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TimescaleDB

TimescaleDB

BETA
In this section, we provide guides and references to use the TimescaleDB connector. Configure and schedule TimescaleDB metadata and profiler workflows from the OpenMetadata UI:

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Requirements

Starting from OpenMetadata version 1.6.5, support for Stored Procedures Lineage has been introduced. This feature enables tracking the relationships and dependencies between stored procedures and other database objects, enhancing lineage visibility and data traceability.
TimescaleDB is built on PostgreSQL. Note that we only support officially supported PostgreSQL versions. You can check the version list here.

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Usage and Lineage considerations

When extracting lineage and usage information from TimescaleDB we base our finding on the pg_stat_statements table. You can find more information about it on the official docs. Another interesting consideration here is explained in the following SO question. As a summary:
  • The pg_stat_statements has no time data embedded in it.
  • It will show all queries from the last reset (one can call pg_stat_statements_reset()).
Then, when extracting usage and lineage data, the query log duration will have no impact, only the query limit. Note: For usage and lineage grant your user pg_read_all_stats permission. 
GRANT pg_read_all_stats TO your_user;

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IAM Authentication

In order to be able to connect via IAM, you need to have the following:
  1. Database is configured to use IAM authentication Ensure that the RDS has IAM DB authentication enabled. Otherwise, you can click on Modify to enable it.
  2. The user has the necessary IAM permissions Even if you use IAM to connect to TimescaleDB, you need to specify a user to prepare the connection. You need to create a user as follows: 
CREATE USER iam_user WITH LOGIN;
GRANT rds_iam TO iam_user;
  1. The AWS Role has the necessary permissions The role that is going to be used to perform the ingestion, needs to have the following permissions:
{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": [
                "rds-db:connect"
            ],
            "Resource": [
                "arn:aws:rds-db:eu-west-1:<aws_account_number>:dbuser:<rds_db_resource_id>/<timescale_user>"
            ]
        }
    ]
}
Otherwise, you might be finding issues such as PAM authentication failed for user “user”

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Metadata Ingestion

1

Visit the Services Page

Click `Settings` in the side navigation bar and then `Services`. The first step is to ingest the metadata from your sources. To do that, you first need to create a Service connection first. This Service will be the bridge between OpenMetadata and your source system. Once a Service is created, it can be used to configure your ingestion workflows.Visit Services Page
2

Create a New Service

Click on _Add New Service_ to start the Service creation.Create a new Service
3

Select the Service Type

Select TimescaleDB as the Service type and click _Next_.Select Service
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Name and Describe your Service

Provide a name and description for your Service.

Service Name

OpenMetadata uniquely identifies Services by their **Service Name**. Provide a name that distinguishes your deployment from other Services, including the other TimescaleDB Services that you might be ingesting metadata from. Note that when the name is set, it cannot be changed.Add New Service
5

Configure the Service Connection

In this step, we will configure the connection settings required for TimescaleDB. Please follow the instructions below to properly configure the Service to read from your sources. You will also find helper documentation on the right-hand side panel in the UI.Configure Service connection

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Connection Details

1

Connection Details

  • Username: Specify the user to connect to TimescaleDB. It should have enough privileges to read all the metadata.
  • Auth Type: Basic Auth or IAM based auth to connect to instances / cloud RDS.
    • Basic Auth: Provide the password to connect to TimescaleDB.
    • IAM Based Auth:
      • AWS Access Key ID & AWS Secret Access Key: Required when interacting with AWS programmatically (docs).
      • AWS Region: Required to resolve service endpoints (docs).
      • AWS Session Token (optional): Needed when using temporary credentials (docs).
      • Endpoint URL (optional): Override the default AWS endpoint if needed (docs).
      • Profile Name: Use a named profile other than default if desired (docs).
      • Assume Role Arn: ARN of the role to assume for cross-account access (docs).
      • Assume Role Session Name: Identifier for the assumed role session (docs).
      • Assume Role Source Identity: Source identity for CloudTrail attribution (docs).
      When using Assume Role authentication, provide the AWS Region and the Assume Role ARN used for ingestion.
  • Host and Port: Enter the fully qualified hostname and port number for your TimescaleDB deployment.
2

Test the Connection

Once the credentials have been added, click on Test Connection and Save the changes.Test Connection
3

Configure Metadata Ingestion

In this step we will configure the metadata ingestion pipeline, Please follow the instructions belowConfigure Metadata IngestionConfigure Metadata Ingestion

