How to Build Tableau Reports on IBM Db2 Data using the DataDirect Db2 Drivers

• Download and install the Progress DataDirect ODBC driver using the 15-day trial software. In this tutorial, we are connecting to IBM Db2 Database.    

• Configure a data source for your database. See the DataDirect documentation for assistance with setting up your data source. You will learn how to configure a Db2 Data source for both ODBC and JDBC in the following steps.    

1. After the DataDirect DB2 ODBC driver has been installed, open ODBC Administrator to configure the connection and click on “Add”.    

2. Choose the “DataDirect X.X DB2 Wire Protocol” and click on “Finish.”    

3. The ODBC Db2 Wire Protocol Driver Setupwindow will pop up.  

4. The Logon dialog will pop up. Provide logon credentials and click on “OK.”     

5. A dialog box will confirm that the connection is established.     

1. Start Tableau and select the “Other Databases (ODBC)” option.  

2. In the pop-up window select the “DSN” radial button and choose the data source previously configured to connect to IBM Db2 in the dropdown and click on “Connect.” 

4. The string extras will appear in the designated box. Enter any additional parameters required to connect to your Db2 data source, such as a username and password, and select “Sign In.”   

1. After the driver has been downloaded:    

• If you are on Windows, extract the PROGRESS_DATADIRECT_JDBC_DB2_WIN.zip and run the PROGRESS_DATADIRECT_JDBC_INSTALL.exe to install the JDBC driver.     

• If you are on Linux, extract the PROGRESS_DATADIRECT_JDBC_DB2_WIN.zip and run the PROGRESS_DATADIRECT_JDBC_INSTALL.jar to start the installation.     

2. After you have completed the installation, you can find the Progress DataDirect Db2 jar file.    

• On Windows, you will find it at C:\Program Files\Progress\DataDirect\Connect_for_JDBC_51\lib\db2.jar     

• On Linux, you will find it at ~/home/<username>/Progress/DataDirect/ Connect_for_JDBC_51/lib/ db2.jar  

1. To get started, copy db2.jar from the Progress installation location to Tableau’s driver location.    

• For Windows: copy db2.jar to C:\Program Files\Tableau\Drivers     

• For Mac: copy db2.jar to ~/Library/Tableau/Drivers    

2. Open Tableau and create a new data source.     

• Select “Other Databases (JDBC).” 

• The pop-up window will appear.  

• Paste the JDBC connection string into the “URL” textbox. Enter credentials for username and password.     

1. Select “Sign In” and the Tableau configuration screen should now appear. 

2. In the database dropdown menu choose the data source.   

3. You can use Tableau's schema and table drop-down list to browse and select your data, or you can execute SQL statements by clicking on the "New Custom SQL" option. 

•  The image below shows the schemas on the left-hand side.     

4. A popup dialogue box will appear to edit custom SQL. 

5. Once Tableau can access your relevant data, you can easily create reports like those shown below: