Salesforce Certified Tableau Server Administrator Quick Facts (2025)

Exam Domain Breakdown

Domain 1: Connecting to and Preparing Data (20% of the exam)

User Experience

• User Interface
• Navigation

User Experience summary: This section highlights the importance of understanding the Tableau Server interface and how to navigate efficiently as an administrator. Mastery of the user experience allows you to empower end users, ensuring they can find and interact with the content they need to drive insights. By recognizing the interface elements and making smart navigation choices, administrators improve overall organizational adoption of Tableau.

You will also explore best practices that make working within Tableau Server intuitive and rewarding. As administrators, developing fluency in user interaction helps not only with monitoring and management but also with guiding end users to optimize their own experiences with data.

Topology

• Identify client components
• Identify server components
• Describe how they work together

Topology summary: This section emphasizes the architecture of Tableau environments by breaking down client and server components. Understanding these elements helps administrators ensure seamless collaboration between systems, guaranteeing the right data flows smoothly across an organization. Recognizing the interplay between components strengthens the foundation for scalability and resilience.

By knowing how client and server elements align, you can make smarter decisions about deploying Tableau in diverse environments. This understanding ensures that infrastructure is both effective and capable of supporting large volumes of users with consistency and performance.

Versions

• Understand: How to identify the current version of Tableau Server
• Understand: Where to obtain the latest release of Tableau Server
• Understand: Where to access release notes of Tableau Server

Versions summary: In this section, you will explore the importance of tracking Tableau Server versions and staying current with updates. Administrators who can quickly identify the environment version stand ready to ensure compatibility across workbooks and deployments. Accessing the most recent release and official release notes equips you with authoritative guidance on improvements.

Beyond functionality, updates offer increased stability and security. By following release documentation closely, you can roll out new features while minimizing risks and aligning with organizational needs for secure and efficient analytics.

Minimum Hardware Requirements

• Understand: RAM requirements
• Understand: CPU requirements
• Understand: Hard disk requirements

Minimum Hardware Requirements summary: This section ensures administrators know the hardware foundations necessary for reliable Tableau Server deployments. Each requirement, from RAM thresholds to CPU and disk capacities, informs decisions about optimizing environments for performance and user concurrency.

When administrators allocate the right resources, Tableau Server can operate smoothly while handling both current and future workloads. These infrastructure insights foster confidence that the server is optimized to support growth without performance slowdowns.

Software Requirements

• List the supporting Operating Systems
• Understand: Browser requirements
• Understand: Options for email alerts
• Understand: Anti-virus concerns
• Identify the SMTP Server
• Be familiar with potential port issues
• Explain the purpose and benefits of a dedicated server
• Identify the considerations for running in the cloud

Software Requirements summary: You will learn about operating systems, browser compatibility, and critical software integrations that support Tableau Server’s seamless operation. This includes considerations like SMTP settings for email alerts and maintaining security without disrupting communication and collaboration.

Developing expertise in software requirements ensures that administrators can adapt Tableau deployments smoothly across diverse IT landscapes. From ports to antivirus controls to cloud-readiness, you gain the flexibility to safeguard performance while supporting the organization’s evolving needs.

Licensing

• Understand user-based licensing: Describe the different license types
• Understand user-based licensing: Describe how license types map to site roles

Licensing summary: Licensing is central to Tableau Server administration, and this section ensures you fully understand license types and how they connect to user roles. By aligning users with correct license options, organizations maximize functionality while optimizing cost efficiency.

The knowledge of site role mapping enables administrators to deliver access in the right measure for each user. This balance fosters both user empowerment and organizational governance, reinforcing the success of Tableau adoption.

Server Processes

• Describe each Tableau Services Manager and Tableau Server process
• Understand: Default process count at installation
• Understand: Multiple-instance processes
• Understand: Process-to-process workflows
• Understand: Processes in distributed and high-availability environments
• Understand: Purpose of a load balancer

Server Processes summary: This section examines the heart of Tableau Server’s operations: its processes. By learning what each process does, how many are needed for different environments, and how workflows connect them, administrators gain powerful insights into server performance.

Strong understanding of these processes allows the design of distributed and high-availability environments that keep Tableau reliable even under heavy workloads. Incorporating load balancing ensures both resilience and scalability, keeping users productive at all times.

