Tableau Services Manager (TSM) is the administrative tool for managing Tableau Server’s configuration, processes, and topology. To log in to TSM (via the web UI at https:// :8850 or CLI), you need:
TSM administrator credentials: These are distinct from site roles and are set during installation or reset via tsm reset.
Local administrative rights: On Windows, the account used to access TSM must be in the local Administrators group on the initial node, as TSM interacts with system-level services.
In a test cluster, the engineer’s inability to log in suggests they lack either the correct TSM credentials or sufficient OS-level permissions. Since the question focuses on a Windows environment and “initial node,” the most immediate requirement is local administrative rights to run TSM commands or access the UI.
Option C (An account with administrative rights to the computer): Correct. The engineer must use an account in the local Administrators group on the initial node to authenticate to TSM. After that, they’ll need the TSM admin username/password set during installation.
Option A (An account with a Creator site role): Incorrect. Site roles (e.g., Creator) apply to content access within Tableau Server, not TSM administration.
Option B (An account with a Site Administrator role): Incorrect. Site Administrators manage site content, not server-level TSM functions.
Option D (An account for the Tableau Server administrator): Partially correct but incomplete. This likely refers to the TSM admin account, but without local admin rights on the machine, login will fail. Option C is more precise.
[Reference: Tableau Server Documentation - "TSM Authentication" (https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/tsm_overview.htm#authentication)., , ]