Administering Tableau to Looker connections

The Looker–Tableau BI Connector lets you use a Looker Explore as a data source in Tableau Desktop, Tableau Cloud, and Tableau Server. The Looker–Tableau BI Connector is built upon the Looker Open SQL Interface, which allows access to LookML models and Explores for applications that use Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) to connect to data sources.

See the following sections for information on the administration steps required for connecting to Looker from these Tableau products:

• Tableau Desktop
• Tableau Cloud
• Tableau Server

Tableau Desktop

To set up your Looker instance as a data source for Tableau Desktop, a Looker admin must enable the Tableau Desktop toggle on the Looker BI Connectors page.

In addition, for Looker (Google Cloud core) instances that are configured for private connections and customer-hosted Looker instances, your instance must meet the following requirements:

• The instance must be running Looker 25.16 or later.
• Your network administrator must configure your network so that traffic from Tableau Desktop can reach your Looker instance.

Tableau Cloud

To set up your Looker instance as a data source for Tableau Cloud, the following tasks are required:

• A Looker admin must set up OAuth for Tableau Cloud.
• A Tableau admin must register the OAuth client ID on Tableau Cloud.
• A Tableau user with permissions to add data sources must add Looker by Google as a data source.
• For Looker (Google Cloud core) instances that are configured for private connections and customer-hosted Looker instances, a network administrator must configure your network so that traffic from the Looker–Tableau BI Connector can reach your Looker instance.

Set up OAuth for Tableau Cloud

To use the Looker–Tableau BI Connector for Tableau Cloud, you need to set up OAuth integration on your Looker instance.

You can use the Looker API Explorer to set up OAuth integration for the Looker–Tableau BI Connector:

• If your Looker instance already has the API Explorer installed, you can access it with this URL format:

  https://LOOKER_INSTANCE_URL/extensions/marketplace_extension_api_explorer::api-explorer/
  

• If your Looker instance doesn't have the API Explorer, you can install it from the Looker Marketplace. See the Using the API Explorer page for information.

To use the API Explorer to set up OAuth integration on your Looker instance, follow these steps:

1. Open the Looker API Explorer (see the Using the API Explorer page for information).
2. In the API Explorer's Search field, enter Register OAuth App.
3. In the search results, click Register OAuth App.
4. On the Register OAuth App page, click the Run It button.

5. In the Request tab of the Run It dialog, enter the following information into the corresponding fields:

   • client_guid (suggested value: tableau-cloud):

     client_guid
     

   • body:

      {
        "redirect_uri": "TABLEAU_CLOUD_URL/auth/add_oauth_token",
        "display_name": "Looker-Tableau-Cloud (manual)",
        "description": "Client for Looker-Tableau Cloud integration (manually added)",
        "enabled": true,
        "group_id": ""
      }
     

6. Select the checkbox for I understand that this API endpoint will change data.

7. Click Run.

8. You can verify that you successfully set up authentication by using the Get OAuth Client App method in the API Explorer by following these steps:

   • In the API Explorer's Search field, enter Get OAuth Client App.
   • Click Run It.

   • In the client_guid field, enter the value that you used when you registered the OAuth:

     client_guid
     

   If you set up OAuth successfully, the Response tab will return the values that you entered when you registered the app.

Register the OAuth client ID on Tableau Cloud

After you set up OAuth for Tableau Cloud in the Looker API, you need to register the custom OAuth client on Tableau Cloud by following these steps:

1. Sign in to Tableau Cloud using your admin credentials, and then navigate to the Settings page.
2. In the General tab of the Settings page, scroll to OAuth Clients Registry and click Add OAuth Client.

3. In the Create OAuth Client dialog, enter the following information:

   • Connection Type: Select Looker by Google from the drop-down menu.
   • OAuth Provider: Select Default IDP from the drop-down menu.

   • OAuth instance URL: Enter your Looker instance URL with the https://. For example: https://example.cloud.looker.com:

     https://LOOKER_INSTANCE_URL
     

   • Client ID: Enter the client_guid value that you used when you set up OAuth for Tableau Cloud on your Looker instance:

     client_guid
     

   • Client Secret: Leave this field blank.

   • Redirect URL: Enter the redirect_uri value that you used when you set up OAuth for Tableau Cloud on your Looker instance:

     TABLEAU_CLOUD_URL/auth/add_oauth_token
     

4. Click the Add OAuth Client button to register the OAuth client ID and return to the Settings page.

5. Click the Save button at the bottom or top of the Settings page to save your changes.

Add Looker by Google as a data source

A Tableau Cloud user who has a Tableau role that allows for creating data sources must add Looker by Google as a data source on your Tableau Cloud instance. If Looker by Google isn't added as a data source, it won't be visible or available to users who lack permission to add new data sources.

