Salesforce Tableau Server Administrator

A clean installation saves months of repair. You plan hardware and ports, run the setup, choose an identity store, apply initial configuration, and confirm the server is ready for users.

• Hardware, ports and prerequisites
• Running the installer
• Initial configuration in TSM
• Local identity store compared with directory services
• Applying and verifying configuration changes
• Start, stop and restart in the right order

You build A working single-machine installation with a short verification checklist.

A server is useful only when the right people reach the right content. You create sites, add users with the correct role, and set permissions on projects so that access is clear and easy to audit.

• Sites and when to use more than one
• Adding users and assigning site roles
• Groups and projects
• Permission rules on content
• Checking effective permissions
• Content ownership when people leave

You build A site with projects, groups and permissions for three teams.

Users find dashboards by searching, so search must stay healthy. You learn how the Index and Search Server collects workbooks, views and data sources, how its index is built, and what changes in a multi-node setup.

• What the Index and Search Server does
• How content reaches the search index
• Search behavior users see
• Index and search in a multi-node setup
• Signs that the index is stale or damaged

You build A diagnosis note explaining why a recent workbook does not appear in search.

When search results are wrong, rebuilding is the fix. You plan the rebuild, run it through TSM, watch it complete, and check search again, while understanding the load it places on a busy server.

• When a rebuild is the right answer
• Running a reindex through TSM
• Timing a rebuild around server load
• Confirming search is healthy again
• Recording what happened for the next time

You build A tested procedure for rebuilding the index, with before-and-after checks.

Slow dashboards cost trust. You use view acceleration to precompute common queries for key views, turn it on at site level, choose which views deserve it, and watch resource use so the gain does not cost stability.

• What view acceleration precomputes
• Turning it on for a site
• Choosing views that benefit
• Watching background resource use
• Reading performance before and after
• When acceleration is not the answer

You build A view acceleration plan for a site, with measured load times.

Encrypted traffic is only trusted when certificates are right. You generate or import custom certificates for the Index and Search Server and the TSM controller, and learn how each part of the chain must fit together.

• Why the server has several certificates
• Generating a certificate request
• Importing a custom certificate
• Securing the Index and Search Server
• Securing the TSM controller
• Building and testing the trust chain

You build An imported certificate chain for the controller, with a documented test.

Expired certificates stop a server on the worst day. You track expiry, replace certificates before they lapse, restart in the correct order, and verify that clients still trust the server afterward.

• Tracking certificate expiry
• Replacing a certificate in place
• Restarting services after a change
• Verifying client trust
• Rolling back a bad certificate

You build A certificate renewal runbook with a calendar of expiry dates.

Some servers never touch the internet. You learn how license keys and user types work, activate Tableau Server on a disconnected network with offline activation during or after installation, and manage licenses over time.

• License keys and user types
• Activating online
• Offline activation during installation
• Offline activation after installation
• Adding, renewing and returning licenses
• Checking license status in TSM

You build An offline activation walkthrough, tested on a machine with no outside access.

Each release changes what is supported. You check operating system support before installing or upgrading, plan patches and upgrades in a sandbox first, and move users off features that Tableau has retired.

• Checking operating system support
• Reading release notes for impact
• Rehearsing an upgrade in a sandbox
• Backing up and restoring before a change
• Spotting retired features in use
• Moving users to the replacement

You build An upgrade plan, rehearsed in a sandbox, with a list of retired features to replace.

Problems rarely announce themselves. You read built-in administrative views and logs, gather logs for analysis, and trace a slow or failing server back to the process responsible.

• Administrative views for the server
• Where the logs live
• Collecting logs for analysis
• Tracing a failure to a process
• Setting up alerts for what matters

You build A troubleshooting guide for the five most likely server faults.

Put the whole server on a schedule. You write the routine that covers search, acceleration, certificates, licenses and upgrades, rehearse it on a sandbox, and hand it to the next administrator with confidence.

• Listing every recurring task
• Sequencing the year
• Rehearsing the cycle in a sandbox
• Writing handover notes
• Reviewing the cycle after one run

You build A year-long maintenance runbook for one Tableau Server.