Tableau Cloud Help

Different parts of the Tableau Bridge workflow require coordination with Tableau Desktop and Tableau Cloud. Depending on the task you're trying to complete, the underlying data that you're working with and the data source's connection (live or extract), and on the symptoms you're seeing, some troubleshooting steps might require you to work in one or both of these respective products in addition to the client itself.

The issues and the steps to help resolve these issue might apply to data source owners or site admins.

Understand common issues after upgrade

After upgrading to Bridge, you might notice some changes to your Bridge-specific workflows.

Can't find the ‘Refresh this extract on’ or ‘Select where to run refreshes’ button

Beginning with Bridge 2020.2, Bridge schedules are better integrated with Tableau Cloud schedules and can be accessed and set up directly in the same location as Tableau Cloud schedules. For more information about Bridge schedules, see Set Up a Bridge Refresh Schedule.

Can't find the Run Now option

The Run Now option in Tableau Cloud is not available on individual data source pages for data sources that use Bridge (legacy) schedules. In most cases, a manual refresh of a data source that uses a Bridge (legacy) schedule can only be performed from the client that the data source is linked to.

Can't refresh data sources that use Relationships

Bridge 2019.4 (or earlier) does not support data sources created with Relationships(Link opens in a new window) in Tableau 2020.2 (or later). To keep your private network data fresh, make sure you're running the latest version of the client. To get the latest client, see the Downloads page.

Some data sources are not listed or missing from the client

Data sources that use Online schedules or whose schedules have been migrated to use Online schedules are not visible from the client. As a site admin, you can monitor data sources with Online schedules using the Jobs page. For more information, see About Bridge Refresh jobs.

Data sources that use live queries and Bridge (legacy) schedules (which includes schedules created with Bridge 2020.1 and earlier) continue to display in the client.

Locate Bridge

If you can't find the Bridge client or the option to use Bridge, try one or more of the suggestions below.

Can't find the Bridge installer

To download the client, go to the Downloads(Link opens in a new window) page on the Tableau website and click the download button. For more information about the Bridge installer and the installation process, see the Install Bridge topic in the Tableau Cloud Help.

Can't find Bridge on my machine

After installing the client on your machine, you can do one of the following tasks to open the client:

• Double-click the Bridge shortcut () on your desktop.

• From your desktop, in the Windows system tray, click the Bridge icon ().

• Using Windows file explorer, search Tableau Bridge to locate the client.

• If Tableau Desktop is installed on the same machine as the client, open Tableau Desktop and select Server > Start Tableau Bridge Client.

  Note: This task opens the correct client if you're using Tableau Desktop 2018.2 and later. If you're using Tableau Desktop 2018.1 and earlier, using the Start Tableau Bridge Client option will cause an older version of the client to open.

Can't find the Bridge option in the publishing dialog

The reason why you might not see the Bridge option in the publishing dialog depends on what you are publishing to Tableau Cloud: a data source or a workbook.

If you're publishing a data source: 

• The data source is file-based. Therefore, the option to use Bridge displays after you have successful published the data source to Tableau Cloud.

  After you successfully publish the data source, you see the Publishing Complete dialog, which allows you to schedule refreshes for your file-based data source using Bridge while on Tableau Cloud. For more information about scheduling refreshes using Bridge while on Tableau Cloud, see Set Up a Bridge Refresh Schedule.

• The data source connects to data that Tableau Cloud can reach directly.

  If Tableau Cloud can reach the data directly, you don't need to use Bridge to keep the data fresh. For a list of connectors that Tableau can use to reach the data directly, see Allow Direct Connections to Data Hosted on a Cloud Platform.

• The data source connects to data that is not supported by Bridge.

  For a list of connectors that Bridge can support, see Connection types.

Resolve installation issues

Using macOS or Linux

Bridge is not supported on macOS or the Linux operating system. To use Bridge, you must use a Windows machine. For more information about other system requirements, see Connectivity with Bridge.

