Power BI icon Power BI is a business analytics platform by Microsoft that enables users to visualize data, create interactive reports, and share insights across their organization. By integrating Power BI with Firebolt, you can leverage Firebolt’s high-performance analytics capabilities to visualize and analyze large datasets efficiently. This guide shows you how to set up your Firebolt account to integrate with Power BI Desktop using a custom ODBC driver.

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Prerequisites

Before connecting Power BI to Firebolt, ensure you have:
  • Power BI Desktop – Download and install from the Power BI Desktop download page.
  • Firebolt account – An active Firebolt account. If you don’t have one, sign up.
  • Firebolt database and table – A Firebolt database with data ready for visualization. If needed, create a database and load data into it.
  • Firebolt service account – An active Firebolt service account with its ID and secret.
  • Firebolt user – A user associated with your service account, having USAGE permission to query your database and OPERATE permission to start and stop an engine.

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Install the Firebolt ODBC driver

  1. Download the ODBC driver for your system architecture Windows x64 or Windows x32/x86.
  2. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the installation.

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Install the Firebolt Power BI Connector

Follow these instructions if you have administrator access to your computer or are able to modify the registry. This is the most secure way. Otherwise, follow the unsigned guide below.
  1. Download the latest Firebolt Power BI connector (Firebolt.pqx) from the Firebolt Power BI Connector GitHub repository.
  2. Place the downloaded .pqx file into the Documents\Power BI Desktop\Custom Connectors directory in your Windows operating system. If the folder does not exist - create it.
  3. Open the registry editor from the Start menu or by pressing Windows + R, typing regedit and pressing enter.
  4. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Power BI Desktop, creating the path if it does not exist.
  5. Add a new value under this path. The type should be Multi-String Value: REG_MULTI_SZ. It should be called TrustedCertificateThumbprints.
  6. Right-click the key, then select Modify and add the following value - C838876B92BB2C62AB228A6DFDEF24F72CA46193.
  7. Save the value.
You can now proceed to Firebolt connection configuration step.

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Option 2: Using the unsigned connector

Suitable if you don’t have access to the Windows registry. Requires Power BI security settings modification. Only use if following the steps above is not possible.
  1. Download the latest Firebolt Power BI connector (Firebolt.mez) from the Firebolt Power BI Connector GitHub repository.
  2. Place the downloaded .mez file into the Documents\Power BI Desktop\Custom Connectors directory in your Windows operating system. If the folder does not exist - create it.
  3. Restart Power BI Desktop to ensure the connector is loaded correctly.
  4. In Power BI Desktop, go to File > Options and settings > Options > Security, and under Data Extensions, select Allow any extension to load without validation or warning. Click OK to apply the changes. (This step is necessary because custom connectors are not signed by Microsoft and Power BI Desktop blocks unsigned connectors by default for security reasons.)

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Configure the Firebolt connection in Power BI

  1. Open Power BI Desktop.
  2. Select Get data from the Home ribbon.
  3. Search for and select Firebolt from the list of available data sources.
  4. In the first stage of the connection setup, enter the following parameters:
    • Account: The name of your Firebolt account.
    • Database: The name of the Firebolt database you want to connect to.
    • Engine Name: The name of the Firebolt engine to run queries.
    • Data Connectivity Mode: Choose between Import or DirectQuery mode based on your use case:
      • Import Mode: Data is imported into Power BI and stored in-memory for faster performance. This mode is ideal for smaller datasets or scenarios where real-time updates are not required.
      • DirectQuery Mode: Queries are sent directly to Firebolt in real-time, ensuring that the latest data is always used. This mode is suitable for large datasets or when up-to-date data is critical.
    Click Next to proceed.
  5. In the second stage, enter your Firebolt credentials:
    • Client ID: The ID of your Firebolt service account.
    • Client Secret: The secret for your Firebolt service account.
    Click Connect to establish the connection.
  6. Once connected, you will see a list of available tables in the Navigator pane. Select the tables you want to visualize and click Load to import the data into Power BI.

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Select and visualize data in Power BI

After connecting successfully, you can select and visualize data from Firebolt:
  1. In the Navigator pane, select the tables you want to visualize.
  2. Click Load to import data into Power BI.
  3. Once loaded, use Power BI’s visualization tools to create charts and dashboards. For more information, see Power BI’s Create reports documentation.

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Limitations

  • The Firebolt ODBC driver currently supports Power BI Desktop only. Power BI Service (cloud) is not supported.
  • Changing the database or engine requires creating a new ODBC connection.

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Additional resources