Does Tableau work with Common Access Cards (CAC)?

Published: 16 Mar 2016
Last Modified Date: 24 Jul 2017

Question

How does CAC work with Tableau Server? Pass through credentials?
Does Tableau work with Common Access Cards (CAC)?

Environment

Tableau Server 9.2
Tableau Desktop
Windows Server 2012

Answer

If configured properly, the authentication token should pass from Tableau Desktop through to Tableau Server mitigating the need for users to log into the machine. However, this is assuming "single sign on" (SSO service) has been set up and configured both in the Enterprise environment and on the Tableau Server. Kerberos is typically the method of SSO used with CAC.

Additional Information

CACs are used by some important federal organizations such as the US Armed Forces, U.S.Public Health Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Defense (DoD) Civilian, and Department of Defense (DoD) Contractor.

The CAC—which is roughly the size of a standard credit card—stores 144K of data storage and memory on a single integrated circuit chip (ICC). This CAC technology allows for rapid authentication and enhanced security for all physical and logical access.