Administration36% of the exam
Backup, cleanup, restarts and command-line scripting
How to take a restorable Tableau Server backup, schedule and manage backups, restore within the 2022.3 rules, run tsm maintenance cleanup against the right file types in the right server state, predict start, stop, restart and pending-changes behavior, and script tsm and tabcmd safely on Windows.
3.1 Understand how to: 3.1.1 Maintain data connections; 3.1.2 Create schedules; 3.1.3 Create, edit and delete subscriptions; 3.1.4 Perform Server analysis; 3.1.5 Complete a backup and restore; 3.1.6 Perform cleanup; 3.1.7 Add, remove, or deactivate users; 3.1.8 Update licenses; 3.1.9 Start, stop or restart; 3.1.10 Utilize tsm and tabcmd; 3.1.11 Use REST API; 3.1.12 Work with Log Files; 3.1.13 Understand Embedding; 3.1.14 Monitor Desktop license usage; 3.1.15 Manage workbook and data source revision history.
~8 min read · 9 practice questions
What the exam expects
- Choose a backup that can restore the server and judge whether an archive is eligible for restore on 2022.3.
- Create and manage scheduled backups and predict a scheduled file name.
- Run
tsm maintenance cleanupwith the right option and server state. - Predict
tsm start,stop,restartandpending-changes applyon a running or stopped server. - Script
tsmandtabcmdon Windows in a supported way.
Key terms:
- TSM (Tableau Services Manager): the tool that administers the server; it replaced tabadmin.
- .tsbak: the backup file
tsm maintenance backupwrites. - Repository: the PostgreSQL database of workbook and user metadata.
- Pending changes: saved configuration or topology changes that take effect when applied.
- tabcmd: the utility that automates site administration tasks such as creating users, projects and groups.
Key facts
Backup contents
- Detail
- Repository (workbook and user metadata) plus extract files; no configuration data
--pg-only backup- Detail
- Repository only; cannot restore the server; use only when Tableau Support asks
Pre-TSM backups
- Detail
- Cannot be restored to 2022.3 or later
Restore targets
- Detail
- Same identity store type; same or newer version only
Scheduled backup name
- Detail
<yyyy.mm.dd.hh.mm>-<basename>.tsbak;-dadds a second date
Cleanup default
- Detail
- Temp and log files older than one day; crash dumps never deleted
http_requests cleanup- Detail
-qdeletes (server running only); retention default 7 days
tsm restart- Detail
- Stops if necessary, then starts
Apply while stopped
- Detail
- Restart prompt may display, but no restart occurs
Batch scripts
- Detail
call tsm ...returns control to the calling batch file
tabcmd tasks
- Detail
- Run serially, never in parallel
Sources for this section (6)
- tsm maintenancehelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- Back up Tableau Server Datahelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- Restore from a Backuphelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- tsm restarthelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- tsm pending-changeshelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- tabcmdhelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- Which kind of file does
tsm maintenance cleanupnever remove, whatever options are used? - Why should a Windows administrator run tabcmd from Command Prompt rather than PowerShell?
- Why can CPU use climb noticeably while a restore runs?
- When does a long backup hit the command's default time limit?
The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.
Keep reading with the Tableau Server Administrator pack
- Core concepts
- Exam traps
- Worked scenario
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- All 34 lessons of the Tableau Server Administrator guide, with reading progress
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