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

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 Linear 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 Linear 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 Linear

You can authenticate to Linear with a personal API key or with OAuth 2.0.

• API Key: The simplest option. Use it to connect with your own Linear account.
• OAuth (authorization code): Authenticate an application on behalf of a Linear user. Set AuthScheme to OAuth.
• OAuth (client credentials): Authenticate the application itself, for app-owned (machine-to-machine) access with no user interaction. Set AuthScheme to OAuthClient.

Authenticate with an API Key

To connect with a personal API key, set the following:

• AuthScheme: APIKey.
• APIKey: A Linear personal API key.

To create a personal API key:

1. Log in to Linear and open Settings > Security & access > Personal API keys.
2. Select New API key, name it, and create it.
3. Copy the key immediately. Linear shows it only once.

Authenticate with OAuth

The connector supports the OAuth 2.0 authorization code grant. All OAuth flows require a custom OAuth application registered in Linear.

See Creating a Custom OAuth Application for the steps to create one.

Client Credentials

Use the client credentials grant to authenticate the application itself, with no user sign-in. This is suited to backend or machine-to-machine integrations that act as the OAuth application rather than on behalf of a specific user.

Set the following and connect:

• AuthScheme: OAuthClient.
• OAuthClientId: The Client ID from your OAuth application.
• OAuthClientSecret: The Client Secret from your OAuth application.

Note: To request specific OAuth scopes, set Scope to a comma-separated list (for example, read,write). When omitted, the connector requests read,write. Scope is optional and is not a standard connection property.

No browser interaction or callback URL is required. The connector obtains an access token directly from the Linear token endpoint and refreshes it automatically.

Desktop Applications

After registering a custom OAuth application, set the following and connect:

• InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. Use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
• OAuthClientId: The Client ID from your OAuth application.
• OAuthClientSecret: The Client Secret from your OAuth application.
• CallbackURL: The Callback URL defined in your OAuth application (for example, http://localhost:33333).

Note: To request specific OAuth scopes, set Scope to a comma-separated list (for example, read,write). When omitted, the connector requests read,write. Scope is optional and is not a standard connection property.

When you connect, the connector opens Linear's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant access to the application. The connector then completes the OAuth process:

1. The connector obtains an access token from Linear and uses it to request data.
2. The OAuth values are saved in the location specified by OAuthSettingsLocation and persist across connections.

The connector refreshes the access token automatically when it expires.

Headless Machines

To authenticate on a machine without a browser, obtain the OAuth values on another machine that has a browser and transfer them.

1. On a machine with a browser, register the custom OAuth application and complete a desktop or web flow to obtain an OAuthAccessToken and OAuthRefreshToken (or an OAuthVerifier).
2. On the headless machine, set InitiateOAuth to REFRESH, supply OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, the token values, and OAuthSettingsLocation. The connector then refreshes the access token automatically.

Next Step

See Using the Connector to create data visualizations.