Data Source Identification

• Identify the ports required
• Identify the necessary database drivers
• Understand the differences between: File vs. Relational vs. Cube
• Understand the differences between: Extract vs. Live Connections
• Explain the benefits of published data sources

Data Source Identification summary: This section equips administrators to understand core data connections in Tableau environments. Covered topics include port usage, database driver requirements, and distinctions between data types like files, relational databases, and cubes.

Recognizing the advantages of extracts versus live connections, and publishing data sources effectively, helps administrators provide scaled and consistent data access. This ensures both performance and governance objectives are met, supporting more reliable analytics.

Infrastructure Network

• Understand network latency implications
• Explain the risks of Dynamic-IP addressing

Infrastructure Network summary: Networking plays a vital role in Tableau Server’s effectiveness. By understanding latency and connection dynamics, administrators can ensure steady performance, particularly for distributed teams or global deployments.

Learning how to manage IP addressing considerations avoids unnecessary disruptions, ensuring end users always have reliable access to data sources. With this knowledge, administrators maintain trust in the environment and support organizational growth.

Domain 2: Installation and Configuration (26% of the exam)

Installation

• Understand installation steps and options: Install Path
• Understand installation steps and options: Gateway port
• Understand Identity Store and SSO options: External (Active Directory) vs local
• Understand Identity Store and SSO options: Trusted Tickets
• Understand Identity Store and SSO options: SAML
• Understand Identity Store and SSO options: Kerberos and OpenID Connect
• Describe the impact of the automatic-login options
• Understand how to set up SSL
• Understand Tableau best practices for installing a single-machine environment
• Understand silent installs

Installation summary: This section covers Tableau Server installation and configuration fundamentals, beginning with paths and port specifications. Recognizing options for identity management is key, with integrations that range from Active Directory to SAML and Kerberos.

Administrators also learn best practices for SSL security, automation, and single-machine best practices. With this knowledge, installations can be tailored to organizational requirements, ensuring streamlined deployment and secure foundations.

Tableau Server Configuration

• Understand cache settings
• Understand how to: Apply process distribution
• Understand how to: Configure Email alerts and subscriptions
• Understand how to: Configure optional customizations
• Describe: Site configuration options
• Describe: User quotas
• Describe: Storage quota
• Describe: How to enable and edit site subscriptions
• Describe: Project configuration options
• Describe: Group and User Configuration options
• Understand who can add users

Tableau Server Configuration summary: This section hones in on customizing and shaping Tableau Server environments post-installation. Proper configuration of caching, process distribution, and user quotas lays the foundation for performance and scalability.

You also gain insights on customizing site structures and enabling notifications to keep users connected. Administrators who develop confidence in these tools can deliver both powerful governance and enhanced user satisfaction.

Adding Users

• License type and site role
• Admin level
• Publisher level
• Importing via Active Directory or Local

Adding Users summary: This section focuses on provisioning user accounts in Tableau Server by combining license types, site roles, and administrative levels. Mastery of user imports, whether through Active Directory or local sources, ensures that onboarding is smooth and aligned to governance.

By assigning roles effectively, administrators empower users with just the right level of access. This balanced approach allows organizations to maximize productivity with clear responsibilities and permissions.

Security

• Describe the security configuration for: Site level
• Describe the security configuration for: Project level
• Describe the security configuration for: Group level
• Describe the security configuration for: User level
• Describe the security configuration for: Data source level
• Describe the security configuration for: Workbook level

Security summary: This section emphasizes comprehensive security practices within Tableau Server. Administrators learn to balance permissions at every level, from entire sites to individual workbooks. The goal is ensuring users can access what they need without compromising confidentiality.

Building security in a layered way provides strong governance while maintaining flexibility. Administrators who apply this knowledge help align deployments with organizational compliance and trust.

Permissions

• Understand: System permission composition
• Understand: The ramifications of permission design
• Understand: The Tableau Security Model
• Describe the differences between Allow vs Deny vs None

Permissions summary: Permissions are at the heart of controlling Tableau Server capabilities. This section explains how permissions are composed, how they shape security models, and why design choices matter at scale.

Developing skill with permissions ensures every user has appropriate capabilities, with no accidental overprovisioning. By mastering the differences between Allow, Deny, and None, administrators can streamline configurations and avoid conflicts.

