DCM Connections Question

fleenorg

Hi all,
My company recently got access to Alteryx Server. Before that we just had Designer Licenses and one Scheduler License. We are trying to set up some workflows in Alteryx Server for teams to run on demand and self-service.

I am having trouble understanding how the DCM connections work in Alteryx Server. We have tried to export workflows into Alteryx Server, and the only errors we get say cannot alias table or related errors about not finding the connection. 

Everything we use is from SQL Server. So in our designer/scheduler licenses, we have connections set up thru ODBC connections strings. I have seen in the Designer, when you use an input tool there is an option to check a box that says use DCM connections, we currently are not doing that. I am wondering if I have to map out the connections for the scheduler license (or whatever license I export the workflow from) to be identical to what is in the server? Has anyone ran into similar issues like this? I'm having a hard time finding documentation on this or steps to set it up

Thank you for you help in advance. 

SPetrie

If a workflow is referencing an ODBC connection on your desktop, the gallery server must have a duplicate entry for that connection as well if you wish to run the flow through gallery. If the gallery server doesnt have the ODBC saved, you can use a DSN-Less connection string as long as the driver for the connection type is installed on the server.

DCM is two main parts. You create a data source which is what you want to connect to, and then you create a credential to use to authenticate to that data source. If you create them in designer, you have to sync them up to the gallery for the gallery to use them. If you create them on the gallery page, you have to sync them down to your designer to use them there. As long as they are synced, you can use the same credentials in both locations.

You can start a sync in designer by going to File -> Manage Connections -> Syncronize - Your server - Synchronize (assuming there was a change). Make sure you are already authenticated to your server before starting the syn process.

Its not tied to your license, its tied to the gallery profile for the person who creates them.

For DCM - here is a write up on creating/using them

For DSN-Less connections here is a write up incase you need it too.