Uninstall Tableau Server

Do not uninstall Tableau before upgrading. For details on upgrading, see Upgrading from 2018.1 and Later (Linux).

You can have multiple versions of Tableau Server installed at the same time. This allows you to run most of an upgrade while an existing version is running, and reduces downtime and impact to users. Once you have upgraded, you can uninstall your previous version. Doing this frees up disk space. You do not have to uninstall the previous version.

This article explains how to uninstall previous versions, after you've upgraded to a newer version.

Uninstalling and completely removing Tableau Server

There are two primary "uninstall" scenarios that Tableau Server on Linux supports:

Uninstall Tableau Server: After you upgrade to a new version of Tableau Server you can uninstall your previous version to free up disk space. Continue reading for information about uninstalling Tableau.
Remove Tableau Server: If you want to complete remove Tableau Server from a computer, you can use a script provided by Tableau to remove Tableau Server and all related files. This removes all data as well as server components, so should only be done if you know you want to reset the computer to a pre-Tableau state. You might need to do this if Technical Support recommends this step when troubleshooting an installation problem. We recommend you create a backup of your data before removing Tableau. Save the backup file to a safe location on a computer that is not part of your Tableau installation. Completely remove Tableau Server without uninstalling any version first. The script will uninstall all existing versions found on the computer. If you have already uninstalled your existing version and now want to completely remove Tableau, you can find the script to do so in a temporary location. For more details, see Remove Tableau Server from Your Computer.

Uninstall a Tableau Server package

Use this procedure to free up disk space by uninstalling packages for previous Tableau Server versions after you have upgraded to a newer version of Tableau Server.

Look at the environment.bash file to confirm which version of Tableau Server is currently in use. At a command prompt, type:
```
grep TABLEAU_SERVER_DATA_DIR_VERSION /etc/opt/tableau/tableau_server/environment.bash
```
Determine which versions of the Tableau Server package are installed on your computer.
- On RHEL-like distributions, including CentOS, run the following command:
```
yum list installed tableau-server"*"
```
- On Ubuntu, run the following command:
```
apt list --installed tableau-server"*"
```
Remove the Tableau Server package with your package manager.
- On RHEL-like distributions, including CentOS, run the following command:
```
sudo yum remove tableau-server-<version>.x86_64
```
- On Ubuntu, run the following commands:
```
sudo apt-get purge tableau-server-<version>
```

Reinstall a Tableau Server package that was accidentally uninstalled

Do not uninstall the package for your currently running version of Tableau Server. Doing so will make the server unusable. To completely remove Tableau Server and all its files, see Remove Tableau Server from Your Computer.

When you uninstall the Tableau Server package for the current instance of Tableau Server the following operations run:

All files under /opt/tableau/tableau_server are removed. These files are the unmodified installation files.
Tableau Server services are stopped and disabled
Service files for all Tableau Server services are persisted
Data files are left in place

If you accidentally uninstall the package for your currently running version of Tableau Server, follow this procedure to correct the situation.

To reinstall after uninstalling the running instance of Tableau Server:

Reinstall the package for the version you accidentally uninstalled.
Run initialize-tsm.

Tableau Server on Linux Help