Local admin on the machine

The Windows user account you're logged in to must be a member of the local Administrators group. For more information about minimum installation requirements, see Before installing Bridge. For more information on system requirements, see About the Bridge Client.

Resolve sign-in issues

Working with multiple Tableau Cloud sites or Bridge is signed in to the incorrect site

Make sure you're entering the correct username and password for the Tableau Cloud site that the client is associated with. If you suspect that an incorrect username and password is saved for a site or that the client is singed in to the incorrect site, use the Unlink option in the client to remove its association with the site and to clear the password.

Identify causes for scheduled refresh issues

There are several symptoms that can indicate that scheduled refreshes are not performing as expected. Symptoms might include, but not limited to, the following:

• As the site admin or data source owner, you see an alert on Tableau Cloud that a scheduled refresh could not complete.
• As the site admin or data source owner, you receive an email notification from Tableau indicating that a Bridge refresh could not complete.
• As a data source owner, you receive an email notification from Tableau indicating that a Bridge refresh could not start on schedule because the Bridge client is not running.
• You see an alert in the client next to the data source whose refresh could not complete.
• Outdated data in the view.

If any of the above symptoms apply to your situation, follow the procedure below. If the procedure doesn't resolve your issue, then try one or more of the tasks below the procedure to help identify the cause of the refresh issue.

1. Open the client, click the data source, and then click the Details button to review the error message.

2. If the error message doesn't provide enough information to resolve the refresh issue, go to the Tableau Knowledge Base(Link opens in a new window) and search for the refresh issue.

Important: If you see the ‘There was a problem and the data engine could not start properly’ error message and you're running client version 2018.2-2018.3, Tableau strongly recommends upgrading to version 2019.1 or later. For more information, see Error "There was problem and the data engine could not start properly"(Link opens in a new window) article in the Tableau Knowledge Base.

If the Tableau Knowledge Base doesn't address your specific issue, then try one or more of the following tasks:

• Validate authentication information in the client: If a data source requires authentication, ensure that the correct database credentials are being referenced by the client, even if the database credentials are already referenced in Tableau Cloud. For information about embedding database credentials in the client, see Embed or update database credentials.
• Upgrade the client: Upgrade to the latest version of the client. You can get the latest version of the client from the Downloads(Link opens in a new window) page on the Tableau website. For more information about installation, see Install Bridge.
  Note: Because of an issue that’s preventing Bridge 2018.2-2018.3 from performing extract refreshes, Tableau strongly recommends that you upgrade to Bridge 2019.1 or later.
  
• Make sure that the client is running: Log on to the machine where client is installed and make sure the client is running. After you verify the client is running, you can run a manual refresh of the data source or wait until the next scheduled refresh.

• Confirm file-based data source uses UNC path: If you're working with a file-based data source using Bridge (legacy) schedules, ensure that the client references the UNC path. For more information, see Change the file path for a data source.

• Confirm whether Application mode or Service mode requirements are met: If the client is set up to run in Application mode, you must be logged on to the machine where the client is running in order for scheduled refreshes to complete. If your client is set up to run in Service mode, you don't have to be logged on to the machine where the client is running. However, the machine must be on.

• Confirm that all connections in the data source are supported by Bridge:

  If refreshing a multi-connection data source (that is, a data source that uses a cross-database join), make sure all connections in the data source are supported by Bridge. If one or more connections are not supported, Bridge is unable to refresh the data source until the unsupported connection is removed. For a list of supported connectors, see Connection types. To remove a connection from a data source, you must edit the data source in Tableau Desktop. For more information, see Editing a Published Data Source(Link opens in a new window) in the Tableau knowledge base.

• Manually refresh the data source: Manually refreshing the data source can help determine whether the issue is caused by the client or by a different part of the Bridge workflow, such as publishing from Desktop or the data source itself.

