Are you a passionate data professional exploring new tools? Try Metabase, an open-source Business Intelligence (BI) tool for creating interactive dashboards from large datasets. In today’s data-driven world, BI platforms like Metabase are essential for extracting insights and facilitating informed decision-making. Discover the power of Metabase in this guide tailored for data professionals.
This article was published as a part of the Data Science Blogathon.
Metabase, a business intelligence tool, can be hosted on the cloud or on-premise. It comes in open-source and Enterprise Edition. Utilizing Metabase BI, users can efficiently connect to various databases, analyze data, and rapidly build and deploy dashboards. The open-source edition offers a range of features, including connectivity to 15+ DBMS, user and group management, interactive dashboarding, alerting, subscription of dashboards, and support for CRUD operations. This article elucidates the key concepts and useful features of the Metabase BI tool.
This guide focuses on discussing Metabase, which offers both Open-Source (AGPL) and Enterprise Tier licenses, with a specific emphasis on its application in a Windows environment. The latest version, V0.48 (as of Dec ’23), distributes as a Java Archive file (Jar), requiring Java 11 or higher as a prerequisite for running the latest Metabase versions. The article provides insights into the installation process and highlights key features of Metabase’s open-source edition.
Download the Metabase Open-source version from the Metabase GitHub repository. Obtain the latest version of Metabase.Jar here.
Place the downloaded Metabase.Jar file in a folder and just double click Jar file for Metabase to start up.
Or
Using Command prompt to run Metbase.Jar. Navigate to directory where Metabase.Jar is present and run “Java -jar Metabase.Jar”
Example: Considering Metabase.jar file is present in folder “C:\Users\Tools\”. Command for the same be below:
C:\Users\Tools> Java -jar Metabase.Jar
You can watch for the Metabase logs as it starts up. Wait for few minutes and Log into url using any of popular web browser.
Note: Metabase, by default, utilizes the H2 Embedded Database as the application DB. For production, configure Metabase with one of the three databases (MySql, PostgreSQL, or MariaDB).
Metabase is a popular business intelligence tool that is widely used across various industries. It provides valuable insights into business performance and aids in data visualization. However, like any tool, it has its strengths and weaknesses. Here’s an overview of the pros and cons of Metabase:
Metabase is a powerful tool for businesses looking to gain insights from their data. Its ease of use and flexibility make it a popular choice. However, for more complex analyses, users might need to consider other options.
Business Intelligence (BI) tools are essential for businesses to make data-driven decisions. Among the various BI tools available, Metabase has gained popularity due to its user-friendly interface and powerful features. However, there are other BI tools in the market that offer different capabilities. In this article, we will compare Metabase with some of these tools.
Metabase is an open-source BI tool that allows users to create and share interactive data visualizations and dashboards. It connects with a broad range of data sources, including SQL databases, Google Analytics, and Salesforce. Users can create custom queries using a simple click interface or write SQL queries directly within Metabase.
Pros
Power BI is a powerful business analytics tool developed by Microsoft. It allows users to visualize and analyze data from various sources to make informed decisions.
Pros
Tableau is another powerful BI tool that is widely recognized for its capabilities. It helps organizations unlock valuable insights from their data.
Pros
While Metabase, Power BI, and Tableau all offer powerful features for data visualization and analysis, the choice between them depends on your specific needs and requirements. It’s important to consider factors such as ease of use, data source compatibility, and the level of analysis required when choosing a BI tool.
For the First Time Metabase prompts options for Initial setup (Language preference, User ID and password setup and DataSource setup). After Setup is complete, you can see the Home Screen of Metabase.
Collection in Metabase is where the Questions, Models & Dashboards are stored. Collections is equivalent to folder, you can create sub-folders in it.
Every User will have a specific Personal Collection where the user can store their Questions, Models & Dashboards. Contents stored in Personal Collection is not accessible to other users.
A single Metabase instance can serve multiple projects. Each project’s contents can be stored in a dedicated collection, accessible only to specific project users.
A New Collection can be created from option New >> Collection
Note : Metabase Admins have full rights to View ,Modify and Archive contents in every collection including users personal collections.
Term “Question” in Metabase refers to an Individual Visual element. It can be a Bar chart or Line Chart or Map Chart or anyone of 17 supported Chart in Metabase. You can create questions in the following ways:
In the Top Right, click on option “New” >> “Question”, then pick the DataSource you wish to Explore
The Visual Query Builder supports Joins, creation of new columns, Filtering, Summary, Group by, Sorting, and Row Limit operations. You can preview the results after each operation.
Note : Metabase at the backend will frame SQL for every question.
If the options in the Summary editor don’t meet your requirements, you can edit the question and modify the SQL according to business needs. This process is termed as “SQL Question,” where the user-provided SQL is converted into a question. You can create a new SQL Question by selecting “New” >> “SQL Query.”
Once you create a question, save it to a collection and add it to the dashboard.
A dashboard is a page that groups multiple questions with a common business context.
Arrange the necessary questions in the Dashboard Tab, and add interactivity by configuring filters and click behavior.
Add one or more filters to a dashboard. Configure each filter in the dashboard to control one or more questions. After adding a filter, map it to each question on the dashboard. In the backend, Metabase adds a WHERE clause in the SQL.
“Click Behaviour” refers to an operation performed when a user selects or clicks a portion or segment of a visual while viewing a dashboard.
Example: You can configure Click Behaviour for selecting a bar segment in a bar chart or clicking a region in a world map. It can be configured in each question.
You can access this option in Top Right corner of every question when dashboard is in edit mode.
Once you create and store a dashboard in a collection, any users with “View” permission can access it. A dashboard or question can be accessed directly via its URL.
Other Notable Features
By default, the user who sets up Metabase initially receives admin permissions. Default Admin can further add other users and provide them Admin Role if necessary. Metabase admin options from “Admin Settings” by clicking the “gear icon” in the top right corner.
Metabase Admin have rights to configure new Data Source under “Databases” options in Admin Settings.
Below are possible operation that can be performed in Admin Setting under “People” option:
Note : A user can be Mapped to one or more Metabase Groups.
While “People” option is for managing users and their Group , “Permissions” options under Admin setting is for managing permission between Collection, Groups & Database.
Under the sub-option “Collections”. Below are different Permission level that a Group can be mapped into collection.
Various permission levels for mapping a group to a database include:
Metabase’s simplicity and intuitive UI make it an easily adaptable BI tool for data professionals. The open-source edition of Metabase includes all the essential functions of a business intelligence tool, with new features added in each major release. Organizations can initially try and adapt to the open-source edition of Metabase. As needs and user bases grow, users can comfortably switch to any of the enterprise editions that Metabase offers. This article aims to provide an overview and highlight key components of Metabase. Future articles will delve into other interesting and useful features of Metabase.
A. Yes, Metabase offers a free and open-source version with essential business intelligence features for data analysis and dashboard creation.
A. Metabase is an open-source Business Intelligence (BI) tool designed for connecting to databases, analyzing data, and building interactive dashboards.
A. Yes, Metabase is open-source, providing users with free access to its BI functionalities, user and group management, and interactive dashboard features.
A. Indeed, Metabase serves as a data visualization tool, allowing users to create visuals like charts and graphs to gain insights from their datasets.
A. Choosing the right business intelligence tool depends on specific needs. Metabase offers simplicity and ease of use for smaller businesses, while more robust platforms like Tableau or Power BI suit larger enterprises with complex analytics requirements.
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