Tableau Server Gateway Process
The Tableau Server gateway process is an Apache web server component (httpd.exe). Its role is to handle requests to the server
from all clients—Tableau Desktop, mobile devices, a proxy, a load balancer, etc.
The server runs a single instance of the gateway process; you can't run more than one per machine. The gateway process is required on any node with an instance of VizQL Server or Vizportal.
| Process | Gateway |
| Status | Status of the |
| Logging | Logs generated by the gateway process are located in |
Port assignment
By default, the gateway process listens for requests on port 80 (for HTTP requests) and 443 (for SSL requests). When you install Tableau Server on a computer, part of the server configuration makes sure that this port is open in the computer's firewall. If the computer is running a different process that requires port 80 for HTTP, you can change the port assignment for the gateway process during installation. (You cannot change the SSL/HTTPS port.)
If you need to set the HTTP port after installation, then run the following TSM command, where node is the node number (for example, node1) and nn is the new port number:
tsm topology set-ports --node-name node --port-name gateway:primary --port-value nn
If you are running Tableau Server with a reverse proxy server, you will need to configure other port and host-related settings on Tableau Server. See Configuring Proxies and Load Balancers for Tableau Server.
Log files for the gateway process
The gateway process creates two sets of log files:
-
Activity logs. The name for these log files has the format
access.yy_mm_dd_hh_mm_ss.log. -
Error logs. All errors are logged in a single file named
error.log.
For more information, see Log File Snapshots (Archive Logs).
Gateway processes in a cluster
If your server environment is distributed across multiple machines, you can run a single gateway process on each node of the cluster. The most common scenario for running a gateway process on multiple computers in the cluster is that you have a load balancer in front of the cluster. In this scenario, the load balancer distributes requests to any gateway in the cluster. If you need to take a node off line (for example, to perform maintenance on that node), you can disable the load balancer's routing to that machine. When the maintenance is complete, you can re-enable the node on the load balancer.
You must have a gateway process running on at least one computer in the cluster. If you remove the gateway process from the primary server, you must make sure that another computer in the cluster is running the gateway process. You must also make sure that that computer is reachable by clients.
An instance of the gateway process is required on any node that is configured for one of these processes or services: VizQL Server, Vizportal, or Tableau Prep Flow Authoring.
If the Tableau Server is configured to use SSL, you must make sure that the certificate for SSL support is in the same location on each computer in the cluster that has the gateway process running. For more information about using SSL, see Configure SSL for External HTTP Traffic to and from Tableau Server.
Similarly, if the server installation uses a custom logo, the logo must be in the same location on every computer that is running the gateway process.
If you need to change the port number that the gateway process listens on, as explained earlier, you can use the configuration dialog box or run the following command for each worker computer that is running the gateway process:
tsm topology set-ports --node-name node --port-name gateway:primary --port-value nn