Import Snowflake Data into Microsoft Power Query



The CData API Server offers standards-based Web service endpoints that allow a variety of applications to access Snowflake data. In this article, you will use the OData format to import Snowflake data into Microsoft Power Query.

The API Server, when paired with the ADO.NET Provider for Snowflake (or any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers), enables you to use Web services to connect to and query Snowflake data. This article details how to import an OData feed of Snowflake data into Microsoft Power Query.

About Snowflake Data Integration

CData simplifies access and integration of live Snowflake data. Our customers leverage CData connectivity to:

  • Reads and write Snowflake data quickly and efficiently.
  • Dynamically obtain metadata for the specified Warehouse, Database, and Schema.
  • Authenticate in a variety of ways, including OAuth, OKTA, Azure AD, Azure Managed Service Identity, PingFederate, private key, and more.

Many CData users use CData solutions to access Snowflake from their preferred tools and applications, and replicate data from their disparate systems into Snowflake for comprehensive warehousing and analytics.

For more information on integrating Snowflake with CData solutions, refer to our blog: https://www.cdata.com/blog/snowflake-integrations.


Getting Started


Set Up the API Server

Follow the steps below to begin producing secure Snowflake OData services:

Deploy

The API Server runs on your own server. On Windows, you can deploy using the stand-alone server or IIS. On a Java servlet container, drop in the API Server WAR file. See the help documentation for more information and how-tos.

The API Server is also easy to deploy on Microsoft Azure, Amazon EC2, and Heroku.

Connect to Snowflake

After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for Snowflake, provide authentication values and other connection properties needed to connect to Snowflake by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console.

To connect to Snowflake:

  1. Set User and Password to your Snowflake credentials and set the AuthScheme property to PASSWORD or OKTA.
  2. Set URL to the URL of the Snowflake instance (i.e.: https://myaccount.snowflakecomputing.com).
  3. Set Warehouse to the Snowflake warehouse.
  4. (Optional) Set Account to your Snowflake account if your URL does not conform to the format above.
  5. (Optional) Set Database and Schema to restrict the tables and views exposed.

See the Getting Started guide in the CData driver documentation for more information.

You can then choose the Snowflake entities you want to allow the API Server access to by clicking Settings -> Resources.

Authorize API Server Users

After determining the OData services you want to produce, authorize users by clicking Settings -> Users. The API Server uses authtoken-based authentication and supports the major authentication schemes. Access can also be restricted based on IP address; by default, only connections to the local machine are allowed. You can authenticate as well as encrypt connections with SSL.

Connect to Snowflake Data from Power Query

Follow the steps below to import tables that can be refreshed on demand:

  1. Configure the API Server to use a version of the OData protocol that is recognized by Power Query. In the API Server administration console, click Settings -> Server and change the value of the Default Version property to 3.0.
  2. From the ribbon in Excel, click Power Query -> From Other Data Sources -> From OData Feed, and enter the OData URL:

    https://your-server:8032/api.rsc
  3. In the next step of the wizard, define authentication credentials and set privacy levels. Select Basic authentication and enter the credentials for a user authorized to make requests. Specify the Username field and enter the user's authtoken in the Password field.

    To change the authentication scheme that Power Query will use, click Power Query -> Data Source Settings. Select the OData feed from the list and then click Edit Credential. Select the privacy level from the menu on the Data Source Settings page.

  4. You can now access Snowflake data in Power Query. In the Navigator expand the node for the OData feed, right-click a table, and click Edit to open the Query Editor. This will display the table data.

Ready to get started?

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CData API Server