ClickHouse connector#

The ClickHouse connector allows querying tables in an external ClickHouse server. This can be used to query data in the databases on that server, or combine it with other data from different catalogs accessing ClickHouse or any other supported data source.

Requirements#

To connect to a ClickHouse server, you need:

ClickHouse (version 23.8 or higher) or Altinity (version 21.8 or higher).
Network access from the Trino coordinator and workers to the ClickHouse server. Port 8123 is the default port.

Configuration#

The connector can query a ClickHouse server. Create a catalog properties file that specifies the ClickHouse connector by setting the connector.name to clickhouse.

For example, create the file etc/catalog/example.properties. Replace the connection properties as appropriate for your setup:

connector.name=clickhouse
connection-url=jdbc:clickhouse://host1:8123/
connection-user=exampleuser
connection-password=examplepassword

The connection-url defines the connection information and parameters to pass to the ClickHouse JDBC driver. The supported parameters for the URL are available in the ClickHouse JDBC driver configuration.

The connection-user and connection-password are typically required and determine the user credentials for the connection, often a service user. You can use secrets to avoid actual values in the catalog properties files.

Connection security#

If you have TLS configured with a globally-trusted certificate installed on your data source, you can enable TLS between your cluster and the data source by appending a parameter to the JDBC connection string set in the connection-url catalog configuration property.

For example, with version 2.6.4 of the ClickHouse JDBC driver, enable TLS by appending the ssl=true parameter to the connection-url configuration property:

connection-url=jdbc:clickhouse://host1:8443/?ssl=true

For more information on TLS configuration options, see the Clickhouse JDBC driver documentation

Data source authentication#

The connector can provide credentials for the data source connection in multiple ways:

inline, in the connector configuration file
in a separate properties file
in a key store file
as extra credentials set when connecting to Trino

You can use secrets to avoid storing sensitive values in the catalog properties files.

The following table describes configuration properties for connection credentials:

Property name	Description
`credential-provider.type`	Type of the credential provider. Must be one of `INLINE`, `FILE`, or `KEYSTORE`; defaults to `INLINE`.
`connection-user`	Connection user name.
`connection-password`	Connection password.
`user-credential-name`	Name of the extra credentials property, whose value to use as the user name. See `extraCredentials` in Parameter reference.
`password-credential-name`	Name of the extra credentials property, whose value to use as the password.
`connection-credential-file`	Location of the properties file where credentials are present. It must contain the `connection-user` and `connection-password` properties.
`keystore-file-path`	The location of the Java Keystore file, from which to read credentials.
`keystore-type`	File format of the keystore file, for example `JKS` or `PEM`.
`keystore-password`	Password for the key store.
`keystore-user-credential-name`	Name of the key store entity to use as the user name.
`keystore-user-credential-password`	Password for the user name key store entity.
`keystore-password-credential-name`	Name of the key store entity to use as the password.
`keystore-password-credential-password`	Password for the password key store entity.

Multiple ClickHouse servers#

If you have multiple ClickHouse servers you need to configure one catalog for each server. To add another catalog:

Add another properties file to etc/catalog
Save it with a different name that ends in .properties

For example, if you name the property file sales.properties, Trino uses the configured connector to create a catalog named sales.

General configuration properties#

The following table describes general catalog configuration properties for the connector:

Property name	Description
`case-insensitive-name-matching`	Support case insensitive schema and table names. Defaults to `false`.
`case-insensitive-name-matching.cache-ttl`	Duration for which case insensitive schema and table names are cached. Defaults to `1m`.
`case-insensitive-name-matching.config-file`	Path to a name mapping configuration file in JSON format that allows Trino to disambiguate between schemas and tables with similar names in different cases. Defaults to `null`.
`case-insensitive-name-matching.config-file.refresh-period`	Frequency with which Trino checks the name matching configuration file for changes. The duration value defaults to `0s` (refresh disabled).
`metadata.cache-ttl`	Duration for which metadata, including table and column statistics, is cached. Defaults to `0s` (caching disabled).
`metadata.cache-missing`	Cache the fact that metadata, including table and column statistics, is not available. Defaults to `false`.
`metadata.schemas.cache-ttl`	Duration for which schema metadata is cached. Defaults to the value of `metadata.cache-ttl`.
`metadata.tables.cache-ttl`	Duration for which table metadata is cached. Defaults to the value of `metadata.cache-ttl`.
`metadata.statistics.cache-ttl`	Duration for which tables statistics are cached. Defaults to the value of `metadata.cache-ttl`.
`metadata.cache-maximum-size`	Maximum number of objects stored in the metadata cache. Defaults to `10000`.
`write.batch-size`	Maximum number of statements in a batched execution. Do not change this setting from the default. Non-default values may negatively impact performance. Defaults to `1000`.
`dynamic-filtering.enabled`	Push down dynamic filters into JDBC queries. Defaults to `true`.
`dynamic-filtering.wait-timeout`	Maximum duration for which Trino waits for dynamic filters to be collected from the build side of joins before starting a JDBC query. Using a large timeout can potentially result in more detailed dynamic filters. However, it can also increase latency for some queries. Defaults to `20s`.

