MSSQL Hybrid Runner

• Remote Connection
• Requirements
• Metadata Ingestion
• Query Usage
• Data Profiler
• Data Quality
• Lineage
• dbt Integration
• Troubleshooting
• Reverse Metadata

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Requirements

-- Create a new user
-- More details https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/t-sql/statements/create-user-transact-sql?view=sql-server-ver16
CREATE USER Mary WITH PASSWORD = '********';
-- Grant SELECT on table
GRANT SELECT TO Mary;

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View Definitions

-- Database-level: grant to the database user, in every database you ingest
GRANT VIEW DEFINITION TO Mary;
-- Or server-level: grant to the login (not the contained user) to cover all databases
GRANT VIEW ANY DEFINITION TO [login_name];

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Usage and Lineage Considerations

SELECT actual_state_desc, query_capture_mode_desc, size_based_cleanup_mode_desc
FROM sys.database_query_store_options;

ALTER DATABASE [YourDatabase] SET QUERY_STORE = ON
(
    QUERY_CAPTURE_MODE = ALL,
    CLEANUP_POLICY = ( STALE_QUERY_THRESHOLD_DAYS = 30 )
);

GRANT VIEW DATABASE STATE TO YourUser;
-- SQL Server 2022 and later: GRANT VIEW DATABASE PERFORMANCE STATE TO YourUser;

GRANT VIEW SERVER STATE TO YourUser;
-- SQL Server 2022 and later: GRANT VIEW SERVER PERFORMANCE STATE TO YourUser;

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For Remote Connection

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1. Confirm SQL Server Is Running

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2. Allow Remote Connection on SSMS (Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio)

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3. Configure Windows Firewall

1. On the Start menu, select Run, type WF.msc, and then select OK.
2. In the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security, in the left pane, right-click Inbound Rules, and then select New Rule in the action pane.
3. In the Rule Type dialog box, select Port, and then select Next.
4. In the Protocol and Ports dialog box, select TCP. Select Specific local ports, and then type the port number of the instance of the Database Engine, such as 1433 for the default instance. Select Next.
5. In the Action dialog box, select Allow the connection, and then select Next.
6. In the Profile dialog box, select any profiles that describe the computer connection environment when you want to connect to the Database Engine, and then select Next.
7. In the Name dialog box, type a name and description for this rule, and then select Finish. For more information, see the Microsoft documentation on configuring a Windows Firewall for Database Engine access.

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Metadata Ingestion

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Step 1: Add New Service

1. In the left navigation, click Connections.
2. On the Connections page, click Add New Service.

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Step 2: Select a Service and Connector

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Step 3: Add Service Name and Description

• Enter a unique, descriptive Service Name. Collate identifies services by their service name. Enter a name that distinguishes this deployment from other MSSQL services you are ingesting metadata from.
• Optional: Enter a Description for the service.

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Step 4: Configure Connection Options

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Select Ingestion Runner

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Enter Connection Details

• Connection Scheme: Defines how to connect to MSSQL. Collate supports mssql+pytds, mssql+pyodbc, and mssql+pymssql. If using Windows Authentication from a Linux deployment, use pymssql.
• Username: Specify the User to connect to MSSQL. It should have enough privileges to read all the metadata.
• Password: Password to connect to MSSQL.
• Host and Port: Enter the fully qualified hostname and port number for your MSSQL deployment in the Host and Port field.
• URI String: In case of a pyodbc connection.
• Database: The initial database to establish a connection to the data source.
• Ingest All Databases: Enable this option to ingest multiple databases in addition to the database specified in the Database field.

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Advanced Configuration

• Connection Options (Optional): Enter the details for any additional connection options that can be sent to database during the connection. These details must be added as Key-Value pairs.
• Connection Arguments (Optional): Enter the details for any additional connection arguments such as security or protocol configs that can be sent during the connection. These details must be added as Key-Value pairs.

password: secret:/my/database/password

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Test Connection

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Step 5: Configure Ingestion Options

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How Filter Patterns Work

• Include: Add one or more comma-separated regular expressions. Collate ingests only assets whose names match at least one expression. Leave blank to include all assets.
• Exclude: Add one or more comma-separated regular expressions. Collate skips any asset whose name matches an expression. Leave blank to exclude nothing.

• contains: matches any name containing the value. For example, sales matches my_sales_data and sales_2024.
• starts with: matches names beginning with the value. For example, prod_ matches prod_db and prod_schema.
• ends with: matches names ending with the value. For example, _raw matches events_raw and logs_raw.
• is exactly: matches the exact name only. For example, analytics matches only analytics.
• matches regex: matches names using a regular expression. For example, ^prod_.*_v\d+$ matches prod_events_v1.

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Filter Options

• Database: Controls which databases Collate ingests from the source.
• Schema: Controls which schemas within the ingested databases are included.
• Table: Controls which tables and views within the ingested schemas are included.
• Stored Procedure: Controls which stored procedures are included in metadata ingestion.

• Scan Mode: Choose one of the following scan modes:
  • Scan all: Ingests every asset of that type the connector can access. This is the default.
  • Only specific: Enables include rules so only assets matching at least one rule are ingested.
• Exclude system toggle: Use this toggle to automatically filter out system-reserved names defined by the connector—for example, Exclude system databases for the Databases section.
• Always exclude: Add permanent exclusion rules (shown in red). Assets matching these rules are never ingested, regardless of include rules.
• Preview: Shows a real-time summary of what will be in scope based on your current rules.
• Include rules (available only in Only specific mode): Click + Add to define a rule. Added rules appear as chips. An asset is included if it matches any rule.

