What is tabcmd?
tabcmd is a command-line tool which is used to perform or automate site-administration tasks such as:
- Creating, syncing, deleting or adding users to groups.
- Publishing or deleting workbooks and data sources.
- Exporting workbooks (as a PDF) or views (as a PDF or PNG).
- Refreshing extracts.
- Creating or deleting groups and projects.
- Running schedules and automating tasks.
How to install tabcmd
To install tabcmd you will first need to confirm the version of Tableau server you are on. You can do this by selecting the help menu in the top right on Tableau server and choosing the 'About Tableau' option. 'About Tableau' option. Once you know what version you’re looking for you can download it from here on Tableau's website, and you want the ~100MB "TableauServerTabcmd.exe" download.
Next, go to your windows toolbar and type “command prompt”, select open and minimise it for now. You’ll also need to open your file explorer to find your command line utility file. This is most likely found in your C:Drive under program files -> Tableau -> Tableau Server. Keep opening the folders and eventually you’ll find what you’re looking for. Here’s an example of what the file path might look like:
Once you have reached this stage, double-click on your file path, delete it, type 'cmd' and hit enter, we’re now ready to use some commands.
tabcmd Commands
Login - This command is going to allow us to connect to the server we wish to make changes to. In the command prompt type: tabcmd login –server “your server name” –username “your user name”. Next hit enter and it will prompt you for your password, simply type that in and hit enter to connect.
Createsite - This command will allow you to create a new site within an existing server. In the command prompt type: tabcmd createsite “your site name” -r “your optional site ID”. Hit enter and check Tableau server for your new site (note that -r can also be written as –url).
Createproject - This command allows you to create a project folder. In the command prompt type: tabcmd createproject -n “your project name” -d “your project description”. Hit enter and you should be able to see this project folder on Tableau server.
Those are just a few commands to give you a taste of how tabcmd works. For more tabcmd commands have a look at the documentation here. A challenge I’d like you to try is to use the deletesite and deleteproject commands to see if you can remove the new site and folder you created in the previous steps!