Tableau Server on Linux Help

This topic provides all of the steps required to perform a basic, quick-start installation of Tableau Server using the command line. The purpose of the configuration described here is to provide the quickest, simplest path to a Tableau Server installation on a computer running the CentOS 7.3 (and higher) or Ubuntu distribution of Linux. Use this procedure as practice, to try out the Tableau Server installation, management, and user experience before your actual server deployment.

Important: Do not use this procedure as a stand-alone resource for deploying Tableau Server into a production environment. To deploy Tableau Server into a production environment, refer to the content at Install and Configure Tableau Server.

The procedures in this topic will install an instance of Tableau Server for Linux with the following characteristics:

• Operating system: Supported RHEL-like Linux distribution or Ubuntu. (As of July 2022, Tableau no longer supports Debian distributions. For more information, see this Tableau Community post(Link opens in a new window).)
• Identity store: local authentication
• Gateway port: 80
• Tableau Server administrator account: admin

Before you begin

Review the topic, Before you install.... The procedure below assumes that you have installed Linux on conforming hardware and according to the environmental requirements specified in that topic.

Note that the computer you install on must meet the minimum hardware requirements specified in Minimum Hardware Requirements and Recommendations for Tableau Server. The setup program will not install Tableau Server onto systems that do not meet the minimum hardware requirements.

Step 1: Install Tableau Server package and start Tableau Services Manager

Install Tableau Server with your distribution’s package manager, then run a script to initialize Tableau Services Manager (TSM). Tableau Services Manager is a the management toolset used to install, configure, and manage Tableau services.

The initialize script is included with the installed package. For more details, see Install and Initialize TSM.

1. Log on as a user with sudo access to the computer where you want to install Tableau Server.

2. Navigate to the directory where you copied the Tableau Server installation package.

3. Use the package manager to install the Tableau Server package.

   Do not install to a location using a symbolic link or to a directory on a Network File System (NFS) volume.

   • On RHEL-like distributions, including CentOS, run the following commands, where <version> is formatted as major-minor-maintenance (ex: 2019-2-5):

     sudo yum update

     sudo yum install tableau-server-<version>.x86_64.rpm

     Note: When you use yum to install Tableau Server, all dependent packages are automatically downloaded and installed. This is the preferred method for installing Tableau. If your organization does not allow you to use yum and you must install using rpm -i, you must also install all dependent packages separately.

   • On Ubuntu, run the following commands, where <version> is formatted as major-minor-maintenance (ex: 2019-2-5):

     sudo apt-get update
     sudo apt-get upgrade
     sudo apt-get -y install gdebi-core
     sudo gdebi -n tableau-server-<version>_amd64.deb
     

4. Navigate to the scripts directory:

   cd /opt/tableau/tableau_server/packages/scripts.<version_code>/

5. Run the following script to start TSM:

   sudo ./initialize-tsm --accepteula

6. After initialization is complete, close the terminal session:

   exit or logout

Step 2: Activate and register Tableau Server

Before you can configure Tableau Server you must activate a license and register. For more details, see Activate and Register Tableau Server.

1. Open a Bash session and sign in with the same account that you previously used to run initialize-tsm.

2. Activate the Tableau Server license. Run the following command:

   tsm licenses activate -k <license_key>

3. Register Tableau Server. Generate a template that you can edit by running the following command:

   tsm register --template > /path/to/registration_file.json

4. Open a text editing program, fill in the registration file, save it, then pass it with the following command:

   tsm register --file /path/to/registration_file.json

Step 3: Configure local identity store

You must configure the identity store settings. This procedure simplifies installation setting identity store to local authentication. Workbook examples are installed by default. For more details on customizing these defaults, see Configure Initial Node Settings.

• Pass the configuration file with the following command:

  tsm settings import -f /opt/tableau/tableau_server/packages/scripts.<version_code>/config.json

Step 4: Finalize installation

The final steps of installation are to apply changes, initialize and start TSM, and then to create the administration account. More details about these steps are at Configure Initial Node Settings.

1. Apply the configurations you made in the previous steps. Run the following command:

tsm pending-changes apply

2. Initialize and start Tableau Server. Run the following command:

tsm initialize --start-server --request-timeout 1800

3. Create the Tableau Server administrator account. Run the following command:

   tabcmd initialuser --server 'localhost:80' --username 'admin' --password '<password>'

   Where '<password>' is a strong password. Enclose the password and other arguments in single quotes.

Use the admin account that you created to access the Tableau Server admin web pages. See Sign in to the Tableau Server Admin Area.

Step 5: Install PostgreSQL drivers

To validate that Tableau Server is installed and running properly and to review the built-in administrative views, you must install the PostgreSQL driver.

1. Download PostgreSQL drivers from the Driver Download page(Link opens in a new window).

2. Copy the .jar file to this folder (you may have to create it manually): /opt/tableau/tableau_driver/jdbc.

3. Restart TSM:

   tsm restart

4. To validate that the drivers installed, navigate to the Administrative Views in Tableau Server.