Tableau Server: Unable to publish and view the worksheet, I see a spinning wheel.

Modified on Sun, 03 Nov 2019 at 09:27 PM

When you try to publish a worksheet created using BI Connector as a data source, if the preview screen doesn't display the worksheet and instead displays a spinning cursor,  then Tableau server is unable to connect to OBIEE using BI Connector Server Edition.  This is primarily due to one of the following reasons:
  • OBIEE DSN for Tableau Desktop is not the same as the OBIEE DSN in Tableau Server.
  • BI Connector Version in Desktop does not match with the Server Edition
  • Tableau Server is being run as a service with a Windows User account which has one of the following issues:
    • The windows user (or service account) does not have Admin privileges for the machine
    • Tableau server is not "Run as User" with a windows user with admin privileges
    • BI Connector license is not registered/activated for the Windows user account that is used to run Tableau server.  

To troubleshoot and resolve this issue, please check the following:
  1. Please check if the pre-requisites for BI Connector Server Edition are met.
  2. Specifically, please check the following:
  • To publish from Tableau Desktop to Tableau Server, the DSN Name in Tableau Desktop for BI Connector OBIEE Connection must match the DSN name in Tableau Server.
  • When Tableau Server is run as a Windows service, use Server Run as User so that Tableau Server can connect OBIEE data source using BI Connector.  Refer to this Tableau article for more information. 

To reconfigure the Tableau server, follow these steps:
  • Stop the Tableau Server service
  • Configure the Tableau server to use Run as User account

Configure Tableau Server


  • Restart the Tableau Server service.
  • Next Step is to check if the BI Connector Server Edition has been registered with the license key for the Windows User used for Tableau "Run as User". 
    • Login to the Windows Server (where Tableau server is installed) with the Windows user account that you used for "Run as User" in Tableau.
    • Search for ODBC in your Windows PC and it will bring up the ODBC Data Sources
    •  Launch ODBC Data Sources (64-bit). 
ODBC Data Sources
  • Select the OBIEE DSN that you configured earlier and click Configure to launch the BI Connector UI.


In the BI Connector UI, check if the License type is valid.  It should display License information as shown below.  If not, click on Activate  License icon.
Enter the new License Activation Key and click Activate. 

  • Connect from Tableau Desktop to Tableau Server and publish the worksheet again.