After Installing the Connector you can connect and create a Data Source for data in Amazon DynamoDB.

Setting Up a Data Source

Complete the following steps to connect to the data:

1. Under Connect | To a Server, click More....
2. Select the data source called Amazon DynamoDB by CData.
3. Enter the information required for the connection.
4. Click Sign In.
5. If necessary, select a Database and Schema to discover what tables and views are available.

Using the Connection Builder

The connector makes the most common connection properties available directly in Tableau. However, it can be difficult to use if you need to use more advanced settings or need to troubleshoot connection issues. The connector includes a separate connection builder that allows you to create and test connections outside of Tableau.

There are two ways to access the connection builder:

• On Windows, use a shortcut called Connection Builder in the Start menu, under the CData Tableau Connector for Amazon DynamoDB folder.
• You can also start the connection builder by going to the driver install directory and running the .jar file in the lib directory.

In the connection builder, you can set values for connection properties and click Test Connection to validate that they work. You can also use the Copy to Clipboard button to save the connection string. This connection string can be given to the Connection String option included in the connector connection window in Tableau.

Connecting to DynamoDB

Specify the following to connect to data:

• Domain: Set this if you want to use a domain name you have associated with AWS.
• AWSRegion: Set this to the region where your Amazon DynamoDB data is hosted.

Authenticating to DynamoDB

Obtain AWS Keys

To obtain the credentials for an IAM user:

1. Sign into the IAM console.
2. In the navigation pane, select Users.
3. To create or manage the access keys for a user, select the user and then go to the Security Credentials tab.

To obtain the credentials for your AWS root account:

1. Sign into the AWS Management console with the credentials for your root account.
2. Select your account name or number.
3. In the menu that displays, select My Security Credentials.
4. To manage or create root account access keys, click Continue to Security Credentials and expand the "Access Keys" section.

Root Credentials

To authenticate using account root credentials, set these configuration parameters:

• AuthScheme: AwsRootKeys.
• AWSAccessKey: The access key associated with the AWS root account.
• AWSSecretKey: The secret key associated with the AWS root account.

Note: Use of this authentication scheme is discouraged by Amazon for anything but simple tests. The account root credentials have the full permissions of the user, making this the least secure authentication method.

If multi-factor authentication is required, specify the following:

• CredentialsLocation: The location of the settings file where MFA credentials are saved. See the Credentials File Location page under Connection String Options for more information.
• MFASerialNumber: The serial number of the MFA device if one is being used.
• MFAToken: The temporary token available from your MFA device.

This causes the connector to submit the MFA credentials in the request to retrieve temporary authentication credentials.

Note: If you want to control the duration of the temporary credentials, set the TemporaryTokenDuration property (default: 3600 seconds).

Temporary Credentials

To authenticate using temporary credentials, specify the following:

• AuthScheme: TemporaryCredentials.
• AWSAccessKey: The access key of the IAM user to assume the role for.
• AWSSecretKey: The secret key of the IAM user to assume the role for.
• AWSSessionToken: Your AWS session token, provided with your temporary credentials. For details, see AWS Identity and Access Management User Guide.

The connector can now request resources using the same permissions provided by long-term credentials (such as IAM user credentials) for the lifespan of the temporary credentials.

To authenticate using both temporary credentials and an IAM role, set all the parameters described above, and specify these additional parameters:

• AWSRoleARN: Specify the Role ARN for the role you'd like to authenticate with. This prompts the connector to retrieve credentials for the specified role.
• AWSExternalId (optional): Only required if you are assuming a role in another AWS account.

If multi-factor authentication is required, specify the following:

• CredentialsLocation: The location of the settings file where MFA credentials are saved. See the Credentials File Location page under Connection String Options for more information.
• MFASerialNumber: The serial number of the MFA device if one is being used.
• MFAToken: The temporary token available from your MFA device.

This causes the connector to submit the MFA credentials in the request to retrieve temporary authentication credentials.

Note: If you want to control the duration of the temporary credentials, set the TemporaryTokenDuration property (default: 3600 seconds).

