Configure a Looker (Google Cloud core) instance

Once your Looker (Google Cloud core) instance has been provisioned, it is listed on the Instances page of your Google Cloud project. Click the instance URL to access and log in to the instance. If you have the Looker Admin IAM role, you will have Admin privileges within the Looker instance.

Once you have logged in to your Looker (Google Cloud core) instance, the following instructions will help you to prepare the instance for use by setting it up for exploring data. Alternatively, you can use the Set up Looker guide in the Looker (Google Cloud core) instance to complete these tasks:

Set up a database connection

Looker (Google Cloud core) must be connected to a database to enable data exploration. See the list of supported dialects to learn which dialects are supported by Looker (Google Cloud core).

You can follow the Set up Looker guide that appears dynamically within the Looker (Google Cloud core) instance to connect your database, or follow the steps listed on the Connecting Looker to your database documentation page and the dialect-specific documentation pages.

If your Looker (Google Cloud core) instance uses a private IP connection, you must set up a route or a private connection to connect it to any of the following types of databases:

  • A database in a different network within Google Cloud
  • A database that is hosted by another cloud service provider
  • An on-premises database

Learn more about private networks and external services on the Configure a private IP Looker (Google Cloud core) instance documentation page.

Once a database connection is set up, you are ready to set up a LookML project.

Using Application Default Credentials to connect to a BigQuery database

Looker (Google Cloud core) instances can use Application Default Credentials (ADC) to authenticate when you're setting up a connection to a BigQuery Standard SQL database. When you use ADC, the connection will authenticate to the database using the credentials of the Looker (Google Cloud core) project's service account.

To use ADC with a BigQuery database that is in the same Google Cloud project as your Looker (Google Cloud core) instance, select Application Default Credentials in the Authentication field of the Connection Settings page. To connect to a BigQuery database in a different project, some additional setup is required. See the Using Application Default Credentials with a BigQuery database in a different Google Cloud project section.

Service account impersonation

If you want to authenticate to the BigQuery database using a service account other than the Looker (Google Cloud core) project's service account, you can create a delegated request flow by entering another service account, or a comma-separated chain of service accounts, into the Impersonated Service Account field. The Looker (Google Cloud core) service account is automatically used as the first service account in the chain and does not need to be added to the field. The last service account in the chain is the one that authenticates with the database.

When using service account impersonation, do the following:

Using Application Default Credentials with a BigQuery database in a different Google Cloud project

The steps for using ADC for a BigQuery Standard SQL database that is outside the project that houses your Looker (Google Cloud core) instance are the same as those for setting up a connection in the same project. However, prior to setting up the connection in your Looker (Google Cloud core) instance, you must ensure that your Looker (Google Cloud core) project's service account has the BigQuery Data Viewer role for the project that contains the BigQuery dataset. To do that, first find the email for the service account, and then grant the service account the proper role.

To find the Looker (Google Cloud core) service account email, follow these steps:

console

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Service accounts page.

    Go to Service accounts
  2. Select the project the Looker (Google Cloud core) resides in.
  3. Select the Include Google-provided role grants checkbox.

gcloud


gcloud services identity create --service=looker.googleapis.com --project=PROJECT_ID

The service account name will be Looker Service Account. The email will have the format service-<project number>@gcp-sa-looker.iam.gserviceaccount.com. The account will have the default IAM role of Looker Service Agent.

To grant this service account the BigQuery Data Viewer role role, follow these steps:

  1. In the Select a project drop-down, choose the project with the BigQuery dataset.
  2. Click Grant Access.
  3. Enter the email of your Looker (Google Cloud core) project's service account in the New principals field.
  4. Select BigQuery Data Viewer in the Role field.
  5. Click Save.

You can now use ADC with this BigQuery Standard SQL database. The project attached to the service account specified in the Connection Settings page will be used for billing and also act as the default project.

Supported dialects for Looker (Google Cloud core)

Looker (Google Cloud core) supports the following database dialects:

  • Amazon Athena
  • Amazon Aurora MySQL
  • Amazon Redshift
  • Apache Druid 0.18+
  • Apache Hive 3.1.2+
  • Apache Spark 3+
  • ClickHouse
  • Cloudera Impala 3.1+
  • Databricks
  • Denodo 8
  • Dremio 11+
  • Google BigQuery Standard SQL
  • Google Cloud PostgreSQL
  • Google Cloud Spanner
  • Google Cloud SQL
  • IBM Netezza
  • Maria DB
  • Microsoft Azure PostgreSQL
  • Microsoft Azure SQL Database
  • Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2017+
  • MySQL 8.0.12+
  • Oracle
  • PostgreSQL 9.5+
  • PrestoDB
  • PrestoSQL
  • SAP HANA 2+
  • SingleStore 7+
  • Snowflake
  • Trino
  • Vertica

Create a LookML project

Once a database connection is set up, you are ready to set up a LookML project.

A project is a collection of LookML files that describe how your database tables are related to each other and how Looker should interpret those tables.

Looker (Google Cloud core) also provides a sample LookML project that can help you learn to write LookML, query data, and view dashboards. The sample LookML project is provided on Looker (Google Cloud core) instances of all edition types. See the Use the sample LookML project on a Looker (Google Cloud core) instance documentation page for more information about accessing and using the sample LookML project on your instance.

The steps for creating LookML projects are listed on the Creating a new LookML project documentation page. Alternatively, you can follow the Set up Looker guide that appears dynamically within the Looker (Google Cloud core) instance. If you would like to customize the LookML in your project, you can access your project files from the Develop menu in the left navigation panel or by expanding Edit project files and clicking edit project in the Set up Looker guide. Click the name of your project to open its LookML files. See the Introduction to LookML documentation page to learn more about LookML development.

Additionally, the Best practice: Create a positive experience for Looker users article provides recommendations on how to use LookML to improve the experiences of Looker (Google Cloud core) users.

Explore data

Once the LookML project is set up, you can explore data by clicking Explore Data in the left navigation panel. Looker (Google Cloud core) will open a panel with the Explores that are associated with your project. Select an Explore to begin exploring data. You can also access the list of Explores by expanding Explore data and clicking Explore in the Set up Looker guide.

Add Looker (Google Cloud core) users

If you have the Looker Admin Identity and Access Management (IAM) role, you can add users to a Looker (Google Cloud core) instance as described on the Manage user access to a Looker (Google Cloud core) instance documentation page.

See the Access control and permission management documentation page for more information about how Looker Admins can manage what a user or group of users can see and do in the Looker (Google Cloud core) instance.

Once you have created users for your instance, they can log in and begin exploring in the Looker (Google Cloud core) instance.

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