alteryx connect Knowledge Base

Issue - Unable to add user(s) to a group in Alteryx Connect   When trying to add a user to a group in Connect, the user is not found and therefore cannot be added to the group.       Environment   Alteryx Connect Version 18.4+   Cause   The user does not have an email address set.   Solution   Navigate to the user in Connect under People Click the Edit button in the top right Enter the user's email in the Email field You should now be able to add the member to a Group.   Additional Resources   Managing Users and Permissions in Connect Authentication Methods for Connect

Find out what new features, improvements, and bug fixes we released with this version of Connect!  Here is an overview of the changes in 2019.3.  

How To: Fast Deployment of Metadata Loaders in Connect   In this article, you will learn how to use and configure the metadata loaders in Connect. Until now, you probably have used the metadata loaders only from Designer, as described here.     Prerequisites   To use loaders from Designer, you have to download the loaders installers, install the loaders and then you can start using them. Unlike Designer, the loaders in Connect can be used directly as they are already part. However, for the actual execution of the loaders, a Gallery with connectivity back to Connect is needed. There must be two-way visibility between Connect and Server.   Procedure   Let’s assume that you as an administrator need to fill up the Connect with metadata. You will need only Connect and Gallery as already mentioned. To load data to Connect directly, perform the following steps:   Go to the Administration Console > Admin Menu > Connect Configuration > Alteryx Gallery.  In the Alteryx Gallery specify the Gallery name, Gallery URL, Gallery password, Connect loader username and Connect loader password. This is a mandatory step. Save and Harvest will upload loaders package onto a Gallery server and at the same moment, it will start the Gallery (Alteryx Loader). Click Test Connection to verify the username and password. If there is a checkbox on Do not obtain the API keys automatically, you need to enter them manually.  Click Save and Harvest. Once you press Save and Harvest, the workflows will start getting loaded. This will be indicated by a message visible in the left bottom corner of the page. This is the first sign that the connection between the server and Connect works. Wait until it’s done. Note: Authentication  You can choose from two Gallery authentication types. With Built-in authentication, you have to enter your Gallery username and password while adding an Alteryx Gallery. By choosing Integrated Windows authentication, you have to enter your domain username and password. You have to enable the Admin API keys in Gallery. See the screenshot below. Go to Alteryx Gallery > Settings > Keys. Enable Admin API by checking Yes. Go to Administration Console > Admin Menu > Connections. You should see the Gallery you just added and its details. Under Loaders, click Add Connection. Note: By clicking Harvest in the Gallery Connection you have the possibility to start the Harvest immediately.  Note 2: By clicking Schedule in the Gallery Connection you have the possibility to set up a regular harvest. You will get a list of loaders, and you can select the corresponding one in the first section: Technology. After selecting the Technology, you will be moved to Properties. In this section, you need to fill in the required Connection details and choose objects to load, based on the Technology you have selected. Do not forget to provide Administrator credentials under Alteryx Connect Credentials. Note: For each technology, you need to fulfill the loader requirements. More information about each loader is accessible through the link displayed in the Properties section. As an example, we selected the File system as a Technology. After filling in all the required information in Properties, click Add. After clicking Add, you can see the following screen with the available Connection. Click Harvest. A window pops up. Click Harvest. By performing the previous steps, you harvested the data into Connect without even opening Designer. To view the metadata, go to Data Sources and select a folder to view its contents.   Troubleshooting If you get an error message during the harvest, go to Gallery to see the detailed log to find the cause of the issue.

Unspecified Error when Resetting a User's Password   When clicking Reset Password, a warning regarding an unspecified error pops up.       Environment   Product - Alteryx Connect   Cause   When resetting a password, Connect needs to send an e-mail to the user.  This error indicates the administrator has not configured the SMTP server correctly.   Solution   In the Admin portal, go to the SMTP Settings tab under Connect Configuration, fill in all required fields, test the connection, and Save.      

How To: Recover the Home Page after Restoring Connect   Did you know that restoring Connect can finish with a broken home page? In this article you will find an easy way to recover the broken home page after the restoration is complete.   Let’s assume you performed a restore of the H2 database. But when you open Connect after completing it, the home page you normally see is gone.   Instead of your home page, you're seeing something like this:       To fix the broken home page, you need to perform a full reindex of Connect after Connect starts. This is also mentioned on the screen you’ll get after completing the restore.     How To: Perform a Full Reindex   To perform a full reindex of the database to complete the restoration:   Log in to Alteryx Connect. Click your icon in the top-right of the screen and select Administration. From the Admin Menu, click Reindex. Click Full Reindex. After the full reindex is completed, you should be able to see the home page.

We’ve been working hard to follow up on our customers’ feedback and make a bunch of enhancements to Connect. Here’s an overview of the changes in 2019.2.  

This tutorial contains information about Custom Fields. You will learn how to create, assign, and configure a Custom Field in the Connect data catalog.

This article provides instructions for adding a self-signed SSL certificate to the web page hosted by Alteryx Connect so that the page is served securely.   Note: This article is only intended for Self-Signed Certificates. A self-signed certificate is not recommended to be used for production purposes. This is because self-signed certificates must be installed on all of the machines you intend to use with Connect as a trusted certificate. This includes any machines that will use Connect applications like loading metadata in Alteryx Designer or using search results from Connect Designer.  

This article provides instructions for adding an issued SSL certificate to the web page hosted by Alteryx Connect so that the page is served securely.   Note: This article is intended for trusted certificates in your environment. You must have a copy of the certificate (such as .crt) and the signing key (such as .key), or a combined certificate file (such as .pfx or .p12) in order to complete this process. This certificate must be installed on all machines you intend to use with Connect as a trusted certificate if these machines are to be used in conjunction with Alteryx Connect, such as loading metadata with Alteryx Designer or search results from Alteryx Connect displayed within Alteryx Designer.

