Tableau Bridge is software that you can install and use in conjunction with Tableau Cloud. Always install the latest version of Bridge to take advantage of the latest security and feature updates.
Before installing Bridge
Tableau recommends installing the Bridge client on a dedicated machine behind your firewall so that it does not compete with resources from other applications. Only one client can be installed on a machine.
Before you install the Bridge client, review the minimum requirements and general information that you need to know to help ensure a successful start to using Bridge.
System recommendations
Bridge is available for the Windows operating system. You can also install the client on a virtual machine. For more information about which versions of Windows are supported and other recommendations, review the Recommended software and hardware.
Licence requirements
You do not need a product key to use Bridge. Use of Bridge is subject to your End User Licence Agreement (EULA). Users of Bridge must be authorised users of Tableau Cloud.
Network access
Because Bridge facilitates connections between your private network data and Tableau Cloud, it requires the ability to make outbound connections through the internet. Bridge does not require the ability to make inbound connections, which means that it typically does not require a network administrator to make firewall or network changes to work.
Required ports
Tableau Bridge uses port 443 to make outbound internet requests to Tableau Cloud and port 80 for certificate validation.
Tableau with MFA
If multi-factor authentication (MFA) is enabled with Tableau authentication, Bridge clients must be running Tableau Bridge version 2021.1 and later. For more information about Tableau with MFA, see About multi-factor authentication and Tableau Cloud(Link opens in a new window).
Database drivers
Bridge uses Tableau connectors to connect to different databases to maintain data freshness. Some of those connectors require drivers to communicate with the databases.
By default, the following drivers are installed with the client:
- Oracle (OCI)
- Microsoft SQL Server
- PostgreSQL
To get drivers for other connectors that the client supports, go to the Driver Download(Link opens in a new window) page on the Tableau website. Make sure to filter the list on the Windows operating system and use the instructions listed for the latest version of Tableau Desktop.
Install Bridge
Follow the procedure below to install a Bridge client. You do not need a Tableau product key to install or use the client.
Download the installer from the Product Downloads and Release Notes(Link opens in a new window) page on the Tableau website. We recommend downloading the latest version listed on the page to take advantage of the latest security and feature updates.
Run the installer. You can install the client using a shared Windows service account.
When prompted, accept the licence agreement to continue.
(Optional) Customise the installation by clicking Customise. You can change any of the following options:
- Install location: You can specify a different location to install the client.
- Create a desktop shortcut: Untick the box if you don't want to automatically create a desktop shortcut for Bridge.
- Create a Start menu shortcut: Untick the box if you don't want to automatically add a shortcut for Bridge to the Start menu
- Enable error reporting: If Bridge has a problem and closes unexpectedly, crash dump files and logs are generated and sent to Tableau. To turn off this option, clear this check box during installation. You can also turn this option off (or back on) in the client after installation. For more information, see Error reports.
- Install database drivers: Clear the check box if you don't want to automatically install the default database drivers.
Click Install to begin the client installation.
After the client is installed, you can start the client by double-clicking the Bridge shortcut on your desktop or from Tableau Desktop (if it's installed on the same machine as Bridge).
About My Tableau Bridge Repository
As part of the Bridge installation, a folder called My Tableau Bridge Repository is created on the machine where the client is installed. This repository folder contains critical sub-folders, such as Logs and Configuration, that Bridge needs in order to operate properly.
The repository folder is created under the Documents folder: \Users\<user>\Documents\My Tableau Bridge Repository.
Important: We strongly recommend that you do not change the folder that Bridge uses as its repository.
Upgrade Bridge
Staying in sync with the latest version of Bridge ensures that you can take advantage of the latest features and fixes included with each new version of the Bridge client.
To upgrade the client, follow the procedure below.
Important:
If multi-factor authentication (MFA) is enabled with Tableau authentication, Bridge clients must be running Tableau Bridge version 2021.1 and later. For more information about Tableau with MFA, see About multi-factor authentication and Tableau Cloud(Link opens in a new window).
Check out Existing Bridge deployment for information about the latest release.
Log on to the machine where the client is installed.
If you're running the client in Service mode, in the lower-left corner of the client, next to Mode, select Application. Changing to Application mode ensures that the Tableau Bridge service stops completely before the upgrade.
Select Settings > Exit.
Follow the steps listed in the Install Bridge section to install the client and complete the upgrade.
After installation is complete, the client will start as normal. If the client was running in Service mode prior to the upgrade process, switch back to Service mode.
Error reports
You can help improve Bridge by automatically sending error reports to Tableau. Error reports are comprised of crash dump files that are sent to Tableau when the Bridge client has to close unexpectedly (crash). These files are used by Tableau to identify and address issues that can cause the client to close unexpectedly.
Important: Turn off this option if your data is subject to any privacy regulations.
What's in an error report
The encrypted package is made up of the following files: crash/core dump files and manifest files related to the crash.
The files can contain data that include:
Machine-specific information. For example: hardware, operating system, domain, etc.
Snapshot of the memory contents at the time of the crash. For example: which data sources had extracts refreshed, which data sources had live queries, etc.
Information that Bridge was processing at the time of crash, including customer-identifiable information that might be used to correct the error. For example: who is using Bridge with which site, the name of the client that the user is signed in to, etc.
