After Installing the Connector you can connect and create a Data Source for data in Apache HBase.

Setting Up a Data Source

Complete the following steps to connect to the data:

1. Under Connect | To a Server, click More....
2. Select the data source called Apache HBase by CData.
3. Enter the information required for the connection.
4. Click Sign In.
5. If necessary, select a Database and Schema to discover what tables and views are available.

Using the Connection Builder

The connector makes the most common connection properties available directly in Tableau. However, it can be difficult to use if you need to use more advanced settings or need to troubleshoot connection issues. The connector includes a separate connection builder that allows you to create and test connections outside of Tableau.

There are two ways to access the connection builder:

• On Windows, use a shortcut called Connection Builder in the Start menu, under the CData Tableau Connector for Apache HBase folder.
• You can also start the connection builder by going to the driver install directory and running the .jar file in the lib directory.

In the connection builder, you can set values for connection properties and click Test Connection to validate that they work. You can also use the Copy to Clipboard button to save the connection string. This connection string can be given to the Connection String option included in the connector connection window in Tableau.

Before You Connect

Hadoop distributions can contain many different interfaces, default port settings, and means of starting and stopping the HBase REST server.

In most distributions, you can start the HBase REST server in the foreground by running hbase rest start -p <port>.

For further information about the HBase REST server, consult your Hadoop distribution's documentation.

Connecting to Apache HBase

The CData Tableau Connector for Apache HBase connects to Apache HBase via the HBase REST (Stargate) server. Set the following to connect to Apache HBase:

• Server: The host name, IP address, or URL of the server hosting Apache HBase. If there are multiple nodes, use the host name, IP address, or URL of the machine running the REST (Stargate) server.
• Port: The port for the Apache HBase REST (Stargate) server.

Authenticating to Apache HBase

The CData Tableau Connector for Apache HBase supports the following authentication schemes:

• Anonymous
• Basic
• Negotiate (Kerberos)

Anonymous

By default, no authentication (alternatively known as "anonymous" authentication) is used. Set AuthScheme to None to explicitly enforce no authentication.

Basic

To use Basic authentication, set the following:

• AuthScheme: Set this to Basic.
• User: Set this to the Apache HBase user.
• Password: Set this to the Apache HBase password.

Kerberos

To authenticate to Apache HBase with Kerberos, set AuthScheme to NEGOTIATE.

Authenticating to Apache HBase via Kerberos requires you to define authentication properties and to choose how Kerberos should retrieve authentication tickets.

Retrieve Kerberos Tickets

Kerberos tickets are used to authenticate the requester's identity. The use of tickets instead of formal logins/passwords eliminates the need to store passwords locally or send them over a network. Users are reauthenticated (tickets are refreshed) whenever they log in at their local computer or enter kinit USER at the command prompt.

The connector provides three ways to retrieve the required Kerberos ticket, depending on whether or not the KRB5CCNAME and/or KerberosKeytabFile variables exist in your environment.

MIT Kerberos Credential Cache File

This option enables you to use the MIT Kerberos Ticket Manager or kinit command to get tickets. With this option there is no need to set the User or Password connection properties.

This option requires that KRB5CCNAME has been created in your system.

To enable ticket retrieval via MIT Cerberos Credential Cache Files:

1. Ensure that the KRB5CCNAME variable is present in your environment.
2. Set KRB5CCNAME to a path that points to your credential cache file. (For example, C:\krb_cache\krb5cc_0 or /tmp/krb5cc_0.) The credential cache file is created when you use the MIT Kerberos Ticket Manager to generate your ticket.
3. To obtain a ticket:
   1. Open the MIT Kerberos Ticket Manager application.
   2. Click Get Ticket.
   3. Enter your principal name and password.
   4. Click OK.

   If the ticket is successfully obtained, the ticket information appears in Kerberos Ticket Manager and is stored in the credential cache file.

The connector uses the cache file to obtain the Kerberos ticket to connect to Apache HBase.

Note: If you would prefer not to edit KRB5CCNAME, you can use the KerberosTicketCache property to set the file path manually. After this is set, the connector uses the specified cache file to obtain the Kerberos ticket to connect to Apache HBase.

Keytab File

If your environment lacks the KRB5CCNAME environment variable, you can retrieve a Kerberos ticket using a Keytab File.

To use this method, set the User property to the desired username, and set the KerberosKeytabFile property to a file path pointing to the keytab file associated with the user.

User and Password

If your environment lacks the KRB5CCNAME environment variable and the KerberosKeytabFile property has not been set, you can retrieve a ticket using a user and password combination.

To use this method, set the User and Password properties to the user/password combination that you use to authenticate with Apache HBase.

Enabling Cross-Realm Authentication

More complex Kerberos environments can require cross-realm authentication where multiple realms and KDC servers are used. For example, they might use one realm/KDC for user authentication, and another realm/KDC for obtaining the service ticket.

To enable this kind of cross-realm authentication, set the KerberosRealm and KerberosKDC properties to the values required for user authentication. Also, set the KerberosServiceRealm and KerberosServiceKDC properties to the values required to obtain the service ticket.

Next Step

See Using the Connector to create data visualizations.