Connect In-DB vs Input Data in Alteryx Server

[DrydenChicago]

Hi all,

While in Alteryx designer, I find that it's very flexible and quicker to use the "Connect In-DB" tool to connect to datamarts than the "Input Data" tool.  Now that we have Alteryx Server available, I was only able to use the "Input Data" tool to run in Alteryx Server but not for "Connect In-DB" tool.  Is anybody able to use "Connect In-DB" tool in Alteryx Server?  if so, what were the steps needed or there is a documentation on it somewhere I overlooked in Alteryx Community.

Sincerely,

Andy

[AkimasaKajitani]

Hi @DrydenChicago 

Please check this help.

https://help.alteryx.com/current/designer/database-overview

• To run workflows on Alteryx Server, the ODBC driver must be configured as a System DSN. For in-database processing, the Connection Type must be "System" in addition to the ODBC connection being configured as a System DSN.

[JoeL · Accepted solution]

Hi @DrydenChicago 

What you want to do is use the File option for configuring In-DB connections that you want to use on Server.

First off, configure your In-DB to have a file that describes the connection parameters, instead of User/System

Then, when saving your workflow to gallery, make sure this connection parameter file is selected to upload with your workflow to the server when saving:

That's all there is to it.

[DrydenChicago]

Thanks for the note and suggestion.  The only connection type I have is "File" and "User", not "System".  Not sure why but the other suggestion from Joel works.

[DrydenChicago]

Thanks JoeL!!  That was helpful!

[helpfultoaster]

You may need to run Designer as Administrator to get the System option to show in the dropdown

[Watermark]

Does that system DSN exist in older/all versions? Or was that something added at some point?

[Watermark]

Also, is it enough to have the admin version, or must you be running it  'as admin' ?

[caltang]

I’d like to revive this thread. Can anyone confirm if this helps in 2023?

[Mjohnce]

Yes, I have interest with my user community to see if using some sort of INDB connection could help alleviate the modules with the longer run times that query from a cloud database.