# Server status, disk alerts and data-driven alerts

*Tableau Server Administrator Study Guide · Administration · Last updated November 13, 2026 · https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/tableau-server-administrator/administration/server-status-disk-alerts-and-data-driven-alerts*

Read Tableau Server process health from tsm status and the two web status pages, configure drive-space email thresholds, and set up, manage and troubleshoot data-driven alerts and the server's alert-checking process.

- Certification: Salesforce Tableau Server Administrator
- Exam section: Administration
- Study guide: https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/tableau-server-administrator

**Official exam objective:**

> 3.2 Describe how to: 3.2.1 View server status in multiple ways; 3.2.2 View email alerts; 3.2.3 Set data-driven alerts; 3.2.4 Use built-in administrative views; 3.2.5 Create custom admin views; 3.2.6 Create a performance recording; 3.2.7 Create a nested project; 3.2.8 Work with Sites and Site Admin options.

## What the exam expects

- View server process status three ways (`tsm status -v`, the TSM Status page, the Tableau Server Status page) and interpret node and process statuses.
- Configure and interpret drive-space email alerts: thresholds, units, ordering and repeat interval.
- Set data-driven alerts as a user and administer them as a Server administrator: prerequisites, checking interval, alert-checking tasks and failure handling.
- Administrative views, custom admin views and performance recordings, nested projects and site options are taught in Built-in and custom administrative views and in Performance recordings, nested projects and site settings; administrator scope is in Server, site and TSM administrator boundaries.

Key terms:
- **TSM Status page:** the process-status page in the Tableau Services Manager web UI, visible to TSM administrators.
- **Tableau Server Status page:** the process-status page in the Tableau Server web UI, visible to Tableau Server administrators.
- **Drive-space thresholds:** Warning and Critical percentages of remaining disk space that trigger email.
- **Data-driven alert:** a user-defined condition on a numeric axis that emails recipients when the data crosses a threshold.

## Key facts

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Full process list | Only `tsm status -v`; web status pages show a subset | [View Server Process Status](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/service_viewstatus.htm) |
| TSM-only processes | TSM Controller and License Server (the License Manager process) appear on the TSM Status page | [View Server Process Status](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/service_viewstatus.htm); [Tableau Server Processes](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/processes.htm) |
| Self-correction | Server restarts failed processes; can take 15 to 30 minutes | [View Server Process Status](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/service_viewstatus.htm) |
| DEGRADED node | Running, with one or more primary services in error | [tsm status](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/cli_status_tsm.htm) |
| Drive-space alerts | Disabled by default; set in TSM Notifications > Events | [Event Notification](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/email.htm) |
| Threshold units | Percent of disk space remaining; Critical lower than Warning | [Event Notification](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/email.htm) |
| Send threshold alert every | Default 60 minutes | [Event Notification](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/email.htm) |
| Alert check interval | Default 60 minutes, `dataAlerts.checkIntervalInMinutes` | [Set Up for Data-Driven Alerts](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/data_alerts_admin.htm) |
| Who can create alerts | Any site user except Viewers, when alerts are on for the site | [Set Up for Data-Driven Alerts](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/data_alerts_admin.htm) |
| Alert axis | Continuous numeric axis; not Gantt charts, maps or story points | [Send Data-Driven Alerts](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/data_alerts.htm) |
| Owner failure notice | Sent automatically after ten failures | [Set Up for Data-Driven Alerts](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/data_alerts_admin.htm) |

## Check yourself

- When is an alert owner automatically told that the alert is failing?
- Why must content for subscriptions and alerts have embedded or credential-free data?
- What is the default value of Send threshold alert every?
- Which tsm configuration key changes how often the server checks alert conditions?

## Sources

- [View Server Process Status](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/service_viewstatus.htm)
- [tsm status](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/cli_status_tsm.htm)
- [Configure Server Event Notification](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/email.htm)
- [Set Up for Data-Driven Alerts](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/data_alerts_admin.htm)
- [Ensure Access to Subscriptions and Data-Driven Alerts](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/subscribe_alert_access.htm)
- [Send Data-Driven Alerts from Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/data_alerts.htm)
- [Tableau Server Processes](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/processes.htm)

## About the full unit

The "Core concepts", "Exam traps" and "Worked scenario" sections of this unit, its 10 linked practice questions, and unlimited timed mock exams are included with the Tableau Server Administrator pack (USD $19): https://www.certifyforce.com/practice-exams