# Connect a Birst Space to Infor Data Lake and build a report > Source: https://netray.co/erp-help/infor-birst-connect-data-lake-how-to > Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems. > Section: ERP Help ## Short answer Birst is Infor's embedded BI layer, and the recommended way to report on live Data Lake data is a Live Access source inside a Birst Space rather than a static upload. Build the logical model over a filtered set of tables, apply row-level security, and publish the dashboard to a Ming.le homepage so users reach it without leaving Infor OS. ## Kind how-to ## System infor-os ## Erp Infor OS / Birst ## Module Birst / Business Intelligence ## Query how to connect birst to infor data lake ## Alternate Queries - birst live access infor data lake setup - build a birst space for infor cloudsuite - infor birst source connection how to - birst report from ion data ## Applies To Infor OS Portal, Birst, Infor Data Lake, CloudSuite tenants with Birst provisioned ## Steps ### Connect a Birst Space to Infor Data Lake and build a report **Items:** In Birst, accessed from Infor OS Portal or directly at the tenant's Birst URL, create or open a Space for the reporting subject area, for example Finance or Manufacturing. Go to Sources and add a new source, choosing the Live Access connection type for Infor Data Lake rather than a file upload, so the report queries current lake data instead of a static extract. Point the Live Access source at the same catalog/schema visible in Compass, and select only the tables needed for this subject area to keep the model manageable and fast. Build the logical model in Birst's Data Modeler - define hierarchies such as Fiscal Calendar, Item, or Customer, and the relationships between the fact table and the dimension tables just added. Open Visualizer and drag measures and attributes onto a canvas to build the first chart, then save it to a Dashboard so it can be shared with other users. Set row-level security if the report needs to be restricted by company, site, or business unit, using Birst's user attributes tied to the viewer's Infor OS identity. Confirm the refresh behavior - Live Access queries live, so validate a handful of report totals against a known report in the source application before publishing broadly. Publish the Dashboard and assign it to the relevant Infor OS homepage or Ming.le drawer so users reach it inside the portal instead of a separate Birst login. ## Sections ### Birst's place in the Infor OS stack **Body:** Birst is Infor's embedded, multi-tenant business intelligence platform, tightly tied to ION and Infor Data Lake. Where Compass is aimed at ad hoc SQL for someone who already knows what they are querying, Birst is aimed at recurring, secured, business-user-facing dashboards built on a modeled semantic layer rather than raw tables. ### Live Access vs data upload **Body:** A Birst source can either query Data Lake directly through Live Access or ingest a curated extract on a schedule. Live Access keeps the dashboard current with the lake's own publish cadence and avoids maintaining a separate copy of the data, but every dashboard query then depends on the lake's performance and latency. A scheduled extract can be faster for very large fact tables at the cost of the data being only as current as the last load. ### Building the logical model **Body:** Birst's Data Modeler expects a reasonably conventional star schema - a fact table with measures joined to dimension tables through defined keys. The most common mistake when modeling directly against Data Lake tables is missing or mismatched join keys between a BOD-derived fact table and a dimension table that was populated by a different BOD, which silently produces duplicated or dropped rows in reports rather than an obvious error. ### Security and rollout **Body:** Row-level security in Birst is enforced through user attributes, which can be tied to the viewer's Infor OS identity so the same dashboard shows different rows to different users, for example by company or site. This matters even for internal dashboards, since Data Lake tables often span every company or site a tenant has ever operated, not just the one the viewer is authorized to see. ## Pitfalls - Modeling directly against a huge Data Lake fact table without filtering it down first, producing slow dashboards. - Skipping row-level security setup and exposing cross-company or cross-site data to users who should only see their own. - Building reports against Data Lake tables that have publish latency, then getting confused when numbers do not match a live app report taken minutes earlier. - Not validating a few known totals against a source application report before rolling a new dashboard out broadly. - Mixing Live Access and uploaded sources in the same model without understanding which parts refresh live and which do not. ## Ai Angle At the reporting layer, an assistant grounded on a Space's logical model can help a user find the right existing dashboard for a business question rather than hunting through Spaces and Sources by hand, and it can flag when a figure looks stale relative to Data Lake publish latency instead of presenting it as real-time. It works within the Space's existing row-level security rather than bypassing it, so a user still only sees what their Birst permissions already allow. ## Faq ### What is the difference between Birst and Compass? **Answer:** Compass is for ad hoc SQL against Data Lake tables, best for someone who knows what they want to query. Birst adds a modeled, secured, and dashboard-ready semantic layer on top of the same lake data, better suited to recurring reports used by business users. ### Does Birst require Data Lake, or can it use direct app connections? **Answer:** Birst commonly connects to Infor Data Lake through Live Access, but it can also model other sources depending on the tenant's Birst configuration. For CloudSuite reporting the Data Lake route is the most common and best supported path. ### Can I restrict a Birst dashboard by company or site? **Answer:** Yes, using row-level security tied to user attributes in Birst, mapped to the viewer's Infor OS identity. This lets one dashboard definition show different rows to different users without building a separate dashboard per company or site. ### Where do users find published Birst dashboards? **Answer:** A published dashboard can be assigned to an Infor OS homepage or a Ming.le drawer, so users reach it inside the portal they already use, rather than needing a separate Birst login or bookmark. ## Search terms connect birst to infor data lake, birst live access setup, infor birst space how to, birst report infor cloudsuite, birst row level security infor, infor os birst dashboard, birst vs compass infor, birst logical model data lake --- Talk to an engineer: https://netray.co/contact?intent=erp_ai | Machine catalog: https://netray.co/agent/catalog.json