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Metabase: BI Analytics Tool

Use Metabase for rapid business intelligence analysis with a user-friendly interface for team self-service data exploration.

Metabase is an open-source business intelligence tool. Teams can quickly explore and visualize data through its interface without SQL knowledge.

Metabase provides many chart types and connects to different databases. These features support enterprise data analysis.

The template defaults to metabase/metabase:v0.64.1.x. Use the single METABASE_IMAGE setting to override the full image reference. On 2026-10-08, the tag resolved to 0.64.1.1; validation on PostgreSQL 18.6 covered upgrading a restored metadata database, login, and querying an existing saved question.

Quick Start

Pigsty provides a Docker Compose configuration file for Metabase in the software template directory:

cd ~/pigsty/app/metabase

Review and modify the .env configuration file:

vim .env    # Check configuration, recommend changing default credentials

Before starting, create a dedicated metabase database and dbuser_metabase role matching the .env connection settings. Do not share the Pigsty CMDB database.

Start the service:

make up     # Start Metabase with Docker Compose

Access Metabase:

  • Default URL: http://mtbs.pigsty
  • Alternate URL: http://10.10.10.10:9004
  • First-time access requires initial setup

Management Commands

Use these Makefile commands to manage Metabase:

make up      # Start Metabase service
make run     # Alias for make up
make view    # Display Metabase access URL
make log     # View container logs
make info    # View service details
make stop    # Stop the service
make clean   # Stop and remove containers
make pull    # Pull the configured image
make rmi     # Remove Metabase image
make save    # Save image to file
make load    # Load image from file

Connect to PostgreSQL

Metabase can connect to PostgreSQL databases managed by Pigsty.

During Metabase initialization or when adding a database, select “PostgreSQL” and enter the connection information:

Database Type: PostgreSQL
Name: Custom name (e.g., "Production Database")
Host: 10.10.10.10
Port: 5432
Database Name: your_database
Username: dbuser_meta
Password: DBUser.Meta

After connecting, Metabase scans the database schema automatically. You can then create questions and dashboards.

Features

  • No SQL Required: Build queries through visual interface
  • Rich Chart Types: Line, bar, pie, map charts, and more
  • Interactive Dashboards: Create interactive data dashboards
  • Auto Refresh: Schedule data and dashboard updates
  • Permission Management: Fine-grained user and data access control
  • SQL Mode: Advanced users can write SQL directly
  • Embedding: Embed charts into other applications
  • Alerting: Automatic notifications on data changes

Configuration

Metabase configuration is in the .env file:

# Image and host port
METABASE_IMAGE=metabase/metabase:v0.64.1.x
MB_PORT=9004

# Metabase metadata database
MB_DB_TYPE=postgres
MB_DB_DBNAME=metabase
MB_DB_PORT=5432
MB_DB_USER=dbuser_metabase
MB_DB_PASS=DBUser.Metabase
MB_DB_HOST=10.10.10.10

Recommended: Use a dedicated PostgreSQL database for storing Metabase metadata.

Data Persistence

Metabase metadata (users, questions, dashboards, etc.) is stored in the configured database.

The template uses external PostgreSQL by default and does not configure a persistent /data/metabase directory for H2. Its /api/health check covers both the application and metadata database. Wait for healthy status during initial migrations.

Upgrading from Metabase 63 to 64 automatically migrates the metadata database. Back it up and record the old image digest first, then test on a restored copy. Rollback requires the matching database backup and old image; replacing the image alone does not undo database migrations. See the upgrade guide.

Performance Optimization

  • Use PostgreSQL: Allocate separate resources for the metadata database and monitor its workload
  • Increase Memory: Pass JAVA_OPTS explicitly in Compose’s environment to tune JVM memory; adding it to .env alone does not pass it into the container
  • Database Indexes: Create indexes for frequently queried fields
  • Result Caching: Enable Metabase query result caching
  • Scheduled Updates: Set reasonable dashboard auto-refresh frequency

Security Recommendations

  1. Change Default Credentials: Modify metadata database username and password
  2. Enable HTTPS: Configure SSL certificates for production
  3. Configure Authentication: Enable SSO or LDAP authentication
  4. Restrict Access: Limit access through firewall
  5. Regular Backups: Back up the Metabase metadata database

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Last Modified 2026-10-12 · update extensions (4d4b1d96)