As Dr. Nick so eloquently defines...   The business glossary within Alteryx Connect is a powerful tool for maintaining a repository of formal definitions for an organization. These definitions are then linked and associated to the many terms, reports, workflows, and data elements across the enterprise, leading to that invaluable map of tribal knowledge that lets analysts get their job done faster and better than ever before. The user and admin help documentation explain that terms can be added one at a time, or in a batch. Here are the steps to bulk load.   1. Glossary page - Export to Excel     2. Glossary.xls - "Folder" tab   You may affect the folder structure of the Glossary and it’s sub folders. There should always be an entry for the Glossary Folder itself. It’s XID and Parent ID are standardized, but you can change its “entryName” if you like (for instance “Enterprise Glossary”). On this tab, you may also add subfolders. This could be useful if you wanted to group glossary terms by business unit or term category. Subfolders should have a parent ID of the Glossary, and if you’re uploading new subfolder definitions, you can leave XID blank (Connect will supply an ID on upload).   3. Glossary.xls - "Relations" tab     The second tab “relations” holds all the definitions of relationships defined on the Glossary terms to other entities within Connect. You need to know the Target ID in order to establish the relationships here.   4. Glossary.xls - "Term" tab   You can add new entries to the glossary or edit existing via the “Term” tab.   5. Administration - Choose file to Upload   When uploading, the content will be placed into the appropriate folders based on the IDs within the file. The content will Append to existing if new, modify if pre-existing by ID, but it will not remove entries if not supplied within the uploaded file.   6. Glossary - View the New Term  

How To: Connect to the H2 Console   Connect has an interactive console for the H2 database that allows administrators to browse the database and execute commands. Follow the below steps to enable and connect to the console.   Prerequisites   Alteryx Connect   Procedure   Follow steps 1-6 under Enable access to the Connect database found on the Review Connect Usage Information Help page Navigate to http://localhost:8082 on the Connect Server If you have the firewall open, you can access this from another machine using the IP or the hostname in place of localhost (i.e. http://hostname:8082) Fill in the JDBC URL and the Password   For the JDBC URL, enter the value for the Master DB JDBC string found in the System Info section of the Connect Administration Console The database password is set by the Connect Administrator during installation. Your Administrator can reset the password in the Connect Console under Connect Configuration > H2 Password Click the Test Connection button You should see 'Test Successful'. If not, please double-check your connection information above Click the Connect button to enter the H2 Console A successful connection will show the console with the below schema (shows as folders on the left)   Common Issues   I don't see the STD_XFORMS database schema You have an invalid JDBC connection string - please confirm your JDBC URL found in the System Info section of the Administration Console    Additional Resources   Back Up and Restore Connect Database via Command Line

What does Support need to troubleshoot Connect?   What information does Alteryx Customer Support need to troubleshoot my Connect issue?   Connect Version - this can be found in the Administration Console under System Info   Error messages Screenshots   If a quick/straight forward solution is not available, please e-mail the below to   support@alteryx.com If the files are large, your Customer Support Engineer will set up another medium of transfer for you to use.   If additional files are requested, what files are they and where can I find them?   1. Logs-Logs-Logs! Logs are the best way for us to get to the root of the problem as we look at errors and warnings. For the Connect logs, please include the logs that reflect the time of the error/crash (the logs immediately before and after the error/crash). If the issue is ongoing, please include the most recent logs.   Logs Needed: Catalina.out localhost_access_log.*.log service_status.log   Default location - these logs are found in the Connect install folder >>> Logs folder (i.e. C:\Program Files\AlteryxConnect\Logs)   2. Server.xml *   - Configuration file for the backend tomcat process.   Default location - this file is found in the Connect install folder >>> conf folder (i.e. C:\Program Files\AlteryxConnect\conf)   3. System Info  *  - Records events logged by the operating system or its components, such as the failure of a service to start at bootup.   System Information shows details about your computer's hardware configuration, computer components, and software, including  drivers.     Click Start and in the Search Programs and Files Field, type msinfo32.exe.  Click File >> Save and save as .nfo file.        Click File >> Save and save as .nfo file.        * Optional – only if requested specifically by a Customer Support Engineer.

With version 2019.1, you can make Connect run on https protocol and make the communication between client and server much more secure. This is an enhancement from the previous version, when you had to manually change configuration files, download SSL tools and execute several of commands. Now you can do it in a user friendly way just by using the Installer.

This article is a guide on how to import a Certificate Authority (CA) signed certificate after enabling SSL with the Installer.  

While attempting to add your Gallery (Alteryx Server) to your Connect instance you may get an error about related to your SSL certificate. This article provides step-by-step instructions for troubleshooting this issue.

The 2019.1 release of Alteryx Connect brings several new features including new configuration options and loaders enhancements - see more inside.

Alteryx Connect  is great at finding data assets that exists within enterprises which helps data workers to  shorten their journey to data-driven insight. One of the steps to refresh the metadata is to schedule the Metadata loaders. In this process, the data assets can be created, changed or removed. To take a look at this change log, we can take a look the backend of Connect - the H2 database.

Please see Maintaining Data Lineage for details and requirements before your metadata harvest. After ensuring you’ve downloaded the latest Connect Metadata loaders from the live downloads page, simply proceed with the steps below to upload MySQL Database metadata to your Alteryx Connect instance!

Please see Maintaining Data Lineage for details and requirements before your metadata harvest. After ensuring you’ve downloaded the latest Connect Metadata loaders from the live downloads page, simply proceed with the steps below to upload Oracle Database metadata to your Alteryx Connect instance!