Tableau server

Question 1

All Tableau Server ships with default project.

Answer 1

Cannot delete this project and the default group is all users, many clients go in and delete this all users group because when you create a new project it will pick up the default settings for the default project.

Question 2

Are permissions still applied if I embed a view into my web portal?

Answer 2

Yes, when looking at a view embedded into another web portal, you are still logged in to tableau server. Therefore all permissions are still applied.

Question 3

Best practice to edit individual users permissions in Tableau projects?

Answer 3

It is a best practice to use groups and manage users through groups. Setting permissions at the group level in Server projects will make the process much more streamlined in the long run.

Question 4

Can content admins add users on their own?

Answer 4

Currently, no. This may change in future versions of Tableau.

Question 5

Can I add quotas to sites? E.g., I want a site to have only 7 users and 50 workbooks maximum?

Answer 5

Yes, you can specify quotas such as storage quotas and maximum amount of users.

Question 6

Can I configure server to use IIS or my instance of Apache as the web server?

Answer 6

No need to. Tableau server includes a web server (along with many other components) in the single installation file.

Question 7

Can I install it on Linux?

Answer 7

No

Question 8

Can I run tableau server in virtual environment (on a VM)?

Answer 8

Absolutely. Virtual environments are fully supported.

Question 9

Can I specify a filter via the URL? For instance, I want to filter only to my company: Chevron.

Answer 9

Yes, to specify a filter via the URL, simply add the following to the URL exactly as shown and hit enter on the keyboard: &Company=ChevronNotice that there is no colon ?:? this time (compared to the previous question)

Question 10

Can I switch from using Local Authentication to Active Directory?

Answer 10

The most important thing to be aware of while installing Tableau Server is that once you choose your authentication method (?Use Active Directory? or ?Use Local Authentication?), you cannot change it without re-installing Tableau Server.Once set, the only

Question 11

Can I turn off comments?

Answer 11

Yes, this is controlled by the permissions for that view. There are specific permissions to ?View Comments? and ?Add Comments?.

Question 12

Can we use external storage for your data engine such as a SAN?

Answer 12

Data engine storage is integrated and managed by Tableau Server for performance reasons. The location of this storage is not configurable ? it is installed in a specific directory on the same drive as the server software. The extract storage should not be

Question 13

Can you show me how a Server view looks like on an iPad?

Answer 13

Yes:1) Create a shortcut in your browser with the following:javascript:location.href=”http://ipadpeek.com/?url=”+location.href+escape(“?:embed=y&:mobile=true”);2) This will open the current view in iPadPeek with the necessary embed and mobile tag3) You ca

Question 14

Do I need additional drivers for my data source installed on Tableau Server?

Answer 14

a. Yes, the drivers page on the Tableau Software home page contains links and information for obtaining the proper driver for your data source connection.

Question 15

Do I need to maintain the Apache web server or the Postgres database?

Answer 15

No. Tableau takes care of all maintenance and upgrades for its individual components in the Tableau server maintenance releases you download from our website.

Question 16

Do virtualization snapshots and NT backups work with Tableau Server?

Answer 16

a. When considering disaster recovery options, it is import to understand precisely how virtualization snapshots and file-level backups interact with Tableau data.During the installation of Tableau Server, the licensing service writes license information

Question 17

Does Tableau integrate with my company?s LDAP server for authentication?

Answer 17

Tableau integrates with the Windows form of LDAP (Active Directory) or you can create local users for Tableau server. Users can be synced with Active Directory by using Tableau’s command line utilities

Question 18

Does Tableau offer collaborative analytics? For instance, I found out Sales in Montana are doing poorly, and I want to default to this view whenever I log into Tableau Server. I also want to share this view with my colleagues, and talk about it on a for

Answer 18

Yes, Tableau is all about collaborative analytics. You can go to the upper right-hand corner of your server view, select to save a view for future consumption, and even share that view with your co-workers. You can then discuss your analyses and insight

Question 19

How are permissions set for a workbook view?

Answer 19

E.g., Say John is allowed to download the data at the user level, but his group has been set to deny. Tableau first checks ?Has the user [John] been specifically denied the capability?? No, he has not been denied at the user level, so we move to the sec

Question 20

How do I determine the number of VizQL, Application, Data Server, and Background processes currently running?

Answer 20

The Maintenance Page on the Server Admin section will tell you how many process are running.

Question 21

How do I determine which of my machines is the primary and secondary?

Answer 21

The primary machine is the machine you installed the primary software on. Worker machines have their own software installation. You should be able to check this in the Configure Tableau Server application under the Servers tab.

Question 22

How long does it take for Tableau to switch to the backup if the primary machine fails?

Answer 22

It takes just a matter of minutes. The system will have to check to make sure the server has failed, and if multiple checks indicate that the server has failed, then Tableau switches over to the backup machine.