  • From the client - To determine if the issue is isolated to the specific scheduled refresh or all scheduled refreshes managed by the client, do a manual refresh of the published data source from the client.

    1. Open the client.
    2. Hover over the data source whose schedule refresh is not working, and click the Run Now icon () to manually start a refresh.

    If the manual refresh is successful, you have a temporary workaround for the refresh issue. If the refresh is unsuccessful, review the error in the client to help resolve the issue.

  • From Tableau Desktop - To determine whether or not the issue is a client issue or an issue with the published data source, you can do a manual refresh of the data source from Tableau Desktop.

    1. Open Tableau Desktop.
    2. In the Connect pane, click Tableau Server and connect to the published data source that is not refreshing.
    3. From the Data menu, select the data source and then select Tableau Data Server > Refresh from Source.

    If the refresh from source is successful, you have temporary workaround for the refresh issue. If the refresh is unsuccessful with the same error that shows in the client, contact Tableau Technical Support(Link opens in a new window) on the Tableau website.

  • From Tableau Desktop, create a local copy of the data source - To determine that the issue is not with the publishing process or with Tableau Cloud in general, first create a local copy and then manually refresh the published data source.

    1. Open Tableau Desktop.
    2. In the Connect pane, click Tableau Server and connect to the published data source that is not refreshing.
    3. From the Data menu, select the data source and then select Create Local Copy.
    4. From the Data menu, select the local copy of the data source and then select Refresh.

    If refreshing from a local copy of the data source is successful, you have a temporary workaround for the refresh issue. The issue is likely with the publishing process.

• Refresh the data source using the Tableau Extract Command-Line Utility: Refreshing the data source using the Tableau Extract Command-Line Utility is another method for isolating whether the issue is specific to the client or with the data source or other part of the Bridge workflow. This method can also provide an automated or temporary way of refreshing the extract. For more information about setting up and using the Tableau Extract Command-Line utility, see Automate Extract Refresh Tasks from the Command Line.

  If the refresh is successful through the command line utility, you have a temporary workaround for the refresh issue. If the refresh is unsuccessful, contact Tableau Technical Support(Link opens in a new window) on the Tableau website.

• Scheduled refreshes appear to be running outside of schedule:

  After Tableau Cloud's upgrade to 2019.2, a data source owner might receive multiple email notifications when an upcoming scheduled refresh can't start because the client is not running. Because a data source owner can receive up to five consecutive email notifications per day for up to ten data sources that they own, it might appear the scheduled refreshes are running outside of their scheduled times. As a data source owner, you might be receiving the notifications for the following reasons:

  • The machine where the client is running from is not on. To stop notifications in this scenario, make sure the machine where the client is installed on is on and the client itself is running before the upcoming scheduled refresh is to occur. Alternatively, if the extract data source doesn't need to be refreshed regularly, consider removing the schedule and manually refreshing it from the client when needed. For more information about removing a schedule, see Stop Keeping Data Fresh Through Bridge.
  • Extract data sources continue to be associated with a client that is no longer in use. To stop notifications in this scenario, as a site admin, you can delete the client from the site. For more information, see Stop Keeping Data Fresh Through Bridge.
    If you're not a site admin, consider the following:
    • If the extract data source doesn't need to be refreshed, you can remove the data source from the client. For more information, see Stop Keeping Data Fresh Through Bridge.
    • If the extract data source needs to be refreshed, albeit infrequently, you can change the client associated with that extract data source (and its schedule). For more information, see Change the Bridge Client Settings.

Refreshes stop responding for data sources that use JDBC-based connections

Note: Bridge provides limited support for data sources that use JDBC drivers to connect to unsupported databases. For more information, see Connectivity with Bridge.

