The Tableau Server Certified Associate Certification Exam requires you to follow the below rules when taking the test:

• You need to be alone in a room with no other person present. Before starting the exam the proctor will make sure of this by asking you to rotate your webcam a full circle to get a complete view of the room.

• You need to present a Government-issued Photo ID to the proctor by holding it in front of the webcam.

• Your computer or laptop device must be connected to a power source. Your webcam, microphone, and speaker must remain powered on during the entire duration of the test.

• You may use an external monitor only if – a) The laptop display settings show only a single screen is in use. b) The laptop is closed. c) A webcam is provided from the external monitor. d) An external keyboard and mouse are added.

• Your desk must be clear of miscellaneous items. Else the proctor will ask you justification for each item and why you need it.

• You must be having Google Chrome browser and a stable connection speed. Your proctor will guide you on steps to check your webcam, internet speed, and browser compatibility test. The recommended internet speed is 4 Mbps for download and 2 Mbps for upload.

• Your phones or headphones should not be in the exam area during the duration of the test.

• Your proctor should be able to clearly see you via webcam during the entire duration of the test.

• Your Task Manager should show only Google Chrome and there should be no other running processes. The Proctor will verify this before beginning the exam.

• Your laptop should have Automatic Software Updates disabled. If on a corporate network, ensure there is no connection impact due to the firewall by connecting with your IT department.

Overview

The Tableau Server Certified exam is online and proctored by Loyalist Exam Services. The questions are True / False types, Multiple Choice Questions with one or sometimes more than one valid answer. The Tableau Server Certified Associate Certification Exam also includes scenario based questions. These types of questions are based on real-life scenarios and requires analysis of that particular situation. Example Jenny has site role as R and she has been given P permissions in the project. If she is part of a group with G permissions, what activities can she perform?

Exam Server Access

The Tableau Server Certified Associate will also give you access to a blank Tableau Server and Tableau Service Manager (TSM). The Tableau Server consists of a default site, along with a default project and workbooks. The examinee will be the only user, with the role of a server admin. The Tableau Server has a basic one-node configuration. For many of the questions we advise to explore and get the answers by hands-on approach using the Tableau server, often faster than searching across the Tableau Help articles.

Exam Resources Access

The Tableau Server Certified Associate is based on the Windows version of the Server, not the Linux version. During the exam, it is advisable to flag the questions that is worth returning to later in case time permits at the end. Candidates will have complete access too all online public websites and blogs during the exam, the most helpful among which are of course the Tableau online help pages. Tableau only allows opening web browser from the examination server to restrict access to any local bookmarks or saved documents during the examination.

Exam Time Factor

It is recommended to be familiar with the Tableau online help resources, as with approximately 1 minute per question, it is tough to finish after getting stuck with one question for long time. In a constant pace keeping navigating across the questions one after the another and choosing the best possible answers will allow to finish the entire examination paper comfortably. With the time left at the end, reviewing the flagged questions will help provide the finishing touch before wrapping up the exam.

Overview

The Official Tableau Server Certified Associate Exam Guide provides a comprehensive list of topics along with sample questions of the exam. Every question in the exam will be from the topics mentioned in this Exam Guide. Reading on each of these topics will provide a thorough balanced level of preparation with knowledge of all the key areas. The study required for this exam also provides learning of all the best practices along the way that is extremely beneficial in the long run.

Resources for Exam

As evident from the Official Exam Guide, there is a decent amount of topics to be covered for the Server Certified Associate Certification Exam. With methodical study and planned preparation, it is possible to pass the exam. Here we take a look at some of the most useful resources for the exam.

• Tableau Server on Windows Admin Guide - This guide provides complete details on how to administer Tableau as an admin in a Windows server. Besides the PDF, there is also the online version.

• Tableau Server on Linux Admin Guide - This guide details comprehensively how to administer Tableau as an admin in a Linux server. Similar to the Windows, there is also an online version for Linux.

