ODBC: Configure OSX/Mac Access

2024-03-29

This topic is under construction for the 24.3 (March 2024) release of LabKey Server. For current documentation of this feature, click here.

Premium Feature — Available in the Professional and Enterprise Editions of LabKey Server. Learn more or contact LabKey.

An ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) Connection exposes the LabKey schema and queries as a data source to external clients for analysis and reporting. This enables users to continue outside tools they may already be using with data stored in LabKey.

Note: At this time, only commercial ODBC drivers can be used for using Excel from OSX. Learn more in this support topic on the Microsoft support site:

An administrator must already have enabled ODBC connections on LabKey Server following this topic:

Topics

View ODBC Access Settings

To confirm that configuration has been completed, and obtain the relevant settings to use when setting up your driver, users can select (username) > External Tool Access.

If you will be using a secure ODBC connection, you will need to download and install the SSL certificate from this page and install it on your local machine.

Obtain and Install an ODBC Driver

While the free PostgreSQL ODBC driver can successfully be used from Windows, you must currently use a commercial ODBC driver on a Mac.

Obtain and install the driver of your choice.

Create a Data Source Name (DSN)

Follow the instructions provided with the driver you choose to configure and define the connection. You will define a Data Source Name (DSN), typically providing information like the server, port, "database" (i.e. the container path within LabKey Server), user/password, etc. The method may vary with different commercial drivers, and the names of fields can differ. Values provided in the ODBC Access panel of the LabKey UI will help you find the values to use here.

For example, depending on the driver, you might see and test settings from a Connection tab as shown here:

Access Data from External Tools

To access your LabKey data from supported external tools, you'll configure the tool to read the data across the DSN you configured. The specific menu options to use will vary by tool.

Learn more about specific supported integrations in this topic:

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