ODBC setup

duzen — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 21:26:14 GMT

Greetings!

I am just starting with databricks. I created an account, and I can run sql queries.

I downloaded the ODBC driver (64bit version). I am not sure how to set it up.

The configuration screen shows "Mechanism" set to "User Name and Password."

Then there are two fields for User name and Password. I don't have these. I login to databricks when they email me a code and I enter it in my browser.

Can anyone help?

Re: ODBC setup

duzen — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 21:29:19 GMT

This is the screen:

Re: ODBC setup

Louis_Frolio — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 10:34:10 GMT

Hi @duzen , welcome to Databricks. You've hit a screen that trips up a lot of folks, so you're in good company. Your screenshot was very helpful.

The short version: "User Name and Password" expects actual Databricks credentials, and your account doesn't have any. You sign in through a browser with an emailed code, which points to Databricks Free Edition. That's fine. The ODBC driver can piggyback on that same sign-in using OAuth.

Before touching authentication, grab your connection details. In your workspace, go to SQL Warehouses, click your warehouse, and open the Connection details tab. You'll find the Server Hostname and HTTP Path there. Copy both.

Then in the ODBC DSN setup screen:

Enter the Server Hostname in the Host field (leave off the https://) and set Port to 443.
Click HTTP Options and paste in the HTTP Path.
Click SSL Options and make sure Enable SSL is checked (the OAuth flow requires it).
Change Mechanism from "User Name and Password" to "OAuth 2.0".
Click OAuth Options and set the Authentication Flow to "Browser Based Authorization", then click OK. Leave the username and password fields blank; do not enter your email or code there.
Click Test. A browser window will pop open and ask you to sign in the same way you always do, with your emailed code. Once you approve it, the driver handles the tokens from there, including refreshing them.

A few heads ups. Browser-based OAuth needs ODBC driver version 2.8.2 or newer, so since you just downloaded it you should be fine. If you're ever configuring this through a config file or connection string instead of the dialog, the equivalent setting is AuthMech=11 with Auth_Flow=2. And if you notice a PWD value hanging around with that setup, it's just a passphrase the driver uses to protect its cached refresh token, not a Databricks password.

There's a second option worth knowing about. If your workspace lets you generate a personal access token (check under Settings > Developer > Access tokens > Manage), you can keep the mechanism as "User Name and Password", enter the word token (literally) as the username, and paste the access token as the password. If you don't see an option to generate tokens, your workspace doesn't allow them and OAuth is your path. Either way, OAuth is what Databricks recommends these days.

One last thing: this browser-based flow only works for applications running on your local machine. If you're connecting from a server or cloud app down the road, you'll want a non-interactive method like a service principal instead. Also make sure your user has permission to use the warehouse you're pointing at.

References:

Authentication settings for the Databricks ODBC Driver: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/integrations/odbc/authentication
Create an ODBC DSN: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/integrations/odbc/dsn
Compute settings for the ODBC Driver: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/integrations/odbc/compute
Download and install the ODBC Driver: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/integrations/odbc/download
Personal access tokens: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/dev-tools/auth/pat
Free Edition limitations: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/getting-started/free-edition-limitations

Give the OAuth route a shot and let us know how it goes.

Cheers Lou.

topic Re: ODBC setup in Get Started Discussions

ODBC setup

Re: ODBC setup

Re: ODBC setup