Self-Deploy a Single Tableau Server on Microsoft Azure


This is archived content

Deployments on public clouds continue to be supported but the content for third-party public cloud deployments is no longer updated.

For the latest Tableau Server deployment content, see the Enterprise Deployment Guide(Link opens in a new window) and the Deploy(Link opens in a new window) section of Tableau Server help.

For those customers who have access, we recommend Tableau Cloud. For more details, see:

Introduction

You can install and run Tableau Server on a Microsoft Azure virtual machine (VM). Tableau Server is an online solution for sharing, distributing, and collaborating on content created in Tableau.

Perform the following tasks to install and run Tableau Server on a Microsoft Azure virtual machine (VM):

Step 1: Set up an Azure VM

Create a Microsoft Azure virtual machine (VM) where you'll install Tableau Server.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Azure portal(Link opens in a new window) (https://portal.azure.com).

  2. On the Microsoft Azure dashboard, click New.

  3. Under Azure Marketplace, select Compute, and then on the New blade, click See all.

  4. On the Compute blade, choose Windows Server, and then on the Windows Server blade, choose Windows Server 2016 Datacenter.

  5. On the Windows Server 2016 Datacenter blade, review the information. In the Select a deployment model drop-down list, select Resource Manager, and then click Create.

  6. On the Create virtual machine - Basics blade, specify the following information:

    1. Name: Enter a name for your virtual machine (VM). The name must be 15 or fewer characters.

    2. VM disk type: choose SSD.

    3. User name: Enter your user name. You will use this user name to log in to the VM using Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).

    4. Password: Enter your password. You will use this password to log in to the VM using RDP.

    5. Subscription: The Azure subscription this VM should be associated with.

    6. Resource group: Choose Create new and then enter the name of a new resource group to host the VM’s resources.

    7. Location: The location of the new resource group.

  7. At the bottom of the Basics blade, click OK.

  8. On the Create virtual machine - Choose a size blade, click View all in order to see all available virtual machine sizes.

  9. Select a VM that meets the system requirements for Tableau Server. For example, choose the DS13_V2 size, and then click Select.

  10. In the Create virtual machine - Settings blade, under Network, click Network security group (firewall).

  11. On the Create network security group blade, click Add an inbound rule.

  12. Next, you'll create inbound rules that allow specific types of internet traffic to reach your VM. On the Add inbound security rule blade, in the Service drop-down list box, choose HTTP.

  13. In the Priority box, give the rule a priority, for example, 100. Lower numbers are processed first. For example, a rule priority of 100 will be processed before a rule priority of 110.

  14. In the Name box, enter a name for the inbound rule, for example HTTP Port-80, and then click OK.

  15. Repeat steps 11-14 to create a second rule for the HTTPS service with a priority of 101.

  16. When complete, the Create network security group dialog should include three rules to allow RDP, HTTP, and HTTPS access. Click OK.

  17. On the Create virtual machine - Create blade, under Summary, review your settings and click Create.

    After the VM deployment process is complete and the VM is running, click the your VM’s tile on the Azure Dashboard.

  18. Under Settings, click Disks.

    Note: Your VM was provisioned with only one disk. We recommend adding a second disk and installing Tableau Server on its own disk.

  19. On the Disks blade, under Data disks, click Add data disk. In the Name column, in the No managed disks available drop-down list, choose Create disk.

  20. On the Create managed disk blade, in the Name field, enter a name for the disk.

  21. Set the Size (GiB) field to 128, 512, or 1024, and then click Create.

    Note: Even though the Size field allows any number, Azure will round up the provisioned storage to one of those values as per current three options for Premium Storage disk size. We recommend you select at least 512 GiB, which will provide a minimally acceptable amount of IOPS and throughput.

  22. In the Host Caching column, select None, and then click Save.

Step 2: Connect to your Azure VM

Use Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) from a computer running Microsoft Windows to connect to your Azure VM running Microsoft Windows. If you're connecting from a computer running Linux, you can use rdesktop(Link opens in a new window) to connect to your Azure VM running Microsoft Windows. For more information, see How to connect and log on to an Azure virtual machine running Windows(Link opens in a new window) at the Microsoft Azure website.

  1. On the Azure Dashboard, click your VM's tile, and then click Connect to download and use the RDP file for your VM.

    Note: You can save the RDP file so that you can connect to the VM any time you want.

  2. Double-click the RDP file. If you see a warning that the publisher of the remote connection can't be identified, click Connect.

  3. In the Windows Security dialog box, enter the name and password that you specified when you created the instance earlier, and then click OK.

    Note: If you are already signed in to a Windows domain, the dialog box might offer you options to connect as your domain user. If so, you should enter the credentials under Other User. Under the password field, select your local computer as the domain.

