Tableau Connector for Amazon S3

Build 25.0.9434

Configuring a Connection

After Installing the Connector you can connect and create a Data Source for data in Amazon S3.

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 S3 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 S3 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 Amazon S3

Specify the following to connect to data:

  • CustomURL: Specify the base S3 service URL if it has a different URL from 'amazonaws.com'. Make sure to specify the full URL. For example: 'http://127.0.0.1:9000'.
  • AWSRegion: Set this to the region where your Amazon S3 data is hosted.

Authenticating to Amazon S3

There are several authentication methods available for connecting to Amazon S3 including: authenticating with Root Credentials, Temporary Credentials, as an AWS Role (from an EC2 Instance or by specifying the root credentials), using SSO and using a Credential File.

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 navigate 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 parameters:

Note: Amazon discourages the use of this authentication scheme 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:

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: 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).

Using AWS From an EC2 Instance

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 S3 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 S3 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 either using Amazon S3 from a container configured to assume role with web identity (such as a Pod in an EKS cluster with an OpenID Provider) OR have authenticated with a web identity provider associated with an IAM role (and have thus obtained an identity token), you can exchange the web identity token and IAM role information for temporary security credentials to authenticate and access AWS services.

If the container has AWS_ROLE_ARN and AWS_WEB_IDENTITY_TOKEN_FILE specified in the environment variables, Amazon S3 automatically obtains the credentials.

You can also authenticate by specifying both AWSRoleARN and AWSWebIdentityToken to execute the AssumeRoleWithWebIdentity API operation.

AWS IAM Roles

To authenticate through AWS, set AuthScheme to AwsIAMRoles.

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).

Note: In some circumstances it might be preferable to use an IAM role for authentication, rather than the direct security credentials of an AWS root user. If you are specifying the AWSAccessKey and AWSSecretKey of an AWS root user, you cannot use roles.

ADFS

To connect to ADFS, set these properties:

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;

Okta

To connect to Okta, set these properties:

If you are either 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;

PingFederate

To connect to PingFederate, set these properties:

  • AuthScheme: PingFederate.
  • User: The authenticating PingFederate user.
  • Password: The authenticating user's PingFederate 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): If you want to include your username and password as an authorization header in requests to Amazon S3, set this to Authscheme=Basic.

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

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 any credentials file to authenticate, including any configurations related to AccessKey/SecretKey authentication, temporary credentials, role authentication, or MFA.

To do this, set these properties:

For further information, 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 these properties:

Connecting to Amazon S3 through VPC Endpoints

In secure or isolated environments without internet access, you can route requests to Amazon S3 and AWS STS through VPC endpoints configured via AWS PrivateLink.

To configure this set the following properties:

  • CustomURL: Use this property to specify the VPC endpoint URL for Amazon S3.
  • STSEndpointOverride: If using IAM roles for authentication, use this property to override the default STS endpoint with a VPC endpoint.

Note: Make sure the VPC endpoint is properly configured and reachable, and that Private DNS is enabled in your AWS VPC settings.

Next Step

See Using the Connector to create data visualizations.

Copyright (c) 2025 CData Software, Inc. - All rights reserved.
Build 25.0.9434