Prep Flows Failing On Server with "Jobs Took too Long To Complete And Was Cancelled"

Issue

Published Tableau Prep flows can fail intermittently with timeout error messages.

Environment

Tableau Server

Resolution

Option 1

Check the timeout value limit set on the Tableau Server and adjust the value by performing the following commands:

tsm configuration get -k backgrounder.default_timeout.run_flow
tsm configuration get -k backgrounder.extra_timeout_in_seconds

Set the new value accordingly:

tsm configuration set -k backgrounder.default_timeout.run_flow -v <new value>
tsm pending-changes apply

Option 2

Check the available resources on the server to run the flows, specifically the number of available backgrounder and flowproceesors. In an installation that runs many Prep flows, it is recommended that you have a dedicated node for the Tableau Prep Conductor.

Backgrounders run all types of jobs by default. On one of the additional nodes, you can set the backgrounder to run only flows, and the other additional node to run all jobs except for flows as explained in this Tableau Online Help guide.

Cause

The task exceeded the timeout variable set for flow refreshes or the Tableau Server does not have the correct configuration to handle the flow processes.