Tableau

Install the JDBC driver

The connector for JDBC requires the Exasol JDBC driver to be installed for Tableau Desktop and Server. You can download the latest Exasol JDBC driver for your operating system from the Exasol download portal.

Install the ODBC driver

The Exasol JDBC Tableau connector can be downloaded from the Tableau Exchange Extension Gallery.

The Exasol ODBC Tableau connector is distributed together with the Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server applications. We recommend using the latest available version of Tableau to access the Exasol ODBC connector.

You can also download the latest connectors for JDBC and ODBC as .taco files from the GitHub release page.

After installing the connectors in Tableau, select the connector EXASOL JDBC by Exasol AG or EXASOL ODBC by Exasol AG. This will open a connection dialog where you can enter details for connecting to your Exasol database.

JDBC connector - authenticate with Kerberos/Active Directory

This authentication method is used for database users created with Kerberos authentication, for example:

CREATE USER my_user IDENTIFIED BY KERBEROS PRINCIPAL "my_user@example.com>";

Make sure to enter the Kerberos domain in UPPERCASE.

To use Kerberos SSO, select Authentication>Kerberos. You do not have to enter a username and password, the connector will use the Kerberos credentials provided by your operating system to connect to Exasol.

Prerequisites

These prerequisites are necessary for using Kerberos with both Tableau Desktop and Server:

• The Exasol database must be configured to use Kerberos Single Sign-On. For more details, see Kerberos SSO.

  To create the keytab file, execute this command on the Windows Domain Controller:

  ktpass -out exasol.keytab -mapuser <user> -princ exasol/<fully qualified hostname>@<REALM> -pass <user password> -ptype KRB5_NT_PRINCIPAL -target <REALM> -crypto All

  For example:

  Copy

  ktpass -out exasol.keytab -mapuser exasoluser -princ exasol/exasoldb.example.com@EXAMPLE.COM -pass **** -ptype KRB5_NT_PRINCIPAL -target EXAMPLE.COM -crypto All 

  For more information, see also ktpass (Microsoft Learn).

• Kerberos must use the service name exasol for the database.

• You must use the fully qualified hostname of the Exasol server (for example: exasoldb.example.com) to connect to the database. You cannot use an IP address to connect.

• The clocks of all connected machines must be in sync. We recommend to synchronize time by configuring an NTP Server.

Using Kerberos with Tableau Desktop

When selecting Kerberos authentication in Tableau Desktop, the connector will use the credentials of the current Windows/macOS user to log in to Exasol.

Using Kerberos With Tableau Server

With Tableau Server, there are two options for using Kerberos authentication:

RunAs account/service account

This will use the Tableau Server’s Kerberos credentials for accessing the Exasol database instead of the user’s account. For instructions, refer to the Tableau documentation for Linux and Windows.

Kerberos delegation

With delegation, the Tableau Server will forward the user’s Kerberos credentials to the Exasol database. For instructions, refer to the Tableau documentation for Linux and Windows.

To use delegation you need to publish a data source through Tableau Desktop:

1. Log in to your Tableau Server using Tableau Desktop.

2. Create a new data source in Tableau Desktop using Kerberos authentication.

3. Select Server > Publish Data Source > (Your data source).

4. Click on Authentication > Edit and select Viewer Credentials as the authentication method from the dropdown menu.

   

5. Click on Publish.

6. In Tableau Server, create a new Workbook using the data source.

Authentication fails

Can’t connect to Exasol JDBC by Exasol AG
Detailed Error Message
Connection exception - authentication failed.
Unable to connect to the Exasol JDBC by Exasol AG server "exasoldb.example.com". Check that the server is running and that you have access privileges to the requested database.

This is a general error message when authentication fails.

Suggested actions:

When using Username and Password authentication, check that username and password are correct.

When using Kerberos authentication check the following:

• Verify that the clocks on all machines are synchronized. For the Exasol database you can do the following:

  • Check the current time of Exasol by running SQL query select CURRENT_TIMESTAMP.
  • Configure one or more NTP servers as described in the documentation.
  • Manually trigger NTP synchronization via EXAOperation Cluster Monitoring.
• Verify that Active Directory is setup correctly by running command dcdiag on the Domain Controller.
• Make sure to use the JDBC driver jar for the correct platform (Windows/Linux/Unix). The driver for Windows contains an additional library required for Kerberos on Windows.

• Download cluster logs from Exasol and check files *ConnectionServer* for error messages:

  • Request ticket server exasol/exasoldb.example.com@EXAMPLE.COM kvno 12 found in keytab but not with enctype aes128-cts: The keytab does not contain AES encrypted credentials. Generate a new keytab with option -crypto All (recommended) or disable AES for the Exasol service user in Active Directory via options This account supports Kerberos AES 128 bit encryption and This account supports Kerberos AES 256 bit encryption.
  • Request ticket server exasol/exasoldb.example.com@EXAMPLE.COM kvno 10 not found in keytab; keytab is likely out of date: The Exasol service user's password might have been changed. Generate a new keytab file and and upload it via EXAoperations.

Unable to obtain password from user

An unexpected error occurred. If you continue to receive this error please contact your Tableau Server Administrator.
Session ID: ABC123-1:0
Unable to obtain password from user
Unable to connect to the Exasol JDBC by Exasol AG server "exasoldb.example.com". Check that the server is running and that you have access privileges to the requested database.

This error may occur on Tableau Server when the keytab file is not configured correctly.

Suggested action:

Check that the correct keytab file is configured by executing the following commands:

tsm configuration get -k native_api.datasource_runas_keytab_path
tsm configuration get -k native_api.datasource_impersonation_runas_keytab_path

Missing certificate on Tableau Server

Can’t connect to Exasol JDBC by Exasol AG
Detailed Error Message
Unable to connect to the Exasol JDBC by Exasol AG server "exasoldb.example.com". Check that the server is running and that you have access privileges to the requested database.

This error may occur on Tableau Server when certificate validation is enabled but the Exasol database uses a self-signed TLS certificate.

Suggested action:

Enter the certificate fingerprint in the connection dialog.

Missing certificate fingerprint on Tableau Desktop

java.io.IOException: TLS connection to host (exasoldb.example.com) failed: PKIX path building failed: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException: unable to find valid certification path to requested target. If you trust the server, you can include the fingerprint in the connection string: exasoldb.example.com/ABD591342466880A16A4443DEEFF44A78A26E47514BE4D5E1C4CB712345F69CA:8563. 
Unable to connect to the Exasol JDBC by Exasol AG server "exasoldb.example.com". Check that the server is running and that you have access privileges to the requested database.

This error may occur when certificate validation is enabled but the Exasol database uses a self-signed TLS certificate.

Suggested action:

Enter the certificate fingerprint in the connection dialog.

GRANT SESSION privilege missing

Connection exception - insufficient privileges: CREATE SESSION.
Unable to connect to the Exasol JDBC by Exasol AG server "exasoldb.example.com". Check that the server is running and that you have access privileges to the requested database.
Connector Class: exasol_jdbc, Version: 1.0.0
For support, contact Exasol AG.

Suggested action:

GRANT CREATE SESSION TO "<user>"

Outdated JDBC driver

SQLInvalidAuthorizationSpecException: No LoginModules configured for exasol

This error may occur when using an outdated version of the Exasol JDBC driver with Tableau Desktop.

Suggested action:

Use the latest driver version.