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Built-in and custom administrative views

Which built-in administrative view answers which question about background tasks, load times, traffic and stale content, and how to build custom administrative views from the repository: which tables hold current versus historical data, what auditing.enabled controls, and what repository access commands change.

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.

~7 min read · 8 practice questions

What the exam expects

  • Pick the built-in administrative view that answers a question about task delays, extract run times, non-extract tasks, view load times, traffic or stale content.
  • Read Stats for Load Times and Stale Content correctly, including what each number measures.
  • Build custom administrative views from the repository, knowing which tables hold current data and which hold history, and what auditing.enabled controls.
  • Use a repository custom view to watch for failed data-driven alert checks.
  • Enable and disable repository access and predict its scope.

Key terms:

  • Administrative views: built-in Tableau dashboards on the Status page that monitor server or site activity.
  • Repository: the PostgreSQL workgroup database that stores user interactions, extract refreshes and other server data.
  • Custom administrative view: a view an administrator builds in Tableau Desktop from repository data.
  • hist_ tables: repository tables of historical events, kept for a configurable number of days.

Key facts

Background Task Delay
Detail
Scheduled versus actual start for flows, extracts and subscriptions; server administrators only
Source
Background Task Delay (opens in a new tab)
Extract run time
Detail
"How Much Time did Extracts Take" graph for the selected task
Source
Background Tasks for Extracts (opens in a new tab)
Non-extract runtime
Detail
Includes initialization and cleanup overhead
Source
Background Tasks for Non Extracts (opens in a new tab)
Load times
Detail
Measured for the server; browser and network can differ
Source
Stats for Load Times (opens in a new tab)
Traffic to Data Sources
Detail
Most-used sources and their most frequent users; last 7 days by default
Source
Traffic to Data Sources (opens in a new tab)
Stale threshold
Detail
1 to 120 days
Source
Stale Content (opens in a new tab)
Stale Content total
Detail
Active plus stale content space
Source
Stale Content (opens in a new tab)
hist_ retention
Detail
wgserver.audit_history_expiration_days, default 183 days
Source
Create Custom Administrative Views (opens in a new tab)
_background_tasks
Detail
Keeps the last 30 days automatically
Source
Create Custom Administrative Views (opens in a new tab)
auditing.enabled
Detail
Turns historical activity collection on or off; on by default
Source
Create Custom Administrative Views (opens in a new tab)
Failed alert checks
Detail
background_jobs, "Check If Data Alert Condition Is True", finish code 1
Source
Set Up for Data-Driven Alerts (opens in a new tab)
Repository access disable
Detail
Blocks external access for the named user; localhost still works
Source
tsm data-access (opens in a new tab)
Sources for this section (9)

Check yourself

  • What are the smallest and largest Stale Access Threshold values?
  • Why does Tableau warn against modifying the repository directly?
  • When does the _background_tasks table drop old rows?
  • Which three task types does Background Task Delay measure?

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

The pack includes:

  • All 34 lessons of the Tableau Server Administrator guide, with reading progress
  • Interactive decision walks and step-by-step sequence steppers
  • Practice exams purchase adds inline bank questions and topic practice (8 questions for this lesson)
  • An official source cited for every claim
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