See the Connecting to Looker data from Tableau Cloud section in the Looker documentation for the procedure on adding Looker as a data source in Tableau Cloud.

Tableau Server

To use Looker data for Tableau Server, the following tasks are required:

• A Looker admin must set up OAuth for Tableau Server.
• A Tableau admin must install the Looker–Tableau BI Connector on Tableau Server
• A Tableau admin must register the OAuth client ID on Tableau Server.
• For Looker (Google Cloud core) instances that are configured for private connections and customer-hosted Looker instances, a network administrator must configure your network so that traffic from the Looker–Tableau BI Connector can reach your Looker instance.

Set up OAuth for the Tableau Server

To use the Looker–Tableau BI Connector for Tableau Server, you need to set up OAuth integration on your Looker instance.

You can use the Looker API Explorer to set up OAuth integration for the Looker–Tableau BI Connector:

• If your Looker instance already has the API Explorer installed, you can access it with this URL format:

  https://LOOKER_INSTANCE_URL/extensions/marketplace_extension_api_explorer::api-explorer/
  

• If your Looker instance doesn't have the API Explorer, you can install it from the Looker Marketplace. See the Using the API Explorer page for information.

To use the API Explorer to set up OAuth integration on your Looker instance, follow these steps:

1. Open the Looker API Explorer (see the Using the API Explorer page for information).
2. In the API Explorer's Search field, enter Register OAuth App.
3. In the search results, click Register OAuth App.
4. On the Register OAuth App page, click the Run It button.

5. In the Request tab of the Run It dialog, enter the following information into the corresponding fields:

   • client_guid (suggested value: tableau-server):

     client_guid_server
     

   • body:

     {
      "redirect_uri": "TABLEAU_SERVER_URL/auth/add_oauth_token",
      "display_name": "Looker-Tableau-Server (manual)",
      "description": "Client for Looker-Tableau Server integration (manually added)",
      "enabled": true,
      "group_id": ""
     }
     

6. Select the checkbox for I understand that this API endpoint will change data.

7. Click Run.

8. You can verify that you successfully set up authentication by using the Get OAuth Client App method in the API Explorer by following these steps:

   • In the API Explorer's Search field, enter Get OAuth Client App.
   • Click Run It.

   • In the client_guid field, enter the value that you used when you registered the OAuth:

     client_guid_server
     

   If you set up OAuth successfully, the Response tab will return the values that you entered when you registered the app.

Install the Looker–Tableau BI Connector on Tableau Server

To install Looker–Tableau BI Connector on Tableau Server, perform the following steps:

1. Download the Tableau connector file by clicking the following link: looker_v1.0.0.taco
2. Download the latest version of the avatica-<release_number>-looker.jar file from https://github.com/looker-open-source/calcite-avatica/releases.
3. Install the TACO and JAR files on your Tableau Server host machine. The location for the files depends on the server's operating system. The default Tableau installation paths are shown in the following table:

Linux server

TACO file location	JAR file location
/opt/tableau/connectors	/opt/tableau/tableau_driver/jdbc

Windows server

TACO file location	JAR file location
C:\Program Files\Tableau\Connectors	C:\Program Files\Tableau\Drivers

Register the OAuth client ID on Tableau Server

After you set up OAuth for Tableau Server in the Looker API, you need to register the custom OAuth client on Tableau Server by following these steps:

1. Sign in to Tableau Server using your admin credentials, and then navigate to the Settings page.
2. In the General tab of the Settings page, scroll to OAuth Clients Registry, and click Add OAuth Client.

3. In the Create OAuth Client dialog, enter the following information:

   • Connection Type: Select Looker by Google from the drop-down menu.
   • OAuth Provider: Select Default IDP from the drop-down menu.

   • OAuth instance URL: Enter your Looker instance URL with the https://. For example: https://example.cloud.looker.com:

     https://LOOKER_INSTANCE_URL
     

   • Client ID: Enter the client_guid value that you used when you set up OAuth for Tableau Server on your Looker instance:

     client_guid_server
     

   • Client Secret: Leave this field blank.

   • Redirect URL: Enter the redirect_uri value that you used when you set up OAuth for Tableau Server on your Looker instance:

     TABLEAU_SERVER_URL/auth/add_oauth_token
     

4. Click the Add OAuth Client button to register the OAuth client ID and return to the Settings page.

5. Click the Save button at the bottom or top of the Settings page to save your changes.