Refreshes for extract data sources whose connections rely on JDBC-based drivers can fail with timeout errors or the refreshes themselves stop responding, or hang, because of CPU or RAM spikes. In most cases, these refresh issues can occur when there are several concurrent refreshes of data sources that use JDBC-based connections being handled by a client on a machine that does not have sufficient hardware to support the resource-intensive JDBC-based connections. To help resolve this type of issue, review the following suggestions:

• If you’re a site admin managing the clients in your organisation, review the log files, jprotocolserver_<process_id> and stdout_jprotocolserver_<process_id>, in the Logs folder in the My Tableau Bridge repository. Then, consider doing one of the following:

  • Reduce the number of concurrent refreshes allowed by the client. For more information, see Change the Bridge Client Settings.
  • Consider increasing CPU cores and RAM on the machine running the Bridge client to better handle the resource intensive JDBC-based connections.

• If you’re the data source owner, update the data sources to use a Tableau built-in connector instead. For more information, see Supported Connectors(Link opens in a new window) in the Tableau User Help.

Refresh issues after changing network type to Private Network

After updating the network type associated with a data source, from Tableau Cloud to Private Network or Private Network to Tableau Cloud, existing schedules associated with the data source must be re-created. For more information, see About switching network types.

Refresh issues when a published data source has multiple data connections

After publishing a file-based online data source to Tableau Cloud, the extract refresh can fail when the published data source has multiple data connections. By default, Tableau Cloud uses Bridge when a published data source has multiple data connections. You can edit the connection type of extract refreshes for online schedules to use Tableau Cloud instead of Bridge. For more information, see Change the connection type of a refresh to use Tableau Cloud.

Refresh issues on file-based data published from Tableau Desktop on a Mac

When using 1) Tableau Desktop on a Mac, 2) publishing a file-based data source from a Windows network file share and then 3) configuring an Online schedule, the refreshes will fail. If this file-based data source is a business-critical resource for your organisation, consider configuring a Bridge (legacy) schedule instead. For more information, see Set up a Bridge (legacy) schedule.

Identify causes for live query issues

Issues around live queries are typically due to the option not being enabled or that Bridge doesn't support the data source type.

No ‘Live’ data sources listed in the client

A few things need to happen in order for ‘Live’ data sources to display in the client. First, the site admin has to enable pooling for the site. Second, the site admin must also add at least one client to the pool. Finally, the data source must be published with a live connection. All three factors need to happen in order for ‘Live’ data sources to display in the client.

The option to publish with a live connection or the ‘Maintain connection to a live data source’ option during publishing is missing

The option to use Bridge to support live queries for a private network data source must be enabled by your Tableau Cloud site admin through pooling. If the option is not available to you during publishing, consider contacting your site admin to enable the option. If you're a site admin, see Configure the Bridge Client Pool.

You're prompted for database credentials

If the data source requires authentication by the database, the credentials must be embedded in the data source at the time of publishing. If the credentials are not embedded in the data source at the time of publishing, the credentials can be added to the published data source on Tableau Cloud.

1. Sign in to Tableau Cloud and navigate to the data source.
2. From the data source page, on the Connections tab, select the tick box next to the connection.
3. From the Actions menu, click Edit Connections.
4. Select the Embedded password in connection and enter the necessary database credentials.

   

You're working with a file-based or statistical file-based data source

Bridge doesn't support data sources with live connections to file-based and statistical file-based data sources. To keep data fresh for these types of data sources, you can publish extracts and set up a refresh schedule for each data source instead. For a list of connectors that Bridge supports, see Connection types. For more information about setting up refresh schedule, see Set Up a Bridge Refresh Schedule.

Data source doesn't display as ‘Live’ in the client:

If the data source doesn't show as ‘Live’ in the client, the data source was likely published as an extract. To validate that the data source was published as an extract, follow the steps below.

1. Sign in to Tableau Cloud and navigate to the data source.
2. On the data source page, check whether the data source has an ‘Extract Refreshes’ tab or an extract icon (). If the data source shows the tab then it was published as an extract.

