The Short Answer
The Salesforce Certified Tableau Server Administrator exam has 50 scored multiple-choice/multiple-select items plus up to five unscored, a 90-minute time limit, a 64% passing score, a US$200 registration fee (US$100 to retake) and no prerequisite. The guide says it is "currently testing on" Tableau Server 2022.3 (checked in November 2026 against the official exam guide).
The exam is about running one Tableau Server machine: planning it, installing it, giving people the right access, keeping it healthy, fixing it and moving it. The biggest section, Administration, is 36% of the outline, so daily operations matter more than installation trivia. The guide expects about six months of hands-on use, and you can't look anything up during the test.
Exam Details at a Glance
| Detail | Tableau Server Administrator |
|---|---|
| Questions | 50 multiple-choice/multiple-select, plus up to five unscored |
| Time limit | 90 minutes |
| Passing score | 64% |
| Registration fee | US$200 (JPY 30,000), plus applicable taxes |
| Retake fee | US$100 (JPY 15,000), plus applicable taxes |
| Prerequisite | None |
| Product version | Currently testing on 2022.3 |
| Delivery | Proctored, at a testing center or online |
| References allowed | No hard-copy or online materials |
| Maintenance | The Tableau certification maintenance badge on Trailhead, once a year |
Source: the exam guide, checked in November 2026.
A 64% score is 32 of the 50 scored items. With up to 55 items in 90 minutes you get roughly a minute and a half each. That's comfortable for short scenario items, so spend the spare time on select-two questions rather than rushing the easy ones. For fees and retake rules across every Salesforce exam, see Salesforce certification cost and retake fees.
Who the Exam Is For
The exam guide describes candidates with "a comprehensive understanding of Tableau Server functionality in a single-machine environment" and typically a minimum of six months applying it in the product. Employees, partners, customers and freelancers who work with Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server are the stated audience.
One naming wrinkle: the credential is titled Salesforce Certified Tableau Server Administrator, but the guide's own Purpose paragraph still says "Tableau Server Associate Exam". If a course or forum thread uses that older wording, it's the same exam.
The single-machine scope is a useful boundary. You'll meet distributed and high-availability ideas in the Preparation outline (process counts, load balancers), but the guide frames the job as one server, so don't over-invest in cluster design.
The Version Caveat
The 2022.3 line deserves attention. Tableau Server's current help describes today's release, and the exam is aligned to an older one. Where a setting, license model or menu has changed since 2022.3, the exam's answer follows the version the guide names.
In practice, that means two habits:
- Read the objective, then check the date. If a help page shows a feature with a "new in" note newer than 2022.3, treat it as outside the exam.
- Know the tools the guide names. Tableau Services Manager (
tsm) andtabcmdappear in the outline. The oldertabadmintool belongs to earlier versions, so it's a distractor, not a destination.
Our practice questions are written to the guide's version and flag current-help differences in the explanation, but your own lab on a 2022.3-era install, if you can get one, beats any reading.
The Five Exam Sections and What They Test
Weights and objective numbers come from the official outline. The question counts are our arithmetic on 50 scored items, so treat them as approximate.
| Section | Weight | About this many questions (of 50) |
|---|---|---|
| Preparation | 20% | 10 |
| Install & Configure | 26% | 13 |
| Administration | 36% | 18 |
| Troubleshooting | 12% | 6 |
| Migration & Upgrade | 6% | 3 |
Preparation (20%)
Topology and sizing: client and server components and how they interact, how to identify the current version and find release notes, minimum hardware, supported operating systems, licensing and its link to site roles, server processes, data source ports and drivers, and network concerns.
Watch for:
- Processes. Objective 1.7 asks for every Tableau Services Manager and Tableau Server process, default counts, multi-instance processes and how they hand work to each other. The processes page is the reference. Learn what each process does, not just its name.
- Extract versus live. Objective 1.8 contrasts file, relational and cube sources and extracts with live connections, then asks why published data sources help. Expect scenario wording about who connects, and from where.
- License versus role. Section 1.6 asks how license types map to site roles. A license caps the roles a user can hold, so read for the ceiling.
Install & Configure (26%)
Installation options (install path, gateway port, silent installs, single-machine best practices), identity stores and sign-on (local versus Active Directory, trusted tickets, SAML, Kerberos, OpenID Connect), SSL, caching, process distribution, email alerts, site and project settings, quotas, adding users, security levels and permissions.
Watch for:
- Identity decisions come first. Objective 2.1.2 puts the identity store and sign-on options in the install section because they shape everything afterward. Know what you can and can't change later.
- Allow, Deny, None. Objective 2.5.2 names the three permission states. The common trap is assuming None grants access or that a project-level setting beats a more specific one. Walk through a user in two groups with conflicting rules.
