Upgrade to Tableau Server 2021.3

Planning an upgrade to Tableau Server 2021.3? Start here!

Download Server 2021.3

Know Before you Upgrade

Note: Tableau Server versions 2019.3 - 2020.3 will be ending maintenance early on November 11, 2021. For more information, see this Knowledge Base article. 

Beginning in Tableau Server 2020.4, Tableau Server configured for mutual SSL authentication will block authentication of users with client certificates that use the SHA-1 signing algorithm. Users who attempt to login with SHA-1 client certificates will encounter an "Unable to sign in" error. For more information about responding to this change, see this Knowledge Base article. 

For more information about why this change was implemented, see this Tableau Community post and the National Institute of Standards and Technology Policy on Hash Functions.

To learn more about additional changes and improvements to various versions of Tableau Server, see this Help article.

Troubleshooting Tableau Server

Having trouble with an upgrade? Review our troubleshooting guide to resolve common issues.

New in Tableau Server 2021.3

Start by reading What's New in Tableau Server on Windows | What's New in Tableau Server on Linux
Make sure you check out current guidance before you upgrade:

New for Server or Site Administrators

 

Tableau Notifications in Slack 

With Tableau for Slack, you can stay up to date on all of your data from anywhere. With our new product integrations, you can now get notified directly in Slack for data-driven alerts, when you are @mentioned in a comment, or when someone shares content with you in Tableau.
 
 

Rename Published Data Sources

Rename any published data source directly in Tableau Server and Online from the data source page or by using Tableau’s REST API—just as you would rename a workbook. All workbooks that use the published data source will receive the new name on the next data source refresh.
 
 

Explain Data Improvements

Since expanding Explain Data to Viewers on Tableau Server and Tableau Online, we've continued to improve the experience by refining permissions and explanation types. Site administrators now have the flexibility to choose when to enable or disable Explain Data features on their site. We've also added a new explanation type about missing data to help users understand they the values of certain marks are beyond the expected range.  
 
 

Improvements to the Data Prep Experience and Tableau Catalog

Work with more visibility than ever. As a part of Tableau Catalog, inherited column and field descriptions will now appear in your web authoring workflow. Get notified about potential data issues by subscribing to new data quality warning (DQW) emails. 
 
 

Improved Web Authoring Capabilities

Enjoy answering your most pressing data questions with advanced filters, intuitive drag-and-drop capabilities for moving single legends on your sheets and dashboards, and easily formatting your visualizations and dashboards while authoring in the browser.
 
 

ISO-8601 Calendar Support Improvements

We're expanding ISO-8601 support to more and more databases. This release we've added support for the DB2 connector.

 

Accessibility Improvements

Accessibility for dashboard navigation provides a more consistent and intuitive tab order, improving the keyboard navigation experience for everyone who uses their keyboard to navigate dashboards. Additionally, the full drag and drop capabilities provide customers with more control and flexibility when building dashboards.
 

Tableau Services Manager (TSM)

As of Tableau Server 2018.2, Tableau Services Manager (TSM) is now available for Windows as well as Linux, and replaces tabadmin. This new web-based server configuration and management application contains a new user experience for server administrators – a command-line interface (CLI) and a web interface (both interact with the new TSM REST API).

For more information about TSM, see the following helpful resources:

Upgrading from Older Versions

Upgrading Tableau Server on Windows from 2018.1 And Earlier Versions

Beginning with 2018.2, please note that the following administration maintenance tasks have changed for Windows:

Installation - The Installation process has changed significantly. Be sure to read the documentation before starting any installation or upgrade.

Upgrade – The upgrade process is new and differs, depending on whether you are upgrading from version 2018.2.x or from a version earlier than 2018.2. Do not upgrade without first reading the procedures for how to upgrade specific to your scenario.

Uninstall - Uninstall works differently now as well. With version 2018.2 and later you do not need to uninstall until after you have upgraded Tableau.

Watch the video Upgrading to Tableau Server with TSM

 

Upgrading Tableau Server on Linux to 2018.2

  • For Tableau Server on Linux, be sure to follow the detailed instructions outlined in the following Tableau Help article: Upgrade Tableau Server on Linux from 10.5.
  • Important: Failing to follow these steps may display warnings and cancel your upgrade. These extra steps only need to be done once during the upgrade to 2018.2.

Share workbooks and data extracts with other users in your organization using Tableau Server!

Read through the links below for advanced knowledge and details:

Get Help

 
Self-Service Resources

 
 
Technical Support
Open a support case. For the fastest possible support, please include the following information:
  •  
  • Screenshots of the issue and any error messages (expanded)
  • How far you were into the upgrade process
  • Server logs
  • Note: you can take a log file snapshot and send it to Tableau Support directly from the Tableau Services Manager UI or CLI.
  • msinfo32.exe system report
  • Best times to call

 
 
Professional Services
Our consultants can accelerate your upgrade and help you unlock the value in your data.