   

To resolve the issue, republish the data source from Tableau Desktop, ensuring that you select the Maintain connection to a live data source option. This option tells Bridge to maintain a live connection to your data.

Client is running Application mode

If you're using Bridge 2018.2 and later, after the site admin has enabled pooling, live queries are supported in both Application and Service modes. However, if the client is running Application mode, you must be logged on to keep data fresh.

If you're using Bridge 2018.1 and earlier, even if live queries are enabled by the site admin, Bridge can't support live queries in Application mode. The client must be running in Service mode to support live queries.

For more information about running the client in Application mode or Service mode, see Application versus Service mode.

Understand other common issues

Delay before list of data sources populate in client

There is a short delay, usually several seconds, populating the list of data sources in the client. This is expected behaviour. The client is contacting Tableau Cloud to get the list of data sources before it can display that information.

‘No linked data found’ in the client

If the client shows a green indicator and ‘Connected’ status, but also shows a ‘No linked data found’. review the suggestions below based on the type of data source you're expecting to see.

If you're expecting to see an extract data source that uses a Bridge (legacy) schedule listed in the client, try the following:

• Validate that the extract refresh schedule is assigned to the correct client. For more information, see Change the Bridge Client Settings.

If you're expecting to see a data source with a live connection or an extract data source that uses Online schedules, try one or more of the following:

• Validate that the data source was published with a live connection.

  1. Sign in to Tableau Cloud and navigate to the data source.
  2. From the data source page, check whether the data source has an ‘Extract Refreshes’ tab or an extract icon (). If the data source shows the tab then it was published as an extract.

     

• Make sure at least one client is part of the pool to facilitate data sources with live connections. To do this, contact your site admin. If you're the site admin, verify that you've enabled pooling for the site and client. For more information, see Configure the Bridge Client Pool.

Red indicator and ‘Disconnected’ status in the client

If the client shows a red indicator and ‘Disconnected’ status, try the following tasks, in the order listed:

1. In the client menu, click Repair.
2. If step 1 doesn't resolve the issue, from the Mode drop-down menu, select Application and wait a few seconds. Switch back to Service and wait a few more seconds.
3. If step 2 doesn't resolve the issue, restart the machine. Make sure that there are no scheduled refreshes that are in progress.

In some cases, the client shows a red indicator and ‘Disconnected’ status if the client is running on a machine that is ‘locked down’. This means that the client is restricted to connecting to a minimum set of domains. For a list of the minimum set of domains that the client needs to connect to in order to work, see Optional forward proxy filtering.

Missing subscription emails

Data refresh-initiated Subscriptions(Link opens in a new window) are not supported for views and workbooks that rely on Bridge to keep data fresh. This means you do not receive subscription emails when the following are true: 1) subscriptions are configured for When Data Refreshes and 2) the views or workbooks you're subscribing to rely on extract data sources that refresh using Bridge. To use subscriptions in this scenario, consider configuring your subscriptions to use On Selected Schedule instead. For more information, see Troubleshoot Subscriptions.

"Test Connection" button is greyed out

When editing a connection on Tableau Cloud, the Test Connection button might be greyed out. In some cases, this button is greyed out because the connection uses custom SQL or initial SQL. As an alternative to testing your connection with this button, consider running a manual refresh to test the connection instead. For more information about running a manual refresh, see Start a Refresh Task Manually.

Understand common errors

While using Bridge, you might see one of the following errors.

‘An error occurred while communicating with Tableau Server: Tableau Bridge does not have a client configured for your site to handle live connections.’ or ‘Cannot connect to database’

This is an error that you might see when connecting to a published data source whose data freshness is being facilitated through Bridge. To resolve these errors, try the following tasks in the order listed.

• Make sure the client is added to the pool. To do this, contact your site admin. If you're a site admin, verify that you've enabled pooling for the site and at least one client. For more information, see Configure the Bridge Client Pool.

