Configure Metadata Extraction

Alation Cloud Service Applies to Alation Cloud Service instances of Alation

Metadata extraction (MDE) fetches information about Fabric workspaces, lakehouses, and warehouses and catalogs them in Alation.

You can initiate MDE on demand or schedule it for regular catalog updates.

On the Settings page of your Fabric source, go to the Metadata Extraction tab and perform these steps to configure MDE:

Test Access and Fetch Workspaces

Before fetching workspaces for extraction, ensure that the service principal has the necessary permissions and workspace access. For details, see Prerequisites.

  1. On the Metadata Extraction tab, go to the Step 1: Test access and fetch workspaces section.

  2. Click Test access and fetch workspaces.

    The connector runs preflight checks to verify that the service principal can authenticate and access Fabric workspaces.

  3. If the checks pass, the list of accessible workspaces is fetched and displayed in the next section.

  4. If a check fails, see Troubleshooting for resolution steps.

Select Workspaces for Extraction

After workspaces are fetched, select which workspaces to include in metadata extraction.

  1. In the Step 2: Select workspaces for extraction section, review the list of available workspaces.

  2. Select the workspaces you want to extract metadata from.

Note

Alation recommends selecting specific workspaces for extraction rather than extracting all workspaces. This ensures metadata is retrieved only for the chosen workspaces, making the process faster and more resource-efficient.

Run Extraction

After selecting workspaces, configure and run the extraction job.

  1. In the Step 3: Run Extraction section, you can:

    • Click Run Extraction to start an on-demand extraction.

    • Configure a schedule for automatic extraction at regular intervals.

  2. During extraction, the connector:

    • Lists all lakehouses and warehouses in each selected workspace.

    • Catalogs workspaces, lakehouses, and warehouses as assets with their properties.

    • Catalogs Lakehouse and Warehouse schemas, tables, and columns.

  3. Monitor extraction progress in the Job History section.