Configure Alation DB

Alation DB is a feature of Alation that gives you access to query a curated subset of the database that backs the Alation server. This allows you to answer questions about how people at your organization are using Alation DB.

To configure Alation DB:

1. Confirm an admin username for the Alation user who will own the Alation DB data source.

2. Choose a password. This password will be used to run queries on the Alation DB under the username alation_db. Make it something you feel comfortable sharing with others who will be using Alation DB.

3. Enter the Alation shell to do the configuration.

   sudo /etc/init.d/alation shell
   

4. Become the Alation user:

   sudo su alation
   

5. Run the following management command to initialize Alation DB.

   cd /opt/alation/django
   python manage.py initialize_alation_db -u username
   

   You must pass it a username of an Alation admin user that it can make the owner of the objects in Alation DB. You will be prompted for the password.

To query Alation DB, you must have Admin privileges.

To run a query in Compose, enter alation_db as the username and the password set during the configuration, in the credentials screen.