GitHub user lgiammattei edited a comment on the discussion: Failing to install
superset locally on a windows 11 pc in a python virtual environment
I was able to get Apache Superset up and running with Docker and WSL2, and get
it working by accessing data from a DB2 for IBM i (aka AS/400). I thought I'd
leave a few notes here that might be helpful to anyone else who might be
interested in a similar work environment (whether for development or
production).
I installed Superset in "dev mode" via Docker Compose (built from source), with
the IBM i Access ODBC driver integrated so you can connect to Db2 for IBM i
through the `sqlalchemy-ibmi` SQLAlchemy dialect.
## 1. Prerequisites
- [ ] Windows 10/11 with **WSL2** already installed and enabled (check with
`wsl --status` in PowerShell)
- [ ] A Linux distribution installed in WSL2 (e.g. Ubuntu) — check with `wsl -l
-v`, it must show `VERSION 2`
- [ ] **Docker Desktop** installed on Windows
- [ ] Access to an **IBM ID** to download the "IBM i Access Client Solutions"
ODBC driver (Linux)
- [ ] Your Db2 for i connection details (host/IP, port, user, password, default
library or `*LOCAL`)
- [ ] Git installed inside the WSL2 distribution (usually already present on
Ubuntu; check with `git --version`)
---
## 2. Configure Docker Desktop to use WSL2
- [ ] Open Docker Desktop
- [ ] Go to **Settings (gear icon) > Resources > WSL Integration**
- [ ] Enable **"Enable integration with my default WSL distro"**
- [ ] Also enable the specific toggle next to your distro's name (e.g. Ubuntu)
- [ ] Click **Apply & Restart**
- [ ] Open a WSL2 terminal (from PowerShell: `wsl`, or open the "Ubuntu" app
from the Start menu)
- [ ] Verify: `docker --version` should return a version number with no errors
- [ ] If you get `permission denied ... docker.sock`: close and reopen the WSL2
session (this
alone is often enough — the integration adds your user to the `docker`
group, but a new
session is required for it to take effect). If it persists: `sudo usermod
-aG docker $USER`,
then close and reopen the terminal again
---
## 3. Get the IBM i Access ODBC driver for Linux
- [ ] Log in to the IBM site (search for IBM i Access Client Solutions
download) with your IBM ID
- [ ] The file you need to download is called **`IBMiAccess_v1r1_LinuxAP.zip`**
(not a `.deb`
directly — it's a zip archive that contains both the `.deb` and the
`.rpm` packages inside it, e.g.
`ibm-iaccess-1.1.0.29-1.0.amd64.deb`)
- [ ] Extract the zip and locate the `.deb` file inside it
- [ ] Copy the extracted `.deb` file **into WSL2** (no need to leave it on
Windows): from the
WSL2 shell, e.g. `cp /mnt/c/Users/<youruser>/Downloads/ibm-iaccess-*.deb
~/`
---
## 4. Clone the Superset repository **inside WSL2** (not on C:\)
- [ ] Open the WSL2 terminal
- [ ] Create a working folder in the native Linux filesystem: `mkdir -p ~/dev
&& cd ~/dev`
- [ ] Clone the official repository: `git clone
https://github.com/apache/superset.git`
- [ ] Enter the folder: `cd superset`
## 5. Add the Db2 for i driver to the repository
- [ ] Create a folder for the driver: `mkdir -p ~/dev/superset/docker/vendor`
- [ ] Copy the downloaded `.deb` file: `cp ~/ibm-iaccess-*.deb
~/dev/superset/docker/vendor/`
- [ ] Open the Dockerfile at the root of the repo: `~/dev/superset/Dockerfile`
- [ ] Find, in the **`dev` stage** (the one used by `docker-compose.yml` via
`target: ${SUPERSET_BUILD_TARGET:-dev}`), the block that looks like:
```dockerfile
# Debian libs needed for dev
RUN /app/docker/apt-install.sh \
git \
pkg-config \
default-libmysqlclient-dev
```
- [ ] Replace it with (adding `unixodbc`/`unixodbc-dev` and installing the IBM
driver):
```dockerfile
# Debian libs needed for dev
RUN /app/docker/apt-install.sh \
git \
pkg-config \
default-libmysqlclient-dev \
unixodbc \
unixodbc-dev
# IBM i Access Client Solutions ODBC driver (for Db2 for i)
COPY docker/vendor/ibm-iaccess-1.1.0.29-1.0.amd64.deb /tmp/ibm-iaccess.deb
RUN /app/docker/apt-install.sh /tmp/ibm-iaccess.deb
```
(adjust the exact `.deb` filename to match the version you downloaded)
- [ ] This block must come **before** the `USER superset` line in the same
stage, otherwise
the apt install will fail due to insufficient permissions
- [ ] Create (or edit) the file `~/dev/superset/docker/requirements-local.txt`,
adding:
```
pyodbc
sqlalchemy-ibmi
```
(this file is read automatically at runtime by `docker-bootstrap.sh` and
installed via
pip on every startup of the Python containers — no rebuild needed if you
edit it later)
---
## 6. Build and start the stack
- [ ] From the repo root (`~/dev/superset`), build the Python services involved:
```
docker compose build superset superset-init superset-worker
superset-worker-beat
```
- [ ] Start the whole stack:
```
docker compose up -d
```
- [ ] Follow the initialization logs:
```
docker compose logs -f superset-init
```
Wait for `Init Step 4/4 [Complete]` to appear and for the container to
exit successfully
(inside native WSL2 this typically takes 1-3 minutes, not more than 15)
- [ ] Check the status of all services: `docker compose ps` — everything should
show `Up`
(or `healthy` for `superset`/`superset-worker` after a minute or two)
---
## 7. First login
- [ ] Open your browser at `http://localhost` (port 80, via nginx) or
`http://localhost:8088`
(the Superset service's direct port)
- [ ] Log in with the default credentials: **admin / admin** (customizable in
`docker/.env`
or `docker/.env-local` via the `ADMIN_USERNAME`/`ADMIN_PASSWORD`
variables)
---
## 8. Configure the Db2 for i connection
- [ ] Go to **Settings > Database Connections > + Database**
- [ ] If available, pick the **"IBM Db2 for i"** type from the preset list;
otherwise choose
**"Other"**
- [ ] Enter as the **SQLAlchemy URI**:
```
ibmi://USER:PASSWORD@IBM_I_HOST/LIBRARY_NAME
```
(omit `/LIBRARY_NAME` to use `*LOCAL`, the user's default library)
- [ ] Click **Test Connection** — you should see "Connection looks good"
- [ ] Save the connection
- [ ] Verify with a test query in **SQL Lab**, e.g.:
```sql
SELECT * FROM SCHEMANAME.TABLENAME FETCH FIRST 10 ROWS ONLY
```
GitHub link:
https://github.com/apache/superset/discussions/43475#discussioncomment-18162885
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