Docs Menu
Docs Home
/
BI Connector

Launch BI Connector

On this page

  • Overview
  • Prerequisites
  • Launching mongosqld
  • Next Steps

Overview

mongosqld is the BI Connector program which connects your MongoDB instance to your BI tool. mongosqld requires a data schema which maps to your MongoDB collections and databases. You have several options for creating a schema and launching mongosqld. This guide will help you choose the best option for your needs.

By default, mongosqld generates a default data schema and stores it in memory. Alternatively, if you prefer to create a custom schema and edit it manually, use one of these two methods:

  • Use the mongodrdl program to create a custom .drdl schema file and then start mongosqld with the --schema option to point to this file.

  • If you previously uploaded a custom schema with the upload command, you must use the name-schema command to store the schema internally under the provided custom name. Then you can start mongosqld with --schemaSource, --schemaMode, and --schemaName options.

To learn more about creating a schema and data sampling, see Map Relational Schemas to MongoDB.

Prerequisites

Launching mongosqld

There are three options for launching and running mongosqld. You can:

  • Run mongosqld as a hosted service with MongoDB Atlas

  • Start mongosqld from the command line

  • Install mongosqld as a system service

Run BI Connector as a Hosted Service with MongoDB Atlas

You can host the MongoDB Connector for Business Intelligence in MongoDB Atlas. To learn how to enable and connect to an Atlas-hosted BI Connector, see Connect via BI Connector for Atlas.

Start mongosqld From the Command Line

You can use command line options to specify collections and databases to sample, user credentials, and other configuration options. For a complete list of command line options, see Command Line Options.

To start mongosqld from the command line, run the mongosqld executable in the BI Connector program directory with any necessary command line options.

The following example uses the --sampleNamespaces option to specify the books collection in the test database.

"C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Connector for BI\2.4\bin\mongosqld.exe" --sampleNamespaces test.books

The following example uses the --sampleNamespaces option to specify the books collection in the test database.

mongosqld --sampleNamespaces test.books

The following example uses the --sampleNamespaces option to specify the books collection in the test database.

mongosqld --sampleNamespaces test.books

The following example uses the --sampleNamespaces option to specify the books collection in the test database.

mongosqld --sampleNamespaces test.books

Note

mongosqld defaults to port 3307. You can set the port number manually by providing the --addr option with the host address and port.

mongosqld with a Configuration File

You can use a configuration file to hold all your mongosqld configuration options. Start mongosqld with the --config option to specify a configuration file.

"C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Connector for BI\2.4\bin\mongosqld.exe" --config <pathToConfigFile>\mongosqld.conf
mongosqld --config <pathToConfigFile>/mongosqld.conf
mongosqld --config <pathToConfigFile>/mongosqld.conf
mongosqld --config <pathToConfigFile>/mongosqld.conf

Install mongosqld as a System Service

BI Connector requires a configuration file with the mongosqld.systemLog.path setting specified when running as a system service. Using your preferred text editor, create a mongosqld.conf file. To review the configuration file options, see Configuration File. For example:

systemLog:
  path: 'C:\logs\mongosqld.log'
net:
  bindIp: '127.0.0.1'
  port: 3307

Note

All the file paths in your configuration file must be absolute and wrapped in single quotes. For example:

systemLog:
  path: 'C:\logs\mongosqld.log'

To install and run mongosqld as a system service, run the following commands:

"C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Connector for BI\2.4\bin\mongosqld.exe" install --config "<pathToConfigFile>\mongosqld.conf"
net start mongosql

Windows returns mongosql service installed if your installation succeeded.

systemLog:
  path: '/logs/mongosqld.log'
net:
  bindIp: '127.0.0.1'
  port: 3307

To install and run mongosqld as a system service, run the following commands:

mongosqld install --config <pathToConfigFile>/mongosqld.conf
launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/mongosql.plist
systemLog:
  path: '/logs/mongosqld.log'
net:
  bindIp: '127.0.0.1'
  port: 3307

To install and run mongosqld as a system service, run the following commands:

sudo mongosqld install --config <pathToConfigFile>/mongosqld.conf
sudo systemctl start mongosql.service

To enable the service so it starts automatically at boot time, run the following:

systemctl enable mongosql.service
systemLog:
  path: '/logs/mongosqld.log'
net:
  bindIp: '127.0.0.1'
  port: 3307

To install and run mongosqld as a system service, run the following commands:

sudo mongosqld install --config <pathToConfigFile>/mongosqld.conf
sudo systemctl start mongosql.service

To enable the service so it starts automatically at boot time, run the following:

systemctl enable mongosql.service

Next Steps

Once BI Connector is up and running, you are ready to begin using it with your preferred BI tool. See Connect BI Tools for a selected list of connection tutorials.