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Step 6: Create & Deploy

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Configure Metadata Agent and Schedule Ingestion

1. In the left navigation, click Connections and select your service.
2. Click the Agents tab.
3. Click Add Agent and select Metadata from the dropdown. For some services, the dropdown is not available and clicking Add Agent takes you directly to the agent configuration page.
4. On the Configure Ingestion page, do the following and click Next.
   • Name this Ingestion: Enter a unique recognizable name for this ingestion pipeline.
   • Agent Setup: Configure core parameters for metadata extraction. The following fields are available:

     Field	Default	Description
     Default Owner	—	Owner applied to all entities when no specific level owner is configured. Accepts a user or team name/email.
     Service Owner	—	Owner assigned to the service entity.
     Database Owner	—	Owner assigned to all ingested databases. Accepts a single owner or a per-database name mapping.
     Database Schema Owner	—	Owner assigned to all ingested schemas. Accepts a single owner or a per-schema name mapping.
     Table Owner	—	Owner assigned to all ingested tables. Accepts a single owner or a per-table name mapping.
     Enable Inheritance	On	When on, child entities inherit the owner from their parent when they have no owner configured.
     Query Log Duration	1	Number of days to look back in query logs when processing stored procedure results.
     Query Parsing Timeout Limit	300	Timeout in seconds for parsing a single query.
     Number of Threads	1	Number of threads to use for parallel table ingestion.
     Incremental Extraction	Off	When enabled, subsequent runs only extract entities changed since the last successful run.
     Successful Pipeline Run Lookback Days	7	Number of days to search back for a prior successful run to use as a baseline for incremental extraction.
     Safety Margin Days	1	Additional days added to the baseline timestamp as a buffer for incremental extraction.
     JSON Schema Sample Size	10	Number of rows sampled to infer JSON column schema. Only applies when Extract JSON Schema is enabled in Advanced Config.

     
   • Filter Patterns: Apply include or exclude rules to scope which databases, schemas, tables, and stored procedures this agent ingests. For more information about various filter options, see Step 5: Configure Ingestion Options.
   • Scope & Behaviour: Control how the agent handles metadata during ingestion. Toggle each option on or off based on your needs:

     Toggle	Default	Description
     Include Tables	On	Ingest table metadata from the source. Turn off to skip tables entirely.
     Include Tags	On	Ingest tags from the source.
     Include Stored Procedures	On	Ingest stored procedure metadata.
     Include DDL Statements	Off	Ingest DDL statements alongside table metadata.
     Include Owners	Off	Assign owners to ingested entities when the source owner’s email matches a user in Collate. Does not overwrite an existing owner.
     Include Custom Properties	Off	Ingest connector-specific custom properties onto entities.
     Mark Deleted Tables	On	Soft-delete tables in Collate when they are removed from the source. Applies only within the currently ingested schema.
     Mark Deleted Stored Procedures	On	Soft-delete stored procedures in Collate when they are removed from the source.
     Mark Deleted Schemas	Off	Soft-delete schemas and all their child assets when removed from the source.
     Mark Deleted Databases	Off	Soft-delete databases and all their child assets when removed from the source.
     Override Metadata	Off	When on, source values overwrite existing descriptions, tags, owners, and display names in Collate. When off, Collate only updates fields that have no existing value.
     Enable Debug Log	Off	Sets the ingestion log level to DEBUG. Useful for troubleshooting.

     Note: Available toggles vary by connector. Stored procedure options only appear for connectors that support stored procedures.
     
   • Advanced Config: Optional connector-specific settings such as Include Views and Extract JSON Schema.
5. On the Schedule Interval page, set when the agent runs:
   • Schedule: Choose a preset interval (Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly) or enter a custom cron expression.
   • On-Demand: No automatic schedule; trigger the agent manually when needed.
   
6. Click Add to deploy the agent.

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Reverse Metadata

• Description Management: MSSQL supports description updates at the following levels:
  • Schema level
  • Table level
  • Column level
• Owner Management: MSSQL supports owner management at the following levels:
  • Database level
  • Schema level
• Tag Management: Tag management is not supported for MSSQL.
• Custom SQL Template: MSSQL supports custom SQL templates for metadata changes. The template is interpreted using python f-strings. Here are examples of custom SQL queries for metadata changes:
  -- Update schema description
  IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1
                 FROM {database}.sys.extended_properties
                 WHERE name = N'MS_Description' And
                 major_id = SCHEMA_ID('{schema}') AND
                 minor_id = 0
       		)
  BEGIN
      EXEC {database}.{schema}.sp_addextendedproperty
       @name = N'MS_Description',
       @value = N{description},
       @level0type = N'SCHEMA',
       @level0name = N'{schema}'
  END
  ELSE
  BEGIN
      EXEC {database}.{schema}.sp_updateextendedproperty
       @name = N'MS_Description',
       @value = N{description},
       @level0type = N'SCHEMA',
       @level0name = N'{schema}'
  END;
  
  The list of variables for custom SQL can be found here.

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Troubleshooting