What should be entered at a command prompt in order to check and verify all system files?

The topics in this section include reference content for Tableau Services Manager (TSM) command line interface (CLI) to support Tableau Server.

TSM is used to manage installation and configuration of Tableau Server. To learn more about TSM, see Tableau Services Manager Overview.

You can automate the installation and configuration tasks supported by the TSM CLI using the TSM API. To learn more about the prerelease (Alpha) TSM API, see Tableau Services Manager API.

Using the tsm CLI

You can run tsm commands on the initial node (the node where TSM is installed), or on any additional node in the cluster.

To run tsm commands, you need to open Windows Command Prompt. Do not use PowerShell to run tsm commands. Using PowerShell can cause unexpected behavior.

1. Open Windows Command Prompt with an account that is a member of the Administrators group on a node in the cluster.

2. Run the command you want. If you are running the command from a node other than the initial node, include the -s option to specify the URL of the initial node by name (not IP address), and include the TSM port, 8850.

   To see the version of TSM and Tableau Server from the initial node:

   tsm version

   To see the version of TSM and Tableau Server from an additional node:

   tsm version -s https://<inital_node_name>:8850

   For example:

   tsm version -s https://myTableauHost:8850

Authenticating with tsm CLI

Beginning in the 2019.2 release of Tableau Server, running tsm commands will not require you to enter a password if the following are true:

• The account you are running commands with is a member of the TSM-authorized group, which is the local Administrators group on the Windows computer.
• You are running commands locally on the Tableau Server that is running the Tableau Server Administration Controller service. By default, the Tableau Server Administration Controller service is installed and configured on the initial node in a distributed deployment.

Logging into tsm CLI locally

If you are running tsm commands on the local computer with user account that is a member of a TSM-authorized group, then you will not need to specify a password. In this case, just run the command, for example:

tsm version

Logging into tsm CLI remotely

If you are running TSM commands from a node in a cluster where the Tableau Server Administration Controller service is not running, then you must authenticate a session with the Tableau Server Administration Controller service on the remote computer before you can run commands. For example, run the following command:

tsm login -s <server_name> -u <account_name>

Where <server_name> is the name of the node where the Tableau Server Administration Controller service is running and <account_name> is an account that is a member of a TSM-authorized group.

After running this command, you will be prompted for a password. After the account has been authenticated, you can run TSM commands.

Scripting and automating with tsm CLI

TSM is a batch file. To run TSM commands in another batch file, use the call command. For example "call tsm maintenance ziplogs". Doing this will return control to the batch file.

To run automation on a Tableau Server without a password in the script file, run the script on the initial node and with an account in the proper TSM-authorized group. See the "Authenticating" section above.

Viewing help content in the shell

To view minimal help content from a command line, use the tsm help category.

Synopsis

tsm help [category] [command]

Commands

tsm help

Help for all tsm commands

tsm help <category>

Show help for a specific command category. For example, tsm help authentication.

tsm help <category> <command>

Show help for a specific command. For example, tsm help authentication open-id.

tsm help commands

List all top-level commands or categories.

Categories

Other articles in this section

Windows File System

In Windows, files are organized in directories (aka folders). The directories are organized in a hierarchical tree structure, starting from the so-called root directory for EACH of the hard drive (as illustrated). A directory may contain sub-directories and files. A sub-directory may contain sub-sub-directories and files, and so on.

Windows' file system is organized in drives, identified by a drive letter followed by a colon, e.g., C:, D: and E:. Each drive has its own root directory, such as C:\, D:\ and E:\, where the "\" (back-slash) denote the root directory of each drive.

Windows' file system is NOT case-sensitive, a rose is a Rose, and is a ROSE.

Filename and File Type

A Windows' filename consists of two parts: filename and file type (or file extension) separated by a dot, e.g., Hello.java, Hello.class, Test.txt, etc. Windows can associate a program to each file type. For example, double-clicking a .txt invokes NotePad; double-clicking .jpg invokes Photo or Paint.

View File Type in Windows "File Explorer"

For programmers, it is important to SEE the file type inside the "File Explorer", which is hidden by default. For example, "hello.java" is displayed as "hello" with the "type" of "JAVA file".

To view the file type, launch "File Explorer" ⇒ "View" menu ⇒ Check "File name extensions".