For more information about how Tableau treats sensitive information, see the Tableau privacy policy on the Tableau website.
Configure automatic error reporting
You can configure Bridge to send error reports automatically in one of two places: during the client installation process or after installation directly in the client.
Enable the automatic error reporting option during client installation
During installation, the option to automatically send error reports from the client is selected by default. However, you can remove the selection.
Disable the automatic error reporting option in the client
If you decided to use the default setting during the installation process and decide later on that you don't want to allow error reports to be sent automatically, you can modify the option from the client menu.
Install Bridge from the command line
You can install the Bridge client from command line if you're a local administrator on the machine.
General command line syntax
The syntax for running the Bridge installer from the command line is the following:
tableauBridge<installer_name>.exe /option1 /option2 PROPERTY1 PROPERTY2
A few notes about the syntax:
- The
tableau<installer_name>.exefile is the client installer for the product and version you're installing. - The options specify how the installation process should run. For example, whether it should display output while installing and whether it should create log files.
- The properties settings specify configuration settings that the installer should make during the installation process.
Example installer command
The following example shows an installer command with some options and property settings.
tableauBridge-64bit-2018-2-0.exe /quiet /passive ACCEPTEULA=1 DATABASEDRIVERS=1
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 machine. Do not run the installer from a shared directory on your network. Instead, download the .exe file to a directory on the machine where you want to install the client.
Installer options and properties
You can specify one or more options in the command line for the installer.
Installer options
A couple of notes about the options:
- Each option is prefixed with a slash (/).
- Options must come before properties.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
quiet | Run the installer without messages (status or installation progress) and without requiring user interaction. The client doesn't launch after installation is complete. |
passive | Run the installer and display dialog boxes and installation status. Does not prompt the user for input. The client launches after installation is complete. |
norestart | Suppress any attempts to restart. By default, the installer will prompt you before restart unless you run the installer in quiet mode. |
log "logfile.txt" | Log installation information to the specified path and file. Specify the path and file name, such as /log "c:\logs\logfile.txt". The default log file is the system %TEMP% directory. |
repair | Run the installer to repair an existing installation of Bridge. |
h | Help – lists options and properties for the installer. |
Installer properties
You can also include one or more properties in the command line for the installer.
Some notes about the properties:
- All of these properties can be used for the initial installation of client. They can't be used to update any settings after initial installation.
- Property names are case sensitive.
- There are no spaces on either side of the equal sign.
- Each property set is delimited with a space.
- Properties must go after options.
| Property | Description | Value |
|---|---|---|
ACCEPTEULA | Accept the End User Licence Agreement (EULA). If you don't set this option to 1, Bridge cannot be installed using quiet mode. | 1=Accept 0=Don't accept (default) |
CRASHDUMP | You can set this option to "1" to help improve Bridge by sending error reports to Tableau automatically when the client crashes. For more information, see Error reports. | 1=Yes (default) 0=No |
DATABASEDRIVERS | Install the default set of database drivers that you might connect to from Tableau Bridge. For more information, see Database drivers. To download other database drivers, see the Driver Download(Link opens in a new window) page on the Tableau website. You must distribute other drivers using whatever asset management tools you use for software deployment in your organisation. | 1=Yes (default) 0=No |
DESKTOPSHORTCUT | Create a desktop shortcut. | 1=Yes (default) 0=No |
DRIVERDIR | Specify an installation directory (other than the default) for the database drivers. This option creates the directory and creates an entry in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ registry. The default location for drivers is C:\Program Files\Tableau\Drivers. | A path such as D:\Drivers |
DRIVER_MSSQL | Disable the Microsoft SQL Server driver from installing automatically during Tableau Bridge installation. | 1=Install (default) 0=Don't install |
DRIVER_POSTGRES | Disable the PostgreSQL driver from installing automatically during Tableau Bridge installation. | 1=Install (default) 0=Don't install |
DRIVER_REDSHIFT | Disable the Amazon Redshift driver from installing automatically during Tableau Bridge installation. | 1=Install (default) 0=Don't install |
INSTALLDIR | Specify an installation directory other than the default. If you specify a custom directory for the installation location and plan to install future releases to this same location, you need to specify a version specific sub-folder to install to. Otherwise you will need to uninstall the previous version first. Side-by-side installations of multiple versions in the same sub-directory is not supported. | A path such as D:\Software\Tableau Bridge. |
SKIPAPPLICATIONLAUNCH | You can set this option to ‘1’ to prevent the new application from opening automatically when the installation process is complete. This option applies to manual. This option doesn't apply to quiet installations because Tableau Bridge doesn't open automatically when using that option. | 1=Yes 0=No (default) |
STARTMENUSHORTCUT | Create a Tableau Bridge entry on the Windows Start menu. | 1=Yes (default) 0=No |
Uninstall Bridge
Although it's not necessary to uninstall previous versions of the Bridge client when installing a newer version, you can uninstall Bridge 2018.2 and later if you no longer need it on your machine.
The primary method for uninstalling the client is through the Windows Control Panel.
Alternatively, you can use the following procedure to uninstall Bridge from the command line.
Open the Command Prompt as an administrator.
In the location where the .exe was installed, run the following command:
tableau<installer_name>.exe /uninstall /quiet