Tableau Server Locks the Output Excel File After It Has Been Overwritten Several Times

Issue

After running a flow on Tableau Server several times, "The action can't be completed because the folder or a file in it is open in another program." or "The action can't be completed because the file is open in tabprotosrv.exe" message appears when attempting to delete the overwritten output Excel file in Network Drive.

The issue may occur when output file is located under maestro.input.allowed_paths.

User-added image

Environment

Tableau Server 2021.3-2022.3
Excel

Resolution

Workaround

Follow the steps below to identify the process that is locking the file and kill it on the node where the Flowprocessor or Backgrounder resides. Make sure no other flows are being run at the time of doing this, to avoid causing flow failures.

On Windows, open Resource Monitor, go to CPU tab, selecting the process that might be causing the issue (tabprotosrv or flowprocessor), and looking at "Associated Handles". Type in the file name. If process shows up, then the selected process (tabprotosrv or flowprocessor) should be killed.