Connect Tableau to departmental databases

• Overview
• SQL Server
  • Grant access
  • Security of your credentials
• Oracle

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Overview

To build Tableau reports on your departmental databases, your databases must allow Tableau access. Configuration will vary by the type of relational database in use. The process for two types of RDBMS are explained here.

For help with Enterprise Business Intelligence, fill out the EDSD Support Form or contact your campus Support Center.

SQL Server

Grant access

Provide read access to your database for the ads\tabdev, ads\tabtst, and ads\tabprd accounts. In the User Rights Assignment local policy, these accounts will need Access this computer from the network user rights. If your database server firewall doesn't permit global "inbound" access, you'll need to add firewall exceptions to give Tableau access to your database.

Applying these ads\account read additions to the inbound firewall rule set will permit all required network connectivity for Tableau report services.

Security of your credentials

Tableau stores credentials in a locally encrypted database, which mitigates the risk of compromise or access to stored credentials. To learn more, see Security.

Oracle

Using the EDSD Support Form , create a Tableau support request supplying the information required to create a valid tnsnames.ora entry for the database that you wish the Tableau server to connect to. This typically incudes:

• The fully qualified domain name for the server hosting the Oracle database
• The SID or Service Name of the Oracle database
• The port number that the Oracle listener uses (the default port is 1521, but your database administrator may have selected another port)

The Tableau server can then be configured to connect to your database.

With Tableau Server and your Oracle host properly configured, you will be able to publish a Tableau workbook that makes a live connection to or refreshes an extract from your Oracle database. The process will be similar to the process described in Connect to DSS1PRD from Tableau Server, although the Service Name or SID will be that of your Oracle database, and not "DSS1PRD".