---
parser: v2
author_name: Dan van Leeuwen
author_profile: https://github.com/danielva
auto_validation: true
time: 15
tags: [ tutorial>beginner, software-product>sap-hana-cloud, software-product-function>sap-hana-cloud--sap-hana-database, software-product>sap-hana]
primary_tag: software-product>sap-hana-cloud
slug: hana-clients-odbc
canonical_url: https://developers.sap.com/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc
---

# Connect Using the SAP HANA ODBC Driver

<!-- description --> Connect to SAP HANA using an ODBC data source.

## Prerequisites

- You have completed the first 3 tutorials in this mission.

## You will learn

- How to create and test an SAP HANA ODBC data source
- How to use an ODBC data source in an application

## Intro

[Open Database Connectivity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Database_Connectivity) (ODBC) provides an [API](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/odbc/reference/syntax/odbc-api-reference?view=sql-server-ver15) for accessing databases.  Database vendors provide ODBC drivers for their database products.  An application written to the ODBC standard can be ported to other databases that also provide an ODBC interface.  

---

### Configure a data source using Microsoft Windows ODBC Data Source Administrator

The ODBC Data Source Administrator lists the installed ODBC drivers and the configured data sources.  

1. Open the administrator by entering ODBC after clicking on the Microsoft Windows start icon.  

    >Ensure that you choose the 64-bit version if you have the 64-bit version of the SAP HANA client installed.

    ![start ODBC Administrator](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sap-tutorials/Tutorials/master/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc/start-odbc.png)

2. Click the **Drivers** tab and view the installed drivers.  

    ![odbc admin drivers](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sap-tutorials/Tutorials/master/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc/drivers.png)

    The SAP HANA ODBC driver (HDBODBC) is visible.  

3. Click the **User DSN** tab to view the data sources.  

4. Click **Add** to create a new data source to connect to a SAP HANA database.  

    ![Add ODBC user data source](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sap-tutorials/Tutorials/master/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc/ODBC-add.png)  

5. Select **`HDBODBC`** and click **Finish**.

    ![New data source](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sap-tutorials/Tutorials/master/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc/Create-new-data-source.png)

6. Example data source configuration for SAP HANA Cloud.   
    >For the host, paste the SQL Endpoint from your instance. For more details, review [Choose an SAP HANA Database](https://developers.sap.com/tutorials/hana-clients-choose-hana-instance.html).

    ![ODBC HANA Cloud](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sap-tutorials/Tutorials/master/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc/ODBC-HC.png)  

7. Example data source configuration for SAP HANA on-premise instance.

    ![ODBC HXE](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sap-tutorials/Tutorials/master/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc/ODBC-HXE.png)  

    To connect to SAP HANA on-premise, **Multitenant** should be checked and the **Validate TLS/SSL certificate** option can be unchecked.  For more information on this topic, see [How to Configure TLS/SSL in SAP HANA 2.0](https://blogs.sap.com/2018/11/13/how-to-configure-tlsssl-in-sap-hana-2.0/).  

8. Click **Test connection**.  

    ![Test Succeeded](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sap-tutorials/Tutorials/master/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc/testODBCWin.png)

    The user name `USER1` and password `Password1` can be entered when prompted for credentials.

9. Press OK to save the data source.  

    >Saved values can also be viewed using the Microsoft Windows registry editor under the key `Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ODBC\ODBC.INI`.

For additional details see [Connect to SAP HANA via ODBC](https://help.sap.com/docs/SAP_HANA_CLIENT/f1b440ded6144a54ada97ff95dac7adf/66a4169b84b2466892e1af9781049836.html).

### Configure a data source on Linux or Mac with unixODBC

The following instructions demonstrate how [unixODBC](http://www.unixodbc.org/) can be used to configure and test a data source on Linux or Mac.  

1. On SUSE Linux, the YaST installer can be used to install unixODBC.

    ![YaST installer](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sap-tutorials/Tutorials/master/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc/unixODBC-install.png)

    For more details on how to accomplish this, please follow the second step of [this tutorial](hxe-ua-dbfundamentals-odbc).

