JDBC-ODBC Bridge Connector for Microsoft Fabric

JDBC-ODBC Bridge driver can be used to consume data from any JDBC Driver in non JAVA apps (i.e. Excel, Power BI, C#). Many apps written in C++ or .net (e.g. Excel, Power BI, Informatica) which don’t have direct support for using JAVA based JDBC driver technology.

In this article you will learn how to quickly and efficiently integrate JDBC-ODBC Bridge data in Microsoft Fabric without coding. We will use high-performance JDBC-ODBC Bridge Connector to easily connect to JDBC-ODBC Bridge and then access the data inside Microsoft Fabric.

Let's follow the steps below to see how we can accomplish that!

Download Documentation

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you meet the following prerequisite: Java Runtime Environment (JRE) or Java Development Kit (JDK) must be installed on your system.

If your JDBC Driver targets a different Java version (e.g., 11 / 17 / 21), install the corresponding or newer Java version.

If you already have a JRE installed, you can try using it too. However, if you experience any issues, we recommend using one of the distributions mentioned above (you can install an additional JRE next to the existing one; just don't forget to configure the default Java in the Windows Environment Variables).

Download your Java application JDBC driver

To connect to your Java application in , you will have to download JDBC driver for it, which we will use in later steps. Let's perform these little steps right away:

  1. Visit your Java application website or MVN Repository.
  2. Download the JDBC driver, and save it locally, e.g. to D:\Drivers\JDBC\app-jdbc.jar.
  3. Done! That was easy, wasn't it? Let's proceed to the next step.

Create ODBC Data Source (DSN) based on ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver

Step-by-step instructions

To get data from JDBC-ODBC Bridge using Microsoft Fabric we first need to create a DSN (Data Source) which will access data from JDBC-ODBC Bridge. We will later be able to read data using Microsoft Fabric. Perform these steps:

  1. Download and install ODBC PowerPack.

  2. Open ODBC Data Sources (x64):

    Open ODBC Data Source
  3. Create a User data source (User DSN) based on ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver:

    ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver
    Create new User DSN for ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver
    • Create and use User DSN if the client application is run under a User Account. This is an ideal option in design-time, when developing a solution, e.g. in Visual Studio 2019. Use it for both type of applications - 64-bit and 32-bit.
    • Create and use System DSN if the client application is launched under a System Account, e.g. as a Windows Service. Usually, this is an ideal option to use in a production environment. Use ODBC Data Source Administrator (32-bit), instead of 64-bit version, if Windows Service is a 32-bit application.
  4. Now, we need to configure the JDBC connection in the new ODBC data source. Simply enter the Connection string, credentials, configure other settings, and then click Test Connection button to test the connection:

    JdbcOdbcBridgeDSN
    jdbc:exampleApp://app-service-host-name.com:1234
    com.provider.exampleApp.jdbc.AppDriver
    D:\Drivers\JDBC\app-jdbc.jar
    admin
    *************
    [{"Name":"AppParameter","Value":"12345"}]
    JDBC-ODBC Bridge driver data source settings

    Use these values when setting parameters:

    • Connection string: jdbc:exampleApp://app-service-host-name.com:1234
    • Driver class: com.provider.exampleApp.jdbc.AppDriver
    • JDBC driver file(s): D:\Drivers\JDBC\app-jdbc.jar
    • User name: admin
    • User password: *************
    • Connection parameters: [{"Name":"AppParameter","Value":"12345"}]

  5. You should see a message saying that connection test is successful:

    ODBC connection test is successful

    Otherwise, if you are getting an error, check out our Community for troubleshooting tips.

  6. We are at the point where we can preview a SQL query. For more SQL query examples visit JDBC Bridge documentation:

    JdbcOdbcBridgeDSN
    SELECT * FROM orders
    JDBC ODBC Bridge data source preview
    SELECT * FROM orders
    You can also click on the <Select Table> dropdown and select a table from the list.

    The ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver acts as a transparent intermediary, passing SQL queries directly to the JDBC driver, which then handles the query execution. This means the Bridge Driver simply relays the SQL query without altering it.

    Some JDBC drivers don't support INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE statements, so you may get an error saying "action is not supported" or a similar one. Please, be aware, this is not the limitation of ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver, but is a limitation of the specific JDBC driver you are using.

  7. Click OK to finish creating the data source.

Video Tutorial

Installing Microsoft On-premises data gateway

To access and read JDBC-ODBC Bridge data in Microsoft Fabric, you will have to download and install Microsoft On-premises data gateway.

There are two types of On-premises data gateways:

  • Standard Mode
  • Personal Mode

Standard Mode supports Power BI and other Microsoft Data Fabric services. It fits perfectly for Enterprise solutions as it installs as a Windows Service and also supports Direct Query feature.

Personal Mode, on the other hand, can be configured faster, but is designed more for home users (you cannot install it as a Windows Service and it does not support DirectQuery). You will find a detailed comparison in the link above.