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Metadata Ingestion Options

If the owner’s name is openmetadata, you need to enter [email protected] in the name section of add team/user form, click here for more info.
  • Name: This field refers to the name of ingestion pipeline, you can customize the name or use the generated name.
  • Database Filter Pattern (Optional): Use to database filter patterns to control whether or not to include database as part of metadata ingestion.
    • Include: Explicitly include databases by adding a list of comma-separated regular expressions to the Include field. OpenMetadata will include all databases with names matching one or more of the supplied regular expressions. All other databases will be excluded.
    • Exclude: Explicitly exclude databases by adding a list of comma-separated regular expressions to the Exclude field. OpenMetadata will exclude all databases with names matching one or more of the supplied regular expressions. All other databases will be included.
  • Schema Filter Pattern (Optional): Use to schema filter patterns to control whether to include schemas as part of metadata ingestion.
    • Include: Explicitly include schemas by adding a list of comma-separated regular expressions to the Include field. OpenMetadata will include all schemas with names matching one or more of the supplied regular expressions. All other schemas will be excluded.
    • Exclude: Explicitly exclude schemas by adding a list of comma-separated regular expressions to the Exclude field. OpenMetadata will exclude all schemas with names matching one or more of the supplied regular expressions. All other schemas will be included.
  • Table Filter Pattern (Optional): Use to table filter patterns to control whether to include tables as part of metadata ingestion.
    • Include: Explicitly include tables by adding a list of comma-separated regular expressions to the Include field. OpenMetadata will include all tables with names matching one or more of the supplied regular expressions. All other tables will be excluded.
    • Exclude: Explicitly exclude tables by adding a list of comma-separated regular expressions to the Exclude field. OpenMetadata will exclude all tables with names matching one or more of the supplied regular expressions. All other tables will be included.
  • Enable Debug Log (toggle): Set the Enable Debug Log toggle to set the default log level to debug.
  • Mark Deleted Tables (toggle): Set the Mark Deleted Tables toggle to flag tables as soft-deleted if they are not present anymore in the source system.
  • Mark Deleted Tables from Filter Only (toggle): Set the Mark Deleted Tables from Filter Only toggle to flag tables as soft-deleted if they are not present anymore within the filtered schema or database only. This flag is useful when you have more than one ingestion pipelines. For example if you have a schema
  • includeTables (toggle): Optional configuration to turn off fetching metadata for tables.
  • includeViews (toggle): Set the Include views toggle to control whether to include views as part of metadata ingestion.
  • includeTags (toggle): Set the ‘Include Tags’ toggle to control whether to include tags as part of metadata ingestion.
  • includeOwners (toggle): Set the ‘Include Owners’ toggle to control whether to include owners to the ingested entity if the owner email matches with a user stored in the OM server as part of metadata ingestion. If the ingested entity already exists and has an owner, the owner will not be overwritten.
  • includeStoredProcedures (toggle): Optional configuration to toggle the Stored Procedures ingestion.
  • includeDDL (toggle): Optional configuration to toggle the DDL Statements ingestion.
  • queryLogDuration (Optional): Configuration to tune how far we want to look back in query logs to process Stored Procedures results.
  • queryParsingTimeoutLimit (Optional): Configuration to set the timeout for parsing the query in seconds.
  • useFqnForFiltering (toggle): Regex will be applied on fully qualified name (e.g service_name.db_name.schema_name.table_name) instead of raw name (e.g. table_name).
  • Incremental (Beta): Use Incremental Metadata Extraction after the first execution. This is done by getting the changed tables instead of all of them. Only Available for BigQuery, Redshift and Snowflake
    • Enabled: If True, enables Metadata Extraction to be Incremental.
    • lookback Days: Number of days to search back for a successful pipeline run. The timestamp of the last found successful pipeline run will be used as a base to search for updated entities.
    • Safety Margin Days: Number of days to add to the last successful pipeline run timestamp to search for updated entities.
  • Threads (Beta): Use a Multithread approach for Metadata Extraction. You can define here the number of threads you would like to run concurrently. For further information please check the documentation on Metadata Ingestion - Multithreading
Note that the right-hand side panel in the OpenMetadata UI will also share useful documentation when configuring the ingestion.
4

Schedule the Ingestion and Deploy

Scheduling can be set up at an hourly, daily, weekly, or manual cadence. The timezone is in UTC. Select a Start Date to schedule for ingestion. It is optional to add an End Date.Review your configuration settings. If they match what you intended, click Deploy to create the service and schedule metadata ingestion.If something doesn’t look right, click the Back button to return to the appropriate step and change the settings as needed.After configuring the workflow, you can click on Deploy to create the pipeline.Schedule the Workflow
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View the Ingestion Pipeline

Once the workflow has been successfully deployed, you can view the Ingestion Pipeline running from the Service Page.View Ingestion Pipeline
If AutoPilot is enabled, workflows like usage tracking, data lineage, and similar tasks will be handled automatically. Users don’t need to set up or manage them - AutoPilot takes care of everything in the system.

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Securing TimescaleDB Connection with SSL in OpenMetadata

To establish secure connections between OpenMetadata and a TimescaleDB database, you can configure SSL using different SSL modes provided by PostgreSQL, each offering varying levels of security. Under Advanced Config, specify the SSL mode appropriate for your connection, such as prefer, verify-ca, allow, and others. After selecting the SSL mode, provide the CA certificate used for SSL validation (caCertificate). Note that TimescaleDB (PostgreSQL) requires only the CA certificate for SSL validation.
For IAM authentication, it is recommended to choose the allow mode or another SSL mode that fits your specific requirements.
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Advanced Configuration

Database Services have an Advanced Configuration section, where you can pass extra arguments to the connector and, if needed, change the connection Scheme.This would only be required to handle advanced connectivity scenarios or customizations.
  • 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. Advanced Configuration
2

Reverse Metadata

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Description Management

TimescaleDB supports description updates at all levels:
  • Database level
  • Schema level
  • Table level
  • Column level

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Owner Management

TimescaleDB supports owner management at the following levels:
  • Database level
  • Schema level
  • Table level

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Tag Management

❌ Tag management is not supported for TimescaleDB.

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Custom SQL Template

TimescaleDB 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 database owner
ALTER DATABASE {database} OWNER TO {owner};
The list of variables for custom SQL can be found here.For more details about reverse metadata ingestion, visit our Reverse Metadata Documentation.

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Requirements for Reverse Metadata

In addition to the basic ingestion requirements, for reverse metadata ingestion the user needs:
  • SUPERUSER privilege to the user
-- Grant superuser privilege to the user
ALTER ROLE USER_NAME SUPERUSER;

Usage Workflow

Learn more about how to configure the Usage Workflow to ingest Query information from the UI.

Lineage Workflow

Learn more about how to configure the Lineage from the UI.

Profiler Workflow

Learn more about how to configure the Data Profiler from the UI.

Data Quality Workflow

Learn more about how to configure the Data Quality tests from the UI.

dbt Integration

Learn more about how to ingest dbt models’ definitions and their lineage.