EC2 Instances

Set AuthScheme to AwsEC2Roles.

If you are using the connector from an EC2 Instance and have an IAM Role assigned to the instance, you can use the IAM Role to authenticate. Since the connector automatically obtains your IAM Role credentials and authenticates with them, it is not necessary to specify AWSAccessKey and AWSSecretKey.

If you are also using an IAM role to authenticate, you must additionally specify the following:

• AWSRoleARN: Specify the Role ARN for the role you'd like to authenticate with. This will cause the connector to attempt to retrieve credentials for the specified role.
• AWSExternalId (optional): Only required if you are assuming a role in another AWS account.

IMDSv2 Support

The Amazon DynamoDB connector now supports IMDSv2. Unlike IMDSv1, the new version requires an authentication token. Endpoints and response are the same in both versions.

In IMDSv2, the Amazon DynamoDB connector first attempts to retrieve the IMDSv2 metadata token and then uses it to call AWS metadata endpoints. If it is unable to retrieve the token, the connector reverts to IMDSv1.

AWS Web Identity

Set AuthScheme to AwsWebIdentity.

If you are using the connector from a container configured to assume role with web identity (such as a Pod in an EKS cluster with an OpenID Provider) or have obtained an identity token by authenticating with a web identity provider associated with an IAM role, you can exchange the web identity token and IAM role information for temporary security credentials to authenticate and access AWS services. The connector automatically obtains the credentials if the container has AWS_ROLE_ARN and AWS_WEB_IDENTITY_TOKEN_FILE specified in the environment variables. Alternatively, you can specify both AWSRoleARN and AWSWebIdentityToken to execute the AssumeRoleWithWebIdentity API operation and authenticate.

AWS IAM Roles

Set AuthScheme to AwsIAMRoles.

In many situations, it may be preferable to use an IAM role for authentication instead of the direct security credentials of an AWS root user. If you are specifying the AWSAccessKey and AWSSecretKey of an AWS root user, you may not use roles.

To authenticate as an AWS role, set these properties:

• AWSAccessKey: The access key of the IAM user to assume the role for.
• AWSSecretKey: The secret key of the IAM user to assume the role for.
• AWSRoleARN: Specify the Role ARN for the role you'd like to authenticate with. This will cause the connector to attempt to retrieve credentials for the specified role.
• AWSExternalId (optional): Only required if you are assuming a role in another AWS account.

If multi-factor authentication is required, specify the following:

• CredentialsLocation: The location of the settings file where MFA credentials are saved. See the Credentials File Location page under Connection String Options for more information.
• MFASerialNumber: The serial number of the MFA device if one is being used.
• MFAToken: The temporary token available from your MFA device.

This causes the connector to submit the MFA credentials in the request to retrieve temporary authentication credentials.

Note: If you want to control the duration of the temporary credentials, set the TemporaryTokenDuration property (default: 3600 seconds).

ADFS

To connect to ADFS, set the AuthScheme to ADFS, and set these properties:

• User: The ADFS user.
• Password: The ADFS user's password.
• SSOLoginURL: The SSO provider's login url.

Example connection string:

AuthScheme=ADFS; AWSRegion=Ireland; [email protected]; Password=CH8WerW121235647iCa6; SSOLoginURL='https://adfs.domain.com'; AWSRoleArn=arn:aws:iam::1234:role/ADFS_SSO; AWSPrincipalArn=arn:aws:iam::1234:saml-provider/ADFSProvider; S3StagingDirectory=s3://athena/staging;

Okta

To connect to Okta, set the AuthScheme to Okta, and set these properties:

• User: The Okta user.
• Password: The Okta user's password.
• SSOLoginURL: The SSO provider's login URL.

