Cannot connect to MySQL from Tableau

Question

I can't get Tableau to connect to my MySQL server from another machine on the same network. I have WAMP installed on the server, and I can administer the database using phpMyAdmin just fine, but I need to access it from Tableau.

These are some of the mistakes I've encountered:

The ODBC Data Source could not be connected to. Verify that all required drivers are installed and that the connection characteristics are correct. [MySQL] [ODBC Driver 5.3(w)] Your address does not have a hostname.

The server "nick-server" could not be reached. Check that the server is up and operating, and that you have permissions to the database you've requested.

The server could not be reached. Check that the server is up and operating, and that you have permissions to the database you've requested.

Answer 1

1) Your workstation may have a firewall that allows you to connect to port 80 for phpMyAdmin but not to other ports.

2) If you can ping the second computer (i.e. resolve the machine's name to an IP address and obtain a response), you may use telnet server 3306 to telnet into your MySQL port (3306).

PING localhost (127.0.0.1): 56 data bytes PING localhost (127.0.0.1): 56 data bytes
icmp seq=0 ttl=64 icmp seq=0 ttl=64 icmp seq=0 ttl=64 icmp seq=0 time=0.054 milliseconds 3) Here's an example of a telnet answer from a MySQL server. If you can connect to your MySQL server, you'll probably receive something similar.

$ telnet 3306 localhost
Attempting::1... telnet: connect to address::1: Connection denied
I'm going to try 127.0.0.1...
Localhost has been established.
']' is the escape character.
J
You should be able to connect from Tableau if the methods above work.