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Safely Upgrading an OS 'in-place' that is hosting Tableau Server


Published: 08 Jun 2018
Last Modified Date: 23 Jan 2023

Question

How to safely upgrade an Operating System 'in-place' that is hosting Tableau Server.

Environment

Tableau Server
Windows & Linux

Answer

The following steps describe the best practice when updating an operating system:
  1. Use TSM to create a backup of your Tableau Server
  2. Use TSM to verify the backup of Tableau Server
  3. Once verified, move the .tsback file to a safe location on another machine to ensure it is not lost during the OS installation/upgrade
  4. Deactivate your product : https://kb.tableau.com/articles/howto/deactivating-server-product-key
  5. Uninstall Tableau Server
  6. Choose how you will upgrade the OS and perform the appropriate steps (see Microsoft documentation) for each machine in the Tableau Server cluster
    • Clean Install : Will remove the OS and all files on the target drive/partition 
    • Windows Upgrade : Will perform an in-place upgrade, see Microsoft documentation for expectations
  7. Install the desired version of Tableau Server which must be greater than or equal to the version you created the backup from and activate the Server product keys.
  8. Use TSM to restore the backup made in step 1 to your new Tableau Server installation.
  9. If you also upgraded Tableau Server during this time, retain the backup you made for a period to ensure that you can roll back to the prior Tableau Server version should you discover the need to.
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