2. On a Mac, unixODBC can be installed using [Homebrew](https://brew.sh).  

   ```Shell (Mac)
   brew install unixodbc
   ```

3. The following commands can be used to confirm that unixODBC is installed, determine the location of the .odbc.ini file (if it exists), and to confirm the location of the SAP HANA client install that contains the ODBC driver.

   ```Shell (Linux or Mac)
   odbcinst -j
   which hdbsql
   ```

    ![odbcinst](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sap-tutorials/Tutorials/master/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc/odbcinst.png)

4. Navigate to a directory, similar to the first one that is highlighted in the screenshot above.

   ```Shell (Linux or Mac)
   cd $HOME
   ```

5. Edit the `.odbc.ini` file (or create it if it does not exist) to add one or more data sources. Be sure to configure the values of `servernode` and `driver` so that they conform with your setup.

    >The driver's file extension is `dylib` instead of `so` on a Mac.

   ```.odbc.ini
   [HANA_Cloud]
   servernode = 6b7ae0da-ee5a-4782-bc7e-297099099b59.hana.prod-ca10.hanacloud.ondemand.com:443
   driver = /home/dan/sap/hdbclient/libodbcHDB.so
   encrypt = true
   sslValidateCertificate = true

   [HANA_OnPremise]
   servernode = hxehost:39015
   driver = /home/dan/sap/hdbclient/libodbcHDB.so
   databasename = HXE
   ```

6. unixODBC provides a basic SQL query tool called `isql` that can be used to validate a data source.

   ```Shell (Linux or Mac)
   isql -v HANA_Cloud User1 Password1
   ```

    Once you see a message that indicates a connection has been made, enter the following statement to verify this.

   ```Shell (Linux or Mac)
   SELECT * FROM HOTELS.CUSTOMER
   ```

    ![isql](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sap-tutorials/Tutorials/master/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc/isqlQuery.png)

### Use a SAP HANA data source from another program

An application that supports ODBC can now make use of the created data source.  One example on Windows is Microsoft Excel.  

>Microsoft Excel can be 32 or 64 bit.  This can be seen under **File | Account | About Excel**.    
>
> ![Excel 64 bit](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sap-tutorials/Tutorials/master/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc/excel-64-bit.png)  
>
> The SAP HANA client install can also be 32 or 64 bit.  To connect, the versions of SAP HANA client and Microsoft Excel must match.  If needed, the 32-bit installer for SAP HANA client is available from the [SAP Software Centre](https://me.sap.com/softwarecenter) site and can be installed into a separate directory such as `C:\SAP\hdbclient32`.  

The following steps demonstrate how to use Microsoft Excel to query data in SAP HANA using the ODBC connector.  

1. On Microsoft Windows, open Microsoft Excel.

2. In the **Data** tab, go to **Get Data | From Other Sources | From ODBC**.

    ![Excel ODBC](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sap-tutorials/Tutorials/master/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc/ExcelODBC.png)  

3. Select the previously created data source that contains the connection information to an SAP HANA database.

    ![Excel DSN](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sap-tutorials/Tutorials/master/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc/ExcelDSN.png)  

4. Enter the credentials.  

    ![Credential Screen](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sap-tutorials/Tutorials/master/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc/ExcelCreds.png)

5. Select a schema and table, then press **Load**.

    ![Browse Schema](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sap-tutorials/Tutorials/master/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc/Excel-Browse-Schema.png)  

6. The selected data is now imported into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

    ![Excel Show Data](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sap-tutorials/Tutorials/master/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc/ExcelShowData.png)  

7. One further option for some tools is to provide the connection details directly to an ODBC enabled application as shown below.

    ![Excel ODBC Connection String](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sap-tutorials/Tutorials/master/tutorials/hana-clients-odbc/ExcelCS.png)  

    For further information on programming an application to use the ODBC client driver, see [ODBC Application Programming](https://help.sap.com/docs/SAP_HANA_CLIENT/f1b440ded6144a54ada97ff95dac7adf/73f03d62240f435880ade3bc1242cc05.html).

### Knowledge check

Congratulations! You have configured an ODBC data source to contain connection information for a SAP HANA database and used that data source from Microsoft Excel.

---