This section describes how to set up ODBC connectivity and configure DSNs on several Linux distributions: Debian-based systems, like Ubuntu, and Red Hat Linux platforms, like Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Fedora.

Minimum Linux Versions

Here are the minimum supported versions for Red Hat-based and Debian-based systems:

OS	Min. Version
Ubuntu	18.04
Debian	10
RHEL	8
Fedora	28
SUSE	15

Installing the Driver Dependencies

Run the following commands as root or with sudo to install the necessary dependencies:

• Debian/Ubuntu:
  

  apt-get install libc6 libstdc++6 zlib1g libgcc1

• RHEL/Fedora:
  

  yum install glibc libstdc++ zlib libgcc

Installing the Driver

You can use standard package management systems to install the driver.

On Debian-based systems, like Ubuntu, run the following command with root or sudo:

dpkg -i /path/to/driver/setup/PowerBIXMLAODBCDriverforUnix.deb 

On systems that support the RPM package format, run the following command with root or sudo:

rpm -ivh /path/to/driver/PowerBIXMLAODBCDriverforUnix.rpm 

Licensing the Driver

Run the following commands to license the driver. To activate a trial, omit the <key> input.

cd /opt/cdata/cdata-odbc-driver-for-powerbixmla/bin/
sudo ./install-license.sh <key>

Connecting through the Driver Manager

The driver manager loads the driver and passes function calls from the application to the driver. You need to register the driver with the driver manager and you define DSNs in the driver manager's configuration files.

The driver installation registers the driver with the unixODBC driver manager and creates a system DSN. The unixODBC driver manager can be used from Python and from many other applications. Your application may embed another driver manager.

Creating the DSN

See Using unixODBC to install unixODBC and configure DSNs. See Using the DataDirect Driver Manager to create a DSN to connect to OBIEE, Informatica, and SAS.

Connecting to Microsoft Power BI XMLA

Establishing a connection to Microsoft Power BI XMLA first requires selecting the appropriate authentication method based on your environment and security needs. The AuthScheme connection property determines how authentication is handled, whether through user-based credentials, service principals, or certificate-based authentication for automated workflows.

Once the authentication method is chosen, configure the necessary connection properties, such as client credentials, tokens, or certificates to enable secure access. Then set the Workspace property to a valid PowerBIXMLA Workspace. Note that only workspaces in a Power BI Premium capacity are supported; workspaces without Premium capacity are not compatible.

Choosing an Authentication Method

The CData ODBC Driver for Microsoft Power BI XMLA supports three authentication methods to accommodate different connection scenarios. The best choice depends on whether the connection is user-based or headless, as well as the security requirements of your environment. A headless environment refers to a setup where no interactive user is present, and no graphical user interface is available. This setup is commonly used for automated workflows, including scheduled data syncs, ETL processes, and background reporting tasks where no user interaction is required.

Some authentication methods support an embedded OAuth application, which is a pre-configured OAuth app included with the driver to simplify setup. For more control, you can also use a custom OAuth application, which requires registering your own credentials with Azure AD.

The following table outlines the available authentication methods to help determine the best approach for your use case.

Authentication Method	Usage Considerations
AzureAD	Best Used For: Users who need to authenticate interactively Scenarios where permissions differ per user Local desktop applications Advantages: Supports user-based permissions No additional OAuth app configuration required Considerations: Requires a user login flow Less ideal for headless automation
AzureServicePrincipal	Best Used For: Headless, machine-to-machine processes CI/CD pipelines and automated workflows Scheduled jobs requiring Power BI XMLA access Advantages: No user interaction needed Simpler setup than the AzureServicePrincipalCert authentication method Considerations: Must securely store a client secret Requires Azure AD app registration
AzureServicePrincipalCert	Best Used For: Highly secure, compliance-driven environments Long-running automated tasks with strict security policies Organizations preferring certificate-based authentication over secrets Advantages: Increases security by using certificate-based authentication instead of secrets Supports security and regulatory compliance Considerations: Requires managing certificate creation, storage, and renewal Involves additional setup steps for configuring certificate-based authentication

Authenticating to Microsoft Power BI XMLA

Different deployment scenarios require different authentication setups. Whether you are connecting from a desktop application, web-based workflow, or a headless machine, the authentication method you choose depends on factors such as user interaction, security requirements, and automation needs.

The following table outlines use cases, advantages, and considerations for each deployment type.

Deployment Type	Usage Considerations
Desktop Applications	Best Used For: Interactive user-based access Single-user desktop applications Development and testing environments Advantages: Quick setup with embedded OAuth No need for custom OAuth app (unless additional control is required) Considerations: Requires user interaction during authentication Less suitable for automation or headless execution
Web Applications	Best Used For: Multi-user authentication scenarios Hosted applications with shared access Web-based authentication workflows Advantages: Allows centralized management of OAuth credentials More control over security policies Considerations: Requires registering a custom OAuth application Additional configuration steps for web-based workflows
Headless Machines	Best Used For: Automated workflows and CI/CD pipelines Server-based environments without user interaction Long-running background tasks Advantages: Does not require a user to log in Supports storing OAuth credentials for automated access Considerations: Initial authentication requires an external device with a browser May require securely transferring authentication credentials

Azure AD

Azure AD is Microsoft’s multi-tenant, cloud-based directory and identity management service. It is user-based authentication that requires that you set AuthScheme to AzureAD.

Authentication to Azure AD over a Web application always requires the creation of a custom OAuth application .

For details about creating a custom OAuth application, see Creating an Azure AD Application.

Desktop Applications

CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies connection to Azure AD from a Desktop application.

You can also authenticate from a desktop application using a custom OAuth application. (For further information, see Creating an Azure AD Application.) To authenticate via Azure AD, set these parameters:

• AuthScheme: AzureAD.

