Configure a Looker (Google Cloud core) instance

Once you have set up a database connection to your Looker (Google Cloud core) instance, you can set up the instance for exploring data as described in the following sections on this page:

Create a LookML project

Once a database connection is set up, you are ready to set up a LookML project.

You can set up a LookML project within a Looker (Google Cloud core) instance if you have one of the following roles:

A project is a collection of LookML files that describe how your database tables are related to each other and how Looker should interpret those tables.

Looker (Google Cloud core) provides a sample LookML project that can help you learn to write LookML, query data, and view dashboards. The sample LookML project is provided on Looker (Google Cloud core) instances of all edition types. See the Use the sample LookML project on a Looker (Google Cloud core) instance documentation page for more information about accessing and using the sample LookML project on your instance.

The steps for creating LookML projects are listed on the Creating a new LookML project documentation page. Alternatively, you can follow the Set up Looker guide that appears dynamically within the Looker (Google Cloud core) instance. If you would like to customize the LookML in your project, you can access your project files from the Develop menu in the left navigation panel or by expanding Edit project files and clicking edit project in the Set up Looker guide. Click the name of your project to open its LookML files. See the Introduction to LookML documentation page to learn more about LookML development.

Additionally, the Best practice: Create a positive experience for Looker users article provides recommendations on how to use LookML to improve the experiences of Looker (Google Cloud core) users.

Explore data

You can explore data within a Looker (Google Cloud core) instance if you have the explore Looker permission.

Once a LookML project is set up, you can explore data by clicking Explore Data in the left navigation panel. Looker (Google Cloud core) will open a panel with the Explores that are associated with your project. Select an Explore to begin exploring data. You can also access the list of Explores by expanding Explore data and clicking Explore in the Set up Looker guide.

Add and manage Looker (Google Cloud core) users

Once your instance is configured, you can choose an authentication method and add and manage users. See the Manage users within Looker (Google Cloud core) documentation page for more information.

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