Activate Tableau using Login-based Licence Management

Login-based licence management is the preferred licence management and activation option for Creator roles within Tableau Cloud, and is enabled by default on your site. Login-based licence management allows authorised users to activate and unlock Tableau Desktop and/or Tableau Prep Builder by signing in to Tableau Cloud. Login-based licence management eliminates the need to distribute and manage product keys for Tableau Desktop and Tableau Prep Builder.

You only need one Tableau Cloud site to authorise an individual Tableau Desktop or Tableau Prep Builder. You can assign Creator roles to users who use Tableau Desktop, and Tableau Prep Builder for licence activation and centralised licence management. In addition, login-based licence management gives you more visibility into licence usage.

You can use administrative views on Tableau Cloud to see the assignment and use of Creator seats in one place. Administrative views provide information about who is using your Creator licences, and shows the most recent licence lease and version of both Tableau Desktop and Tableau Prep Builder, which helps you to monitor your Tableau deployments.

The following Tableau products support login-based licence management:

Tableau Cloud
Tableau Server 2020.1+
Tableau Desktop 2020.1+
Tableau Prep Builder 2020.1.3+

How login-based licence management works

When login-based licence management is in use, Tableau Desktop or Tableau Prep Builder periodically contacts Tableau Cloud in order to verify that the user is a Creator and to obtain an authorisation to run. Tableau Cloud contacts the Tableau-hosted authorisation-to-run (ATR) service to verify that the Tableau Desktop client is allowed activation. The ATR service verifies and manages the licence and the length of the authorisation window. The diagrams below show the communication process between the client, Tableau Cloud, and the licensing service.

Tableau uses common ports (80 and 443) to make internet requests. In most cases, the computer where Tableau Desktop or Tableau Prep Builder is installed and the network it is running on are already configured to allow the necessary access. For more information about the ports used by Tableau, see Internet Access Requirements(Link opens in a new window).

Login-based licence management with Tableau Cloud

You install Tableau Desktop or Tableau Prep Builder and select Activate with your credentials. You sign in to your Tableau Cloud site.
Tableau Cloud verifies that you are a Creator. If not, you get an error. If yes, Tableau Cloud communicates with the ATR service.
The ATR service returns an ATR lease to Tableau Cloud.
Tableau Cloud provides an ATR lease to Tableau Desktop or Tableau Prep Builder to finalise activation.

Use login-based licence management

To use login-based licence management, you need to install Tableau Desktop and use it with Tableau Cloud.

Step 1: Enable login-based licence management

Login-based licence management is enabled by default for Tableau Cloud and Tableau Desktop starting with version 2020.1. To use login-based licence management, you need to install Tableau Desktop and use it with Tableau Cloud. If you're using Tableau Desktop version 2020.1 and later, skip to Step 3: Activate Tableau Desktop.

Versions before 2021.1 do not support login-based licence management.

Change login-based licence management settings on Tableau Desktop or Tableau Prep Builder at install

To change login-based licence management settings at the command line, you can run the installer .exe file from your computer's command line as an administrator. If you need to extract the .msi files, follow the instructions to Extract and run the Windows (MSI) installer(Link opens in a new window).

To use a duration length other than the default of 14 days/1209600 seconds, include the ATRREQUESTEDDURATIONSECONDS switch. For example:

tableauDesktop-64bit-2020-1-0.exe /quiet /norestart ACCEPTEULA=1 ATRREQUESTEDDURATIONSECONDS=43200

You must run the command from the directory where the .exe file is located or specify a full path to the location of the .exe file on the computer. Do not run the setup program from a shared directory on your network. Instead, download the .exe file to a directory on the computer where you're installing.

The following example shows the Windows installer command that disables login-based licence management:

tableauDesktop-64bit-2020-1-0.exe /quiet /norestart ACCEPTEULA=1 LBLM=disabled

tableauPrepBuilder-64bit-2020-1-0.exe /quiet /norestart ACCEPTEULA=1 LBLM=disabled

To set the default URL for the Tableau Server you want users to use for activation when using login-based licence management, add the ACTIVATIONSERVER or WorkGroupServer option.

