May 2020 Summaries

The Apache Superset community recently held its first virtual meetup, drawing over 60 participants worldwide, including more than 10 core committers, to discuss recent updates and future plans. The event, aimed at maintaining community vibrancy amid COVID-19, began with introductions to the team behind Superset, fostering a sense of connection. Key presentations by Max and Ville highlighted improvements in the 0.36 release, such as Row Level Security, and future plans for 0.37, including UI design enhancements and visualization plug-in re-architecture. The session included a Q&A segment where committers addressed questions about the roadmap, community contributions, and the relationship between Preset and Superset. Although not all interactions were recorded, the event was deemed a learning experience for enhancing virtual community engagement, with plans to improve accessibility and transparency in future gatherings. Participants were encouraged to join the community Slack channel and meetup page for ongoing updates and interaction.

This blog post provides a guide on connecting Apache Superset to various databases, focusing on installing necessary database drivers when setting up Superset locally with Docker Compose. It highlights that while common database drivers like Druid, Postgres, and Presto/Hive are automatically included, additional drivers, such as for MySQL, may need to be installed manually. The process involves creating a requirements-local.txt file to specify the desired driver, rebuilding the Docker image, and using a suitable connection string to link Superset with the database. For specific driver details and connection string options, users are encouraged to consult the Superset documentation, community forums, and Slack channels. The text also mentions the availability of a hosted Superset solution for those seeking a more production-ready environment.

Installing Apache Superset can initially seem daunting due to its extensive documentation and numerous configuration options, but using Docker and docker-compose simplifies the process. The guide focuses on setting up Superset on Mac OSX or Linux, as there is no official Windows support. It begins with installing Docker and adjusting memory settings to ensure Superset runs smoothly. After cloning the Superset repository from GitHub, users can launch the application using docker-compose, which initiates a local instance of Superset with a pre-configured Postgres server loaded with example data. Access to Superset is through a web browser using default login credentials. While this setup allows users to explore Superset's features like dashboards and SQL Lab, it is limited in terms of database support and data accessibility beyond the local network. For a more robust, production-ready environment, users are encouraged to consider hosted solutions or Preset Certified Superset for enterprise support and maintenance ease.