Error "There was an unexpected error while trying to repair Trusted Storage" Activating or Installing on a Mac

Issue

When you try to activate Tableau Desktop the following errors may occur:

There was an unexpected error while trying to repair Trusted Storage.

or

Function flxActCommonRepairLocalTrustedStorage returned error (50044, 71013, 19810)
LM_TS_LOCAL_REPAIR
There was an unexpected error while trying to repair Trusted Storage.

or

Function flxActCommonRepairLocalTrustedStorage returned error (50044, 71013, 27)
LM_TS_LOCAL_REPAIR
There was an unexpected error while trying to repair Trusted Storage.

or

ERROR: flxActCommonLicSpcPopulateAllFromTS (50030, 71521,17005)
When trying to review trusted storage using custactutil

Environment

Tableau Desktop
Mac OS
Third party software

Resolution

Option 1 - For Tableau Desktop 2019.3 and later versions

Please re-run the installer as the Flexnet package cannot be split any longer.

Option 2 - For Tableau Desktop all versions

Please note that using the below method may impact other applications that also run with FLEXnet. Consult with your IT team before proceeding.

On the computer running Tableau Desktop, please manually remove the FLEXnet preference files from the Library Folder. To find and remove the FlexNet preference files, see the steps below:

Close Tableau Desktop
Open Finder
Select Go > Go to Folder from the menu bar at the top of the screen
Enter /Library/Preferences/FLEXnet Publisher/FLEXnet and select Go
Highlight all items in the directory and use the keys CMD + DELETE to delete them
- Note: the files can also be deleted if the Gear Icon > Move to Trash option is selected while the items are highlighted
Restart the computer
Open Tableau Desktop and enter your product key to activate the product if necessary.

Option 3 - For Tableau Desktop 2019.2 and earlier versions

On the computer running Tableau Desktop, please manually re-install the FlexNet package. To find and install the FlexNet licensing components, see the steps below:

In Finder, click Applications.
Hold down the Control key, click Tableau, and then select Show Package Contents.
Double-click Contents, double-click Installers, and then double-click Tableau FLEXNET.pkg.
Follow the instructions in the installation wizard and use the default options.
- Note: you may be prompted to enter your license key.
When the FLEXNet installation completes, restart the computer.

Cause

This issue can be caused by different circumstances:

Third party tools or systems interfering with Tableau files and directories.
Corruption issues with FlexNet license data.
Time machine backups and moving Tableau Desktop images.

To avoid this issue, work with your IT team to ensure that no managed services or accounts are modifying Tableau files, including relevant FlexNet files.

Additional Information

Note: The tableau_xxxxxxx_event.log and tableau_xxxxxxx_tsf.data_backup files listed in the output (after running the ls -l /Library/Preferences/FLEXnet\ Publisher/FLEXnet cmd) should be owned by the local system of the user experiencing the issue, and have permissions of -rw-r--r-- and -rw-rw-rw-, respectively. If they are owned by a different user/have incorrect permissions, try manually changing them back.

For more information, see Errors: "FLEXNet licensing service is not present" or "Function flxActAppActivationSend returned error (0,0,0)" Activating on Mac