To update the exe:

tableauDesktop-64bit-2021-4-0.exe /quiet /norestart ACCEPTEULA=1 ACTIVATIONSERVER=http://<tableau_online_site_url>

To update the registry:

reg.exe add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Tableau\Tableau 2021.4\Settings /f /v WorkGroupServer /d https://<tableau_server_url>

Note: The ACTIVATIONSERVER option is only intended for first time activation. If you have previously signed in to this version of Tableau, you use the WorkGroupServer (Windows) or WorkgroupServer (macOS) option. For example, if you are using Tableau Desktop version 2021.1 on Windows and have previously signed in successfully, you would use the WorkGroupServer option to specify an activation server. On Tableau Desktop on macOS, you would use the WorkgroupServer option. On macOS, this option is case sensitive and uses a lowercase "g".

Change login-based licence management settings on Tableau Desktop by editing the registry

If Tableau Desktop is already installed, you can change login-based licence management settings by editing the Windows registry.

To turn off login-based licence management:

reg.exe add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Tableau\ATR /f /v LBLM /d disabled

To make login-based licence management the only login option:

reg.exe add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Tableau\ATR /f /v LBLM /d required

Or, you can enable, disable or require login-based licence management by editing the registry directly:

As an administrator on the computer running Tableau Desktop, make a backup of the registry file before you make any changes to it.
Edit the registry, and in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Tableau, find the hive named ATR and modify the LBLM value to reflect the desired setting:
1. Name: LBLM.
2. Data: enabled, disabled or required.
Restart Tableau so the changes take effect.

Change login-based licence management settings on Tableau Desktop on macOS

To change login-based licence management settings on macOS, run the following commands in a terminal window to update the preferences file, and then install or restart Tableau Desktop.

To turn off login-based licence management:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.tableau.ATR LBLM "disabled"

To make login-based licence management the only login option:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.tableau.ATR LBLM "required"

To set the default URL for the Tableau Server you want the user to use for activation when using login-based licence management on macOS.

First-time activation:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.tableau.ATR LBLM "required"

Subsequent activations:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.tableau.Tableau-<version> Settings.WorkgroupServer "https://<tableau_server_url>"

Note: On Tableau Desktop on macOS, you would use the WorkgroupServer option. On macOS, this option is case sensitive and uses a lowercase "g".

Login-based licence management settings

You use the following settings to change login-based licence management, set the ATR duration, and set the activation server URL.

Setting	Value	Description
`LBLM`	enabled, disabled or required	Set to `enabled` (the default), the licensing screens will present the two options for activation (product key, or credentials). Set to `disabled`, login-based licence management will not appear on the licensing screens. Set to `required`, login-based licence management is the only way to activate the Tableau Desktop (when the licensing screen appears, it will offer only the credentials option for activation). Note: When `LBLM` is set to enabled or required, reporting is also enabled.
`ATRREQUESTEDDURATIONSECONDS`	1209600	Sets the authorisation to run (ATR) duration (in seconds), which is the length of time that an instance of Tableau Desktop and Tableau Prep Builder is authorised to run. The default is 1209600 seconds (14 days). Do not use commas as separators in the value.
`ACTIVATIONSERVER`	http://<tableau_online_site_url>	For first-time activation, sets the default URL for the Tableau Cloud site you want users to use for activation.
`WorkGroupServer` (Windows) `WorkgroupServer` (macOS)	http://<tableau_server_url>	For updates to the Windows registry or macOS plist, sets the default URL for the Tableau Server you want users to use for activation. Note: On Tableau Desktop on macOS, you would use the WorkgroupServer option. On macOS, this option is case sensitive and uses a lowercase "g".
`REPORTINGFREQUENCYSECONDS`	3600	Sets the default (in seconds) for how often the login-based licence management report is sent to Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud. The minimum setting is 60 seconds, and the default is 3600 seconds (one hour). Change this setting to reduce the load on Tableau Server or to reduce network traffic. No matter what the authorisation-to-run (ATR) lease duration is set to, `REPORTINGFREQUENCYSECONDS` sets the time interval that the Tableau Desktop or Tableau Prep Builder client report login-based licence management activations back to Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud.

