Tableau Parameters (Mandatory and Optional)

When you create a Tableau Data Source, along with other settings, you need to define mandatory and optional Tableau parameters.

Configure Required Tableau Parameters


Parameter Variable Name Description
1 Auth Type :authType Specify the required auth type: Password or Identity Profile.
2 Tableau Server :server This is a server address variable.
  • If the Remote Data Processor (RDP) runs on the Tableau server, enter "localhost".
  • If RDP runs on a different machine, enter the Tableau server name.
3 Site ID :site This is a site name variable.
  • Input Site ID if you need the Tableau plugin to connect to a specific site.
  • Otherwise, if Site ID (name) is not provided, it will connect to default.
NOTE: If you are using Tableau Online, this parameter is required.

Configure Optional Tableau Parameters


Tableau Parameter Description
1 Base URL Specify the hostname portion for constructing the URL for a Tableau object.
2 Attempts Define the number of attempts to recollect data (for HTTP requests).
3 Auth Method This variable sets the authentication method during the connection to the Tableau server
  • default– authentication method via encryption key; 
  • trusted – authentication method via trusted IP (without encryption key);
  • token – authentication method using Personal Access Token.
4 Private Key Passphrase Deprecated
Define the passphrase for the keyStore password in this variable.
  • In order to use the key for public-key encryption, the file is decrypted with the decryption key. SSH does this automatically by asking you for the passphrase.
5 Connected App Client ID
Connected App Secret
Connected App Secret ID		 Define the parameters to configure the JWT authentication.
6 Data freshness policy
 Define the data freshness policy for live Tableau Data Sources. The default value is 12 hours. 
7 Force refresh cache This is a Boolean variable (true / false).
  • Set the possibility to update Elements on the Tableau server before loading.
8 Data expiration If Force refresh cache is set to "true", you can specify the refresh interval (in seconds).
9 Timeout Specify a timeout for HTTP requests. 
10 Include device layout metadata This is a Boolean variable (true / false).
  • Specify if you want to collect device layout metadata about whether a Dashboard has been optimized for mobile.
11 Include metadata This is a Boolean variable (true / false).
  • If set to "true", refreshing objects will collect additional metadata as follows: Workbook description, Project name, Owner, included Worksheets, Tags, Data Source, Last Modified date/time, and Total View Count (applied only for Server Administrator Tableau account role). 
  • NOTE: Enabling this variable may affect the processing speed. 
12 Include Update Time
This is a Boolean variable (true / false).
  • If set to "true", additionally collects the time of the latest data refresh for Tableau workbooks. 
  • NOTE: Enabling this variable may affect the processing speed. 
13 Content loading strategy This parameter allows for switching between APIs only for the Password auth type because it can use both Web and REST. By default, the application communicates with Tableau via Web API. Setting the parameter to "REST" will impact only the collection of Views. Workbooks must be collected via REST.
  • Trusted supports only Web API.
  • Token supports only REST API. 
  • Combinations of "Web + Token" and "REST + Trusted" are not possible
14 Maximum iterations for single data fetch Configuring this variable will help prevent Tableau server overload.
  • When collecting data for an element with External Filters, the plugin runs iterations for all possible combinations of Filter Values
  • Before fetching data, the number of required iterations (fetches) is counted by the Plugin. Should it exceed the specified number, the Plugin will not send the request (to avoid server overload).
15 Type of object Specify the type of object to be returned. 
  • If "Workbook" is specified, views are excluded from the object list and only workbooks are shown. 
  • You can choose to include either "Workbook" or "Workbook, View"
  • When left empty, all objects are returned.
16 Primary Date Format Enter the date format if you want to teach the Plugin how to handle it (e.g. primary_date_format=MM YY).
17 Project List (Comma-Separated) Enter project names (comma-separated) to narrow down the list of projects (e.g. project=Tableau Samples, default)
  • Enter the site name if you want to specify it (e.g. site=Sales). By default site=Default. 
  • If you use Tableau Online, then it must be specified.
18 Token Input a Personal Access Token generated on the Tableau side.
19 Token Name Input the PAT name given upon PAT generation.
20 Use Custom Views Deprecated
NOTE: "CUSTOM_VIEW" can be listed under the Type of object Parameter. It supports only getting images via REST API.
21 Validate SSL Certificates This is a Boolean variable (true / false).
  • Specify if you want to check for a SSL certificate. 
  • Plugin will ignore if it is a self-signed certificate.

Additional Parameters

Parameters that used to be configured via .config files, can be configured on the Plugin Config page at https://<hostname>.com/admin/plugin-config/ or under Admin > Plugins > Advanced Configuration.

  • tlsVersion parameter can be used for troubleshooting TLS issues. The default value is TLSv1.2. The value needs to match the TLS version on the server.
  • error_limit parameter can be used to specify the maximum number of errors before the system fails the entire collection for Tableau Plugin.

More information in Configure Plugin Parameter Values.