Tableau Server 2023.1.2 is unable to refresh WDC 2.0 extract

Issue

Tableau Server versions released in May 2023 or later are unable to refresh a WDC extract failing with the error:

This job failed on <Date,time> after running for 0.1 min because of: com.tableausoftware.server.status.reporting.TableauRuntimeException: WebDataRequestor::InitAPIObj Unable to load URL: <URL here>

Environment

Tableau Server
- May 2023 and later releases: 2023.1.2+, 2022.3.6+, 2022.1.14+, 2021.4.18+, 2021.3.23+, 2021.2.24
Web Data Connector 2.0

Resolution

The Known Issue has been fixed in the maintenance versions released on August 17th of 2023. If it is not possible to upgrade at this time, please review the following:

The following workaround options are available:

1. Use an earlier version of Tableau Server, where available and feasible.

2. Use Tableau Desktop to refresh the extract, then publish the data source to Tableau Server.

3. Longer term, note that Tableau is retiring WDC 2.0, and connections using it will need to be updated to use WDC 3.0 or another method for continued support and functionality:

Web Data Connector 2.0 guidance for Tableau Desktop discusses that WDC 2.0 connectors are deprecated as of the 2023.1 release.
Web Data Connectors Deprecated in 2023.1 Release explains the plan for retiring WDC 2.0, including how these connections will be:

"...minimally supported (e.g. critical security updates), in pre-2024 versions of Tableau until all those versions reach the end of support."

Tableau Web Data Connector API - Get Started says:

"We will still support WDC 2.x until its last compatible version of Tableau (Tableau 2022.4) goes End of Life and is no longer supported."

Cause

The Tableau Development Team has released a fix for this error under Known Issue W-13568882.

Additional Information

To verify a match for this issue:

Step 1: Confirm that one of the below sets of conditions are all true:

Set 1:

1. Issue began after either an in-place upgrade or a blue/green upgrade (to a May 2023 or later release)
2. Using a configuration that has previously worked in this environment
3. The previously working configuration includes a value for the WDC --secondary URL

Set 2:

1. Issue began after an in-place upgrade (to a May 2023 or later release)
2. The previously working configuration in the environment does not include a value for the WDC --secondary URL

Step 2: In both scenarios, test by setting the --secondary URL with only the http/https wildcard values from this article:

After upgrading Tableau Server to May 2023 Release, Connections to Web Data Connectors are Failing with Error: "Unable to load URL" Found in Logs

It is important to test with only the https://.* and http://.* values here and no others, as a means of ruling out any other incorrect URL syntax that could be preventing the connection.

Note that removing previously existing Web Data Connectors with similar names and primary URLs may be necessary for this test. See Web Data Connectors in Tableau Server > Remove One or More WDCs from the Safe List for more detail.