Configuring a Connection

After Installing the Connector you can connect and create a Data Source for data in Azure Data Lake Storage.

Setting Up a Data Source

Complete the following steps to connect to the data:

Under Connect | To a Server, click More....
Select the data source called Azure Data Lake Storage by CData.
Enter the information required for the connection.
Click Sign In.
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 Azure Data Lake Storage 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 Azure DataLakeStorage Gen 1

To connect to a Gen 1 DataLakeStorage account, you should first set the following properties:

Schema: Set this to ADLSGen1.
Account: Set this to the name of the account.
AzureTenant: Set this to the tenant Id. See the property for more information on how to acquire this.
Directory: (Optional) Set this to the path which will be used to store the replicated file. If not specified, the root directory will be used.

Authenticating to Azure DataLakeStorage Gen 1

Gen 1 supports the following authentication methods: Azure Active Directory OAuth (AzureAD) and Managed Service Identity (AzureMSI).

Azure AD

Azure AD is a connection type that leverages OAuth to authenticate. OAuth requires the authenticating user to interact with Azure Data Lake Storage using an internet browser. The connector facilitates this in several ways as described below. Set your AuthScheme to AzureAD. The rest of the AzureAD flows assume that you have done so.

Desktop Applications

CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies OAuth desktop Authentication. Alternatively, you can create a custom OAuth application. See Creating a Custom OAuth Application for information about creating custom applications and reasons for doing so.

For authentication, the only difference between the two methods is that you must set two additional connection properties when using custom OAuth applications.

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
OAuthClientId: (custom applications only) Set this to the client Id in your application settings.
OAuthClientSecret: (custom applications only) Set this to the client secret in your application settings.
CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URL in your application settings.

When you connect the connector opens the OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application. The connector then completes the OAuth process:

Extracts the access token from the callback URL and authenticates requests.
Obtains a new access token when the old one expires.
Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation that persist across connections.

Admin Consent

Admin consent refers to when the Admin for an Azure Active Directory tenant grants permissions to an application which requires an admin to consent to the use case. The embedded app within the CData Tableau Connector for Azure Data Lake Storage, contains no permissions that require admin consent. Therefore, this information applies only to custom applications.

Admin Consent Permissions

When creating a new OAuth app in the Azure Portal, you must specify which permissions the app will require. Some permissions may be marked stating "Admin Consent Required". For example, all Groups permissions require Admin Consent. If your app requires admin consent, there are a couple of ways this can be done.

The easiest way to grant admin consent is to just have an admin log into portal.azure.com and navigate to the app you have created in App Registrations. Under API Permissions, there will be a button for Grant Consent. You can consent here for your app to have permissions on the tenant it was created under.

If your organization has multiple tenants or the app needs to be granted permissions for other tenants outside your organization, the adminconsenturlproc may be used to generate the Admin Authorization url. Unlike the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL, there will be no important information returned from this endpoint. If the grants access, it will simply return a boolean indicating that permissions were granted.

Once an admin grants consent, authentication may be performed as normal.

Client Credentials

Client credentials refers to a flow in OAuth where there is no direct user authentication taking place. Instead, credentials are created for just the app itself. All tasks taken by the app are done without a default user context. This makes the authentication flow a bit different from standard.

Client OAuth Flow

All permissions related to the client oauth flow require admin consent. This means the app embedded with the CData Tableau Connector for Azure Data Lake Storage cannot be used in the client oauth flow. You must create your own OAuth app in order to use client credentials. See Creating a Custom OAuth Application for more details.

In your App Registration in portal.azure.com, navigate to API Permissions and select the Microsoft Graph permissions. There are two distinct sets of permissions - Delegated and Application permissions. The permissions used during client credential authentication are under Application Permissions. Select the applicable permissions you require for your integration.

You are ready to connect after setting one of the below connection properties groups depending on the authentication type.

Client Secret
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can cuse InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
- AzureTenant: Set this to the tenant you wish to connet to.
- OAuthGrantType: Set this to CLIENT.
- OAuthClientId: Set this to the Client Id in your app settings.
- OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the Client Secret in your app settings.
Certificate
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
- AzureTenant: Set this to the tenant you wish to connect to.
- OAuthGrantType: Set this to CLIENT.
- OAuthClientId: Set this to the Client Id in your app settings.
- OAuthJWTCert: Set this to the JWT Certificate store.
- OAuthJWTCertType: Set this to the type of the certificate store specified by OAuthJWTCert.

Authentication with client credentials will take place automatically like any other connection, except there will be no window opened prompting the user. Because there is no user context, there is no need for a browser popup. Connections will take place and be handled internally.

Azure Service Principal

The authentication as an Azure Service Principal is handled via the OAuth Client Credentials flow. It does not involve direct user authentication. Instead, credentials are created for just the application itself. All tasks taken by the app are done without a default user context, but based on the assigned roles. The application access to the resources is controlled through the assigned roles' permissions.

Create an AzureAD App and an Azure Service Principal

When authenticating using an Azure Service Principal, you must create and register an Azure AD application with an Azure AD tenant. See Creating a Custom OAuth Application for more details.

In your App Registration in portal.azure.com, navigate to API Permissions and select the Microsoft Graph permissions. There are two distinct sets of permissions: Delegated permissions and Application permissions. The permissions used during client credential authentication are under Application Permissions.

Assign a role to the application

To access resources in your subscription, you must assign a role to the application.

