Connect In-DB Tool

The Connect In-DB tool creates an in-database connection in a workflow. Use the tool to connect to a new or existing connection.

In-Database enables blending and analysis against large sets of data without moving the data out of a database and can provide significant performance improvements over traditional analysis methods. For more about the In-Database tool category, see In-Database Overview.

Configure the tool

In the Configuration window, click the Connection Name drop-down arrow and selection an option:
- Manage Connections: Create a new connection or use an existing connection.
- Open File Connection: Browse to a saved database connection file.
Once the connection is configured, Table or Query displays the name of the selected database table.
(Optional) Click Query Builder to select tables and construct queries. See Choose Table or Specify Query Window.

Add a new In-DB connection

Click the Connection Name drop-down arrow and click Manage Connections.
Click Data Source and select a source. See In-Database Overview.

Generic ODBC Option

From the Connect In-DB tool, you can select the Generic ODBC option to attempt a connection to an unsupported data source. This option does not guarantee a successful connection to unsupported data sources; however, data sources that are similar to Microsoft SQL Server have the best chance of success.

Click Connection Type and select type.

User: Create a connection that only you can use.
System: Create a connection that can be shared. Open Alteryx Designer as an administrator on your computer. This option is only for Designer Admin.
File: Saves a database connection as an .indbc file so it can be packaged with a workflow. If this option is selected, a Connection File path location must be specified in order to save the file.

Click Connections and select an existing connection from the list, or click New.
In Connection Name, type a name for the connection.
Click Password Encryption and select an encryption option:

Hide: Hide the password using minimal encryption.
If you plan to schedule this workflow to run on any machine other than your computer, select Hide. See Schedule Workflows.
Encrypt for Machine: Any user on the computer will be able to fully use the workflow.
Encrypt for User: The logged in user can use the workflow on any computer.
Allow Decryption of Password: Decrypts the password and passes it in the metadata. This option is only used in conjunction with In-DB predictive tools.

On the Read tab, click Driver and select an option or leave as default.
Click the Connection String drop-down arrow and select New database connection. For Oracle OCI and SQL Server ODBC connections, you can alternately select a saved or recent data connection.

See ODBC and OLEDB Database Connections for more information on creating ODBC and OLEDB connections. See Supported Data Sources and File Formats for more information on a specific data platform.

Click the Write tab.
Click Driver and select a driver or leave as default.
In Connection String, type or paste a connection string. For Oracle OCI and SQL Server ODBC connections, you can alternately select a saved or recent data connection.

HDFS Connections

To connect to HDFS:

Click the Connection String drop-down arrow and select New HDFS Connection.
Select HTTPFS, WebHDFS, or Knox Gateway server configuration.
If you are using Knox Gateway with Spark, select Override default Namenode URL.
In Host, type the Hadoop server URL or IP address.
In Port, leave the default port number which is based your server configuration selection, or type a port number.
By default, URL is based on Host. Type a different URL, if desired.
By default, Temp Directory, is /tmp. Type a different location for the temporary directory to write to, if desired.
Type a user name in User Name and a password in Password. Required credentials vary based on the cluster setup.

httpfs: A user name is required, but it can be anything.
webhdfs: A user name is not required.
Knox Gateway: A user name and password are required.

Use a trusted certificate when configuring Knox authentication. Alteryx does not support self-signed certificates.

Click Kerberos and select an authentication option for reading and writing to HDFS.
- None: No authentication is used.
- Kerberos MIT: Alteryx will use the default MIT ticket to authenticate with the server. You must first acquire a valid ticket using the MIT Kerberos Ticket Manager.
- Kerberos SSPI: Alteryx will use Windows Kerberos keys for authentication, which are obtained when logging in to Windows with your Windows credentials. The User Name and Password fields are therefore not available.
(Spark-only) Select Override default Namenode URL to override the Namenode URL and enter a host and port number if using Knox Gateway, or if the namenode server is running on a different computer than the httpfs or webhdfs server.
(Recommended) Click Test to test the connection.
Click OK.

See Hadoop Distributed File System for more information.

See Manual Manual connection setup for more information on authentication requirements.

Click OK.
If you are connecting to a database with multiple tables the Choose Table or Specify Query window opens. Click the Tables tab. See Choose Table or Specify Query Window.
Select a table and click OK.

Use an existing In-DB connection

Click the Connection Name drop-down arrow and click Manage Connections.
Click Data Source and select a source.
Generic ODBC Option
From the Connect In-DB tool, you can select the Generic ODBC option to attempt a connection to an unsupported data source. This option does not guarantee a successful connection to unsupported data sources; however, data sources that are similar to Microsoft SQL Server have the best chance of success.
Click Connections and select an existing connection the list.
Click OK.

You can also edit connection details and click Apply. See Manage In-DB Connections for more on managing existing In-DB connections.

See Manage In-DB Connections to learn how to manage In-DB connections.