Tableau Server License Service on Linux Cannot Read License after Restart

Issue

When rebooting the host machine, Tableau Server on Linux will start in a degraded/unlicensed state.

Environment

Tableau Server
All versions released after October 2019 (v2019.4.0, v2019.3.1, v2019.2.5, v2019.1.9, v2018.3.12, v2018.2.15, v2018.1.18, v10.5.21, and later)
Linux

Resolution

To resolve this issue, upgrade Tableau Server to v2019.1.13, v2019.2.9, v2019.3.5, v2019.4.4, v2020.1, v2020.2, v2020.3, or greater (all Tableau Server versions v2019 or higher that were released in or after February 2020).

Until an upgrade can be performed, there are two workaround options:

Option 1:

These steps will recover the environment at the time of an incident, and allow Tableau Server to start normally.

Log into Tableau Sever machine as a local administrator.
Type the following commands:

tsm stop
lmreread
tsm start

Option 2:

These steps provide a longer-term workaround to prevent the issue from occurring again:

1. Use a text editor to open ~tableau/.local/share/systemd/user/fnplicenseservice_0.service
2. Add the line ExecStartPost=/bin/sleep 5
3. Save the file and quit from the text editor.

Cause

The license service is checking for keys before the rest of the services have started and is hence not getting a response. This is a known issue that is resolved in later releases of Tableau Server.