Install Tableau Server with Independent Gateway

Applies to: Tableau Advanced Management

This topic walks you through the process of installing Tableau Server Independent Gateway.

Following this process will result in a Independent Gateway configuration with a direct connection to the backend Tableau Sever deployment. You can learn more about direct vs relay connection modes in the topic, Configure Tableau Server with Independent Gateway.

Prerequisites

  • You must have a dedicated server with at least 2 cores (4 vCPUs), 8 GB of RAM, and 100 GB free disk space.
  • You must use Tableau Server 2022.1 or later.
  • You must use an installer for Tableau Server Independent Gateway with a major version (2022.1 for example) that matches the version of Tableau Server. We recommend maintenance versions (2022.1.1 or 2022.1.5 for example) match as well, but this is not a requirement. If "static assets" change between versions and versions do not match, you may see some unexpected image impact. For example, maps may not be up-to-date if Independent Gateway is an earlier version than Tableau Server.
  • You must have a valid Advanced Management license activated in Tableau Server. To learn more about Advanced Management, see About Tableau Advanced Management on Tableau Server.
  • By default, the Independent Gateway must be able to communicate with the backend Tableau Server deployment on ports 80 and 21319 during installation. You can change these default ports during initialization as described later in this topic.
  • Verify that your Tableau Server deployment is complete and healthy before installing and configuring Independent Gateway.
  • Verify that you are not running any other web-aware applications on the computer where you are installing Independent Gateway. For example if Apache httpd is installed on the computer, uninstall it, or configure httpd so that it is not actively listening on port 80.

Install Tableau Server and Independent Gateway

Installing Independent Gateway is done using a standalone installation program that includes "tsig" as part of the file name to distinguish it from the full Tableau Server installer. We strongly recommend you install Independent Gateway after installing Tableau Server and confirming that it is functioning as expected. To install you must have administrator rights. You can install one or more instances of Independent Gateway, but each instance of Independent Gateway must be installed separately. If you are installing multiple instances for high availability or to distribute a heavy client load, repeat the installation steps for each instance.

During installation, a script called initialize-tsig.bat is run. The script prompts you for information needed to configure Independent Gateway. Once Independent Gateway is fully installed, you need to run a TSM command on the Tableau Server initial node to configure the server with details about the instance of Independent Gateway.

The IG installation consists of these steps:

  • Run the platform-specific installer.

  • Run the post-install script. This is done automatically by the Setup program.

  • Enable the Independent Gateway instance using TSM.

Step 1: Download and install Tableau Server

  1. Install TSM: Follow the instructions provided in this topic and complete steps 1-5 which runs the setup program and installs TSM.

  2. Activate and Register Tableau Server: Provide the Tableau Server Key and the Advanced Management key in the activate step. You will need to run the following command twice, first with the Tableau Server product key and then with the Advanced Management product key:

    tsm licenses activate -k <product key>

  3. Configure Initial Node Settings: Follow the instructions provided in the topic to configure the initial node settings.

Step 2: Download and install Independent Gateway

After you download the Tableau Server Independent Gateway installation file, follow the instructions below to install Independent Gateway.

  1. On the computer where you are installing Independent Gateway, sign in as a user with administrator access and double-click the downloaded installation file.

  2. On the first screen you must accept the licensing agreement before continuing on.

  3. After accepting the licensing agreement, you can take one of two actions:

    • Install Independent Gateway by clicking Install
      or

    • Change the install location by clicking Customize and then install Independent Gateway:

      By default Independent Gateway is installed to C:\Program Files\Tableau\Tableau Server\independentgateway. You can choose a non-default location, including a different drive, either by browsing to or typing in a new path.

      Once you have specified the install location, click Install to install the Independent Gateway to this location.

  4. The Setup program installs Independent Gateway and automatically runs the initialize-tsig.bat script.

    In a command window opened by the installer you are prompted for values that are used for configuring Independent Gateway:

    • TSIG_TS_CLUSTER—Required. There is no default value. You must enter a value when prompted.