Appending query metadata#

The optional parameter query.comment-format allows you to configure a SQL comment that is sent to the datasource with each query. The format of this comment can contain any characters and the following metadata:

$QUERY_ID: The identifier of the query.
$USER: The name of the user who submits the query to Trino.
$SOURCE: The identifier of the client tool used to submit the query, for example trino-cli.
$TRACE_TOKEN: The trace token configured with the client tool.

The comment can provide more context about the query. This additional information is available in the logs of the datasource. To include environment variables from the Trino cluster with the comment , use the ${ENV:VARIABLE-NAME} syntax.

The following example sets a simple comment that identifies each query sent by Trino:

query.comment-format=Query sent by Trino.

With this configuration, a query such as SELECT * FROM example_table; is sent to the datasource with the comment appended:

SELECT * FROM example_table; /*Query sent by Trino.*/

The following example improves on the preceding example by using metadata:

query.comment-format=Query $QUERY_ID sent by user $USER from Trino.

If Jane sent the query with the query identifier 20230622_180528_00000_bkizg, the following comment string is sent to the datasource:

SELECT * FROM example_table; /*Query 20230622_180528_00000_bkizg sent by user Jane from Trino.*/

Note

Certain JDBC driver settings and logging configurations might cause the comment to be removed.

Domain compaction threshold#

Pushing down a large list of predicates to the data source can compromise performance. Trino compacts large predicates into a simpler range predicate by default to ensure a balance between performance and predicate pushdown. If necessary, the threshold for this compaction can be increased to improve performance when the data source is capable of taking advantage of large predicates. Increasing this threshold may improve pushdown of large dynamic filters. The domain-compaction-threshold catalog configuration property or the domain_compaction_threshold catalog session property can be used to adjust the default value of 1000 for this threshold.

Case insensitive matching#

When case-insensitive-name-matching is set to true, Trino is able to query non-lowercase schemas and tables by maintaining a mapping of the lowercase name to the actual name in the remote system. However, if two schemas and/or tables have names that differ only in case (such as “customers” and “Customers”) then Trino fails to query them due to ambiguity.

In these cases, use the case-insensitive-name-matching.config-file catalog configuration property to specify a configuration file that maps these remote schemas/tables to their respective Trino schemas/tables:

{
  "schemas": [
    {
      "remoteSchema": "CaseSensitiveName",
      "mapping": "case_insensitive_1"
    },
    {
      "remoteSchema": "cASEsENSITIVEnAME",
      "mapping": "case_insensitive_2"
    }],
  "tables": [
    {
      "remoteSchema": "CaseSensitiveName",
      "remoteTable": "tablex",
      "mapping": "table_1"
    },
    {
      "remoteSchema": "CaseSensitiveName",
      "remoteTable": "TABLEX",
      "mapping": "table_2"
    }]
}

Queries against one of the tables or schemes defined in the mapping attributes are run against the corresponding remote entity. For example, a query against tables in the case_insensitive_1 schema is forwarded to the CaseSensitiveName schema and a query against case_insensitive_2 is forwarded to the cASEsENSITIVEnAME schema.

At the table mapping level, a query on case_insensitive_1.table_1 as configured above is forwarded to CaseSensitiveName.tablex, and a query on case_insensitive_1.table_2 is forwarded to CaseSensitiveName.TABLEX.

By default, when a change is made to the mapping configuration file, Trino must be restarted to load the changes. Optionally, you can set the case-insensitive-name-mapping.refresh-period to have Trino refresh the properties without requiring a restart:

case-insensitive-name-mapping.refresh-period=30s

Non-transactional INSERT#

The connector supports adding rows using INSERT statements. By default, data insertion is performed by writing data to a temporary table. You can skip this step to improve performance and write directly to the target table. Set the insert.non-transactional-insert.enabled catalog property or the corresponding non_transactional_insert catalog session property to true.

Note that with this property enabled, data can be corrupted in rare cases where exceptions occur during the insert operation. With transactions disabled, no rollback can be performed.