Question 23

How many test environments can I have?

Answer 23

The End User License Agreement for Tableau Server allows for one production environment and up to two, non-production environments. 1) For instance, if a client purchases an 8 core server, they can have up to two additional non-production core environmen

Question 24

How might I conduct row-level or user-level security at the workbook level?

Answer 24

There are three ways to accomplish row-level security. 1) Data source enforced2) Calculation Based User Filters: Create a Calc using User functions such as ISMEMBEROF() or FULLNAME()3) Set-based user filters: In Desktop: Server > Create User Filter

Question 25

How might I upgrade or duplicate a Tableau Server environment?

Answer 25

There is a knowledge base article available for reference during the upgrade

Question 26

I blended multiple data sources in my workbook. Can I publish the blended data sources to Tableau Data Server?

Answer 26

You cannot publish them as you would publish a traditional data source. This is because data blending defines the blends at the workbook level, and the workbook level cannot be published up to Tableau Data Server. Therefore, instead of publishing your d

Question 27

I don?t see the Scheduling button in the Publish Workbook window. What should I do?

Answer 27

This means that Scheduling had not been enabled on server yet. A System Admin on server must go to the Maintenance page and enable both ?Embedded Credentials? and ?Scheduling?. After that is done, go back to desktop and choose Server->Log off before try

Question 28

I have data source in SQL server with multiple tables, and I now want to use that data source with Vertica. How might I change the connection to use Vertica?

Answer 28

We cannot change the data connection source. You would create a new data source to Vertica with your tables and joins, and use ?Replace Data Source? in your reports to leverage the Vertica connection instead of SQL server.

Question 29

I published a data source to data server, and now I want to change a calculation. How might I reflect these changes in Data Server?

Answer 29

In desktop, simply right-click on the data source and select ?Create Local Copy?. Once you?ve made your changes, simply right click on the data source, and republish it up to the server. Be sure to use the same name as before, so as to replace your data

Question 30

I published a workbook that is connected to an Excel file but I see an error on server when I try to view the report. What is wrong?

Answer 30

a. If they do not have Office installed on the server machine, then the necessary driver to connect to Excel files are not on there yet. They can download the ?Microsoft Access Database Engine 2007? from the Drivers page on our website.b. If they have Of

Question 31

I want to embed tableau dashboards into my web portal (or Sharepoint or ASP.net page), but I don?t want them to see a tableau login screen. Is that possible? (Single Sign On)

Answer 31

a. Yes. If your portal uses Active Directory for authentication then you simply embed the tableau view using an iFrame (or Page Viewer Web Part in Sharepoint). If Tableau server is configured to also use Active Directory then both systems will authentic

Question 32

I?m purchasing core. How can the cores be deployed?

Answer 32

You must purchase 8 cores at a minimum, with increments of 4 thereafter. In a single server environment, the number of cores in use on a physical or virtual machine must not exceed the number licensed. In a multi-server environment with primary and work

Question 33

If I am using AD, are my Tableau users always synced with my AD users?

Answer 33

When we import an AD group on Tableau server, this is a one-time import of all users in that group. You can then periodically ?sync? with AD using the Tableau Server GUI as an Administrator. You can also automate the sync using tabcmd to sync a particula

Question 34

If I import a group from Active Directory, can it go to a specific site?

Answer 34

Yes.

Question 35

If I want to actually log in as the end-user to the database because I already have row-level security built into my database, can I do that?

Answer 35

a. If your database is SQL Server, you have the option to Impersonate the end user logging into the database. This is controlled by clicking the Authentication button in the Publish Workbook window. Change the setting from ?Server Run As account? to ?Im

Question 36

If The PC group is Allowed to see the PC project, but Wilson (a member of the PC group) is Denied ability to see the PC project, what will he see when he logs in?

Answer 36

He will not see the PC project (unless he was specifically allowed to see any particular view or workbook in that project).This is because permissions are evaluated at the User level before the Group level. User permissions trump Group permissions.

Question 37

If Wilson is Denied ability to view a particular workbook but he is Allowed to see one of the worksheets in the workbook, what will he be able to see when he visits the page for that workbook?

Answer 37

a. He will be able to see the workbook but when he clicks on it he will only see the view he was specifically allowed to see.b. This is because permissions are evaluated at the View level, then the Workbook Level, then the Project level. If you are not a

Question 38

Is it possible to have no toolbar on my server view?

Answer 38

a. Yes. To remove the toolbar, add the following exactly as it is shown at the end of your URL: &:toolbar=nob. If you want the toolbar to be on top, simply add the following at the end of your URL: &:toolbar=top

Question 39

Is it possible to have weekly scheduled e-mails where I send out a .png, .pdf, or .csv of the Tableau visual?

