Manage → Generate New Token.
Copy and save the token securely.

Step 4: Use ODBC Connector in Bold BI

Open Bold BI dashboard designer.
Go to Data Sources → Create New → Select ODBC Connector.
Choose the DSN you configured (DatabricksODBC).
Authenticate using the token (if prompted).
Select your database and table (e.g., testdata).
Click Connect and start building your dashboard.

This setup enables secure and direct access to Databricks data from Bold BI using the ODBC protocol.

Additional References

Was this article useful?

Dislike

Written by Rajendran Murugan

Updated:

Comments (0)