Querying ClickHouse#

The ClickHouse connector provides a schema for every ClickHouse database. Run SHOW SCHEMAS to see the available ClickHouse databases:

SHOW SCHEMAS FROM example;

If you have a ClickHouse database named web, run SHOW TABLES to view the tables in this database:

SHOW TABLES FROM example.web;

Run DESCRIBE or SHOW COLUMNS to list the columns in the clicks table in the web databases:

DESCRIBE example.web.clicks;
SHOW COLUMNS FROM example.web.clicks;

Run SELECT to access the clicks table in the web database:

SELECT * FROM example.web.clicks;

Note

If you used a different name for your catalog properties file, use that catalog name instead of example in the above examples.

Table properties#

Table property usage example:

CREATE TABLE default.trino_ck (
  id int NOT NULL,
  birthday DATE NOT NULL,
  name VARCHAR,
  age BIGINT,
  logdate DATE NOT NULL
)
WITH (
  engine = 'MergeTree',
  order_by = ARRAY['id', 'birthday'],
  partition_by = ARRAY['toYYYYMM(logdate)'],
  primary_key = ARRAY['id'],
  sample_by = 'id'
);

The following are supported ClickHouse table properties from https://clickhouse.tech/docs/en/engines/table-engines/mergetree-family/mergetree/

Property name	Default value	Description
`engine`	`Log`	Name and parameters of the engine.
`order_by`	(none)	Array of columns or expressions to concatenate to create the sorting key. `tuple()` is used by default if `order_by is` not specified.
`partition_by`	(none)	Array of columns or expressions to use as nested partition keys. Optional.
`primary_key`	(none)	Array of columns or expressions to concatenate to create the primary key. Optional.
`sample_by`	(none)	An expression to use for sampling. Optional.

Currently the connector only supports Log and MergeTree table engines in create table statement. ReplicatedMergeTree engine is not yet supported.

Type mapping#

Because Trino and ClickHouse each support types that the other does not, this connector modifies some types when reading or writing data. Data types may not map the same way in both directions between Trino and the data source. Refer to the following sections for type mapping in each direction.

ClickHouse type to Trino type mapping#

The connector maps ClickHouse types to the corresponding Trino types according to the following table:

ClickHouse type to Trino type mapping#
ClickHouse type	Trino type	Notes
`Int8`	`TINYINT`	`TINYINT`, `BOOL`, `BOOLEAN`, and `INT1` are aliases of `Int8`
`Int16`	`SMALLINT`	`SMALLINT` and `INT2` are aliases of `Int16`
`Int32`	`INTEGER`	`INT`, `INT4`, and `INTEGER` are aliases of `Int32`
`Int64`	`BIGINT`	`BIGINT` is an alias of `Int64`
`UInt8`	`SMALLINT`
`UInt16`	`INTEGER`
`UInt32`	`BIGINT`
`UInt64`	`DECIMAL(20,0)`
`Float32`	`REAL`	`FLOAT` is an alias of `Float32`
`Float64`	`DOUBLE`	`DOUBLE` is an alias of `Float64`
`Decimal`	`DECIMAL`
`FixedString`	`VARBINARY`	Enabling `clickhouse.map-string-as-varchar` config property changes the mapping to `VARCHAR`
`String`	`VARBINARY`	Enabling `clickhouse.map-string-as-varchar` config property changes the mapping to `VARCHAR`
`Date`	`DATE`
`DateTime[(timezone)]`	`TIMESTAMP(0) [WITH TIME ZONE]`
`IPv4`	`IPADDRESS`
`IPv6`	`IPADDRESS`
`Enum8`	`VARCHAR`
`Enum16`	`VARCHAR`
`UUID`	`UUID`

No other types are supported.

Trino type to ClickHouse type mapping#

The connector maps Trino types to the corresponding ClickHouse types according to the following table:

Trino type to ClickHouse type mapping#
Trino type	ClickHouse type	Notes
`BOOLEAN`	`UInt8`
`TINYINT`	`Int8`	`TINYINT`, `BOOL`, `BOOLEAN`, and `INT1` are aliases of `Int8`
`SMALLINT`	`Int16`	`SMALLINT` and `INT2` are aliases of `Int16`
`INTEGER`	`Int32`	`INT`, `INT4`, and `INTEGER` are aliases of `Int32`
`BIGINT`	`Int64`	`BIGINT` is an alias of `Int64`
`REAL`	`Float32`	`FLOAT` is an alias of `Float32`
`DOUBLE`	`Float64`	`DOUBLE` is an alias of `Float64`
`DECIMAL(p,s)`	`Decimal(p,s)`
`VARCHAR`	`String`
`CHAR`	`String`
`VARBINARY`	`String`	Enabling `clickhouse.map-string-as-varchar` config property changes the mapping to `VARCHAR`
`DATE`	`Date`
`TIMESTAMP(0)`	`DateTime`
`UUID`	`UUID`

No other types are supported.

