How to disable the logs tabprotosrv*.txt which are generated by the process tabprotosrv.exe

Published: 02 Mar 2023
Last Modified Date: 02 Mar 2023

Question

Environment

Tableau Desktop

Answer

1) Here is the introduction for the tabprotosrv logs:

tabprotosrv.txt

This log tracks the external protocol process (tabprotosrv.exe).
This log contains more detailed data connection specific information and queries.
This log is not generated when connecting to multi-dimensional OLAP data source, using published datasources on Tableau server, or connecting to extracts or flat files.

2) Enabling/Disabling Protocol Server

There are two ways to enable/disable protocol server. Any of the following methods can be used to suppress the logs tabprotosrv*.txt files being generated at the directory $My Tableau Repository$\Logs on Tableau Desktop machine.

Method 1:
On Windows, the protocol server can be enabled or disabled by changing the registry key status. User need to add ExternalProtocol string under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Tableau\Tableau version XXX\Settings and set it as enabled/disabled. By default, the server process is enabled.

Method 2:
On both Mac and Windows, you can use the command line parameter -DExternalProtocolDisabled=true.
Steps:

In 'Command Prompt' navigate to the bin folder (ex. Type: cd C:\Program Files\Tableau\<Tableau version>\bin
launch Tableau using the following command: tableau.exe -DExternalProtocolDisabled=true