• Custom applications only:

  • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
  • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
  • CallbackURL: The redirect URI you defined when you registered your custom OAuth application.

When you connect, the driver opens Microsoft Power BI XMLA's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application.

The driver completes the OAuth process, obtaining an access token from Microsoft Power BI XMLA and using it to request data. The OAuth values are saved in the path specified in OAuthSettingsLocation. These values persist across connections.

When the access token expires, the driver refreshes it automatically.

Headless Machines

To configure the driver with a user account on a headless machine, you must authenticate on another device that has an internet browser.

You can do this in either of the following ways:

• Obtain the OAuthVerifier value as described below in Option 1: Obtain and Exchange a Verifier Code.
• Install the driver on another machine as described below in Option 2: Transfer OAuth Settings. After you authenticate via the usual browser-based flow, transfer the OAuth authentication values.

Option 1: Obtain and Exchange a Verifier Code

1. Find the authorization endpoint.

   Custom applications only: Set these properties to create the Authorization URL:

   • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your application.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your application.

   Custom and embedded applications: Call the GetOAuthAuthorizationUrl stored procedure.

   1. Open the URL returned by the stored procedure in a browser.
   2. Log in and grant permissions to the driver. You are redirected to the callback URL, which contains the verifier code.
   3. Save the value of the verifier code. You will use this later to set the OAuthVerifier connection property.

2. Exchange the OAuth verifier code for OAuth refresh and access tokens.

   At the headless machine, set these properties:

   • AuthScheme: AzureAD.
   • OAuthVerifier: The verifier code.
   • OAuthSettingsLocation: The location of the file that holds the OAuth token values that persist across connections.

   • Custom applications only:

     • OAuthClientId: The client Id in your custom OAuth application settings.
     • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in the custom OAuth application settings.

3. After the OAuth settings file is generated, reset the following properties to connect:

   • OAuthSettingsLocation: The location containing the encrypted OAuth authentication values. Make sure this location grants read and write permissions to the driver to enable the automatic refreshing of the access token.

   • Custom applications only:

     • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your application.
     • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your application.

Option 2: Transfer OAuth Settings

Before you can connect via a headless machine, you must create and install a connection with the driver on a device that supports an internet browser. Set the connection properties as described above, in Desktop Applications.

After you complete the instructions in Desktop Applications, the resulting authentication values are encrypted and written to the location specified by OAuthSettingsLocation. The default filename is OAuthSettings.txt.

Once you have successfully tested the connection, copy the OAuth settings file to your headless machine.

At the headless machine, set these properties:

• AuthScheme: AzureAD.
• OAuthSettingsLocation: The location of your OAuth settings file. Make sure this location gives read and write permissions to the driver to enable the automatic refreshing of the access token.

• Custom applications only:

  • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your application.
  • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your application.

Azure Service Principal

Service principals are security objects within an Azure AD application that define what that application can do within a particular Azure AD tenant. Service Principals are created in the Azure service portal. As part of the creation process we also specify whether the service principal will access Azure AD resources via a client secret or a certificate.

Instead of being tied to a particular user, service principal permissions are based on the roles assigned to them. The application access to the resources is controlled through the assigned roles' permissions.

When authenticating using an Azure Service Principal, you must register an application with an Azure AD tenant, as described in Creating an Azure AD App with Service Principal.

You are ready to connect after setting the properties described in this subsection. These vary, depending on whether you will authenticate via a client secret or a certificate.

Authentication with Client Secret

• AuthScheme: AzureServicePrincipal.
• AzureTenant: The Azure AD tenant to which you wish to connect.
• OAuthGrantType: CLIENT.
• OAuthClientId: The client Id in your application settings.
• OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in your application settings.

Authentication with Certificate

• AuthScheme: AzureServicePrincipalCert.
• AzureTenant: The Azure AD tenant to which you wish to connect.
• OAuthGrantType: CLIENT.
• OAuthClientId: The client Id in your application settings.
• OAuthJWTCert: The JWT Certificate store.
• OAuthJWTCertType: The JWT Certificate store type.

Refreshing OAuth Values

The driver can refresh the temporary OAuth access tokens obtained during the browser-based OAuth authentication exchange. By default, the driver saves the encrypted tokens in the odbc.ini file corresponding to the DSN. Access to this odbc.ini file can be restricted in the case of System DSNs.

To enable the automatic token exchange, you can give the driver write access to the system odbc.ini. Or, you can set the OAuthSettingsLocation connection property to an alternate file path, to which the driver would have read and write access.

    OAuthSettingsLocation=/tmp/oauthsettings.txt
    

Installing Dependencies for OAuth Authentication

The OAuth authentication standard requires the authenticating user to interact with Microsoft Power BI XMLA, using a web-browser. If the first OAuth interaction is to be done on the same machine the driver is installed on, for example, a desktop application, the driver needs access to the xdg-open program, which opens the default browser.

To satisfy this dependency, install the corresponding package with your package manager:

Debian/Ubuntu Package	RHEL/Fedora Package	File
xdg-utils	xdg-utils	xdg-open

Set the Driver Encoding

The ODBC drivers need to specify which encoding to use with the ODBC Driver Manager. By default, the CData ODBC Drivers for Unix are configured to use UTF-16 which is compatible with unixODBC, but other Driver Managers may require alternative encoding.

Alternatively, if you are using the ODBC driver from an application that uses the ANSI ODBC API it may be necessary to set the ANSI code page. For example, to import Japanese characters in an ANSI application, you can specify the code page in the config file '/opt/cdata/cdata-odbc-driver-for-powerbixmla/lib/cdata.odbc.powerbixmla.ini':

[Driver]
AnsiCodePage = 932