Troubleshooting

Alation Cloud Service Applies to Alation Cloud Service instances of Alation

Customer Managed Applies to customer-managed instances of Alation

Core Connector Core connectors are included with all Alation platform tiers (subject to each tier’s connector limits) and are fully supported by Alation.

For general recommendations on troubleshooting OCF connectors, refer to Troubleshoot OCF Connectors.

Find specific troubleshooting scenarios below:

Shared objects missing after MDE

If the shared objects are missing after performing metadata extraction, ensure that the Extract Data Shares flag is enabled in the Metadata Extraction tab of the Redshift consumer data source settings. See Enable Data Shares Extraction for instructions.

Lineage Generation fails

If the lineage generation fails or not starting, ensure that the alation_conf alation.ocf.mde.direct_lineage.enable_extraction flag is set to true.

Note

This limitation applies only to Alation customer-managed instances. If you encounter this issue in Alation Cloud Service, contact Alation Support.

Columns Marked As No Nulls, Allow Null Values

Problem

In specific tables or views in Redshift, some columns display a no nulls label in the datatype section. However, these columns allow null values.

Limitation

Redshift doesn’t provide accurate nullability information for columns in specific view or table types. The connector interprets these columns as non-nullable when they actually allow null values.

This is a limitation in Redshift, and not an issue with the Redshift OCF connector.

This issue often occurs for:

  • Views with no schema binding

  • External views (Spectrum/Glue)

  • Internal tables

Test Connection Fails with AWS Authentication Errors

Test connection fails when using AWS STS (Security Token Service) authentication with a Redshift data source.

Problem

When you test the connection from the General Settings tab, the connection fails with one of the following errors, preventing you from connecting to your Redshift cluster:

  • Alation's user is not authorized to perform: sts:AssumeRole on the given Role ARN

  • The requested STS duration is out of the allowed range

  • STS is not configured in the provided Region for your AWS account

The error appears in the following locations:

  • The Connection Test result dialog box

  • The OCF connector logs

Cause

These errors occur when there are issues with the AWS STS authentication configuration. Common causes include:

  • Role ARN permissions: The specified Role ARN does not have the necessary permissions to allow Alation to assume the role.

  • Session duration mismatch: The STS Duration configured in Alation (in General Settings tab in the data source Settings page) exceeds the MaxSessionDuration setting for your AWS role.

  • Regional configuration: STS is not activated in the specified AWS region for your account.

Solution

Follow these steps to resolve AWS STS authentication issues:

  1. Verify Role ARN and permissions

    1. Ensure that the Role ARN you provided in Alation is correct.

    2. Ensure the role has the necessary permissions to allow the sts:AssumeRole operation.

    3. If role permissions need to be updated, contact your AWS administrator.

  2. Check STS session duration settings

    1. Verify that the STS Duration configured in Alation (in General Settings tab in the data source Settings page) does not exceed your AWS role’s MaxSessionDuration setting. Update the values if required.

    2. Refer to the AWS documentation: AssumeRole API Reference.

  3. Validate regional STS configuration

    1. Ensure that you are using the correct AWS region in your configuration.

    2. Contact your AWS account administrator to activate STS in the specified region using the AWS IAM console.

    3. Ensure the region matches your Redshift cluster location.

  4. Re-test the connection

    Return to the data source General Settings tab and click Test Connection to verify the STS authentication is now working properly.