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Access SFTP Data as OData Feeds in Tableau
Use the Tableau Desktop business intelligence tool to connect to SFTP data using the API Server.
The CData API Server, when paired with the ADO.NET Provider for SFTP (or any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers), provides SFTP data as OData Web services. This article will explain how to use the API Server to provide the underlying connectivity to SFTP data in Tableau's business intelligence tool.
Set Up the API Server
Follow the steps below to begin producing secure SFTP OData services:
Deploy
The API Server runs on your own server. On Windows, you can deploy using the stand-alone server or IIS. On a Java servlet container, drop in the API Server WAR file. See the help documentation for more information and how-tos.
The API Server is also easy to deploy on Microsoft Azure, Amazon EC2, and Heroku.
Connect to SFTP
After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for SFTP, provide authentication values and other connection properties needed to connect to SFTP by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console.
SFTP can be used to transfer files to and from SFTP servers using the SFTP Protocol. To connect, specify the RemoteHost;. service uses the User and Password and public key authentication (SSHClientCert). Choose an SSHAuthMode and specify connection values based on your selection.
Set the following connection properties to control the relational view of the file system:
- RemotePath: Set this to the current working directory.
- TableDepth: Set this to control the depth of subfolders to report as views.
- FileRetrievalDepth: Set this to retrieve files recursively and list them in the Root table.
When you configure the connection, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.
You can then choose the SFTP entities you want to allow the API Server to access by clicking Settings -> Resources.
Additionally, click Settings -> Server and set the Default Format to XML (Atom) for compatibility with Tableau.
Authorize API Server Users
After determining the OData services you want to produce, authorize users by clicking Settings -> Users. The API Server uses authtoken-based authentication and supports the major authentication schemes. Access can also be restricted based on IP address; by default only connections to the local machine are allowed. You can authenticate as well as encrypt connections with SSL.
Create Real-Time SFTP Data Visualizations
Follow the steps below to create data visualizations based on the remote SFTP data:
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In Tableau, select 'Connect to data'. In the 'On a server' section, click OData.
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In the resulting wizard, enter the URL of the OData endpoint for the API Server. Append the name of the table you want to access to the OData entry URL. For example:
https://your-server/api.rsc/MyDirectory -
Select the
'Use a Username and Password' option and enter the username and password of a user who has access to the API Server.
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Tableau uses the table metadata exposed by the API Server to detect dimension and measure columns.
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To view the SFTP data, right-click under the table name in the Data section of the dashboard and select the View Data option. The SFTP data will appear in Tableau.
