# Metabase: BI Analytics Tool

> Use Metabase for rapid business intelligence analysis with a user-friendly interface for team self-service data exploration.

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LLMS index: [llms.txt](/llms.txt)

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[**Metabase**](https://metabase.com/) is a fast, easy-to-use open-source business intelligence tool that lets your team explore and visualize data without SQL knowledge.

Metabase provides a friendly user interface with rich chart types and supports connecting to various databases, making it an ideal choice for enterprise data analysis.


## Quick Start

Pigsty provides a Docker Compose configuration file for Metabase in the software template directory:

```bash
cd ~/pigsty/app/metabase
```

Review and modify the `.env` configuration file:

```bash
vim .env    # Check configuration, recommend changing default credentials
```

Start the service:

```bash
make up     # Start Metabase with Docker Compose
```

Access Metabase:

- Default URL: http://metabase.pigsty
- Alternate URL: http://10.10.10.10:3001
- First-time access requires initial setup


## Management Commands

Pigsty provides convenient Makefile commands to manage Metabase:

```bash
make up      # Start Metabase service
make run     # Start with Docker (connect to external PostgreSQL)
make view    # Display Metabase access URL
make log     # View container logs
make info    # View service details
make stop    # Stop the service
make clean   # Stop and remove containers
make pull    # Pull the latest image
make rmi     # Remove Metabase image
make save    # Save image to file
make load    # Load image from file
```


## Connect to PostgreSQL

Metabase can connect to PostgreSQL databases managed by Pigsty.

During Metabase initialization or when adding a database, select "PostgreSQL" and enter the connection information:

```text
Database Type: PostgreSQL
Name: Custom name (e.g., "Production Database")
Host: 10.10.10.10
Port: 5432
Database Name: your_database
Username: dbuser_meta
Password: DBUser.Meta
```

After successful connection, Metabase will automatically scan the database schema, and you can start creating questions and dashboards.


## Features

- **No SQL Required**: Build queries through visual interface
- **Rich Chart Types**: Line, bar, pie, map charts, and more
- **Interactive Dashboards**: Create beautiful data dashboards
- **Auto Refresh**: Schedule data and dashboard updates
- **Permission Management**: Fine-grained user and data access control
- **SQL Mode**: Advanced users can write SQL directly
- **Embedding**: Embed charts into other applications
- **Alerting**: Automatic notifications on data changes


## Configuration

Metabase configuration is in the `.env` file:

```bash
# Metabase metadata database (PostgreSQL recommended)
MB_DB_TYPE=postgres
MB_DB_DBNAME=metabase
MB_DB_PORT=5432
MB_DB_USER=dbuser_metabase
MB_DB_PASS=DBUser.Metabase
MB_DB_HOST=10.10.10.10

# Application configuration
JAVA_OPTS=-Xmx2g
```

**Recommended**: Use a dedicated PostgreSQL database for storing Metabase metadata.


## Data Persistence

Metabase metadata (users, questions, dashboards, etc.) is stored in the configured database.

If using H2 database (default), data is saved in the `/data/metabase` directory. Using PostgreSQL as the metadata database is strongly recommended for production environments.


## Performance Optimization

- **Use PostgreSQL**: Replace the default H2 database
- **Increase Memory**: Add JVM memory with `JAVA_OPTS=-Xmx4g`
- **Database Indexes**: Create indexes for frequently queried fields
- **Result Caching**: Enable Metabase query result caching
- **Scheduled Updates**: Set reasonable dashboard auto-refresh frequency


## Security Recommendations

1. **Change Default Credentials**: Modify metadata database username and password
2. **Enable HTTPS**: Configure SSL certificates for production
3. **Configure Authentication**: Enable SSO or LDAP authentication
4. **Restrict Access**: Limit access through firewall
5. **Regular Backups**: Back up the Metabase metadata database


## Related Links

- Metabase Website: https://metabase.com/
- Documentation: https://www.metabase.com/docs/
- GitHub Repository: https://github.com/metabase/metabase
- Pigsty Software Template: https://github.com/pgsty/pigsty/tree/main/app/metabase