# Admin Insights, admin views and repository data sources

*Tableau Consultant Study Guide · Establish Governance and Support Published Content · Last updated November 3, 2026 · https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/tableau-consultant/establish-governance-and-support-published-content/admin-insights-admin-views-and-repository-data-sources*

Choose between built-in admin views, the Admin Insights data sources on Tableau Cloud and the Tableau Server repository, enable and query the repository with the right built-in user, and control how much history each source keeps.

- Certification: Salesforce Tableau Consultant
- Exam section: Establish Governance and Support Published Content
- Study guide: https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/tableau-consultant

**Official exam objective:**

> Recommend the appropriate administrative views and data sources for a given scenario.

## What the exam expects

- Recommend a built-in admin view, an Admin Insights data source or the Tableau Server repository, given the platform and the question to answer.
- Match a Tableau Cloud monitoring question to the Admin Insights data source or Starter dashboard that holds its data.
- Enable repository access on Tableau Server, connect from Tableau Desktop, and choose between the tableau and readonly users.
- Control how much event history the repository keeps, and what that costs.
- Find data quality warning history in an admin view and in the repository.

Key terms:
- **Admin Insights:** a Tableau Cloud-only project of curated data sources and the Admin Insights Starter workbook.
- **Repository:** the PostgreSQL database (workgroup) where Tableau Server stores user interactions, extract refreshes and more.
- **Custom administrative view:** a view you build yourself from repository or Admin Insights data.
- **hist_ tables:** repository tables holding historical events, kept for a configurable number of days.

## Key facts

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Admin Insights platform | Tableau Cloud-only project | [Use Admin Insights to Create Custom Views](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/adminview_insights.htm) |
| Admin Insights refresh | Daily or weekly, set in Settings, General | [Manage Admin Insights](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/adminview_insights_manage.htm) |
| Moved Admin Insights project | Updates stop; delete it and a new one appears the next day | [Manage Admin Insights](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/adminview_insights_manage.htm) |
| Removed user in TS Users | Gone within 36 hours; unlicensed users stay | [TS Users Data Source](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/adminview_insights_users.htm) |
| Repository type | PostgreSQL database named workgroup | [Collect Data with the Tableau Server Repository](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/perf_collect_server_repo.htm) |
| Enabling access | tsm data-access repository-access enable, restarts Tableau Server | [Collect Data with the Tableau Server Repository](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/perf_collect_server_repo.htm) |
| Modifying the repository | Can break Server; installation becomes unsupportable | [Collect Data with the Tableau Server Repository](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/perf_collect_server_repo.htm) |
| auditing.enabled | On by default; history grows the .tsbak | [Create Custom Administrative Views](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/adminview_postgres.htm) |
| hist_ retention | wgserver.audit_history_expiration_days, default 183 | [Create Custom Administrative Views](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/adminview_postgres.htm) |
| _background_tasks retention | Last 30 days, cleaned automatically | [Create Custom Administrative Views](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/adminview_postgres.htm) |
| Data Quality Warning History | Needs Tableau Catalog; on Site Status | [Data Quality Warning History](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/dm_adminview_dqw.htm) |

## Check yourself

- When is a user's row removed from the TS Users data source?
- Why should the Admin Insights data sources stay inside the Admin Insights project?
- When does the _background_tasks table lose its rows?
- What does disabling repository access with TSM leave open?

## Sources

- [Use Admin Insights to Create Custom Views](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/adminview_insights.htm)
- [Manage Admin Insights](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/adminview_insights_manage.htm)
- [Create Custom Administrative Views](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/adminview_postgres.htm)
- [Collect Data with the Tableau Server Repository](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/perf_collect_server_repo.htm)
- [Tableau Monitoring](https://help.tableau.com/current/blueprint/en-us/bp_monitoring.htm)
- [Data Quality Warning History](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/dm_adminview_dqw.htm)
- [Stats for Space Usage](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/adminview_space.htm)
- [TS Users Data Source](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/adminview_insights_users.htm)
- [Viz Load Times Data Source](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/adminview_insights_viz_load_times.htm)
- [Administrative Views](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/adminview.htm)

## About the full unit

The "Core concepts", "Exam traps" and "Worked scenario" sections of this unit, its 7 linked practice questions, and unlimited timed mock exams are included with the Tableau Consultant pack (USD $19): https://www.certifyforce.com/practice-exams