Domain 3: Administration (36% of the exam)

Understand how to:

• Maintain data connections
• Create schedules
• Create, edit and delete subscriptions
• Perform Server analysis
• Complete a backup and restore
• Perform cleanup
• Add, remove, or deactivate users
• Update licenses
• Start, stop or restart
• Utilize tsm and tabcmd
• Use REST API
• Work with Log Files
• Understand Embedding
• Monitor Desktop license usage
• Manage workbook and data source revision history

Understand how to summary: This section equips administrators with essential operational skills, from managing connections and schedules to handling backups and restores. It covers the use of administrative tools such as tsm, tabcmd, and REST API.

Gaining competence here ensures administrators can respond to dynamic organizational needs while keeping Tableau environments running smoothly. Daily management, combined with operational best practices, helps ensure long-term success.

Describe how to:

• View server status in multiple ways
• View email alerts
• Set data-driven alerts
• Use built-in administrative views
• Create custom admin views
• Create a performance recording
• Create a nested project
• Work with Sites and Site Admin options

Describe how to summary: Here, administrators learn techniques for monitoring and improving server performance. This includes leveraging both built-in and custom views to gain deep visibility into usage patterns.

In addition, you will learn about organizing Tableau content with nested projects and site configurations in ways that simplify management and enhance collaboration. With this knowledge, you have the tools to lead proactive system optimization.

Contrast end-user with System-administrator capabilities

• Contrast end-user with System-administrator capabilities

Contrast summary: This section highlights the differences in power between end users and system administrators. Knowing what roles can and cannot do ensures processes are properly delegated.

By drawing clear boundaries across responsibilities, administrators can design environments that maximize productivity. This clarity ensures teams collaborate effectively while maintaining order and security.

End-user Abilities

• General

End-user Abilities summary: In this section, you explore end-user abilities to provide perspective for administrators. Understanding the capabilities available at the general user level ensures system managers can make informed decisions about permissions and support.

Recognizing user tasks and workflows builds empathy and insight, allowing administrators to implement configurations that meet the user community’s needs in practical and empowering ways.

Understand:

• Table recommendations
• Publishing views and data sources
• Renaming a workbook
• Interacting with a view via the Web
• Web authoring and editing
• How to share views
• Data Source Certification
• Extract caching

Understand summary: This section enables administrators to work closely with dataset and content management practices. Tasks such as certification, publishing, and sharing are covered, emphasizing their importance in maintaining high-quality analytics standards.

By learning these practices, administrators create systems that encourage confidence and consistency. Users benefit from consistent governance while still enjoying freedom in their analytic exploration.

Domain 4: Troubleshooting (12% of the exam)

Understand requirements of third party cookies in a browser

• Understand requirements of third party cookies in a browser

Third Party Cookies summary: This section explores how third-party cookies impact Tableau Server’s functionality in browsers. Being aware of browser requirements ensures seamless operation for users.

By anticipating these requirements, administrators can deliver troubleshooting that maintains user productivity without disruption. Solutions are proactive and ensure analytics remains accessible regardless of browser platform.

Understand how to:

• Reset passwords for a Tableau user or Tableau Run-As Service account
• Package log files for reporting
• Use tsm to validate site resources
• Rebuild the search index
• Use maintenance analysis reports
• Create/open support requests

Troubleshooting summary: Administrators in this section gain practical skills for resolving common issues. Resetting credentials, validating with tsm, and rebuilding indexes ensure stability even when problems arise.

Being able to collect and package logs for reporting helps streamline interactions with Tableau support. These skills maintain effectiveness and trust in the analytics environment.

Domain 5: Migration & Upgrade (6% of the exam)

Migration & Upgrade

• Understand the upgrade process
• Explain how and why to perform a clean reinstall
• Describe how to migrate to different hardware
• Understand backwards compatibility

Migration & Upgrade summary: This section focuses on guiding administrators through upgrade and migration processes that keep Tableau Server aligned with evolving needs. Clean reinstalls and hardware migration strategies allow flexibility without disruption.

Administrators who master upgrade paths ensure environments remain secure, optimized, and compatible with new features. This adaptability ensures Tableau Server’s long-term value within any organization.