      This should be the internet address or addresses of every node in the Tableau Server cluster. Wild cards can be used and subnet masks can be used to specify multiple nodes. To specify multiple addresses, separate addresses by spaces. Values must be provided in one of the forms acceptable to Apache httpd mod_authz_host "Require" directive. For more information, see https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/mod_authz_host.html(Link opens in a new window).

    • TSIG_HK_PORT—Default is 21319. This is the port used for incoming housekeeping requests from Tableau Server.
    • TSIG_HK_PROTOCOL—Default is http. Valid values are http and https. This is the protocol used for housekeeping requests from Tableau Server.
    • TSIG_PORT—Default is 80. The port used for external requests.
    • TSIG_PROTOCOL— Default is http. Valid values are http and https. This is the protocol used for external requests.
    • TSIG_INSTANCE_ID—Default is the machine name. A unique identifier for the instance of the Independent Gateway.

  5. Setup finishes when the script is done running and Independent Gateway is initialized.

Step 3: Enable Independent Gateway in Tableau Server

The last step of installing and configuring Independent Gateway is to enable Independent Gateway in Tableau Server. To do this, use the TSM command tsm topology external-services gateway enable -c <file> with a JSON file that identifies the Independent Gateway instance or instances, and provides Tableau Server with the details necessary for communication between the server and the Independent Gateway.

Tableau Server must be in a stopped state to enable Independent Gateway.

The Independent Gateway JSON file contents

The JSON file that you use to enable the instances of Independent Gateway on Tableau Server needs to contain the following:

  • id—The id value must match the TSIG_INSTANCE_ID for the particular instance. If you did not provide this during initialization, the default is the machine name (%COMPUTERNAME%) of the Independent Gateway computer. The value in the json file must match the output of the hostname command.
  • host—The host must be a DNS-resolvable name of the Independent Gateway computer.
  • port—The port must match the TSIG_HK_PORT value specified on the Independent Gateway instance. If you did not provide this during initialization, the default is "21319".
  • protocol—The protocol must match the TSIG_HK_PROTOCOL specified on the Independent Gateway instance. If you did not provide this during initialization, the default is "http".
  • authsecret—The auth secret must match the secret created by the initialization script on the Independent Gateway instance.

The Independent Gateway auth secret

The initialization script creates a unique, shared secret on each Independent Gateway computer. You need this secret to enable Independent Gateway in Tableau Server. Copy the secret and include it in your JSON file as the "authsecret".

The shared secret is located in the tsighk-auth.conf file here:

C:\ProgramData\Tableau\Tableau Server\independentgateway\config\tsighk-auth.conf

Independent Gateway JSON file example

The JSON file should be in the format below. This example JSON file shows default values where there are defaults. Your file should have use the actual values that match your installation of Independent Gateway and your organization. 

{
 "independentGateways": [
  {
    "id": "<IGCOMPUTER>",
    "host": "<DNS name of Independent Gateway computer>",
    "port": "21319",
    "protocol": "http",
    "authsecret": "<shared-secret01>"
  },
  {
    "id": "<IGCOMPUTER2>",
    "host": "<DNS name of second Independent Gateway computer>",
    "port": "21319",
    "protocol": "http",
    "authsecret": "<shared-secret02>"
  }
 ]
}

Enabling Independent Gateway in Tableau Server

To complete the installation of Independent Gateway , you need to enable it using TSM.

  1. Copy the JSON configuration file to the initial node of Tableau Server.
  2. On the initial node, open a command prompt as an administrator.

  3. Run the following commands to stop Tableau Server, enable Independent Gateway using the json configuration file, and restart the server:

    tsm stop
tsm topology external-services gateway enable -c tsig.json
tsm start

Step 4: Verify Independent Gateway in Tableau Server

You should be able to navigate to the Tableau Server sign-in page by entering the address of the Independent Gateway in a browser.

If there is a firewall between the Independent Gateway and the backend Tableau Server deployment, then you will need to open the ports for the Tableau Server processes for direct connection. See Direct connection for more information.

Alternatively, you may choose to minimize port requirements by configuring Independent Gateway for a relay connection. See Relay connection for more information.

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