Tableau Replacing Mac OS X iODBC Libraries Causes Connection Issues

If you replace the system-installed libiodbc and libiodbcinst libraries in /usr/lib, Tableau Desktop on the Mac will not be able to connect to databases. The error you will see is:
The drivers necessary to connect to this database server are not properly installed. Visit http://www.tableausoftware.com/drivers to download driver setup files.
Most third-party drivers that Tableau utilizes expect the default Mac OS X iODBC libraries to be present. If you have replaced these libraries, consider the following remedies.


Option 1: Remove all ODBC-related symbolic links and reinstate the original ones

Follow the steps below to remove all ODBC-related symbolic links and reinstate the original symbolic links.

Step 1

Enable Root user and log in as root. For more information, see OS X Mavericks: Enable and disable the root user on the Apple website.

Step 2

In Terminal, navigate to the /usr/lib folder and use the following command:
cd /usr/lib

Step 3

List all libraries and symbolic links with odbc in their name using the following command:
ls -ltr|grep -i odbc

Step 4

Remove all symbolic links that are currently showing (symbolic links have '->' in their names). Be sure to delete the links, and not the library files they point to.
For example, if ls returns the following: lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 21 Jun 12 15:06 libiodbc.2.dylib -> libiodbc.2.1.18.dylib
Delete the first item before the '->' using the following command:
rm  libiodbc.2.dylib

Step 5

Create the following symbolic links:
libiodbcinst.dylib -> libiodbcinst.2.1.18.dylib
libiodbcinst.2.dylib -> libiodbcinst.2.1.18.dylib
libiodbc.dylib -> libiodbc.2.1.18.dylib
libiodbc.2.dylib -> libiodbc.2.1.18.dylib

Use the following commands to create these links:
  • ln -s libiodbcinst.2.1.18.dylib libiodbcinst.dylib
  • ln -s libiodbcinst.2.1.18.dylib libiodbcinst.2.dylib
  • ln -s libiodbc.2.1.18.dylib libiodbc.dylib
  • ln -s libiodbc.2.1.18.dylib libiodbc.2.dylib

Option 2: Restore your system from a Time Machine backup

Restore your system from a Time Machine backup that was created prior to installation of the third-party ODBC libraries


Options 3: Reinstall Mac OS X via system recovery

Reinstalling the Mac OS X will not affect your data on the Mac. Mac OS X re-installation restores core system files and leaves your documents and applications intact. It will, however, take quite a bit of time.
Important: Always back up your Mac before making system changes.
To back up your system, use the following commands:
  • mkdir ~/backupdir
  • cp -R /usr/lib/libiodbc* ~/backupdir
If anything goes wrong, you can then use the following command to restore from the backup:
sudo cp -R ~/backupdir/libiodbc* /usr/lib
Note: The -R flag insures that symbolic links are preserved.