Index and Search Server

The Tableau Server Index and Search Server process, based on OpenSearch, handles fast search, filter, retrieval, and display of content metadata on your Tableau Server site. Beginning with Tableau Server version 2023.3, Index and Search Server completely replaces the Search and Browse process.

Server Configuration

The Index and Search Server is automatically installed on the initial node.

Multi-Node Configuration

To configure Index and Search Server for high availability, configure the process on multiple nodes. We recommend you configure an odd number of Index and Search Server instances. On Tableau Server Clusters that have 3 or more nodes, you should configure Index and Search Server on at least three different nodes.

Process

Index and Search Server

Status Status of the Index and Search Server is visible on the Status Page and can be accessed using the TSM CLI to view. For more information, see View Server Process Status
Logging Logs generated by the Index and Search Server are located in /var/opt/tableau/tableau_server/data/tabsvc/logs/indexandsearchserver. For more information, see Tableau Server Logs and Log File Locations

What happens when the Index and Search Server fails?

If Index and Search Server fails, users can still sign in to Tableau Server, however the different content types (workbooks, projects, data sources, and views for example) will not appear in the Home page, the search bar or the Explore page. Existing workbooks and Views should still be accessible and fully functional if accessed from a bookmarked url. The content is not actually missing. Rather, the content is not being returned in the search results; it will be displayed again after the Index and Search Server restarts. A failed Index and Search Server is automatically restarted; as long as the computer itself is otherwise healthy, the service will relaunch.

If more than one Index and Search Server is configured and running on multiple nodes when the failure occurs, requests made to a failed Index and Search Server will also fail, but subsequent requests will be routed to working Index and Search Server instances. Each Index and Search Server instance indexes across all nodes in the cluster, therefore as long as one Index and Search Server instance is running, results will still be returned across all nodes.

Performance Tuning

The Index and Search Server heap size can be configured by using the tsm set configuration command with the indexandsearchserver.vmopts option. For more information, see indexandsearchserver.vmopts

Re-indexing

During restore, the restore process will initiate a full re-indexing of the content and external assets managed by Tableau Server. The re-indexing process consumes CPU resources which may be noticeable during backup and restore.

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