• Tableau Server on Cloud Admin Guide - Based on the nature of Cloud and Operating System, Tableau provides different Guides. For Azure, we have a Windows and Linux Guide. For Amazon Web Services, similarly we have a Windows and a Linux Guide. For Google Cloud as well, Tableau provides a Windows and Linux Admin Guide.

• Tableau Server: Everybody's Install Guide - The Everybody's Install Guide provides a brilliant entry into the Tableau server world. It provides an overview of each of the Tableau Server components at the perfect level of details. Reading through this will give an understanding of how the different Tableau Server components react with each other.

• Tableau Server Technical Specifications - The detailed Technical Specifications required to host a Tableau Server is detailed here. It mentions memory, processor, storage and other details. Tableau recommends to note that this is only for prototyping and testing of the Tableau Server and as such the installer will not proceed with configurations lesser than what is mentioned here.

• Tableau Server Baseline Configurations - Tableau describes few baseline architectures which can be used as starting points to configure the Tableau Server installation. This is helpful in determining the number of nodes and Tableau Server processes to set during installation.

• Configuring SMTP Email - Tableau Server emails are an extremely useful mechanism for server administrators to stay aware of system health. It can send system failure alerts, and also email server users about subscribed views and data-driven alerts.

• Tableau Services Manager (TSM) Ports - A network of ports allow the processes and services that make up the components of Tableau Services Manager (TSM) and Tableau Server to communicate with each other. Ports are dynamically assigned but can also be customized if needed.

• Tableau Server Processes - This is a helpful guide which describes the options for setting the Tableau Process configuration. It helps understand and grasp the overall landscape with so many Tableau processes running across the nodes. This visualization by the Tableau Product Marketing Team details various Tableau Process Scenarios worth taking a look at.

• Tableau Drivers - Tableau provides multiple drivers to help connect different databases with Tableau. This list provides a complete detail of the different Drivers available to download for Tableau.

• Tableau Trusted Authentication - Trusted authentication helps set up a trusted relationship between Tableau Server and another web server. Thus when an user visits a page of a Tableau Server view, the Server assumes that the web server has handled any necessary authentication and thus helps avoid a second sign in prompt.

• Tableau SAML Authentication - SAML stands for Security Assertion Markup Language. Tableau Server can be configured to use an external identity provider to authenticate users over SAML.

• Tableau Kerberos Authentication - Tableau Server supports Kerberos three-way authentication protocol in an Active Directory Kerberos environment. The authentication to Tableau Server is being handled by Kerberos in this case.

• Tableau Server SSL - SSL (Secure Socket Layer) is a standard security technology used to establish encrypted connectivity between a web server and clients. A SSL certificate needs to be installed in the Tableau Server to use SSL.

• Tableau Server OpenID - Tableau Server can be configured to support OpenID Connect for SSO. OpenID is another standard authentication protocol that enables users sign in to an identity provider such as Google.

• Tableau Command Line Interface (CLI) Customize - Tableau provides the tsm customize command to modify the look and feel of the Tableau Server client browser experience. Various attributes that can be changed include the Window tab logo, Server name, header logo etc.

• Tableau Server Permissions - Permissions decide how Tableau users can interact with various Tableau contents like workbooks and data sources. Permissions can be set in the permission dialog or using REST APIs.

• Tableau REST APIs - The Tableau Server REST API is useful to manager and change the Tableau Server resources programmatically via HTTP. The API provides simple access to the functionalities behind the data sources, projects, workbooks, site users, and sites on a Tableau Server.

• Tableau License Usage Server Reporting - Configuring usage reporting of Tableau Desktop licenses enable sending usage statistics to a designated Tableau Server. It allows gathering information of Tableau Desktop Licenses usage in the organization.

• Tableau Server Maintenance - The tsm maintenance command is helpful to manage the Tableau Server for tasks like creating regular backups, or for restoring the Tableau Server from a previously created backup.