Additional configuration for virtual deployments

Tableau Desktop and Tableau Prep Builder periodically contact Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server to verify that Tableau is authorised to run, based on its licence. Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server then contacts the ATR service to verify the licence and the length of the authorisation window.

When configuring a virtual (non-persistent) deployment of Tableau Desktop or Tableau Prep Builder, the duration time should be set to one of the lower values such as 4 or 8 hours in order to avoid an over-use activation error message. After the virtual machine (VM) is returned, the ATR service will handle the activation monitoring.

The following flags should be used on a source image prior to publishing Tableau Desktop to end users. Each end user will be activating the software by logging into Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud with each new VM delivered. No product keys need to be entered if the end user is a Tableau Creator on Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud.

If you are using login-based licence management for Tableau Desktop or Tableau Prep Builder on a VM, you may get an error message that your licence information has changed whenever you launch a new VM for Tableau Desktop or Tableau Prep Builder. This error forces a restart, which then asks you to register Tableau Desktop again. This error occurs because the ATR service sends a new token that doesn’t match the licence cache.

Microsoft Windows

To prevent the error from occurring on Microsoft Windows, you can use the SYNCHRONOUSLICENSECHECK and SILENTLYREGISTERUSER options with the Windows installer. For example:

tableau-setup-std-tableau-2020 SYNCHRONOUSLICENSECHECK="true" SILENTLYREGISTERUSER="true" ATRREQUESTEDDURATIONSECONDS=14400

tableauDesktop-64bit-2020-1-0.exe /quiet /norestart ACCEPTEULA=1 ATRREQUESTEDDURATIONSECONDS=14400 ACTIVATIONSERVER=http://<tableau_online_site_url> SYNCHRONOUSLICENSECHECK="true" SILENTLYREGISTERUSER="true"

If Tableau Prep Builder and Tableau Desktop are being delivered on one Virtual Desktop, ATRREQUESTEDDURATIONSECONDS only needs to be set during Tableau Desktop installation. However, if you plan to install Tableau Prep Builder as a stand-alone, you'll need to set ATRREQUESTEDDURATIONSECONDS during Tableau Prep Builder installation.

Or, you can edit the following registry keys on the source image:

Reg key path: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Tableau\<Tableau version>\Settings\

Reg key (String value, need to set to true to make that feature enabled)

SynchronousLicenseCheck

SilentlyRegisterUser

macOS

To prevent the error from occurring on macOS, run the following command to set the LicenseCache.Desktop flag to 'false'.

sudo defaults write ~/Library/Preferences/com.tableau.Tableau-<version>.plist LicenseCache.Desktop false

(Optional) Step 2: Change the authorisation to run (ATR) duration

The login-based licence management default settings for the authorisation to run (ATR) duration are appropriate for most environments, but you can change these default settings if needed. Login-based licence management uses the default authorisation to run (ATR) duration of 1209600 seconds (14 days), which is the length of time that an instance of Tableau Desktop and Tableau Prep Builder is authorised to run. This means that after the initial authorisation, you could use Tableau without any network connection for 14 days before the activation expired.

The default duration value for login-based licence management is not appropriate for delivering a non-persistent VM delivery solution to end users. The ATR duration should be lowered to 4 or 12 hours depending on VM use. When a new VM is delivered to an end user, a new authority to run token will be created. When the VM is returned, this token is also returned and is able to be used on the new VM authorisation to run request.