- Who can add users. Objectives 2.2.4 and 2.3 separate license type, site role, administrator level and publisher level. Match the person doing the task to what their role permits.
Administration (36%)
The largest section and the widest list: data connections, schedules, subscriptions, server analysis, backup and restore, cleanup, user changes, licenses, starting and stopping, tsm and tabcmd, the REST API, log files, embedding, revision history, server status, data-driven alerts, administrative views, performance recordings, nested projects, sites, and the end-user abilities the administrator must understand.
Watch for:
- Pick the right tool. Many questions are a task plus a choice of
tsm,tabcmd, the REST API or a web setting. Learn which one owns which job. - Backup and restore. Objective 3.1.5 is a favorite for step-order and "what does this need" items. Practice the sequence on a test machine, including what happens to services.
- Administrator versus end user. Objective 3.3 asks you to contrast end-user and system-administrator capabilities, and 3.5 lists specific abilities such as publishing, web authoring, sharing and data source certification. Read the role in the scenario before the verbs.
Troubleshooting (12%)
Third-party cookie requirements, resetting passwords for a Tableau user or the Run As service account, packaging log files, validating site resources with tsm, rebuilding the search index, maintenance analysis reports and support requests.
Watch for: items that give a symptom and ask for the first action. The outline names concrete actions, so know the command or page for each.
Migration & Upgrade (6%)
The upgrade process, a clean reinstall and why you'd do one, migrating to different hardware, and backwards compatibility. It's about three questions, but they're cheap to learn once you've done a backup and restore.
A Study Order Built on the Weights
Sections aren't worth equal time, but order matters too: later sections assume earlier vocabulary.
- Preparation (20%). Start here because it supplies the vocabulary: processes, licensing, ports. Draw the request path from browser to Gateway to the processes behind it.
- Install & Configure (26%). Then do identity, permissions and users. If you can, stand up a trial server and add users two ways.
- Administration (36%). Give this the most hours, about a third of your total. Run every
tsmandtabcmdtask in the outline at least once. - Troubleshooting (12%). Easier after Administration, because you now know what normal looks like.
- Migration & Upgrade (6%). Study it last, in a short session, using your backup experience.
Our guide to using the exam outline to plan your study shows how to turn these percentages into hours.
A Six-Week Plan
- Week 1. Read the exam guide, then rate every objective 1 to 3. Try the free questions to see the style.
- Week 2. Preparation and the first half of Install & Configure. Make flash notes for processes and license-to-role mapping.
- Week 3. Finish Install & Configure. Build a permissions matrix for a made-up site with three groups.
- Weeks 4 and 5. Administration, with a lab if possible: schedules, subscriptions, a backup and restore, an administrative view.
- Week 6. Troubleshooting, Migration & Upgrade, then timed practice. Book the exam once you're steadily above 64% and can say why each distractor fails. Our guide to answering Salesforce scenario questions helps with select-two items.
The exam guide's recommended resources are Tableau Product Support, Tableau Product Help, the Tableau Server Admin Guide, and the Trailhead Academy courses Desktop I: Fundamentals and Server Administration.
How It Fits With the Other Tableau Exams
This is an operations exam, not an analytics one. If you build workbooks, start with the Tableau Data Analyst guide. If you advise on design, performance and governance across Server and Cloud, see the Tableau Consultant guide. The Server Administrator exam is the one for the person who keeps the machine running.
Tableau Server Administrator Practice on Certifyforce
Certifyforce isn't affiliated with Salesforce or Tableau, and its practice questions are written from the published outline and Tableau Help, not recalled from the exam.
The Tableau Server Administrator practice exam page collects the exam facts and section weights in one place. The free Tableau Server Administrator questions are available now, with an explanation for every answer, so you can find your weakest section before you commit to a plan.
The full Tableau Server Administrator pack adds the reviewed question bank with timed exams and section practice. Practice exams are US$19, the study guide US$19, or both US$34 on the pricing page. The Tableau Server Administrator study guide is organized around the same five sections as the outline.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many questions are on the Tableau Server Administrator exam?
50 scored multiple-choice/multiple-select items plus up to five unscored ones, in 90 minutes, with a 64% passing score, per the exam guide.
How much does the exam cost?
US$200 (JPY 30,000) plus applicable taxes. A retake costs US$100 (JPY 15,000).
Is there a prerequisite?
No. The guide lists the prerequisite as "None", though it describes candidates with about six months of hands-on experience.
Which Tableau Server version does the exam cover?
The guide says it is currently testing on 2022.3. When current help differs, answer for that version.
Which section should I study most?
Administration, at 36%, is about 18 questions. Install & Configure at 26% is next.
How do I keep the certification?
Complete the Tableau certification maintenance badge on Trailhead once a year. If you miss the due date, the certification expires.