Drive-Letter, Pathname and Filename

To reference a file, you need to provide the drive letter, the directory name (aka pathname) and the filename. For example, in "C:\Program Files\java\jdk1.7.0_07\bin\javac.exe", the drive letter is C:, the pathname is "\Program Files\java\jdk1.7.0_07\bin\" and the filename is "javac.exe". The leading "\" (back-slash) denotes the root directory for that drive. The sub-directories are separated by "\" (back-slash).

The pathname (or directory name) can be specified in two ways:

1. Absolute Pathname: An absolute pathname begins from the root directory of a drive. It starts with X:\ (where X denotes the drive letter and the leading "\" denotes the root), and contains all the sub-directories leading to the file separated by "\". For example, "C:\Program Files\java\jdk1.7.0_07\bin\".
2. Relative Pathname: A relative pathname is relative to the so-called current drive and current working directory. For example, if the current drive and working directory is "C:\Program Files\java\", then the relative path "jdk1.7.0_07\bin\" resolves to "C:\Program Files\java\jdk1.7.0_07\bin\". A relative pathname does NOT begin with a leading "\" (back-slash).

Command-Line Interface "CMD"

Programmers use a Command-Line Interface (CLI) to issue text-commands to the Operating System (OS), instead of clicking on a Graphical User Interface (GUI). This is because command-line interace is much more powerful and flexible than the graphical user interface.

The CMD (Command Interpreter or Command Prompt) is a command-line Interface (or shell). It supports a set of commands and utilities; and has its own programming language for writing batch files (or shell scripts).

You can launch a CMD via:

1. "Start" button ⇒ "Run..." ⇒ Enter "cmd"; or
2. "Search" button ⇒ Type "cmd" ⇒ Enter; or
3. "Start" button ⇒ All Programs ⇒ Accessories ⇒ Command Prompt.

The CMD displays a prompt which ends with a ">", in the form of "DriveLetter:\path\to\current-directory>", e.g., "C:\Windows\System>". You can enter your command after the prompt.

Current Drive and Current Working Directory

Each CMD session maintains a so-called current drive and current working directory, which is shown in the prompt in the form of "drive:\path\to\current-directory>". All relative pathnames are relative to this current drive and current working directory.

Set Current Drive "x:" Command

To set or change the current drive, enter the drive letter followed by a colon (:), e.g.,

prompt> d:    
D:\...> c:    
C:\...>

Take note that commands are NOT case-sensitive in CMD.

Change Directory "cd" Command

To change current working directory under the current drive, use command "cd new-path" (change directory).

It is important to take note that you need to set the current drive first (via "x:" command) before setting the current directory under the current drive.

You can specify new-path in two ways: absolute or relative. An absolute path begins with a "\" or root directory. A relative path is relative to the current working directory and does NOT begin with a leading "\". For example,

prompt> c:
   
C:\....> cd \           
   
C:\> cd Windows
   
C:\Windows> cd system
   
C:\Windows\system> cd \myproject\java
   
C:\myproject\java> cd "\Program Files\java\jdk1.7.0_07\bin"
   
C:\Program Files\java\jdk1.7.0_07\bin> d:
   
D:\....> cd \
   
D:\> cd Java
   
D:\Java>

Take note that:

1. You need to set the current drive and current directory in two commands: X: and cd.
2. The current drive and current working directory is displayed in the command prompt before the ">".
3. The commands, pathnames, filenames are NOT case-sensitive.

You can cd in multiple stages (e.g., one cd for each sub-directory), or cd in one single stage with the full pathname.

prompt> c:                                  
C:\....> cd \                               
C:\> cd Program Files                       
C:\Program Files> cd java                   
C:\Program Files\java> cd jdk1.7.0_07       
C:\Program Files\java\jdk1.7.0_07> cd bin   
C:\Program Files\java\jdk1.7.0_07\bin>

prompt> c:
C:\....> cd \Program Files\java\jdk1.7.0_07\bin
C:\Program Files\java\jdk1.7.0_07\bin>

Parent directory (..) and Current Directory (.)

You can use ".." (double-dot) to refer to the parent directory and "." (single-dot) to refer to current directory. For example,

C:\Program Files\java\jdk1.7.0_07\bin> cd ..   
C:\Program Files\java\jdk1.7.0_07> cd ..
C:\Program Files\java> cd ..
C:\Program Files>

Setting proper working directory is important. For example, to compile a Java program called "Hello.java" stored in "D:\myproject\java\":

1. Set the working directory to "D:\myproject\java\", and reference the file relatively with filename only (without the path):

   prompt> d:
   D:\...> cd \myproject\java
   D:\myproject\java> javac Hello.java   

2. You can also refer to a file with its full path in any working directory, but you will have a hard time looking for the output.

   prompt> javac d:\myproject\java\Hello.java

Directory "dir" Command

You can list the contents of the current directory via the dir command, for example,

prompt> dir              
......
prompt> dir Hello.java   

Wildcards * and ?

