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Duo Protection for Tableau Server with Duo Access Gateway

Last Updated: February 15th, 2022

Duo offers a variety of methods for adding two-factor authentication and flexible security policies to Tableau Server SSO logins, complete with inline self-service enrollment and Duo Prompt.

Duo Access Gateway reached Last Day of Support on October 26, 2023 for Duo Essentials, Advantage, and Premier customers. After that date, Duo Support may only assist with the migration of existing Duo Access Gateway applications to Duo Single Sign-On. Please see the Guide to Duo Access Gateway end of life for more details.

Use the Duo Single Sign-on Generic Service Provider application to protect Tableau with Duo Single Sign-On, our cloud-hosted identity provider featuring Duo Central and the Duo Universal Prompt.

If you already use Duo Access Gateway to protect Tableau, try the DAG to Duo SSO application migration process.

This documentation is for Tableau Server only. For information about Tableau Online, see the Duo Protection for Tableau Online with Duo Access Gateway documentation.

Duo Protection for Tableau has been tested on Tableau Server 10.1.

Tableau requires Duo Access Gateway version 1.3.1 or greater. Please upgrade your Duo Access Gateway before attempting to use Tableau.

Overview

As business applications move from on-premises to cloud hosted solutions, users experience password fatigue due to disparate logons for different applications. Single sign-on (SSO) technologies seek to unify identities across systems and reduce the number of different credentials a user has to remember or input to gain access to resources.

While SSO is convenient for users, it presents new security challenges. If a user's primary password is compromised, attackers may be able to gain access to multiple resources. In addition, as sensitive information makes its way to cloud-hosted services it is even more important to secure access by implementing two-factor authentication and zero-trust policies.

Duo Access Gateway

Duo Access Gateway (DAG), our on-premises SSO product, layers Duo's strong authentication and flexible policy engine on top of Tableau logins using the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) 2.0 authentication standard. Duo Access Gateway acts as an identity provider (IdP), authenticating your users using existing on-premises or cloud-based directory credentials and prompting for two-factor authentication before permitting access to Tableau.

Duo Access Gateway is included in the Duo Premier, Duo Advantage, and Duo Essentials plans, which also include the ability to define policies that enforce unique controls for each individual SSO application. For example, you can require that Salesforce users complete two-factor authentication at every login, but only once every seven days when accessing Tableau. Duo checks the user, device, and network against an application's policy before allowing access to the application.

Deploy or Update Duo Access Gateway

  1. Install Duo Access Gateway on a server in your DMZ. Follow our instructions for deploying the server, configuring DAG settings, and adding an Authentication Source.

  2. Add the attribute from the table below that corresponds to the Duo attribute Username attribute in the "Attributes" field when configuring your Active Directory or OpenLDAP authentication source in the DAG admin console, separated by a comma. For example, if Active Directory is your authentication source, enter sAMAccountName in the "Attributes" field.

    Duo Attribute Active Directory OpenLDAP
    Username attribute sAMAccountName uid

    If your organization uses a different directory attribute than the one listed here then enter that attribute name instead. If you've already configured the attributes list for another cloud service provider, append this additional attribute to the list.

  3. After completing the initial DAG configuration steps, click Applications on the left side of the Duo Access Gateway admin console.

  4. Scroll down the Applications page to the Metadata section. This is the information you need to provide to Datadog when configuring SSO. Click the Download XML metadata link to obtain the DAG metadata file (the downloaded file is named "dag.xml").

    DAG Metadata Information

Create the Tableau Application in Duo

  1. Log on to the Duo Admin Panel and navigate to Applications.

  2. Click Protect an Application and locate the entry for Tableau with a protection type of "2FA with SSO self-hosted (Duo Access Gateway)" in the applications list. Click Protect to the far-right to start configuring Tableau. See Protecting Applications for more information about protecting applications in Duo and additional application options.

  3. The Tableau URL is the URL used to access your Tableau server. For example, if your Tableau URL is https://tableau.yourcompany.com than you would type in https://tableau.yourcompany.com in the field.

  4. Tableau uses the Username attribute when authenticating. We've mapped the attribute to DAG supported authentication source attributes as follows:

    Duo Attribute Active Directory OpenLDAP SAML IdP Google Azure
    Username attribute sAMAccountName uid sAMAccountName mail mail

    If you are using a non-standard attribute for your authentication source, check the Custom attributes box and enter the name of the attribute you wish to use instead.

  5. Click Save Configuration when done.

    Duo Tableau Application Settings
  6. You can adjust additional settings for your new SAML application at this time — like changing the application's name from the default value, enabling self-service, or assigning a group policy — or come back and change the application's policies and settings after you finish SSO setup. If you do update any settings, click the Save Changes button when done.

  7. Click the Download your configuration file link to obtain the Tableau application settings (as a JSON file).

    Important: This file contains information that uniquely identifies this application to Duo. Secure this file as you would any other sensitive or password information. Don't share it with unauthorized individuals or email it to anyone under any circumstances!

