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 synchronize 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 displays 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.