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Nekt has already helped you to ensure that your data, generated in different places, is organized all together. Now it’s time to connect this data to a visualization tool, where you can effectively generate meaningful visuals. If your choice is Power BI, we’ll establish this connection using an ODBC driver - a tool that will allow the data stored in the catalog to be loaded into Power BI. Here’s the guide to creating the connection.

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Requirements

  • Power BI installed.
    Make sure you have installed Power BI through the official website. If your application was installed through the Microsoft Store, it will be placed in a folder that prevents our custom connector from working.
  • A Power BI visualization created on Visualizations. You’ll need its identifier and token later on. Here’s how to generate it.

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1. Install ODBC driver

Since the data is in our catalog hosted on AWS, the driver to be used is the Amazon Athena ODBC 2.x. Access https://docs.aws.amazon.com/athena/latest/ug/odbc-v2-driver.html and, in the “Windows” section, click on the driver download link. Assuming the installation was successful, let’s move on to the next step.

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2. Download nekt.mez

The nekt.mez file is our connector for PowerBI. Please, download it by clicking on this link. As you have the file in your computer, move it to your local [Documents]\Microsoft Power BI Desktop\Custom Connectors folder. If the folder doesn’t exist, create it.
Sometimes the folder path might be a little different. Just make sure it is inside the Custom Connectors (inside Power BI folder).

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3. Configure the connection

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3.1. Make sure you have external extensions allowed

Go to File on the main menu. Then select Options and settings and finally Options. Finally, go to Security and in the Data Extensions section, make sure to select “Allow any extension to load without validation or warning”.

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3.2. Select Nekt’s connector

Considering your Power BI is already set to allow any extension without validation or warning, now open a new file in Power BI and click on Get Data. Look for Nekt as the data source option. Inform the Identifier of the visualization you have created on Nekt (probably something like power-bi-abcd). Click Ok. Inform the Visualization Token and click Connect. The available tables for that token will be available for you to add on your report. You can choose a subset or all of them and proceed normally on Power BI. There you go! Now your data is connected in Power BI and available for use. If you need to set up automatic updates for your data and reports, you’ll need to configure a gateway. Follow this documentation to learn how.
For further information, access the Custom Connectors documentation from Microsoft. Let us know through our chat if you face any blocker and we’ll be happy to help!

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4. Troubleshooting

Before investigating other problems, make sure you
  • Are using the most recent version of all applications you have to download
  • Have installed PowerBI through the official website, and not Microsoft Store