Custom DB

Custom DB is a “generic” type of data source that allows you to use a custom JDBC driver to connect to a database from the Alation Catalog and to use the features available only with this type of source. Alation provides built-in, or “native”, connectors to connect to a large number of database types. However, if a specific database type is not in the out-of-the-box list, it can be added to the catalog using the Custom DB source type and a custom JDBC driver.

You can also use the Custom DB type if you want to:

  • use a non-built-in custom JDBC driver with a data source you are adding to Alation

  • use the functionality Alation offers for Custom DB, such as query-based metadata extraction (MDE) or file-based query log ingestion (QLI).

Custom DB was first introduced in release V R3 (5.6.x), and each sequential release adds more functionality. Further in this guide release numbers are called out when they are relevant to feature availability.