# Server upgrade planning, backups and Blue/Green

*Tableau Consultant Study Guide · Evaluate Current State · Last updated November 3, 2026 · https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/tableau-consultant/evaluate-current-state/server-upgrade-planning-backups-and-blue-green*

Plan a Tableau Server upgrade end to end: choose in-place or Blue/Green, prepare with disabled schedules, a backup and settings export, What's Changed and licensing checks, run Setup on every node before the upgrade script, patch operating systems safely, and verify the result.

- Certification: Salesforce Tableau Consultant
- Exam section: Evaluate Current State
- Study guide: https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/tableau-consultant

**Official exam objective:**

> Recommend and plan a Tableau Server upgrade.

## What the exam expects

- Recommend an in-place or Blue/Green upgrade from the deployment's criticality, rollback needs and IT capacity.
- Build the pre-upgrade checklist: disabled schedules, backup and settings export, the cumulative What's Changed review, and licensing dates.
- Sequence a multi-node upgrade and a Blue/Green restore correctly, including the identity store rule.
- Separate major operating system upgrades from minor patches and give the safe sequence for each.
- Define post-upgrade verification.

Key terms:
- **In-place upgrade:** Setup installs the new version side by side on the existing machines, then the upgrade script completes it.
- **Blue/Green upgrade:** the new version is built in a mirrored environment (Green), tested, and users are switched from production (Blue).
- **Identity store:** local authentication or Active Directory/LDAP, set when Tableau Server is initialized.
- **MAINT EXP / LIC EXP:** the maintenance end date of a perpetual key and the expiry date of a subscription license in `tsm licenses list`.

## Key facts

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Major OS upgrade | Blue/Green only; in place makes the install unsupported | [Upgrade Overview](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/upgrade.htm) |
| Minor OS patch order | tsm stop, stop admin services, patch all nodes, reboots done, tsm start | [Updating Your Server Computer](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/upgrade_best_practices_server.htm) |
| Backups during upgrade | Not included, except an internal pg-only backup | [Back Up Tableau Server](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/server-upgrade-prepare-backup.htm) |
| Configuration backup | `tsm settings` export | [Back Up Tableau Server](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/server-upgrade-prepare-backup.htm) |
| What's Changed list | Cumulative from 2019.1 | [Review What's Changed](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/server-upgrade-prepare-whats-changed.htm) |
| Perpetual key field | MAINT EXP; subscription field is LIC EXP | [Verify Licensing Status](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/server-upgrade-prepare-verify-licensing.htm) |
| Setup install location | Same as the existing version; cannot be changed | [Multi-node Run Setup](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/server-upgrade-baseline-multinode-setup.htm) |
| Restore rule | Backup and target need the same identity store type | [Migrate to New Hardware](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/upgrade_migrate.htm) |
| Product key activations | Up to three | [Migrate to New Hardware](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/upgrade_migrate.htm) |
| Non-production license right | Two environments per production environment | [Blue/Green approach](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/server-upgrade-blue-green.htm) |

## Check yourself

- When does an upgrade create a backup on its own?
- Why disable scheduled tasks in Green while it is being tested?
- How many times can one Tableau Server product key be activated?
- Why might the exported settings file fail to import directly into Green?

## Sources

- [Upgrade Tableau Server Overview](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/upgrade.htm)
- [Using a Blue/Green approach for upgrading Tableau Server](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/server-upgrade-blue-green.htm)
- [Best Practices for Updating Your Tableau Server Computer](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/upgrade_best_practices_server.htm)
- [Upgrading Tableau Server (Windows)](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/sug_plan.htm)
- [Server Upgrade - Disable Scheduled Tasks](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/server-upgrade-baseline-disable-tasks.htm)
- [Server Upgrade - Back Up Tableau Server](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/server-upgrade-prepare-backup.htm)
- [Server Upgrade - Review What's Changed](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/server-upgrade-prepare-whats-changed.htm)
- [Server Upgrade - Verify Licensing Status](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/server-upgrade-prepare-verify-licensing.htm)
- [Multi-node Upgrade -- Run Setup](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/server-upgrade-baseline-multinode-setup.htm)
- [Verify Tableau Server Upgrade](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/server-upgrade-baseline-verify-ug.htm)
- [Tableau Desktop and Tableau Prep Deployment Guide](https://help.tableau.com/current/desktopdeploy/en-us/desktop_deploy_welcome.htm)
- [Finding and Resolving Compatibility Issues](https://help.tableau.com/current/desktopdeploy/en-us/desktop_deploy_compatibility.htm)
- [Migrate to New Hardware](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/upgrade_migrate.htm)

## About the full unit

The "Core concepts", "Exam traps" and "Worked scenario" sections of this unit, its 8 linked practice questions, and unlimited timed mock exams are included with the Tableau Consultant pack (USD $19): https://www.certifyforce.com/practice-exams