ConnectConnect to data sourcesMySQL

Connect to MySQL

View as Markdown

Sigma supports secure connections to MySQL (release 8.x and higher). MariaDB and other variants are not supported at this time.

This document explains how to connect your organization to a MySQL database.

For information about Sigma feature compatibility with MySQL connections, see Region, warehouse, and feature support.

Customers

Request access to this feature through your Account Representative.

Prospects

Request access to this feature through our Sales team.

Requirements

  • You must be assigned the Admin account type or an account type with the Manage connections feature permission enabled.
  • A MySQL account with READ privileges for the relevant databases and tables. If you are planning to upload CSV data, the account must have WRITE privileges.
  • Sigma supports MySQL version 8.0 and higher.
  • We recommend that you avoid granting excessive permissions to the account you use when connecting to your data store; for example, you do not require SYSADMIN-level access.
  • MySQL on Azure does not have named timezones by default, so you must load the timezone data into your MySQL database for Sigma to operate properly. Otherwise, you may have an error when setting up a connection. See Microsoft documentation on Populating the time zone tables. This is not an issue for MySQL on AWS or GCP.

Create a connection

Follow these basic steps to create a connection:

  1. Click the user icon at the top right of your screen. The user icon is usually composed of your initials.

  2. In the drop-down menu, select Add connection.

  3. The Add new connections page appears.

  4. In the Connection details, specify the following:

    NameEnter a Name for the new connection. Sigma displays this name in the connection list.
    TypeSelect MySQL.

  5. In the Connection Credentials section, specify the following:

    HostThe path to your database. This can be a URL, or an IP address.
    PortThe port that Sigma uses to connect to the host.
    The default port for MySQL is 3306.
    UserThe username, or account, for connecting to the MySQL data warehouse.
    For example, test.
    PasswordEnter the password that corresponds to the User on the MySQL account.
    To instead use a secret from your organization’s secret manager integration, turn the Use secret manager toggle on, then select your desired Secret manager and Secret.
    DatabaseThe name of the database you plan to query.
    Enable TLS(Optional) This switch enables or disables TLS encryption on your connection.
    Enabled by default.
    SSH Tunnel(Optional) This switch enables the SSH protocol for secure remote login. For details, see Connect through SSH.
    Disabled by default.
    If on, specify the Tunnel host and Tunnel port fields.
    Tunnel hostThe path to the tunnel server. This can be a URL, or an IP address.
    Appears only if SSH Tunnel is on.
    Tunnel portThe port where the tunnel connects.
    Appears only if SSH Tunnel is on.

  6. In the Connection Features section, specify the following:

    Connection timeoutThe time before timeout (or cancellation), in seconds, that Sigma waits for the query to return results.
    Default is 120, or 2 minutes.
    Maximum is 600, or 10 minutes.
    Use friendly namesThis toggle makes column names from the data source more readable.
    For example, a database column ORDER_NUMBER or OrderNumber appears as Order Number.
    On by default.

  7. In the Write Access section, decide if you require write access. See Set up write access.

    Enable write accessNecessary for CSV upload and Materialization.
    Off by default.
    If on, specify the Write schema field.
    Write schemaThe schema where Sigma writes tables.
    Appears only if Enable write access is on.

    When you designate a schema as the write access destination, Sigma reserves it for internal write-back objects and doesn’t expose it as a data source in the connection explorer (data catalog). To avoid restricting user access to analytical data, use a dedicated write-back database or schema that doesn’t store data used for analysis and reports.

  8. After you specify all the parameters of the connection, click Create.

    After you successfully create your connection, Sigma displays it on the screen.

  9. To verify your connection, click Browse Connection, and then explore the visible databases and tables.

  10. Click Add Permission to grant data access for users in your organization. See Data permissions.

  11. The new connection also appears in the list of connections you have in your account.