You can use wildcards for pattern matching. The wildcard * matches zero or more (any) characters; ? matches one (any) character.

prompt> dir *.java  
.....
prompt> dir test*   
.....
prompt> dir test?.txt   
.....

Windows Graphical Interface - File Explorer

You could, of course, view the contents of a directory (folder) using the Windows' "File Explorer" more conveniently. But,

• View File Extensions: Windows' File Explorer, by default, will not show the file extensions. For example, "hello.txt" will be listed as "hello" with Type of "TXT File". To display the file extension, choose "View" menu ⇒ Check "File name extensions". (For older version of Windows, goto "Control Panel" ⇒ File Explorer Option (or View Option) ⇒ View ⇒ Uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types".)
• View Hidden Files: Windows' File Explorer, by default, will not display hidden files and directories (e.g., "C:\ProgramData"). To display the hidden items, choose "View" menu, check "Hidden Items".

Tips and Tricks for File Explorer

1. You can click on the "folder name" to get the full pathname of the current folder.
2. [TODO]

Shortcut Keys in CMD Shell - IMPORTANT

Previous Commands in Command History: You can use the up/down arrow keys to scroll through the previous/next command in the command history.

Auto-Complete with TAB: Type the first few characters of a file/directory name, and press TAB key to auto-complete the file/directory name. Press TAB key repeatedly to cycle through all the matches.

Copy/Paste: In the latest CMD, you can use Ctrl-c/Ctrl-v for Copy/Paste, by enabling "Enable Ctrl Key Shortcuts" (via click on the CMD icon (top-left corner) ⇒ Properties ⇒ Options ⇒ Edit Options ⇒ Check "Enable Ctrl Key Shortcuts").

(In the earlier version of CMD, you need to enable Copy/Paste by clicking on the CMD icon (top-left corner) ⇒ Properties ⇒ Options ⇒ Edit Options ⇒ Check "QuickEdit Mode". Once enabled, you can right-click to copy the highlighted text, and another right-click to paste on the command-line.)

Moving the Command-Line Cursor: In CMD, you CANNOT use mouse pointer to move the command-line cursor. Instead, you need to use Left/Right-Arrow, Backspace or Delete keys to move the command-line cursor.

These are the various ways of moving the command-line cursor:

• Left/Right Arrow Key: Move the cursor one character to the left/right.
• Backspace/Delete Key: delete the previous/current character under the cursor.
• ESC Key: Clear command-line.
• Home/End Keys: Move to the begin/end of command line.
• Ctrl + Left/Right-Arrow Key: Move one "word" to the left/right.

Tips and Tricks for CMD

1. CMD is NOT case-sensitive.
2. The screen buffer size (controlling the amount of messages retained in the screen) can be configured under "CMD icon" ⇒ "Properties" ⇒ "Layout". You should set to a bigger number (500-2000), so that you can view more old messages.
3. You can also change the colors and font via "CMD icon" ⇒ "Properties" ⇒ "Colors" and "Properties" ⇒ "Font".
4. [TODO]

Windows Tips and Tricks

Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows

Programmers use keyboard shortcuts instead of mouse to perform most of the editing tasks, such as positioning the cursor, selecting texts, copy and paste. Below are the frequently-used keyboard shortcuts for the programmers.

Mouse Clicks

1. Single-click to position the mouse pointer.
2. Double-click to select a word.
3. Triple-click to select a paragraph.

Source-Code Editors and IDE

To learn a new programming language, you could begin with a graphical Source-Code Editor, with provides syntax highlighting. But you must switch over to an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), which provides a graphic debugger, when you are working on complex programs and projects to improve your productivity.

Read "Source-Code Editors and IDE".

Windows Default Text Editor "Notepad"

Notepad is a plain text editor, which does not support syntax highlighting. Do NOT use NotePad for programming. At a minimum, use NotePad++ to replace NotePad, and associate the text files (.txt, etc) to NotePad++, instead of NotePad.

Not sure if NotePad can be removed from Windows!

REFERENCES & RESOURCES

1. Microsoft MS-DOS User's Guide and Reference.
2. "Command-line Reference for IT Pros - Technical Reference", available under Windows "Help".

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