Not able to change data source password

I have few a ODBC connections I am using in my workflows and for all of them I need to change the password every 30 days. No idea why, but for one of my connections the Edit password option is not working anymore (neither is the remove connection). If I use it as it is, I will block my access- but I also don't have a way to change the password (or remove the connection). Any solution?

Database Connection

Accepted answers

jrgo

@DianaE,

Certainly seems like some odd behaviors... last thing you can try is to manually delete it from the xml file that retains those connections. While (I believe) you can update the password in here directly, I would not recommend it as it would store your password in clear text. You mentioned that it's a user connection so the xml file should be located

C:\Users\<yourprofile>\AppData\Roaming\Alteryx\Engine

Note that the "AppData" folder usually hidden so you may need to type it in or adjust your folder options to show hidden items.

Open "UserAlias.xml" in a text editor (i.e. Notepad), look for the problematic alias name and delete all the rows from relative to it. For example, below would be the attributes for one connection that would need to be deleted.

  <Alias name="Local MSSQL">
    <Connection>odbc:DRIVER={SQL Server Native Client RDA 11.0};DATABASE=Demo;SERVER=xxxxxxx;Trusted_Connection=yes</Connection>
    <Password></Password>
    <SourceUrl></SourceUrl>
    <CosmeticName>Local MSSQL</CosmeticName>
    <AliasId>Local MSSQL</AliasId>
  </Alias>

"UserConnections.xml" contains your In-DB connections and "GalleryAlias.xml" will contain any connections created from Gallery and shared with you; These two files may not exist if you have not created/been shared these type of connections.

Hope this helps!

Jimmy

All comments

jrgo

@DianaE,

My guess is that the connection you're attempting to edit was created as a "System" connection. In order to modify this type of connection, you need to launch Alteryx in an elevated (administrative) state. To do so, right click on the Alteryx icon (you may need to press and hold the Shift key) and select "Run as Administrator". Click Yes/OK on the UAC consent screen (if it pops up) and then try to update the password to your connection.

If you are unable to launch Alteryx as an Admin, you'll need to involve your desktop IT support to help you further. Otherwise, create a "User" connection, which you should not have problem updating that password.

For context, a "System" connection permits anyone who uses the machine to utilize the connection. A "User" connection is only visible to the user/profile who created it.

Hope this helps!

Jimmy

DianaE

Thanks @Jimmy,

I tried the solution, but unfortunately it was not successful. The connection is already set-up as user and no matter how I try to access it (as administrator or as normal user), I still can't change the password.

Diana

jrgo

@DianaE,

C:\Users\<yourprofile>\AppData\Roaming\Alteryx\Engine

Note that the "AppData" folder usually hidden so you may need to type it in or adjust your folder options to show hidden items.

  <Alias name="Local MSSQL">
    <Connection>odbc:DRIVER={SQL Server Native Client RDA 11.0};DATABASE=Demo;SERVER=xxxxxxx;Trusted_Connection=yes</Connection>
    <Password></Password>
    <SourceUrl></SourceUrl>
    <CosmeticName>Local MSSQL</CosmeticName>
    <AliasId>Local MSSQL</AliasId>
  </Alias>

Hope this helps!

Jimmy

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