After upgrading Tableau to 9.2, I am unable to publish workbooks in the Tableau Server (9.1)?

Question

Has anyone experienced this? It is very frustrating as I have spent several hours preparing workbooks in the upgraded 9.2 version. I try to publish to the 9.1 Tableau Server, but it will not allow it. Looks like I may have to spend several more hours recreating the dashboard on 9.0 again (9.0 is compatible with the Tableau Server we have, but 9.2 is not).

Can someone please help :(

Thank you, P

Answer 1

Here's a little hack that works.

• Unpack/unzip the .twbx file if you have a .twbx file, to get the .twb file. (To unpackage/unzip: Change the file extension from .twbx to .zip and unzip how you would normally any .zip file. On OSX, double-clicking the .zip file in Finder unzips it and displays the separated .twb and .tde files).
• Open the .twb file in a text editor.
• Towards the top, you will see a line like this

<workbook source-platform='win' version='9.1' xml:base='http://bi.teslamotors.com' xmlns:user='http://www.tableausoftware.com/xml/user'>

• Change the version='9.2' (which is the Tableau Desktop version you saved the .twb file in) to the version compatible with the server, eg. version='9.1'. Open the file in the Tableau Desktop version you just switched the text to, eg. Tableau Desktop 9.1 in this case. (Tableau allows installing multiple concurrent versions on the same machine).

• You should now be able to publish your dashboard to the Tableau Server.

Note that this is indeed a hack to save hours of re-doing the same work again (since there's no easy copy-paste in Tableau!), and is of course recommended to follow the official way that the other posters have suggested.

Source 1, Source 2

Answer 2

Tableau is not backward compatible .

This is applicable for both Desktop and Server .

Workbooks created in newer version would not open in previous version of the software. Also, same way it will not be able to publish to prior version of the server .

You might need to recreate everything, or you can upgrade your server .

Major and minor releases Workbook Compatibility after Upgrading Tableau Desktop

Workbooks and extracts that are saved in a later version of Desktop are upgraded and cannot be opened by any earlier versions. Exception: A version 8.3 workbook can be opened in Desktop 8.2. For example, a version 9.1 workbook is upgraded when saved in Desktop 9.2. The workbook can no longer be opened by Desktop 9.1. Workbooks and extracts that are opened but not saved in a later version of Desktop remain accessible by the earlier versions they were created with. Workbooks created with the latest version of Desktop can connect to earlier versions of Server beginning with Server 8.0. For example, a workbook in Desktop 9.2 can connect to Tableau Server 8.2 or 8.3. However, a workbook in Desktop 8.1 cannot connect to Tableau Server 7.0. Workbooks created in a later version of Tableau Desktop cannot be published to earlier versions of Tableau Server. Exception: Workbooks created with Desktop 8.3 can be published to Tableau Server 8.2. For example, workbooks created in Desktop 9.2 cannot be published to Tableau Server 9.1. Workbooks and data sources downloaded from earlier versions of Tableau Server can be opened by the latest version of Desktop.

Official Doc here