Tableau Desktop and Web Authoring Help

This article describes how to connect Tableau to Microsoft Fabric.

Connect using a MSFT Fabric Warehouse or Lakehouse SQL endpoint (recommended)

Tableau can natively connect to Microsoft Fabric Warehouse or Lakehouse SQL endpoint using the Tableau Azure SQL Database connector. This is the recommended configuration as it provides the most reliable and performant user experience.

Note: For information on connecting to Power BI semantic models, see Make the Power BI connection below.

Before you begin

Before connecting to Microsoft Fabric, make sure you have the following:

• A valid Entra ID account with permissions to configure user authentication. For more information, see Configure Azure AD for OAuth and Modern Authentication(Link opens in a new window) in the Tableau Server Help.

  • Note: SQL Authentication is not supported(Link opens in a new window) for MSFT Fabric SQL endpoints.

• A Microsoft Fabric capacity with requisite permissions(Link opens in a new window) to access the Fabric workspace and share the relevant datasets.

• A Microsoft Fabric workspace with a Lakehouse or Warehouse SQL endpoint.

• Ensure you have granted access(Link opens in a new window) to the SQL endpoint.

• Installed the Tableau Azure SQL Database driver(Link opens in a new window) and have read through the Azure SQL Database documentation.

Make the Microsoft Fabric connection

1. Start Tableau and under Connect, select Azure SQL Database.
2.  On the General Tab of the connection dialog, enter the following:
   1. Server: Copy the SQL connection string(Link opens in a new window) from the Fabric SQL endpoint.
   2. Database (optional): Name of your Fabric warehouse.
   3. Choose your authentication method:
      For more information, see Authentication method.
   4. Click Sign in

Tableau will display the available tables. You can begin your analysis just as you would with any SQL-based connection.

Make the Power BI connection

You can also connect Tableau to a Power BI semantic model using Tableau’s existing Microsoft Analysis Services connector. However, this connector is not recommended for production situations and not supported by Tableau.

Note: Power BI semantic models, formerly known as Power BI datasets, are built on SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) Tabular models and expose connectivity via an XMLA endpoint. Due to the proprietary nature of SSAS Tabular and the incompatibility of XMLA protocol with SQL, there are limitations and we do not recommend this approach.

Before you begin

Before connecting to Fabric Semantic Models, make sure you have:

• A valid Entra ID account with permissions to configure user authentication. For more information, see Configure Azure AD for OAuth and Modern Authentication(Link opens in a new window) in the Tableau Server Help.

• A valid Entra ID account with permissions to configure user authentication. For more information, see Configure Azure AD for OAuth(Link opens in a new window) in the Tableau Server Help.

• A Microsoft Power BI Pro license with content published to a Microsoft Fabric capacity.

• Configured the XMLA endpoint(Link opens in a new window) on the Fabric workspace.

• Downloaded the requisite driver. See here(Link opens in a new window) for Microsoft's client library and for details regarding connector configuration see Microsoft Analysis Services.

To connect to Power BI:

1. Copy the URL from the Fabric workspace XMLA endpoint connection string.

2. Open Tableau Desktop.

3. In the Connect pane, select the Microsoft Analysis Services connector.

4. Enter the following:

   1. Server: Copy the SQL connection string(Link opens in a new window) from the Fabric SQL endpoint.
   2. Authentication: Select your authentication method.
      Note: Tableau only supports Windows Auth and username/password.

5. Select your database (dataset) and cubes.

   Note: You may encounter schema resolution issues and various functionality limitations. These are due to compatibility gaps between Tableau and the Power BI semantic model engine. See Cube Data Sources for more information.

Related information

• Azure SQL Database
• Microsoft Analysis Services
• Warehouse Connectivity in MSFT Fabric(Link opens in a new window) (Microsoft)
• XMLA endpoint in Power BI(Link opens in a new window) (Microsoft)

See also

• Set Up Data Sources – Add more data to this data source or prepare your data before you analyze it.
• Build Charts and Analyze Data – Begin your data analysis.