Troubleshooting the Data Quality Features¶
Alation Cloud Service Applies to Alation Cloud Service instances of Alation
This section outlines common issues and troubleshooting guidance for the Alation Data Quality application. Use this guide to identify the root cause of a problem and take appropriate steps to resolve it.
Monitor or Check Setup Not Working¶
Problem¶
Monitor setup wizard does not display any recommended tables or columns.
AI recommendations do not appear after selecting a table.
Causes¶
Cataloged metadata is incomplete or outdated.
Lineage data is not available or turned off.
Data source is not profiled or scanned recently.
Solutions¶
Ensure metadata extraction has run successfully on the connected data source.
Confirm table- and column-level lineage is enabled for relevant sources.
Re-run metadata extraction or profiling jobs if required.
Check Execution Errors¶
Problem¶
Checks return “Error” instead of “Pass” or “Fail”.
Causes¶
Invalid SQL syntax in custom checks (CTE or SQL).
Missing access privileges for the service account.
Data source has moved, schema or table renamed.
Solutions¶
Verify SQL and CTE logic; test queries in the data source directly.
Check service account access to the target schema, table, or column.
Confirm data source configuration is up-to-date.
Re-create the check using valid references.
Monitors Not Running as Scheduled¶
Problem¶
Monitor has not run at the scheduled time.
No recent check results appear in the UI.
Causes¶
Monitor schedule is misconfigured.
Backend job failure or delay.
Temporary outage of the service.
Solutions¶
Go to the Monitor page and verify the schedule.
Manually trigger a monitor run to test execution.
Contact Alation Support if the issue persists across multiple monitors.
Data Quality Score Not Displaying¶
Problem¶
Table shows -- instead of a score in the Assets tab
Causes¶
No active or enabled checks on the table.
No successful check executions were recorded.
Solutions¶
Add at least one active check to the table.
Run the monitor at least once to populate results.
Ensure there are no errors in the check definitions.
Columns Missing from UI¶
Problem¶
Some expected columns do not appear while configuring the checks.
Cause¶
Columns are not covered in the extracted metadata.
Solution¶
Refresh the metadata for the table.
Inconsistent Results Across Monitors¶
Problem¶
Identical checks return different results across monitors.
Cause¶
Tables or columns have different data freshness across environments.
Solution¶
Verify data recency for each table. Align monitor execution schedules if applicable.
UI Lag or Unresponsiveness¶
Problem¶
Pages in the Alation Data Quality application load slowly or time out.
Causes¶
Large number of checks or monitors on the same table.
Browser memory or resource issues.
Solutions¶
Split large monitors into smaller ones by data domain.
Use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge latest versions and clear browser cache.
Restart browser and retry in Incognito mode.
Microsoft Teams Notifications¶
Problem¶
The Team I want to use is not in the Team dropdown in Alation.
Cause¶
The Alation application has not been properly set up for that Team.
Solution¶
Ensure that a Team Owner has followed all the prerequisite steps, including installing the app, logging into Alation via the app, and adding the app to the specific Team.
Problem¶
I have configured notifications, but my channel is not receiving any alerts.
Cause¶
Permission issues with Alation.
Solution¶
Verify that the Alation app still has the necessary permissions in Teams and has not been removed from the Team.
Check the monitor’s run history in Alation to confirm that it has run and failed since the notification was configured.
Slack Notifications¶
Problem¶
I do not see an option for Slack or any channels in the Notifications dropdown.
Cause¶
The Alation Slack application has not been installed or configured for your Slack workspace.
Solution¶
Contact your Slack Workspace Administrator to ensure they have installed the app and connected it to your Alation instance.
Problem¶
When I try to install the Slack app, I get an error: “Alation Anywhere for Slack is already installed on this Slack workspace for another Alation instance.”
Cause¶
Your Slack workspace is already connected to a different Alation instance. A Slack workspace can only be connected to one Alation instance at a time.
Solution¶
To connect to a new instance, you must first uninstall the app from the current Slack workspace and then repeat the installation process.
In Slack, click on your Workspace name in the top left.
Go to Tools & settings > Manage apps.
Find the “Alation-DQ” app in the list of installed apps.
Navigate to the app’s Configuration tab and select the option to Remove app.