Note: Login-based licence management uses the following hierarchy when determining ATR duration.

ATR Service – Establishes the minimum (4 hours/14400 seconds) and maximum (90 days/7776000 seconds) ATR durations applicable to all users/installations. It specifies the default ATR duration (14 days/1209600 seconds) if nothing is specified by Tableau Server or Tableau Desktop.
Tableau Desktop – Can optionally specify the ATR duration (ATRREQUESTEDDURATIONSECONDS) for the computer on which it is installed. If necessary, you can change the default ATR duration (14 days/1209600 seconds) to a setting within the ATR Service minimum (4 hours/14400 seconds) and maximum (90 days/7776000 seconds). This local ATR duration overrides any durations set by the ATR Service or Tableau Server. However, this default ATR duration cannot be more than the maximum ATR duration set on Tableau Server.

Change the ATR duration on Tableau Desktop by editing the registry

To use a duration length other than the default of 14 days/1209600 seconds, update the ATRRequestedDurationSeconds registry setting. For example:

As an administrator on the computer running Tableau Desktop, make a backup of the registry file before you make any changes to it.
Edit the registry, and in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Tableau\ATR, update the ATRRequestedDurationSeconds as follows (0 uses the default setting):
1. Name: Find the string value named ATRRequestedDurationSeconds.
2. Data: Update the number of seconds the duration should last. For example, add 43200 to set a duration of 12 hours.
Restart Tableau so that the changes take effect.

Change the ATR duration on Tableau Desktop on macOS

To use a duration length other than the default of 14 days/1209600 seconds, include the ATRRequestedDurationSeconds preferences setting. For example:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.tableau.ATR ATRRequestedDurationSeconds -string "43200"

Step 3: Activate Tableau Desktop

The 2020.1 and later versions of both Tableau Desktop for Windows or macOS support login-based licence management.

Run Tableau Desktop setup.
The Activate Tableau screen will include the Activate by signing in to a server option.
Click Activate by signing in to a server and then click the Tableau Cloud link.
When prompted, enter valid credentials to sign in to a Tableau Cloud site as a user with a Creator role subscription, and then click OK.

View login-based licence usage

You can view login-based licence usage for Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server. The report shows users, hosts, user role, product, version, activations, Creator seats in use, Creator seats not in use and when a Creator seat was last used. You can view data for the past 30 days up to a maximum of 183 days.

To view the Login-based licence management Licence Usage administrative view:

In Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server, in the navigation pane, click Site Status.
On the Site Status page, click Login-based Licence Usage.
Optional. On the report screen, you can change the time window to show when seats were last used, filter on actions, filter on user name and sort by columns.

Troubleshooting

You may encounter one of the following error messages while using login-based licence management. Use the information below to resolve the issue.

If login-based licence management is available as an activation option on Tableau Desktop, but not enabled on your Tableau Cloud site, the following error message may be displayed:

Login-based licence management is not enabled on the server you connected to. Select a different server to connect to, use a product key to activate your licence or start a trial to begin working immediately.

Contact your administrator and/or Tableau account manager to ensure that your Tableau Cloud site is enabled for login-based licence management.

Login-based licence management is not enabled on Tableau Desktop

If login-based licence management is not enabled on Tableau Desktop, you will not have the option to activate Tableau using your credentials. Prior to version 2020.1, the ability to use login-based licence management on Tableau Desktop is not turned on as a default. Check the Tableau Desktop version to ensure the correct version is being used.

If the login-based licence management option has been turned off during installation or with an update, see Step 1: Enable login-based licence management(Link opens in a new window).

Product key expiry date doesn't change after purchasing a year subscription

After purchasing a renewal of Tableau Cloud, it might appear that your Tableau Desktop licence is going to expire. This is not the case. In Manage Product Keys, the expiration date for new Tableau Cloud subscriptions is not updated until two weeks before the previous Site expiration date.