We recommend to go with Personal Mode for a quick POC solution, but use Standard Mode in production environment. You can download On-premises data gateway straight from Microsoft Data Fabric or Power BI web app:

Download Power BI On-premises data gateway

Standard mode

Follow these steps how to configure On-premises data gateway in Standard mode:

  1. Install On-premises data gateway (standard mode) and sign-in:

    Signing in into on-premises data gateway standard
    Use the same email address you use when logging in into your account.
  2. Register a new gateway (or migrate an existing one):

    Registering or migrating on-premises data gateway standard
  3. If you are creating a new gateway, name your gateway, enter a Recovery key, and click Configure button:

    Naming on-premises data gateway standard
  4. Once Microsoft gateway is installed, check if it registered correctly:

    • Go back to Microsoft Fabric portal

    • Click Gear icon on top-right

    • And then hit Manage connections and gateways menu item

    Manage On-premise data gateways in Microsoft Fabric or Power BI
  5. Continue by clicking On-premises data gateway tab and select Standard mode gateways option from the dropdown:

    Access On-premises data gateway list (Standard mode) in Microsoft Fabric

    If your gateway is not listed, the registration may have failed. To resolve this:

    • Wait a couple of minutes and refresh Microsoft Fabric portal page
    • Restart the machine where On-premises data gateway is installed
    • Check firewall settings
  6. Done!

Now we are ready to read data in Microsoft Fabric.

Personal mode

Follow this single step to configure On-premises data gateway in Personal mode:

  1. Install On-premises data gateway (personal mode) and sign-in:

    Sign-in to On-premises data gateway personal
    Use the same email address you use when logging in into your account.
  2. Once Microsoft gateway is installed, check if it registered correctly:

    • Go back to Microsoft Fabric portal

    • Click Gear icon on top-right

    • And then hit Manage connections and gateways menu item

    Manage On-premise data gateways in Microsoft Fabric or Power BI
  3. Continue by clicking On-premises data gateway tab and select Personal mode option from the dropdown:

    Access On-premises data gateway list (Personal mode) in Microsoft Fabric

    If your gateway is not listed, the registration may have failed. To resolve this:

    • Wait a couple of minutes and refresh Microsoft Fabric portal page
    • Restart the machine where On-premises data gateway is installed
    • Check firewall settings
  4. Done!

Now we are ready to read data in Microsoft Fabric.

Loading JDBC-ODBC Bridge data into Microsoft Fabric

We created ODBC data source and installed Microsoft On-premises data gateway, and we are ready to load the data into Microsoft Fabric.

Let's roll!

  1. Log in to the Microsoft Fabric Portal.

  2. Select an existing Workspace or create a new one by clicking New workspace (make sure you are in Home section):

    Create a new workspace in Microsoft Fabric for a Copy job
  3. Inside your workspace, click the New item button in the toolbar to start creating your data pipeline:

    Create new item in Microsoft Fabric workspace
  4. In the item selection window, choose Copy job to open the data ingestion wizard:

    Add Copy job to Microsoft Fabric workspace
  5. In the Choose data source screen, search for odbc and select the Odbc source:

    Choose ODBC as the data source in Microsoft Fabric Copy job
  6. Then enter your ODBC connection string (DSN=JdbcOdbcBridgeDSN) and select MyGateway from the Data gateway dropdown we configured in the previous step:

    DSN=JdbcOdbcBridgeDSN
    DSN=JdbcOdbcBridgeDSN
    Configure ODBC connection string in Microsoft Fabric Copy job
  7. Select the table(s) and preview the data you wish to copy from JDBC-ODBC Bridge. Once done, click Next:

    DSN=JdbcOdbcBridgeDSN
    Selecting tables to copy in Microsoft Fabric Copy Job
  8. Choose your Data Destination. You can create a New Fabric item (like a Lakehouse or Warehouse) or select an existing one:

    Choose data destination in Microsoft Fabric Copy job
    As an example, we will be using Lakehouse as destination type in this article
  9. Choose Full copy to load all data or Incremental copy if you want to load only changed data in subsequent runs:

    Select copy mode in Microsoft Fabric Copy job (Full vs Incremental)
  10. Review the Column and Table mappings section:

    Map source tables and columns to destination in Microsoft Fabric Copy job
  11. On the summary screen, review your settings. You can optionally enable Run on schedule. Click Save + Run to execute the job:

    DSN=JdbcOdbcBridgeDSN
    DSN=JdbcOdbcBridgeDSN
    Save and run the Copy job in Microsoft Fabric
  12. The job will enter the queue. Monitor the Status column to see the progress:

    DSN=JdbcOdbcBridgeDSN
    Monitor the status of the Microsoft Fabric Copy job
  13. Wait for the status to change to Succeeded. Your JDBC-ODBC Bridge data is now successfully integrated into Microsoft Fabric!

    Verify Microsoft Fabric Copy job success status
  14. Let's go to our Lakehouse MyLakehouse and double-check if it's true:

    Load data into Microsoft Fabric Lakehouse
  15. It's true, done!

Centralized data access via Data Gateway

In some situations, you may need to provide JDBC-ODBC Bridge data access to multiple users or services. Configuring the data source on a Data Gateway creates a single, centralized connection point for this purpose.

