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DataJoint access

Ratacademy data is stored in a MySQL database on AWS (Amazon RDS), organized with DataJoint. To browse or analyze it you need:

  1. a MySQL user account on the database server
  2. access to the RatAcad GitHub organization
  3. the dj_ratacad package (see Data pipeline)

Database host

The server address isn't published on this public site. Ask the RatAcad maintainers for it. Below it is written as <DB_HOST>.

1. Request a database account

At BU, accounts are made by IS&T. Email your IT helpdesk and include:

  • username: your institutional username
  • host: <DB_HOST>
  • where you will connect from: e.g. home laptop over VPN, campus Wi-Fi, campus Ethernet. The server only accepts connections from approved networks.

IT will send a temporary password by secure mail.

2. Install a MySQL client and change your password

# install Homebrew first: https://brew.sh
brew install mysql-client

sudo apt install mysql-client

Log in with the temporary password:

mysql -h <DB_HOST> -u <your_username> -p

Then set your own password:

ALTER USER '<your_username>'@'<allowed_host_pattern>' IDENTIFIED BY '<new_password>';

<allowed_host_pattern> is the network pattern IT set up for your account (e.g. '168.122.%'). Run SELECT CURRENT_USER(); to see it.

3. GitHub access

Ask the RatAcad maintainers to add you to the RatAcad GitHub organization.

4. Connect with DataJoint and fetch data

Follow the Data pipeline → Querying data section and the dj_ratacad README.