Tableau Server on Windows Help

Generate the node bootstrap file

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, and in the Add a Node box, click Download Bootstrap File.

   

   The bootstrap file is created and copied to your local computer.

   Embedded credentials are included in the bootstrap file by default. If you don't want credentials embedded in the bootstrap file, clear the Include temporary credentials in file option. If you want to completely disable the ability to include embedded credentials in node bootstrap files, you can set a configuration option for the server. See features.PasswordlessBootstrapInit for more details.

Install and initialise an additional node

Before you begin, verify that your node bootstrap file is recent. For example, if you have run tsm security regenerate-internal-tokens after you generated a bootstrap file, then initialisation will fail.

1. Copy the original installer you used on the first computer along with the bootstrap file you generated and put them in a location accessible from the new computer you are adding Tableau Server to. This could be a mounted network share, or directly on the new computer.

2. If you are running a local firewall, then you need to configure firewall rules for all the nodes in the cluster. For more information, see Local firewall configuration.

3. On the new node, run the Tableau Server Setup program. This should be the same installer program you ran on the initial node to install Tableau Server. Accept the terms of the licence agreement and click Next.

4. The Install location must be the same on every node in the cluster.

   Enter the Installation location, or click Browse to navigate to the Installation location. Click Next to continue.

   

5. During installation you will be asked to select an installation type.

   Select Add additional node to existing Tableau Server cluster and click Next to continue.

   

6. The Use ATR for product activation option which was set for Node 1 will automatically be selected:

   

   Click Install to continue.

   If you are prompted by Windows Defender Firewall, click Allow access. You may need to do this multiple times for the installation to complete.

7. In the installer, after the Tableau Server files are copied, you will be prompted to provide the bootstrap file and the name and password of the TSM administrator:

   

   Enter the location of the bootstrap file, or click Browse to navigate to the location. If the bootstrap file does not include embedded credentials, or those credentials have expired, enter the TSM administrator username and password. These credentials must be the credentials of the user that you used during the installation process on the initial node.

   Click Next to continue.

8. A browser window opens and you are prompted to sign in to TSM. Enter the TSM administrator user name and password.

   If no browser window opens automatically, open a window and navigate to TSM:

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

9. In TSM, click Configuration.

   A message displays, telling you the node was added:

   

10. Click Continue.

Configure the additional node with Cluster Controller

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. A message should tell you that the new node was added.

   

   Click Continue to dismiss the message.

3. Cluster Controller is part of the minimum topology and is already selected. Each node must run Cluster Controller.

   If you only want to set the minimum topology for the node, go to Step 4 below. You might do this if you will be adding additional nodes and are not ready to configure this node beyond the minimum.

   If you want to add additional processes to the minimum topology, specify the processes that should run on the node. Do this by selecting the processes you want, or specifying the number of processes that should run on the node.

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

   1. Select Gateway.

   2. Set the Backgrounder count to 2.

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

   The specific processes and process counts you set will depend on your organisational environment and needs. Some processes are added automatically when you add another process. For more information, see Configure Nodes and Tableau Server Processes.

   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.

4. Click Pending Changes at the top of the page:

   

   If you are configuring a cluster with three or more nodes, a Coordination Service ensemble warning displays. You can continue. You will deploy a Coordination Service ensemble in a separate step.

5. Click Apply Changes and Restart and Confirm to confirm a restart of Tableau Server.

   After Tableau Server restarts, the node is included with the minimum topology necessary and any additional processes you configured.

Note: This method of installation from the command line requires you to set Windows environment variables on each additional node for the username and password of an administrator on the initial node. For an alternate method of automating Tableau Server installation without including unencrypted credentials, see Automated Installation of Tableau Server.

Generate the node bootstrap file

To install Tableau Server on additional computers you use the same installer you did for the initial node, along with a "bootstrap" file you generate on the initial node.

1. After installing Tableau Server on the initial node, generate the node bootstrap file.

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

3. Type this command to generate the bootstrap file:

   tsm topology nodes get-bootstrap-file --file <path\file>.json

   Embedded credentials are included in the bootstrap file by default. If you don't want the bootstrap file to include credentials, use the -nec or --no-embedded-credentials option:

   tsm topology nodes get-bootstrap-file --file <path\file>.json --no-embedded-credentials.

   If you want to completely disable the ability to include embedded credentials in node bootstrap files, you can set a configuration option for the server. See features.PasswordlessBootstrapInit for more details.

Install and initialise an additional node

1. Copy the original installer you used on the first computer along with the bootstrap file you generated and put them in a location accessible from the new computer you are adding Tableau Server to. This could be a mounted network share, or directly on the new computer.

2. If you are running a local firewall, then you need to configure firewall rules for all the nodes in the cluster. For more information, see Local firewall configuration.

3. On the new node, run the Tableau Server Setup program. This should be the same installer program you ran on the initial node to install Tableau Server.

   TableauServer-64bit-<version>.exe /silent /accepteula /embeddedcredential /bootstrapfile="path\bootstrapfile"

   For more information about switches you can use with the Setup program, see Install Switches and Properties for Tableau Server.

Configure the additional node

Note: This basic example illustrates how to set the topology on a node. For a more detailed, working multi-node example, see Example: Install and Configure a Three-Node HA Cluster.

On the initial (original) node, set the topology for the newly added node. The topology specifies which processes should run on the node, and how many instances of each process should run. The topology for the node will depend on your environment and organisational needs. The below are just examples of setting the topology.

1. On the initial (original) node, open a command prompt. 

2. Get the node-id for the new node:

   tsm topology list-nodes -v

   The -v option lists the nodes and the processes they are currently running. You can identify the newly added node because it will not have any processes on it.

3. Specify the individual processes that should run on this node.

   Do this with the following command:

   tsm topology set-process -n <nodeID> -pr <processname> -c <n>

   You must add an instance of the Cluster Controller to each node.

   For example, to add the Cluster Controller, two instances of the Backgrounder, and a Gateway to node2:

   tsm topology set-process -n node2 -pr clustercontroller -c 1
   tsm topology set-process -n node2 -pr backgrounder -c 2
   tsm topology set-process -n node2 -pr gateway -c 1

   The specific processes and process counts you set will depend on your organisational environment and needs. Some processes are added automatically when you add another process. For more information, see Configure Nodes and Tableau Server Processes.

4. Apply the node configuration. If the pending changes require a server restart, the pending-changes apply command will display a prompt to let you know a restart will occur. This prompt displays even if the server is stopped, but in that case, there is no restart. You can suppress the prompt using the --ignore-prompt option, but this does not change the restart behaviour. If the changes do not require a restart, the changes are applied without a prompt. For more information, see tsm pending-changes apply.

   tsm pending-changes apply

   A warning about deploying a Coordination Service ensemble displays if you have deployed a three- or five-node cluster. If this is the only warning, you can safely override it using the --ignore-warnings option to apply the configuration changes in spite of the warning.

   tsm pending-changes apply --ignore-warnings