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How to deploy Tableau Next with Gearset

You can deploy Tableau Next with Gearset, through a CICD pipeline or between orgs using a DevOps Data Kit. This article will take you through an example deployment.

Written by Nicole Bazarova

What is Tableau Next?

Tableau Next is Salesforce's analytics platform, built natively on the Agentforce 360 Platform and powered by Data 360 (formerly Data Cloud). Rather than living in a separate Tableau server or site, its workspaces, dashboards and visualizations sit inside the Salesforce org, built on top of the customer data that Data 360 unifies.

Tableau Next therefore comprises 2 layers:

  1. The analytics assets people see (workspaces, visualizations, and dashboards)

  2. The data layer underneath (semantic models, data model objects, data lake objects, and calculated insights) which is Data 360 metadata

Salesforce recommends you use a DevOps Data Kit to deploy Tableau Next assets to ensure all components are deployed together and in the correct publishing sequence order.

Why can it be difficult to deploy outside of Gearset?

A Tableau Next workspace holds connection information, not data. This means that its visualizations sit on top of semantic models that require Data 360 components, which need to be included in deployments for Tableau Next assets to function correctly. DevOps Data Kits are the vehicle to deploy the complete set of metadata, but come with their own unique challenges.

For Tableau Next specifically, teams must ensure they include all the dependent components manually in a change set, run multiple separate deployments via the CLI, and don't forget to manually install the Data Kit post-deployment for all deployment methods.

How to deploy Tableau Next with Gearset?

Deploying Tableau Next assets through a DevOps Data Kit can be done in just a few clicks. First, ensure that you have set up your source and target org correctly.

Before you deploy:

  1. Enable Data 360 and Tableau Next in both orgs.

    1. Data 360 is a prerequisite for Tableau Next. Once Data 360 is enabled, switch on Tableau Next in Setup under Tableau Next Setup.

  2. Give the deployment user the right permissions.

    1. Grant the following permission sets:

      • The Data Cloud Architect permission set

      • The Tableau Unmetered Platform Analyst/Tableau Next Platform Analyst permission set (required for creating and editing Tableau Next assets)

      • The Tableau Unmetered Admin/Tableau Next Admin permission set (required for the initial configuration and ongoing management of Tableau Next Setup)

      • Standard Data 360 permissions

  3. Confirm you have matching data spaces between the source and target.

    1. Every Data 360 org comes with a default data space. If you have built any Data Kits outside of the default data space, you will need to manually create the same data space in the target as the Metadata API cannot deploy Data Space definitions

    2. When using a custom data space:

      1. Ensure the target org's data space has the same name and prefix as the source org

      2. Give the deployment user access to the data space in the target

You're now ready to deploy your Tableau Next assets!

Deploying Tableau Next with Gearset

The dashboard is the part most teams expect to deploy, but it travels inside a DevOps Data Kit in Gearset. A dashboard depends on its visualizations, which depend on the semantic model and workspace, so all of them go in the same Data Kit.

  1. Create a DevOps Data Kit in the source org

    1. It must be a DevOps Data Kit, as other kit types are not supported for deployment via the Metadata API

  2. Add the dashboard into the Data Kit

    1. This will automatically include the corresponding workspace

    2. Visualizations, semantic models, and any other Data 360 objects will also be pre-selected. Include dependent components unless you're certain they already exist in every target org

  3. In Gearset, select “Data Kit” as the deployment mechanism from Pipelines or Compare & Deploy

    1. Gearset will automatically detect all the components in the DevOps Data Kit (including Tableau Next assets), and select them for deployment. You will be able to review the components on the next page

    2. The Tableau Next assets will show as DataKitObjectTemplate items. As all Tableau Next assets show as DataKitObjectTemplate items, you can confirm the correct assets are being deployed by checking the xml for “sourceObjectType”

  4. Once deployed, Gearset automatically performs the "Data Kit Deploy" step to install/activate your DevOps Data Kit and create the assets in the target org

    1. Your Tableau Next assets should now be visible in the target!

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