Upgrade to Tableau Server 2020.3
Planning an upgrade to Tableau Server 2020.3? Start here!
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
Upgrade
Guide to Upgrading
- Starting from 2018.2, steps to upgrade Tableau Server have changed for Windows. See Upgrade from Tableau Server 2018.1 or earlier to Tableau Server with TSM and Upgrade process change in Tableau Help.
- The Server Upgrade Guide takes you through the entire process to make your upgrade as seamless as possible.
- Download the newest maintenance release and get started!
Inform Your Users
- The Server Administrator Overview page is a great starting point for letting your users know about new capabilities.
- Make sure your users know about the latest released features and invite power users to test the environment and to explore What's new in Tableau Desktop 2020.3.
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 2020.3
- Server "Pre-flight Check"
- Set site time zone for extracts
- Dynamically configurable keys
- Manage licenses with "Grant License on Sign In"
-
What's New in Tableau Desktop 2020.3
- Mapping Improvements
- Relationships Improvements
- Improved Dynamic Parameters
What Has Changed?
- What's Changed in Tableau Server
- See the Tableau Server Tech Specs
- See what we fixed: Release Notes
- Make sure everything works as expected: Known Issues
New in Tableau Server 2020.3
Start by reading
What's New in Tableau Server on Windows * What's New in Tableau Server on Linux
NOTE! Product Help for Tableau Server has updated its server upgrade information to reflect current Dev recommendations:
- Preparing for Upgrade
- Upgrading from 2018.2 and Later (Windows)
- Upgrade from Tableau Server 2018.1.x or Earlier (Windows) remains the same.
New for Server or Site Administrators
Server "Pre-flight Check"
Beginning in Tableau Server on Windows version 2020.3 a pre-flight check runs when you install or upgrade Tableau Server. This check, on install, looks at common permissions issues related to the install directory and data directory that cause problems when installing Tableau Server. On upgrades, permissions are checked, as well as potential port conflicts for key services. In addition, new tsm maintenance preflight-check commands have been added for both permissions and ports.
For more information, see Tableau Server Pre-Flight Check.
Set the Site Time Zone for Extracts
The default time zone for extract-based data sources in a site is Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Site administrators can now choose to set a different time zone.
For more information, see Set the Site Time Zone for Extracts.
New command to list dynamically configurable keys
Version 2020.3 introduces a new TSM command to view all dynamically configurable keys. The command, tsm configuration list-dynamic-keys, displays a list of all configuration options you can change without needing to restart Tableau Server. This command helps you distinguish dynamically configurable keys from those that require a server restart, allowing you to decide when to set each.
Dynamic configuration was introduced in version 2020.2, and version 2020.3 adds additional dynamically configurable logging options to those in 2020.2.0. When you make configuration changes with these keys, or configuration changes with these keys in combination with Tableau Server Dynamic Topology Changes, you do not have to restart Tableau Server.
New dynamically configurable keys include:
- backgrounder.log.level
- clustercontroller.log.level
- dataserver.log.level
- filestore.log.level
- gateway.log.level
- tdsservice.log.level
- vizqlserver.log.level
For details on the new command, see tsm configuration list-dynamic-keys. For more information about the introduction of dynamic configuration in version 2020.2, see Dynamic Configuration. For more on changing logging levels, see Change Logging Levels.
Manage Licenses for User Groups with Grant License on Sign In
Administrators can set a minimum site role for user groups and choose grant license on sign in when creating or modifying that user group. Enabling grant license on sign in reduces manual work to manage licenses, since administrators can designate site role capabilities by group, and provision licenses when a user actually needs it. By waiting to grant licenses until users sign in, administrators can streamline license provisioning, without granting licenses to inactive users.
For more information, see Grant License on Sign In.
Automatically Suspend Extract Refreshes for Inactive Workbooks
To save resources, Tableau can automatically suspend extract refresh tasks for inactive workbooks. This feature applies to full extract refreshes only, not to incremental extract refreshes. This feature only applies to refresh schedules that run weekly or more often.
For more information, see Automatically Suspend Extract Refreshes for Inactive Workbooks
Use admin tools to get indexing status for Catalog and Metadata API
Tableau Server 2020.3 includes two admin tools to make it easier to get indexing status of Tableau Catalog and Tableau Metadata API:
- Monitor initial ingestion progress and validate its status using the Backfill API. For more information, see Get Ingestion Status.
- After initial ingestion, ensure indexing continues to work as expected using the Eventing API. Fore more information, see Get Eventing Status.
New for Tableau Server Data Management Add-on
Tableau Catalog updates
Tableau Catalog is included in the separately licensed Data Management Add-on for Tableau Server and Tableau Online. For more information about Tableau Catalog, see About Tableau Catalog.
The following features are included in this release:
- See data quality warnings in Tableau Desktop - When you open a workbook in Tableau Desktop that has a data quality warning, the warning icon (either a blue circle or a yellow triangle with an exclamation point) appears on the Data tab on the sheet page of the workbook. For more information, see Set a Data Quality Warning.
- 'Sensitive data' warning type added - You can use this new warning type to set a data quality warning for sensitive data in your organization. For more information, see Set a Data Quality Warning.
- Embedded assets are listed in External Assets - You can now see embedded assets listed in the External Assets page. For more information, see Use Lineage for Impact Analysis.
- Tag external assets - Add tags to databases, tables, and columns, which enables you to, among other things, tag tables and columns with personally identifiable information (PII). For more information, see Tag Items in Tableau Desktop and Web Authoring Help.
Use admin tools to get indexing status for Catalog and Metadata API
Tableau Server 2020.3 includes two admin tools to make it easier to get indexing status of Tableau Catalog and Tableau Metadata API:
Monitor initial ingestion progress and validate its status using the Backfill API. For more information, see Get Ingestion Status.
After initial ingestion, ensure indexing continues to work as expected using the Eventing API. Fore more information, see Get Eventing Status.
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:
Tableau Server on Linux Upgrade information
Are you upgrading Tableau Server on Linux 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:
- Tableau Server Configuration utility
- tabadmin command line utility
- Tableau Server Monitor
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).