Connection Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions for connecting your data warehouse

If you're experiencing difficulties connecting your data warehouse to DataSentry, this guide will help you identify and resolve the most common issues. Follow these troubleshooting steps in order to diagnose and fix connection problems.

Common Connection Issues

Authentication Failed

Symptoms: Error message indicating invalid credentials or authentication failure.

Common Causes:

  • Incorrect username, password, or API key
  • Expired credentials
  • Insufficient permissions
  • Incorrect account identifier

Solutions:

  1. Double-check all credential information for typos
  2. Verify that your credentials are still valid
  3. Ensure the user has the required permissions
  4. Confirm the account identifier format is correct

Network Connectivity Issues

Symptoms: Connection timeout, "host not found", or "network unreachable" errors.

Common Causes:

  • Firewall blocking connections
  • VPN or proxy configuration issues
  • Incorrect endpoint or hostname
  • Network security groups restricting access

Solutions:

  1. Ensure DataSentry's IP addresses are whitelisted in your firewall
  2. Configure proxy settings if your network requires them
  3. Verify the endpoint URL is correct
  4. Update security group rules to allow connections

Permission Denied

Symptoms: "Access denied", "insufficient privileges", or "permission denied" errors.

Common Causes:

  • Insufficient role or permission level
  • Missing required permissions for monitoring
  • Role is inactive or suspended
  • Account lacks required entitlements

Solutions:

  1. Assign the required roles or permissions to the user
  2. Grant read access to system tables and monitoring views
  3. Ensure the role is active and properly configured
  4. Check that your account has the necessary entitlements

Platform-Specific Troubleshooting

Snowflake Connection Issues

Common Problems:

  • Account identifier format incorrect
  • Missing ACCOUNT_USAGE access
  • Network policy restrictions
  • Incorrect warehouse name

Solutions:

  1. Use the correct account identifier format (account.region.cloud-provider)
  2. Grant access to the ACCOUNT_USAGE schema
  3. Configure network policy to allow DataSentry IPs
  4. Verify warehouse name matches exactly (case-sensitive)

BigQuery Connection Issues

Common Problems:

  • Service account key file corrupted
  • Missing IAM roles
  • Project ID mismatch
  • Dataset access permissions

Solutions:

  1. Regenerate the service account key file
  2. Assign the required IAM roles (BigQuery Data Viewer, Job User)
  3. Confirm the project ID is correct
  4. Grant access to the specific datasets you want to monitor

Redshift Connection Issues

Common Problems:

  • Cluster not accessible from internet
  • Security group restrictions
  • Incorrect database name
  • SSL connection requirements

Solutions:

  1. Ensure the cluster is publicly accessible or configure VPC peering
  2. Update security group to allow connections from DataSentry
  3. Verify the database name matches exactly
  4. Enable SSL connections if required by your configuration

Diagnostic Steps

When troubleshooting connection issues, follow these diagnostic steps:

  1. Verify Connection Parameters
    Double-check all connection parameters including account identifier, username, password, database name, and endpoint URL.
  2. Test Network Connectivity
    Use tools like ping, telnet, or nc to verify that you can reach the data warehouse endpoint from your network.
  3. Validate Credentials
    Test your credentials using the native client tools for your data warehouse platform to ensure they work outside of DataSentry.
  4. Check Permissions
    Verify that your user account has the necessary permissions to access system tables and monitoring views.
  5. Review Error Messages
    Pay careful attention to the specific error messages provided, as they often contain valuable diagnostic information.
  6. Check DataSentry Status
    Visit our status page to ensure there are no ongoing service issues.

Prevention Tips

To minimize connection issues in the future:

  • Use dedicated service accounts with appropriate permissions
  • Implement proper network security rules that allow DataSentry access
  • Regularly rotate credentials and update them in DataSentry
  • Monitor connection logs for early detection of issues
  • Keep your data warehouse platform updated to the latest stable version
  • Document your connection parameters and security configurations

Still Having Issues?

If you've tried all the troubleshooting steps and still can't connect your data warehouse, please contact our support team. Provide detailed information about the error messages you're seeing and the troubleshooting steps you've already taken.