Upgrade to Tableau Server 2021.2

Planning an upgrade to Tableau Server 2021.2? Start here!

Download Server 2021.2

Know Before you Upgrade

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.

Upgrade

Guide to Upgrading

Inform Your Users

Learn

Overview

Extend the value of your data across your entire organization with Tableau Server. The Tableau Server platform is easy to deploy, scale, and monitor.

What's New?

  • What's New in Tableau Server 2021.2
    • Offline Map Support
    • Resource Monitoring Tool available on Linux 
    • Azure External Repository and Key Vault
    • Enable and configure Catalog or Metadata API indexing limits 

What Has Changed?

New in Tableau Server 2021.2

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 Server in a Container

This deployment option allows you to run Tableau Server on Linux in a single container, making production and development deployments faster, easier and potentially more cost effective. 
 

Multiple Analytics Extensions per site

You can now use multiple analytics extensions within each Tableau Server site. This means your team can use advanced analytics and predictions from Python and R, multiple TabPy servers, or Einstein Discovery and TabPy in visualizations in the same environment. Administrators can configure multiple connections in the Site Settings page, and connections are now added at the workbook level, either during web authoring or at publishing.   
 
 

Connected Desktop for Web Authoring

Creators can now transitions seamlessly from web authoring to Tableau Desktop with the click of a button. Start your workflow on the web and transition to Desktop at any point in your analysis without having to download the workbook. 
 
 

Data Freshness Improvements

You can now push updates to extract files through the REST API or HyperAPI on Tableau Server to enable more flexibility and efficiency and improve the freshness of your data.
 
 

Web authoring improvements

New web authoring features include expanded formatting options, including worksheet backgrounds, titles and captions, parameter and set actions and expanded filter options.
 
 

Ask and Explain Data for Viewers

We've broadened the reach of Ask Data and Explain Data by making these available for viewers. Now everyone with a Tableau license can take advantage of these features. 
 
 

Collections

Collections are a new way to gather the content you use across Tableau Server and organize it to fit your needs. Collections can contain items that span different projects and workbooks, allowing you to reuse content in multiple contexts without additional storage or resources. Collections also make it easy to share content around key topics, such as curated resources for new users or a center of excellence collection showcasing best practices. 

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:

Troubleshooting Extracts on Tableau Server

If your users experience or report any of the following behaviors while performing an extract task, they may be running into an incompatibility scenario. Please redirect them to the following Knowledge Base articles to resolve the error(s).

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.