Answer 39

Yes, users can subscribe to a view to receive an email with an image of the latest data on a set schedule. If you want to send out pdf or csv then you can use Tabcmd and a third-party tool such as febootimail to schedule when these e-mails get sent out, a

Question 40

Is it possible to specify a size when publishing a dashboard to fit within our confines on sharepoint, ipad, etc.?

Answer 40

a. Yes, upon publishing your dashboard, simply select to size it using the bottom left hand of your dashboard screen, and selecting to Edit Size -> At Least. At Least allows for the dashboard to expand and fit larger screens, but maintain its your desire

Question 41

Is there any internet access requirements for the server product?

Answer 41

Internet access for the server product is not required. It is primarily used for Activation of the software and Online Maps. We can provide specific URLs to these web services for adjustments to your firewall. Or, should you choose not to open your fir

Question 42

Permisions for default state across Tableau Server in the absense of allowing permissions?

Answer 42

The default state is to deny permissions.

Question 43

What are Projects?

Answer 43

Projects are the largest group of organization of content on the Tableau Server. They are a collection of related workbooks.

Question 44

Say my DBA gives me development rights to a QA database, I?ve produced my report in Tableau desktop and embedded my credentials, once it?s on server, how does the DBA change to using a generic set of credentials?

Answer 44

Under database connections, as an administrator, you can edit the username and password, or the database server that the report connects to.

Question 45

The data in our database updates at irregular times. Can I somehow tie my extract refreshes to my database ETL process?

Answer 45

You can trigger a specific schedule to refresh using the tabcmd command line utility. We can set up a schedule on tableau server called ?ETL? (choose any interval, it won?t matter) and check the box to ?disable? it. Disabling it will tell tableau server

Question 46

Views

Answer 46

Reports, dashboards and vizualizations that you can interact with and save in specific way.

Question 47

We use IIS, WebLogic as our standard web server but Tableau uses Apache. Can we route traffic through IIS to your web server on a port other than 80?

Answer 47

Apache is part of our deployment and cannot be replaced however we do support embedding of Tableau Server in other web applications. You may choose to embed the Tableau server URL in another portal or site that is using IIS. However, you may not need to.

Question 48

What does ?Inherited? mean when looking at permissions?

Answer 48

If a user?s permission is set to ?Inherit?, then they are defaulted to their group?s permissions.

Question 49

What does multithreading mean to Tableau?

Answer 49

Multithreading means each process (VIZQL, Data Server, Webapp, Extract host on Server) can handle multiple simultaneous requests from the same end user. (Side note: Each VizQL process is no longer limited to 2gb of RAM but is still limited to [or can shar

Question 50

What kind of auditing can I do on my server users and reports?

Answer 50

There are about six pre-made audit dashboards found in the Maintenance page on server. These answer most questions you have around View Performance, User Activity, Usage, Storage, etc.If the pre-made maintenance dashboards do not contain what you are loo

Question 51

What kind of encryption do you use for password storage (also what kind of data encryption is used when passed over the wire to the client)?

Answer 51

Please see our knowledge base article on Server Encryption Technologies for details. Tableau stores passwords using AES 256-bit encryption, and uses RSA 512-bit encryption for other server processes.

Question 52

What OS do you recommend?

Answer 52

Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2, 2008, 2008 R2, 2003 sp1 or higher, and Windows 7 or 8. Tableau Server no longer supports Windows XP, Vista, or older windows operating systems.

Question 53

What technologies are used on the client side of Tableau Server?

Answer 53

The client is pure HTML and javascript to support a variety of browsers. No Flash, no Silverlight.We use AJAX/HTML5. We use HTML5 touch events in mobile. But typically this is browser supported rather than standard support (i.e., you can have a non html5

Question 54

When I visit a particular view on server, I am presented with a login screen for the database. I don?t want my users to see a database login screen. What should I do?

Answer 54

a. If the datasource uses Windows Authentication, then this means the Run-As user of server is not set correctly. They need to open the Tableau server configuration window and change the Server Account to a real domain user or create a Service Account fo

Question 55

When should I use extracts with Tableau Server?

Answer 55

Extracts are locally stored data sets created by Tableau Server from your data sources. Using extracts in published workbooks can dramatically improve response times for end users. It is highly recommended that extracts be used whenever possible. The s

Question 56

Where are extracts stored on the server?

Answer 56

It doesn?t really matter where the extracts are stored on the server because you would never need to connect to them with tableau desktop. We use the Tableau Data Server to allow desktop users to connect to extracts stored on server.If the concern is not

Question 57

Workbooks

Answer 57

Workbooks are created in Desktop and can contain multiple dashboards or worksheets.

Question 58

Your standard guidelines cover up to 100 users but we will have far more than that. What do you recommend we deploy?

Answer 58

We have a performance guideline whitepaper with our performance benchmarks that will assist in sizing your environment. We typically look at the following factors impacting server sizing. ? Number of concurrent users? Data volumes? Percentage of live conn