This configuration provides two primary advantages:

  • Centralized data access
    The data source is configured once on the gateway, eliminating the need to set it up individually on each user's machine or application. This significantly simplifies the management process.
  • Centralized access control
    Since all connections route through the gateway, access can be governed or revoked from a single location for all users.
Data Gateway
Local ODBC
data source
Simple configuration
Installation Single machine Per machine
Connectivity Local and remote Local only
Connections limit Limited by License Unlimited
Central data access
Central access control
More flexible cost

If you need any of these requirements, you will have to create a data source in Data Gateway to connect to JDBC-ODBC Bridge, and to create an ODBC data source to connect to Data Gateway in Microsoft Fabric.

Let's not wait and get going!

Creating JDBC-ODBC Bridge data source in Gateway

In this section we will create a data source for JDBC-ODBC Bridge in Data Gateway. Let's follow these steps to accomplish that:

  1. Search for gateway in Windows Start Menu and open ZappySys Data Gateway Configuration:

    Opening Data Gateway
  2. Go to Users tab and follow these steps to add a Data Gateway user:

    • Click Add button
    • In Login field enter username, e.g., john
    • Then enter a Password
    • Check Is Administrator checkbox
    • Click OK to save
    Data Gateway - Adding User
  3. Now we are ready to add a data source:

    • Click Add button
    • Give Datasource a name (have it handy for later)
    • Then select Native - ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver
    • Finally, click OK
    JdbcOdbcBridgeDSN
    ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver
    Data Gateway - Adding data source
  4. When the ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver configuration window opens, configure the Data Source the same way you configured it in ODBC Data Sources (64-bit), in the beginning of this article.

  5. Very important step. Now, after creating or modifying the data source make sure you:

    • Click the Save button to persist your changes.
    • Hit Yes, once asked if you want to restart the Data Gateway service.

    This will ensure all changes are properly applied:

    ZappySys Data Gateway - Save Changes
    Skipping this step may result in the new settings not taking effect and, therefore you will not be able to connect to the data source.

Creating ODBC data source for Data Gateway

In this part we will create ODBC data source to connect to Data Gateway from Microsoft Fabric. To achieve that, let's perform these steps:

  1. Open ODBC Data Sources (x64):

    Open ODBC Data Source
  2. Create a User data source (User DSN) based on ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server:

    ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server
    Create new User DSN for ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server
    If you don't see ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server driver in the list, choose a similar version driver.
  3. Then set a Name of the data source (e.g. Gateway) and the address of the Data Gateway:

    GatewayDSN
    localhost,5000
    ODBC driver for SQL Server - Setting hostname and port
    Make sure you separate the hostname and port with a comma, e.g. localhost,5000.
  4. Proceed with authentication part:

    • Select SQL Server authentication
    • In Login ID field enter the user name you used in Data Gateway, e.g., john
    • Set Password to the one you configured in Data Gateway
    ODBC driver for SQL Server - Selecting SQL Authentication
  5. Then set the default database property to JdbcOdbcBridgeDSN (the one we used in Data Gateway):

    JdbcOdbcBridgeDSN
    ODBC driver for SQL Server - Selecting database
  6. Continue by checking Trust server certificate option:

    ODBC driver for SQL Server - Trusting certificate
  7. Once you do that, test the connection:

    ODBC driver for SQL Server - Testing connection
  8. If connection is successful, everything is good:

    ODBC driver for SQL Server - Testing connection succeeded
  9. Done!

We are ready to move to the final step. Let's do it!

Accessing data in Microsoft Fabric via Data Gateway

Finally, we are ready to read data from JDBC-ODBC Bridge in Microsoft Fabric via Data Gateway. Follow these final steps:

  1. Go back to Microsoft Fabric.

  2. In the Choose data source screen, search for odbc and select the Odbc source:

    Choose ODBC as the data source in Microsoft Fabric Copy job
  3. Then enter your ODBC connection string (DSN=GatewayDSN) and select MyGateway from the Data gateway dropdown we configured in the previous step:

    DSN=GatewayDSN
    DSN=GatewayDSN
    Configure ODBC connection string in Microsoft Fabric Copy job
  4. Read the data the same way we discussed at the beginning of this article.

  5. That's it!

Now you can connect to JDBC-ODBC Bridge data in Microsoft Fabric via the Data Gateway.

If you are asked for authentication details, use Database authentication or SQL Authentication option and enter credentials you used when configuring Data Gateway, e.g. john and your password.

Troubleshooters & resources (JDBC Bridge Driver)

Below are some useful community articles to help you troubleshoot and configure the ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver:

Conclusion

In this article we showed you how to connect to JDBC-ODBC Bridge in Microsoft Fabric and integrate data without any coding, saving you time and effort. ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver allows you to connect to any Java application that supports JDBC.

We encourage you to download JDBC-ODBC Bridge Connector for Microsoft Fabric and see how easy it is to use it for yourself or your team.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact ZappySys support team. You can also open a live chat immediately by clicking on the chat icon below.

Download JDBC-ODBC Bridge Connector for Microsoft Fabric Documentation

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