Open the Subscriptions page by searching and selecting the Subscriptions service from the search bar.
Select the subscription to assign the application to.
Open the Access control (IAM) and select Add > Add role assignment to open the Add role assignment page.
Select Owner as the role to assign to your created Azure AD app.

Complete the Authentication Choose whether to use a client secret or a certificate and follow the relevant steps below.

Client Secret

Set these connection properties:

AuthScheme: AzureServicePrincipal to use a client secret.
InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
AzureTenant: The tenant you want to connect to.
OAuthClientId: The client Id in your application settings.
OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in your application settings.

Certificate

Set these connection properties:

AuthScheme: AzureServicePrincipalCert to use a certificate.
InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
AzureTenant: The tenant you want to connect to.
OAuthJWTCert: The JWT Certificate store.
OAuthJWTCertType: The type of the certificate store specified by OAuthJWTCert.

You are now ready to connect. Authentication with client credentials takes place automatically like any other connection, except there is no window opened prompting the user. Because there is no user context, there is no need for a browser popup. Connections take place and are handled internally.

Managed Service Identity (MSI)

If you are running Azure Data Lake Storage on an Azure VM and want to leverage MSI to connect, set AuthScheme to AzureMSI.

User-Managed Identities

To obtain a token for a managed identity, use the OAuthClientId property to specify the managed identity's "client_id".

When your VM has multiple user-assigned managed identities, you must also specify OAuthClientId.

Connecting to Azure DataLakeStorage Gen 2

To connect to a Gen 2 DataLakeStorage account, you should first set the following properties:

Schema: Set this to ADLSGen2.
Account: Set this to the name of the storage account.
FileSystem: Set this to the file system name which will be used for this account. For example, the name of an Azure Blob Container
Directory: (Optional) Set this to the path which will be used to store the replicated file. If not specified, the root directory will be used.

Authenticating to Azure DataLakeStorage Gen 2

Gen 2 supports the following authentication methods: using an AccessKey, using a Shared Access Signature, Azure Active Directory OAuth (AzureAD), Managed Service Identity (AzureMSI).

Authenticating using an Access Key

To connect using a Shared Access Signature set the AccessKey property and the AuthScheme to AccessKey.

You can obtain an access key for the ADLS Gen2 storage account using the Azure portal:

Go to your ADLS Gen2 Storage Account in the Azure portal.
Under Settings, select Access keys.
Copy the value for one of the available access keys to the AccessKey connection property.

Shared Access Signature (SAS)

To connect using a Shared Access Signature set the SharedAccessSignature property to a valid signature of a resource to connect to and the AuthScheme to SAS. The SharedAccessSignature may be generated with a tool such as Azure Storage Explorer.

Azure AD

Desktop Applications

For authentication, the only difference between the two methods is that you must set two additional connection properties when using custom OAuth applications.

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
OAuthClientId: (custom applications only) Set this to the client Id in your application settings.
OAuthClientSecret: (custom applications only) Set this to the client secret in your application settings.
CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URL in your application settings.

When you connect the connector opens the OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application. The connector then completes the OAuth process:

Extracts the access token from the callback URL and authenticates requests.
Obtains a new access token when the old one expires.
Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation that persist across connections.

Admin Consent

Admin Consent Permissions

Once an admin grants consent, authentication may be performed as normal.

Client Credentials

Client OAuth Flow

You are ready to connect after setting one of the below connection properties groups depending on the authentication type.

Client Secret
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can cuse InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
- AzureTenant: Set this to the tenant you wish to connet to.
- OAuthGrantType: Set this to CLIENT.
- OAuthClientId: Set this to the Client Id in your app settings.
- OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the Client Secret in your app settings.
Certificate
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
- AzureTenant: Set this to the tenant you wish to connect to.
- OAuthGrantType: Set this to CLIENT.
- OAuthClientId: Set this to the Client Id in your app settings.
- OAuthJWTCert: Set this to the JWT Certificate store.
- OAuthJWTCertType: Set this to the type of the certificate store specified by OAuthJWTCert.

Azure Service Principal

Create an AzureAD App and an Azure Service Principal

When authenticating using an Azure Service Principal, you must create and register an Azure AD application with an Azure AD tenant. See Creating a Custom OAuth Application for more details.

Assign a role to the application

To access resources in your subscription, you must assign a role to the application.

Open the Subscriptions page by searching and selecting the Subscriptions service from the search bar.
Select the subscription to assign the application to.
Open the Access control (IAM) and select Add > Add role assignment to open the Add role assignment page.
Select Owner as the role to assign to your created Azure AD app.

Complete the Authentication Choose whether to use a client secret or a certificate and follow the relevant steps below.

Client Secret

Set these connection properties:

AuthScheme: AzureServicePrincipal to use a client secret.
InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
AzureTenant: The tenant you want to connect to.
OAuthClientId: The client Id in your application settings.
OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in your application settings.

Certificate

Set these connection properties:

AuthScheme: AzureServicePrincipalCert to use a certificate.
InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
AzureTenant: The tenant you want to connect to.
OAuthJWTCert: The JWT Certificate store.
OAuthJWTCertType: The type of the certificate store specified by OAuthJWTCert.

Managed Service Identity (MSI)

If you are running Azure Data Lake Storage on an Azure VM and want to leverage MSI to connect, set AuthScheme to AzureMSI.

User-Managed Identities

To obtain a token for a managed identity, use the OAuthClientId property to specify the managed identity's "client_id".

When your VM has multiple user-assigned managed identities, you must also specify OAuthClientId.

Next Step

See Using the Connector to create data visualizations.