Quickstart¶

This guide helps you deploy XLTable on Windows 10 / 11 and connect Excel to your analytical database as quickly as possible — no additional components are required.

By the end of this guide you will have:

XLTable server running on Windows 10 or 11
A trial license activated
A working database connection
A simple OLAP cube accessible from Excel Pivot Tables

For a production installation on Linux or Windows Server, see Installation.

Prerequisites¶

Before starting, make sure you have:

A computer running Windows 10 or 11 (Windows Server also works — see Installation)
An analytical database (ClickHouse, BigQuery, Snowflake, Trino, StarRocks, Databricks, Greenplum or DuckDB)
Microsoft Excel (Microsoft 365 or Excel 2016+)
XLTable distribution archive (contact help@xltable.com to obtain it)

Step 1: Install XLTable¶

Download the distribution archive and extract it to a folder of your choice, e.g. C:\xltable\.

That is the whole installation — XLTable ships as a standalone executable.

Step 2: Configure database connection¶

Edit the configuration file:

C:\xltable\setting\settings.json

Add your database connection and basic user credentials. Example for ClickHouse:

{
   "SERVER_DB": "ClickHouse",
   "CREDENTIAL_DB": {
      "user": "..",
      "password": "..",
      "host": "..",
      "port": "8443",
      "secure": true,
      "verify": true,
      "query_timeout": 60
   },
   "WRITE_LOG": false,
   "MAX_CELLS": 100000,
   "OVERLOAD_GUARD": {
       "MAX_MEMORY_PERCENT": 90,
       "MAX_CPU_PERCENT": 95,
       "MIN_FREE_DISK_MB": 512
   },
   "CONVERT_FIELDS_TO_STRING": true,
   "USERS": {"user1": "pass1", "user2": "pass2"},
   "USER_GROUPS": {"user1": ["olap_users", "olap_admins"], "user2": ["olap_users"]},
   "ADMIN_GROUPS": ["olap_admins"]
}

Note

Changes to settings.json are picked up automatically within a few seconds of saving — no service restart is required.

For other database types, see Database connections.

Step 3: Start the server¶

Start the server by double-clicking main.exe (or from the command line):

C:\xltable\main.exe

The server listens on port 5000.

Step 4: Get a trial license¶

Open the admin panel in your browser:

http://localhost:5000/admin

On the License tab, copy the server id and send it to help@xltable.com (or Telegram https://t.me/XLTable) — we will issue you a trial license. Upload the received .lic file using the form on the same License tab.

For details, see Obtaining a license and Admin panel.

Step 5: Create a minimal OLAP cube¶

XLTable reads cube definitions from a table named olap_definition in your database.

For a ready-to-run example with sample tables, test data, and a complete cube definition, see ClickHouse Sample Data.

Step 6: Connect Excel¶

Open Excel and go to Data → Get Data → From Database → From Analysis Services.
Enter the server URL: http://localhost:5000
Enter the username and password configured in settings.json.
Select the myOLAPcube cube.
Click Finish — your Pivot Table is ready.

Connection to XLTable is identical to connecting to Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS). For details on authentication modes and advanced connection options, see Connecting Excel.

Connecting from other computers¶

To let Excel users on other machines connect, allow inbound TCP port 5000 in Windows Firewall (run as administrator):

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="xltable" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=5000

They can then connect to http://<server-name-or-ip>:5000.

Next steps¶

Installation — complete installation guide for Linux, Windows 10 / 11 and Windows Server, including autostart and updates
OLAP cube definition — full OLAP cube definition reference
Reference — settings.json parameters and SQL tag reference
ClickHouse Sample Data — ready-to-run ClickHouse script with sample tables, test data, and the myOLAPcube cube
Support — troubleshooting and contact information