Amazon Redshift

Applies to: Tableau Cloud, Tableau Desktop, Tableau Prep, Tableau Server

This article describes how to connect Tableau to an Amazon Redshift database and set up the data source. For instructions on setting up OAuth with Amazon Redshift, see Set Up Amazon Redshift IAM OAuth in the Tableau Server documentation(Link opens in a new window) or the Tableau Cloud documentation(Link opens in a new window).

Before you begin

Before you begin, gather this connection information:

  • Name of the server that hosts the database you want to connect to

  • Authentication:

    • Username and Password

    • OAuth using IAM

      • OAuth config should be installed

      • IAM Role

    • OAuth using IAM IDC

      • OAuth config should be installed

      • Namespace (optional)

  • Database name

  • Are you connecting to an SSL server?

  • (Optional) Initial SQL statement to run every time Tableau connects

Driver required

This connector requires a driver to talk to the database. If the driver is not installed on your computer, Tableau displays a message in the connection dialog box with a link to the Driver Download(Link opens in a new window) page where you can find driver links and installation instructions.

Make the connection and set up the data source

  1. Start Tableau and under Connect, select Amazon Redshift. For a complete list of data connections, select More under To a Server. Then do the following:

    1. Enter the name of the server that hosts the database and the name of the database you want to connect to.
    2. Enter the username and password.
    3. (Optional) Enter custom driver parameters to modify the connection.
    4. Tick the Require SSL box when connecting to an SSL server.
    5. (Optional) Select Initial SQL to specify a SQL command to run at the beginning of every connection, such as when you open the workbook, refresh an extract, sign in to Tableau Server or publish to Tableau Server. For more information, see Run Initial SQL.

    6. Select Sign In.

      If Tableau can't make the connection, verify that your credentials are correct. If you still can't connect, your computer is having trouble locating the server. Contact your network administrator or database administrator.

  2. On the data source page, do the following:

    1. (Optional) Select the default data source name at the top of the page, and then enter a unique data source name for use in Tableau. For example, use a data source naming convention that helps other users of the data source figure out which data source to connect to.

    2. From the Schema dropdown list, select a schema or use the text box to search for a schema by name.
    3. Under Table, select a table or use the text box to search for a table by name.

    4. Drag the table to the canvas, and then select the sheet tab to start your analysis.

      Use custom SQL to connect to a specific query rather than the entire data source. For more information, see Connect to a Custom SQL Query.

Customise the connection using driver parameters

There are times when you might want to modify the connection made with the Amazon Redshift connector. Starting in Tableau 2019.2.1, you can do this by appending driver parameters to the connection string in the Custom driver parameters text box:

Note: You can’t change the driver parameters that Tableau generates, you can only append parameters.

In this example, agarcia enters parameters that enable federated authentication using IDP:

DbUser=agarcia;AutoCreate=1;AuthType=Plugin;plugin_name=Ping;IAM=1;idp_host=idp.business-example.com;idp_port=443;preferred_role=arn:aws:iam::12345:role/dev;partner_spid=urn:amazon:webservices;

In this example, you limit the number of rows fetched to 1000:

Fetch=1000;

For details about driver parameters, see ODBC Driver Configuration Options(Link opens in a new window) on the Amazon AWS website.

Sign in on a Mac

If you use Tableau Desktop on a Mac, when you enter the server name to connect, use a fully qualified domain name, such as mydb.test.ourdomain.lan, instead of a relative domain name, such as mydb or mydb.test.

Alternatively, you can add the domain to the list of Search Domains for the Mac computer so that when you connect, you need to provide only the server name. To update the list of Search Domains, go to System Preferences > Network > Advanced, and then open the DNS tab.

See also

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