Ready to get started?

Download a free trial of the HDFS ODBC Driver to get started:

 Download Now

Learn more:

HDFS Icon HDFS ODBC Driver

The HDFS ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live data from HDFS, directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.

Access HDFS data like you would a database - read, write, and update HDFS HDFSData, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.

Access HDFS Data from MySQL in HeidiSQL



Use CData ODBC Driver and SQL Gateway to connect and query live HDFS data from HeidiSQL.

HeidiSQL is an open-source database administration tool that natively supports MariaDB, MySQL, SQL Server, and PostgreSQL. When paired with the CData ODBC Driver for HDFS and SQL Gateway, HediSQL's reach extends to include access to live HDFS data. This article demonstrates how to connect to on-premise HDFS and query HDFS data in HeidiSQL.

Connect to HDFS Data

If you have not already done so, provide values for the required connection properties in the data source name (DSN). You can use the built-in Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure the DSN. This is also the last step of the driver installation. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for a guide to using the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure a DSN.

In order to authenticate, set the following connection properties:

  • Host: Set this value to the host of your HDFS installation.
  • Port: Set this value to the port of your HDFS installation. Default port: 50070

When you configure the DSN, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

Configure the SQL Gateway

See the SQL Gateway Overview to set up connectivity to HDFS data as a virtual MySQL database. You will configure a MySQL remoting service that listens for MySQL requests from clients. The service can be configured in the SQL Gateway UI.

Creating a MySQL Remoting Service in SQL Gateway (Salesforce is shown)

To connect to the SQL Gateway from HeidiSQL, you will need to run the SQL Gateway on a web-facing machine. After configuring the SQL Gateway, make note of the following information:

  • The IP address or domain name of the machine hosting the SQL Gateway
  • The data source name (likely CData HDFS Sys) of the MySQL service
  • The port number of the MySQL service
  • The credentials of a SQL Gateway user with access to the service

Configure Remote Access

If your ODBC Driver and the remoting service are installed on-premise (and not accessible from HeidiSQL), you can use the reverse SSH tunneling feature to enable remote access. For detailed instructions, read our Knowledge Base article: SQL Gateway SSH Tunneling Capabilities.

Connect to HDFS in HeidiSQL

Once you have a MySQL Service configured for the CData ODBC Driver for HDFS, you are ready to connect to the data in HeidiSQL. Start by creating a new connection Session in HeidiSQL, then choose the MySQL library type.

Configure the data set using the values for the MySQL service for HDFS you configured in SQL Gateway (be sure to use the DSN for the database name). Validate your connection and click Open.



Query HDFS from HeidiSQL

  1. In the database listing on the left, find your connection to HDFS configured earlier.
  2. In the database listing on the left, expand the appropriate connection and to view individual tables or data objects present within HDFS.
  3. Write custom SQL queries targeting these tables, treating the data source like any SQL Server database, or visually explore each tabular data set by selecting the relevant tables

With the CData ODBC Driver for HDFS and SQL Gateway, you are able to easily query data from HDFS data in HeidiSQL. If you have any questions, such as needing to access your on-premises data from HeidiSQL, let our Support Team know.