You do not have a Creator licence

When attempting to activate from Tableau Desktop, the following error message may be displayed:

You do not have a Creator licence. Contact your administrator to obtain one.

This error is displayed if you have not been assigned a Creator role. If you belong to multiple sites on Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server, you need to sign in to the site where you have the Creator role when using login-based licence management. Otherwise you'll get this error.

To verify that the product key you have activated on the server includes Creator licences, open the TSM web UI and click Configuration, and then click Licensing.

You have activated the maximum number of computers

When attempting to activate from Tableau Desktop, the following error message may be displayed:

You have activated Tableau the maximum number of times allowed under your account. You must wait for the licence activation on another computer to expire before you can activate Tableau again.

This error is displayed when you activated Tableau from multiple computers with the same Creator user credentials and exceeded the maximum number of activations. You must wait until the authorisation-to-run (ATR) token expires on one of the existing computers before attempting to activate a new computer. If you are using non-persistent virtual machines (VMs), you can shorten the ATR duration to prevent this error from occurring again.

To shorten the ATR token duration for maximum activation

If you encounter this maximum use error when using a non-persistent virtual deployment, it is possible to shorten the ATR duration to 4 hours (14400) seconds to avoid the error in the future.

The following steps shorten the lease on a computer previously activated with login-based licence management that will no longer be used, in order to free up a seat to be activated on a new computer:

Open a Command Prompt as an administrator on a Tableau Desktop computer that will no longer be used.
Navigate to the Tableau binaries (\bin) directory, using the following command.
Windows: cd Program Files\Tableau\Tableau <version>\bin
Mac: cd /Applications/Tableau\ Desktop\ <version>.app/Contents/MacOS
Run the following command to set the duration to 4 hours, in seconds (e.g. 14400).
Windows: atrdiag.exe -setDuration 14400
Mac: sudo ./atrdiag -setDuration 14400
Delete the previous ATR token using the following command:
Windows: atrdiag.exe -deleteAllATRs
Mac: ./atrdiag -deleteAllATRs
Next, overwrite the existing ATR token. Open Tableau Desktop. Tableau displays the “Licence has Changed” message. Click Exit to automatically close and reopen Tableau Desktop.
In the registration dialog box, click Activate, and then reactivate Tableau Desktop through Tableau Server using login-based licence management, which will overwrite the existing token.
Close Tableau Desktop and wait for the ATR duration to elapse (e.g. 4 hours) so that the ATR token expires and frees-up a user seat. Do not open Tableau Desktop before the ATR duration has elapsed. Check to make sure the ATR duration has elapsed. The ATR token TTL End should show a date and time in the future (e.g. 4 hours from now).
Windows: atrdiag.exe
Mac: ./atrdiag
After the ATR token expires and you can successfully sign in to Tableau Server on a new computer.

To return your computer to an unlicensed state

Open a Command Prompt as an administrator.
Navigate to the Tableau binaries (\bin) directory, using the following command:
cd Program Files\Tableau\Tableau <version>\bin
Run the following command:
Windows: atrdiag.exe –deleteAllATRs
Mac: ./atrdiag.exe –deleteAllATRs

Note: This removes only the ATR token from the computer. It does not free-up any of the user seats. The user seat is only freed-up after the deleted ATR token expires.

Your Tableau credentials are invalid

When attempting to activate from Tableau Desktop, the following error message may be displayed:

Your Tableau credentials are invalid. Contact your administrator to reset your account.

This error is displayed when your Tableau licence is not recognised. Contact your administrator.

Your computer’s clock is not synchronised to the current time

When attempting to activate from Tableau Desktop, the following error message may be displayed:

Your computer’s clock is not synchronised to the current time. Synchronise your computer’s clock to the current time and then try to activate Tableau.

This error is displayed when your computer's clock is not synchronised with the current time. Synchronise your computer’s clock with a time server on the internet or enable automatic time synchronisation.

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