Visualizing data with Metabase

Tutorials
, ,
1

This tutorial introduces Metabase, a visualization tool that can help you analyze and use your data to its full potential.

Prerequisites

First, you will need a running cluster. You can use Metabase with both Cloud clusters and Edge clusters.

To use Metabase, you must have an existing data set in your CrateDB cluster. Feel free to use the sample dataset available in the Cloud Console or import your own data similarly to how it’s done in this how-to.

Initial configuration

Metabase offers both cloud version and local installation. E.g.

podman run -d -p 3000:3000 --name metabase docker.io/metabase/metabase:v0.47.13

Whichever you choose, the first step will be adding your CrateDB cluster as a new database. To do that, go to the Admin Settings → Setup, and choose the Add a database option.

image
image1920×907 46.2 KB

Database configuration is relatively simple, these are the necessary fields:

  • Database type (PostgreSQL)
  • Display name
  • Host (the URI of your cluster)
  • Database name
  • Username
  • Password

Make sure you also select “Use a secure connection (SSL)” option, unless your cluster is not configured for SSL.

image
image3022×1428 138 KB

After submitting your details, Metabase will sync with your CrateDB cluster for a few moments. When that completes, you will get a message saying, “Syncing complete”.

image
image3022×1428 100 KB

Questions

Now you are ready to visualize your data. Metabase works by asking questions. You ask a question, and Metabase answers it in a visual form. These questions can then be saved to form dashboards. To ask a question, go to Home and click on New → Question in the upper right corner. Then select the database and a table from it.

As an example, we ask about the Average tip amount, sorted by the passenger count.

image
image3022×1428 132 KB

Metabase then provides a visualization of that question.

image
image3022×1430 157 KB

The answer that you get can be saved. When you save a question, you will also be asked if you want to add it to a dashboard. Dashboards provide an easy way to monitor your data.

image
image3018×1352 189 KB

Conclusion

This was an introductory tutorial into the data visualization tool Metabase. Metabase offers a quick and intuitive way to make sense of your data with interactive dashboards, automated reporting, and more.

If you’d like to see how the other questions were configured, feel free to check out our video tutorial on this topic.

If this integration could benefit you, feel free to head to Cloud Console and get started!