How can I establish connectivity between Tableau and SQL Server?

Question

I have a Windows machine with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and Tableau Desktop installed. From SSMS I can connect to a database on another machine. However, when I try to connect to the same database from Tableau Desktop I get the following error.

Could not connect to server

[Microsoft][ODBC Driver 13 for SQL Server]SSL Provider: The client and server cannot communicate, because they do not possess a common algorithm.

[Microsoft][ODBC Driver 13 for SQL Server]Client unable to establish connection

I tried to update the SQL Server drivers on the machine but they are already updated to the latest version. How can I establish connectivity between Tableau and SQL Server?

Answer 1

The problem is actually on the SQL Server side. Your ODBC driver is trying to use a trusted protocol version (TLS 1.1 or TLS 1.2) but your SQL server is only supporting deprecated protocol versions (SSL 3.0 or TLS 1.0).

You need to get your SQL Server upgraded to one of the versions or CUs referred to in Microsoft's KnowledgeBase article 3135244.

supporting documentation:

• SQL's previous lack of support for TLS 1.1+
• SQL Server compatibility with new TLS standards