If you are using a trusted application or proxy that overrides the Okta client request OR configuring MFA, you must use combinations of SSOProperties to authenticate using Okta. Set any of the following, as applicable:

• APIToken: When authenticating a user via a trusted application or proxy that overrides the Okta client request context, set this to the API Token the customer created from the Okta organization.
• MFAType: If you have configured the MFA flow, set this to one of the following supported types: OktaVerify, Email, or SMS.
• MFAPassCode: If you have configured the MFA flow, set this to a valid passcode.
  If you set this to empty or an invalid value, the connector issues a one-time password challenge to your device or email. After the passcode is received, reopen the connection where the retrieved one-time password value is set to the MFAPassCode connection property.
• MFARememberDevice: True by default. Okta supports remembering devices when MFA is required. If remembering devices is allowed according to the configured authentication policies, the connector sends a device token to extend MFA authentication lifetime. If you do not want MFA to be remembered, set this variable to False.

Example connection string:

AuthScheme=Okta; AWSRegion=Ireland; [email protected]; Password=CH8WerW121235647iCa6; SSOLoginURL='https://cdata-us.okta.com/home/amazon_aws/0oa35m8arsAL5f5NrE6NdA356/272'; SSOProperties='ApiToken=01230GGG2ceAnm_tPAf4MhiMELXZ0L0N1pAYrO1VR-hGQSf;'; AWSRoleArn=arn:aws:iam::1234:role/Okta_SSO; AWSPrincipalARN=arn:aws:iam::1234:saml-provider/OktaProvider; S3StagingDirectory=s3://athena/staging;

To connect to PingFederate, set AuthScheme to PingFederate, and set these properties:

• User: The PingFederate user.
• Password: The PingFederate user's password.
• SSOLoginURL: The SSO provider's login url.
• AWSRoleARN (optional): If you have multiple role ARNs, specify the one you want to use for authorization.
• AWSPrincipalARN (optional): If you have multiple principal ARNs, specify the one you want to use for authorization.
• SSOExchangeUrl: The Partner Service Identifier URI configured in your PingFederate server instance under: SP Connections > SP Connection > WS-Trust > Protocol Settings. This should uniquely identify a PingFederate SP Connection, so it is a good idea to set it to your AWS SSO ACS URL. You can find it under AWS SSO > Settings > View Details next to the Authentication field.
• SSOProperties (optional): Authscheme=Basic if you want to include your username and password as an authorization header in requests to Amazon S3.

To enable mutual SSL authentication for SSOLoginURL, the WS-Trust STS endpoint, configure these SSOProperties:

• SSLClientCert
• SSLClientCertType
• SSLClientCertSubject
• SSLClientCertPassword

Example connection string:

authScheme=pingfederate;SSOLoginURL=https://mycustomserver.com:9033/idp/sts.wst;SSOExchangeUrl=https://us-east-1.signin.aws.amazon.com/platform/saml/acs/764ef411-xxxxxx;user=admin;password=PassValue;AWSPrincipalARN=arn:aws:iam::215338515180:saml-provider/pingFederate;AWSRoleArn=arn:aws:iam::215338515180:role/SSOTest2;

Credentials Files

You can use a credentials file to authenticate. Any configurations related to AccessKey/SecretKey authentication, temporary credentials, role authentication, or MFA can be used. To do so, set the following properties to authenticate:

• AuthScheme: AwsCredentialsFile.
• AWSCredentialsFile: The location of your credentials file.
• AWSCredentialsFileProfile (optional): The name of the profile you would like to use from the specified credentials file. If not specified, the default profile is used.

For details, see AWS Command Line Interface User Guide.

AWS Cognito Credentials

If you want to use the connector with a user registered in a User Pool in AWS Cognito, set the following properties to authenticate:

• AuthScheme: Set this to AwsCognitoSrp (recommended). You can also use AwsCognitoBasic.
• AWSCognitoRegion: Set this to the region of the User Pool.
• AWSUserPoolId: Set this to the User Pool Id.
• AWSUserPoolClientAppId: Set this to the User Pool Client App Id.
• AWSUserPoolClientAppSecret: Set this to the User Pool Client Secret.
• AWSIdentityPoolId: Set this to the Identity Pool Id of the Identity Pool that is linked with the User Pool.
• User: Set this to the username of the user registered in the User Pool.
• Password: Set this to the password of the user registered in the User Pool.

Next Step

See Using the Connector to create data visualizations.