• Make sure the client shows a green indicator and ‘Connected’ status. If it shows a red or ‘Disconnected’ status, see Red indicator and ‘Disconnected’ status in the client.

‘This data source requires a correct file path’ or ‘Unable to refresh data source because of an unsupported operation’

If you're working with a file-based or statistical file-based data source (that uses Bridge (legacy) schedules), you might see this error because the path referenced by the client is the mapped drive path instead of the UNC path. To resolve this issue, you must update the file location path in the client. For more information, see Change the file path for a data source.

While refreshing on Tableau Cloud, you might see the following error:

"Error: Failed to queue n tasks"

This error can occur if you've selected to use the Run Now option on multiple data sources and one or more data sources connect to file data. The Run Now option can only be used for data sources that use Online schedules.

Virtual connections

While trying to create a virtual connection, you might see one of the following errors: 

• INVALID_ARGUMENT:

  "INVALID_ARGUMENT: Can't display the view because of Tableau Cloud site settings that affect the data source used by this view. Contact your site administrator to connect at least one Tableau Bridge client to the site."

  This error can occur when there are no Bridge 2021.4 clients in a pool to perform data freshness tasks for virtual connections that connect private network data. To resolve this error, contact your site admin to ensure that version 2021.4 clients are running and in a connected state, and that the pool is mapped to the domain where the underlying data is located.

• UNKNOWN:

  "UNKNOWN: There was an unknown connection error to the database. The error message below has additional information, but you might need to ask the database administrator to review the database logs."

  This error can occur when the domain where the underlying data of the virtual connection is located does not map to a specific Bridge pool. To resolve this error, contact your site admin to ensure that the domain where the underlying data is located is mapped to a Bridge pool and that there is at least one Bridge 2021.4 client running, in a connected state, and that it is assigned to a pool.

Prepare and send log files to Tableau Technical Support

If the troubleshooting steps in this article don't help isolate or solve the issue you're having with Bridge, you can contact Tableau for help. Before you contact Tableau for help, consider following the steps below to gather and send the necessary Bridge client log files that Tableau will needs to diagnose and help resolve the issue.

Prepare clean log files

1. On the machine, close the client:

   • If your client is running Application mode, from the client menu, select Exit.

   • If your client is running Service mode, change the client to Application mode, and then from the client menu, select Exit.

2. Go to and open the My Tableau Bridge Repository folder.

   The default location of the My Tableau Bridge Repository folder is C:\Users\jsmith\Documents\My Tableau Bridge Repository.

3. In the My Tableau Repository folder, rename the Log folder. For example, Logs_archive. By changing the name of this folder, the client will create a new ‘Logs’ folder.

4. Open the Command Prompt as an admin.

5. Change to the Tableau Bridge bin folder. For example: C:\Program Files\Tableau\Tableau Bridge\bin.

6. Run the following command: TabBridgeClient.exe -DLogLevel=Debug

   Note: The above command is case-sensitive. If the command is not typed exactly as written, the log files will not capture the issue at the level of detail that is necessary to help diagnose the issue.

   After this step, the client opens automatically.

Reproduce the issue

After you prepare the client to create new log files, try to reproduce the issue you're having with Bridge. By reproducing the issue, the new log files can capture specific details about the issue. These details are essential for Tableau to have in order to isolate, diagnose and resolve the problem.

Send log files

1. After the issue has been reproduced, right-click the Bridge icon in the Windows system tray and select Exit to stop Bridge. This step ensures that all errors are recorded in the log file.

2. Using Windows file explorer, go to and open the My Tableau Bridge Repository folder.

3. Right-click the Logs folder and select Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder.

4. Contact Tableau Technical Support(Link opens in a new window) on the Tableau website.

   Note: If the .zip file you created in step 2 is larger than 5 MB, see Sending Large Files(Link opens in a new window) in the Tableau Knowledge Base.

5. Locate and start Bridge. If the client was previously running in Service mode, ensure that Service is selected in the client.