Configure Nodes


Use the Tableau Services Manager (TSM) Web UI or CLI commands to configure the topology of a node. The initial node is configured with a default that includes all the processes used by TSM and Tableau Server. When you add additional nodes you need to specify which processes will run on those nodes, and how many instances of those processes will run. You may also want to change the topology of the initial node, either adding instances of existing processes, or moving some of those processes to your additional nodes (this is common when setting up a distributed installation of Tableau Server).

Note: You cannot remove the File Store or Repository (pgsql) if this is the only instance of that process in your cluster. You must have at least one instance of each of the processes in your Tableau Server installation, and you must add the second instance and allow it to synchronise with the first before you remove the process on the original node. For more information see Move the Repository Process and Move the File Store Process.

Note: If you have Tableau Resource Monitoring Tool Agent installed on this node, you will need to update the Resource Monitoring Tool Master Server to reflect the changes you make to a Tableau Server node. Changes include adding or removing processes, or changing the number of processes on a node. For more information, see Tableau Server Topology Changes.

In most cases, you can make multiple changes to your server configuration. Exceptions are if you are moving or removing a File Store instance or the Repository.

To configure your Tableau Server nodes using the TSM web interface, do the following:

  1. Open TSM in a browser:

    https://<tsm-computer-name>:8850

    For more information, see Sign in to Tableau Services Manager Web UI.

  2. Click the Configuration tab.

    Your next steps depend on the configuration changes you want to make.

    • Add processes – Add processes to a node by specifying the number of instances you want on the node, or selecting the box for the process.

      For example, to add four instances of the Backgrounder and a Gateway to a node:

      1. Select the Gateway box:

      2. Set the Backgrounder count to 4:

        Adding Backgrounder to a node will also add an instance of Data Engine if one is not already on the node.

        Note: The TSM Web UI limits you to a maximum of 8 instances of processes that allow you to select the number of instances. To configure more instances than this, use the command line and the TSM topology set-process command. For more information, see tsm topology set-process.

    • Change process count – Change the number of processes on a node by specifying the new number, or selecting the box for the process.

    • Remove a process completely –Remove all instances of a process from a node by clearing the box for the process, or setting the count to 0 (zero).

    In most cases you move a process from one node to another by setting the process instance count on the first node to 0 (zero), and setting the count to a non-zero value on the second node.

    If you are attempting to make a configuration that is not allowed (if, for example, you try to remove a File Store that has not been decommissioned), a message is displayed to let you know this.

  3. Click Pending Changes at the top right, and Apply Changes and Restart to commit the changes and restart Tableau Server.

To configure nodes, run commands from the initial node and use the node ID to specify which node you are configuring. To determine the node ID, use the tsm topology list-nodes command. Use the tsm topology set-process command to add, update or remove a process on a node. You need to specify the node you are configuring, the process you are adding, updating, or removing, and the number of instances of the process. After setting the topology for a node you need to apply the changes to Tableau Server.

Apply changes using the tsm pending-changes apply command. After the changes are applied, Tableau Server is returned to the state it was in before the command was run. This means that if it was running, it will be restarted, and if it was stopped it will remain stopped after pending changes have been applied. In most cases, if Tableau Server is running when you apply pending changes, the server is stopped so that changes can be applied, and then restarted. The exception is if you are changing the number of instances of Backgrounder,  or VizQL Server on an existing node. With changes to those processes on an existing node, Tableau Server does not have to be stopped if it is running.

You need the node ID for a node in order to configure the node. To determine the node ID, use this command:

tsm topology list-nodes -v

Note: Examples here show some process names. For a complete list, see Tableau Server Processes.

Adding processes to a node

Use the tsm topology set-process command to add a process to a node. You need to specify the node you are configuring, the process you are adding, and the number of instances of the process.

  1. On the initial node, open a command prompt as administrator.

  2. Find the node ID for the node you are changing:

    tsm topology list-nodes -v

  3. Add processes on the node by specifying the process and the number of instances.

    For example, this command adds two instances of backgrounder to node1:

    tsm topology set-process -n node1 -pr backgrounder -c 2

  4. Apply the changes:

    tsm pending-changes apply

Changing the number of processes on a node

Change the number of processes on a node by specifying an already configured process and providing a new value for the number of instances.

  1. On the initial node, open a command prompt as administrator.

  2. Find the node ID for the node you are changing:

    tsm topology list-nodes -v

  3. Change the number of processes on the node by specifying an already configured process and providing a new value for the number of instances.

    For example, on a node (node1) that is already running backgrounder, this command changes the number of instances to four:

    tsm topology set-process -n node1 -pr backgrounder -c 4

  4. Apply the changes:

    tsm pending-changes apply

Removing all instances of a process from a node

  1. On the initial node, open a command prompt as administrator.

  2. Find the node ID for the node you are changing:

    tsm topology list-nodes -v

  3. Remove a process from a node by specifying a count of 0 instances for that process on the node.

    For example, this command removes the backgrounder process from node1:

    tsm topology set-process -n node1 -pr backgrounder -c 0

  4. Apply the changes:

    tsm pending-changes apply

Moving all instances of a process from one node to another node

In most cases you move a process from one node to another by setting the process instance count on the first node to zero, and setting the count to a non-zero value on the second node.

  1. On the initial node, open a command prompt as administrator.

  2. Find the node ID for the node you are changing:

    tsm topology list-nodes -v

  3. Move a process from one node to another node by specifying a count of 0 instances for that process on the first node and specifying a count of 1 or greater to the second node.

    For example, these commands remove Backgrounder from node1 and add two instances of it to node2:

    tsm topology set-process -n node1 -pr backgrounder -c 0

    tsm topology set-process -n node2 -pr backgrounder -c 2

  4. Apply the changes:

    tsm pending-changes apply

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