Tableau supports workbook connections to a variety of data sources such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft SQL Server, and Oracle. Among the different types of data source connections, you have the option to connect to workbooks as a data source hosted on Tableau Server. However, if for security or other policy reasons the Tableau Server administrator has disabled this option, you may not see or properly connect to the data sources to which you were previously able to use.
In addition, you may encounter the following error message when attempting to open a workbook with a Tableau Server data source connection. In many cases, this error message displays as a result of the Tableau Server data source connection option being disabled, which the admin performs by setting the number of Data Server processes on Tableau Server to 0:
There was a problem connecting to the data source “Your Data Source Name”; Malformed response for Tableau Data Server. Unable to connect to the server “Server URL”. Check that the server is running and that you have access privileges to the requested database. Error: Unable to connect to this Tableau Server data source.
In addition, you may encounter the following error message when attempting to open a workbook with a Tableau Server data source connection. In many cases, this error message displays as a result of the Tableau Server data source connection option being disabled, which the admin performs by setting the number of Data Server processes on Tableau Server to 0:
There was a problem connecting to the data source “Your Data Source Name”; Malformed response for Tableau Data Server. Unable to connect to the server “Server URL”. Check that the server is running and that you have access privileges to the requested database. Error: Unable to connect to this Tableau Server data source.