Step 3: Add a second disk to your Azure VM

You must configure the data disk you added before Windows Server will recognize it. You will install Tableau Server on this disk in Self-Deploy a Single Tableau Server on Microsoft Azure.

  1. On your Azure VM running Microsoft Windows, right-click the Start button and choose Run.

  2. Open Disk Management. Type diskmgmt.msc and then press Enter.

  3. In the Initialize Disk dialog box, click OK.

  4. Right-click Disk 2 and choose New Simple Volume.

  5. In the New Simple Volume Wizard, click Next on each screen and accept the default values until you reach the final screen, and then click Finish.

  6. When prompted to format the disk, click Format disk, and then in the Format New Volume dialog box, click Start.

Step 4: Install Tableau Server on your Azure VM

Installing Tableau Server on your Microsoft Azure virtual machine (VM) is similar to installing it on any other server.

Note:

  1. Copy the Tableau Server installation program to the data disk you added to your VM by doing one of the following:

    • Copy the Tableau Server installation program to the data disk you added to your VM by doing one of the following:

      • Download the installer directly. While logged into the VM, open a browser, browse to the Tableau Server download page(Link opens in a new window), and download the 64-bit version of Tableau Server.

        Note: The default enhanced security configuration on Windows Server dictates that Internet Explorer is always set to High for the Internet zone and cannot be changed for that zone. Therefore, as you browse to public sites using Internet Explorer, you must add those sites to the list of trusted sites.

      • Copy the installer to the VM. If you already have a copy of the Tableau Server installer on your computer, copy it to the disk you added to your VM. Create a folder on the VM where you want to put the installer. From your computer, upload the Tableau Server installer file (for example, TableauServer-64bit-10.5.exe) to the VM.

    • Copy the installer to the VM. If you already have a copy of the Tableau Server installer on your computer, copy it to the VM. Create a folder on the VM where you want to put the installer. From your computer, upload the Tableau Server installer file (for example, TableauServer-64bit-10.5.exe) to the VM.

  2. Run the Tableau Server installer on the VM to start the server installation process. The installation process works the same as it does on any other server. For more information, see Install and Configure Tableau Server.

Step 5: Access your Azure VM from a remote browser

Make sure that users can access the Azure virtual machine (VM) where you've installed Tableau Server.

  1. In the Microsoft Azure portal, navigate to the Overview page of your VM. Note the Public IP address associated with the VM.

  2. (optional) To give your VM a public hostname, click the Public IP address.

  3. On another computer (not on the VM), open a browser.

  4. In the browser, type the IP address or DNS name of the Tableau Server you installed on the VM.

    Examples:

    http://13.64.47.61 or http://tableauonazure.westus.cloudapp.azure.com

  5. If you cannot connect to the instance, see Troubleshooting Tableau Server on Microsoft Azure.

Step 6: Publish data to Tableau Server on your Azure VM

After you set up Tableau Server on your Microsoft Azure virtual machine (VM), users in your organization can publish workbooks and data sources to Tableau Server on the VM. The process works the same way that it does if Tableau Server is installed on premises, except that users must sign in to the server running on the VM.

Before you allow users to publish, make sure that each user has been created with the Publisher site role in Tableau Server and that the users have Publisher permissions. For more information, see Add Users to Tableau Server.

To publish workbooks and data sources to Tableau Server, users must sign in to the server using the IP address (or optional DNS hostname) that you created for your VM (e.g., http://13.64.47.61 or http://tableauonazure.westus.cloudapp.azure.com) and use their assigned user name and password. For more information, see How to Publish Workbooks to a Tableau Server(Link opens in a new window) in the Tableau documentation.

Step 7: Manage Tableau Server licenses when shutting down or deleting your Microsoft Azure VM

Ensure that your Microsoft Azure virtual machine (VM) uses a static MAC address or static VM ID. If your Microsoft Azure VM isn't using a static MAC address or static VM ID, you must deactivate your Tableau Server license prior to stopping the instance. Otherwise your Tableau Server can become unlicensed when you shut down your Microsoft Azure VM, which requires you to reactivate your license when you restart the VM. In addition, when you stop your VM using the Azure portal, resources are deallocated and you stop accruing charges, except for storage. However, if you stop your VM by shutting down the operating system, resources are not deallocated by Azure and you will continue to accrue charges.

Deleting a VM deallocates all of its resources, including external storage. You might delete your VM when you no longer need it. Always deactivate your Tableau Server license before you shut down and delete your VM.

Before you delete your VM, do the following:

  1. Sign in to your VM.

  2. Create a backup of Tableau Server, and then copy the .tsbak file to another location that will be accessible after the VM is no longer available. For more information, see Perform a Full Backup and Restore of Tableau Server.

  3. Use the tsm licenses deactivate(Link opens in a new window) command to deactivate your Tableau Server product key. You can now shut down and delete your VM.

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