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Run Vantage Express on VirtualBox

Note

You can now get a hosted instance of Vantage for free at https://www.teradata.com/try.

Overview​

This how-to shows how to gain access to a Teradata database by running it on your local machine. Once you finish the steps you will have a working Teradata Vantage Express database on your computer.

Note

Starting with version 17.20, Vantage Express includes the following analytics packages: Vantage Analytics Library, Bring Your Own Model (BYOM), API Integration with AWS SageMaker.

Prerequisites​

  1. A computer using one of the following operating systems: Windows 10, Linux or Intel-based MacOS.

    Note

    For M1/M2 MacOS systems, see Run Vantage Express on UTM.

  2. 30GB of disk space and enough CPU and RAM to be able to dedicate at least one core and 6GB RAM to the virtual machine.

  3. Admin rights to be able to install and run the software.

Installation​

Download required software​

  1. The latest version of Vantage Express VirtualBox Open Virtual Appliance (OVA).

    Note

    If you have not used the Teradata Downloads website before, you will need to register first.

  2. VirtualBox, version 6.1.

    Note

    You can also install VirtualBox using brew and other package managers.

Run installers​

  1. Install VirtualBox by running the installer and accepting the default values.

    Note

    VirtualBox includes functionality that requires elevated privileges. When you start VirtualBox for the first time, you will be asked to confirm this elevated access. You may also need to reboot your machine to activate the VirtualBox kernel plugin.

Run Vantage Express​

  • Start VirtualBox.

  • Go to File -> Import Appliance... menu.

  • In File field, select the downloaded OVA file.

  • On the next screen, accept the defaults and click on Import.

  • Back in the main VirtualBox panel, start the Vantage Express appliance double clicking on VM Vantage 17.20.

    Start VM

  • Press [ENTER] to select the highlighted LINUX boot partition.

Teradata Data Distribution

  • On the next screen, press ENTER again to select the default SUSE Linux kernel.

Teradata Data Distribution

  • Once the VM is up, you will see its desktop environment. When prompted for a username and password, enter root for both.

VM Login

  • The database is configured to autostart with the VM. To confirm that the database has started, go to the virtual desktop and start a terminal.

Start Terminal

  • In the terminal, execute the pdestate command to check if Vantage has already started:

Wait until you see the following message:

PDEstate

See examples of messages that pdestate returns when the database is still initializing:
PDE state is DOWN/HARDSTOP.
PDE state is START/NETCONFIG.
PDE state is START/GDOSYNC.
PDE state is START/TVSASTART.
PDE state is START/READY.
PDE state is RUN/STARTED.
DBS state is 1/1: DBS Startup - Initializing DBS Vprocs
PDE state is RUN/STARTED.
DBS state is 1/5: DBS Startup - Voting for Transaction Recovery
PDE state is RUN/STARTED.
DBS state is 1/4: DBS Startup - Starting PE Partitions
PDE state is RUN/STARTED.
  • Now that the database is up, you can log in to it:
  • At the shell prompt, type bteq.
  • At the logon prompt, type .logon 127.0.0.1/dbc.
  • At the password prompt, type dbc.
    • If successful, the Basic Teradata Query (BTEQ) session confirms that you are logged into BTEQ.

Database Login

  • Run the SQL test script by typing the following:
  • A successful test returns: *** Query completed.

Select Statement

Updating VirtualBox Guest Extensions​

VirtualBox Guest Extensions is a piece of software that runs in a VM. It makes the VM run faster on VirtualBox. It also improves the resolution of the VM screen and its responsiveness to resizing. It implements two-way clipboard, and drag and drop between the host and the guest. VirtualBox Guest Extensions in the VM needs to match the version of your VirtualBox install. You will likely have to update VirtualBox Guest Extensions for optimal performance.

To update VirtualBox Guest Extensions:

  1. Insert the VirtualBox Guest Extensions DVD by clicking on SATA Port 3: [Optical Drive] in Storage section:

Insert Guest Additions DVD

  1. Back in the VM window, start the Gnome Terminal application.
  2. Run the following command in the terminal:

Summary​

In this guide we have covered how to quickly create a working Teradata environment. We used Teradata Vantage Express in a VM running on VMware. In the same VM, we ran Teradata Studio Express to issue queries. We installed all software locally and didn't have to pay for cloud resources.

Next steps​

Further reading​

Also of interest