Type mapping configuration properties#

The following properties can be used to configure how data types from the connected data source are mapped to Trino data types and how the metadata is cached in Trino.

Property name

Description

Default value

unsupported-type-handling

Configure how unsupported column data types are handled:

IGNORE, column is not accessible.
CONVERT_TO_VARCHAR, column is converted to unbounded VARCHAR.

The respective catalog session property is unsupported_type_handling.

IGNORE

jdbc-types-mapped-to-varchar

Allow forced mapping of comma separated lists of data types to convert to unbounded VARCHAR

SQL support#

The connector provides read and write access to data and metadata in a ClickHouse catalog. In addition to the globally available and read operation statements, the connector supports the following features:

ALTER SCHEMA#

The connector supports renaming a schema with the ALTER SCHEMA RENAME statement. ALTER SCHEMA SET AUTHORIZATION is not supported.

Procedures#

`system.flush_metadata_cache()`#

Flush JDBC metadata caches. For example, the following system call flushes the metadata caches for all schemas in the example catalog

USE example.example_schema;
CALL system.flush_metadata_cache();

`system.execute('query')`#

The execute procedure allows you to execute a query in the underlying data source directly. The query must use supported syntax of the connected data source. Use the procedure to access features which are not available in Trino or to execute queries that return no result set and therefore can not be used with the query or raw_query pass-through table function. Typical use cases are statements that create or alter objects, and require native feature such as constraints, default values, automatic identifier creation, or indexes. Queries can also invoke statements that insert, update, or delete data, and do not return any data as a result.

The query text is not parsed by Trino, only passed through, and therefore only subject to any security or access control of the underlying data source.

The following example sets the current database to the example_schema of the example catalog. Then it calls the procedure in that schema to drop the default value from your_column on your_table table using the standard SQL syntax in the parameter value assigned for query:

USE example.example_schema;
CALL system.execute(query => 'ALTER TABLE your_table ALTER COLUMN your_column DROP DEFAULT');

Verify that the specific database supports this syntax, and adapt as necessary based on the documentation for the specific connected database and database version.

Table functions#

The connector provides specific table functions to access ClickHouse.

`query(varchar) -> table`#

The query function allows you to query the underlying database directly. It requires syntax native to ClickHouse, because the full query is pushed down and processed in ClickHouse. This can be useful for accessing native features which are not available in Trino or for improving query performance in situations where running a query natively may be faster.

The native query passed to the underlying data source is required to return a table as a result set. Only the data source performs validation or security checks for these queries using its own configuration. Trino does not perform these tasks. Only use passthrough queries to read data.

As a simple example, query the example catalog and select an entire table:

SELECT
  *
FROM
  TABLE(
    example.system.query(
      query => 'SELECT
        *
      FROM
        tpch.nation'
    )
  );

Note

The query engine does not preserve the order of the results of this function. If the passed query contains an ORDER BY clause, the function result may not be ordered as expected.

Performance#

The connector includes a number of performance improvements, detailed in the following sections.

Pushdown#

The connector supports pushdown for a number of operations:

Limit pushdown

Aggregate pushdown for the following functions:

Note

The connector performs pushdown where performance may be improved, but in order to preserve correctness an operation may not be pushed down. When pushdown of an operation may result in better performance but risks correctness, the connector prioritizes correctness.

Predicate pushdown support#

The connector does not support pushdown of inequality predicates, such as !=, and range predicates such as >, or BETWEEN, on columns with character string types like CHAR or VARCHAR. Equality predicates, such as IN or =, on columns with character string types are pushed down. This ensures correctness of results since the remote data source may sort strings differently than Trino.

In the following example, the predicate of the first and second query is not pushed down since name is a column of type VARCHAR and > and != are range and inequality predicates respectively. The last query is pushed down.

-- Not pushed down
SELECT * FROM nation WHERE name > 'CANADA';
SELECT * FROM nation WHERE name != 'CANADA';
-- Pushed down
SELECT * FROM nation WHERE name = 'CANADA';

ClickHouse connector#

Requirements#

Configuration#

Connection security#

Data source authentication#

Multiple ClickHouse servers#

General configuration properties#

Appending query metadata#

Domain compaction threshold#

Case insensitive matching#

Non-transactional INSERT#

Querying ClickHouse#

Table properties#

Type mapping#

ClickHouse type to Trino type mapping#

Trino type to ClickHouse type mapping#

Type mapping configuration properties#

SQL support#

ALTER SCHEMA#

Procedures#

system.flush_metadata_cache()#

system.execute('query')#

Table functions#

query(varchar) -> table#

Performance#

Pushdown#

Predicate pushdown support#

`system.flush_metadata_cache()`#

`system.execute('query')`#

`query(varchar) -> table`#