Add the Tableau Application to Duo Access Gateway

Before you do this, verify that you updated the "Attributes" list for your Duo Access Gateway authentication source as specified here.

  1. Return to the Applications page of the DAG admin console session.

  2. Click the Choose File button in the "Add Application" section of the page and locate the Tableau SAML application JSON file you downloaded from the Duo Admin Panel earlier. Click the Upload button after selecting the JSON configuration file.

  3. The Tableau SAML application is added.

    Tableau Application Added

Configure Tableau SSO

Add the Duo Access Gateway as a new single sign-on provider for Tableau.

  1. Log into the Windows Server running Tableau as an administrative user.

  2. Locate the base directory of the Tableau installation. This is usually located at C:\Program Files\Tableau\Tableau Server. Create a new folder in this directory called SAML.

  3. Navigate into the SAML directory. Copy the dag.xml file you downloaded from the Duo Access Gateway earlier into this directory.

  4. Rename the "dag.xml" file to idp_metadata.xml.

  5. Follow the instructions on Tableau Online Help to generate an SAML certificate and key. Save these files in the SAML folder you created earlier.

  6. Open the Configure Tableau Server application which is usually located in the Windows Start Menu or Start Screen.

  7. When the "Tableau Server Configuration" screen appears click the SAML tab.

  8. Click on the drop-down on the "SAML" tab and select SAML authentication for the server. New options will appear.

  9. In the Tableau Server return URL field type the URL of your Tableau server.

    Example: https://tableau.yourcompany.com

  10. In the SAML entity ID type the same value as the "Tableau Server return URL" field.

  11. Click ... next to SAML certificate file to select the SAML certificate file you generated earlier. This file should be located in "C:\Program Files\Tableau\Tableau Server\SAML".

  12. Click ... next to SAML key file to select the SAML key file you generated earlier. This file should be located in "C:\Program Files\Tableau\Tableau Server\SAML".

  13. Click ... next to SAML IdP metadata file to select the idp_metadata.xml file you copied to the server earlier. This file should be located in "C:\Program Files\Tableau\Tableau Server\SAML".

  14. Click OK. You'll receive a message telling you the changes will occur the next time you restart your Tableau Server.

  15. Click the Stop Tableau Server application which is usually located in the Windows Start Menu or Start Screen. Wait until the server has stopped and then click the Start Tableau Server application.

    Tableau Single Sign-On Settings

Learn more about Tableau SSO and how to enable SAML on specific sites at the Tableau Online Help.

Log in with SSO

If your organization enabled the Duo Access Gateway portal, log into the portal page using the link provided by your administrator. Click Tableau from the dashboard to access the application.

You can also access Tableau by going to the Tableau login page. This redirects to the Duo Access Gateway login page. Enter your Authentication Source logon information, approve Duo two-factor authentication, and get redirected back to the Tableau site after authenticating.

DAG Login and Authentication Prompt

Congratulations! Your Tableau users now authenticate using Duo Access Gateway.

Configure Allowed Hostnames

If you plan to permit use of WebAuthn authentication methods (security keys, U2F tokens, or Touch ID) in the traditional Duo Prompt, Duo recommends configuring allowed hostnames for this application and any others that show the inline Duo Prompt before onboarding your end-users.

The Duo Universal Prompt has built-in protection from unauthorized domains so this setting does not apply.

Microsoft AD FS

Microsoft's Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) is a popular choice for SSO because it easily integrates with the AD identity store many organizations already have deployed. Duo's support for cloud applications and SSO drops in to an existing AD FS installation to provide secondary authentication after a user passes primary authentication (successful Active Directory logon).

If you don't already have AD federation running the first step is to install and configure Microsoft AD FS in your organization. Deployment Guides for AD FS versions 2.1, and 3.0/4.0 are available from Microsoft.

Once your AD FS services are up and running, the second step is to configure the SSO partnership between your AD FS service and the external cloud resource, in this case Tableau. Learn more about configuring Tableau SSO with AD FS at the Tableau Online Help site.

After you have successfully configured and tested AD FS SSO login to Tableau using your AD domain credentials, you can then install the Duo AD FS integration. AD FS protection is included with Duo's paid plans.

With the Duo integration for AD FS installed, users pass primary authentication to the AD FS service as usual. Once primary authentication succeeds, users are forwarded to the Duo service for secondary authentication. After approving logon using one of Duo's authentication methods, the user is fully logged in to Tableau.

Other Identity Partners

Using a third-party SSO provider for cloud application access? Duo partners with leading cloud SSO providers like Okta and OneLogin to secure access with our strong and flexible authentication platform.

You can also use Duo two-factor authentication with CAS and Shibboleth on-premises IdPs.

Troubleshooting

Need some help? Try searching our Knowledge Base articles or Community discussions. For further assistance, contact Support.