We’re running Tableau Desktop 2023.3 with self-service BI access to Oracle ERP 12.2. Users can create ad-hoc reports, but data source refresh/sync fails after 30-45 minutes with credential timeout errors. This blocks users from getting current data for their custom dashboards.
Error message:
Connection failed: ORA-01017: invalid username/password
JDBC connection timeout after 1800 seconds
at OracleConnector.authenticate()
The Oracle ERP connection works initially - users can browse tables and create extracts. But when they try to refresh data the next day, or when scheduled refreshes run, the connection fails. IT has to manually reset credentials in Tableau for each user. Our ETL staging validates successfully, and DBAs confirm Oracle sessions are active.
For Windows, place the Oracle JDBC driver in C:\Program Files\Tableau\Drivers. For Mac, it’s /Library/Tableau/Drivers. Each user needs the driver installed locally on their Tableau Desktop instance - this isn’t server-side. However, your bigger issue might be Oracle ERP’s session timeout settings. Oracle ERP has separate session timeouts from password expiration. If inactive sessions terminate after 30 minutes, that matches your 30-45 minute failure window. Check INACTIVE_ACCOUNT_TIME in Oracle profiles.
Also verify which JDBC driver version you’re using in Tableau. Oracle ERP 12.2 requires Oracle JDBC driver 12.2 or higher for proper authentication handling. Tableau Desktop 2023.3 ships with an older driver by default. Download the latest Oracle JDBC thin driver (ojdbc8.jar or ojdbc11.jar) from Oracle’s website and place it in Tableau’s driver folder. Restart Tableau Desktop and test the connection. Driver incompatibility often manifests as intermittent credential failures.
One thing to investigate - are you using Oracle Wallet for credential management? If Oracle ERP is configured with Wallet-based authentication, Tableau’s credential storage won’t work properly because the wallet credentials are session-specific. You’d need to either disable Wallet for the service accounts Tableau uses, or implement a proxy layer that handles Wallet authentication and presents standard username/password to Tableau.
Thanks for the suggestions. I checked with our DBA - password life is set to 90 days, so that’s not the immediate issue. However, the JDBC driver version is interesting. We’re using whatever ships with Tableau 2023.3. Where exactly should I place the updated Oracle JDBC driver? And will this affect all users, or does each person need to update their local Tableau installation?