Upload your .req file. The portal will ask for the Product Key again. Verify that the Machine ID in the portal matches the one on your server (a mismatch here is the #1 cause of failure).
Download the resulting .offline file.
When you run the offline activation command on your air-gapped server, Tableau generates a unique ID based on: offline activation tableau exclusive
If you change the network card or migrate the VM to a new host, the activation will break. For VMware environments, use a static DRS rule to pin the VM to a specific host. Upload your
| Feature | Standard Online Activation | Offline Activation (Exclusive) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Internet required | Yes, at time of activation | No (transfer file via USB) | | Auto-renewal | Automatic | Manual (re-apply license file) | | Hardware binding | Soft binding (can change) | Hard binding (Tied to TPM/MAC) | | Audit trail | Cloud-based | Local only (by admin) | | Use case | SaaS, cloud, general BI | Classified, military, nuclear, zero-trust | If you change the network card or migrate
Critical Note: "Exclusive" also implies that you cannot mix online and offline nodes in the same Tableau Server cluster. Once you go offline, the entire deployment must be exclusive.