Tableau Server writes logs across dozens of folders in different formats. It can be a bit tough to find info on which logs you need, given the context you’re trying to find. Tableau's documentation covers it, but you have to cross-reference multiple pages to find what you need.
This quick reference should help!
Log base path on Linux: /var/opt/tableau/tableau_server/data/tabsvc/logs/
Log base path on Windows: C:\ProgramData\Tableau\Tableau Server\data\tabsvc\logs\
Note: if you installed to a non-default location, look there for the relevant data → tabsvc directory, and you’ll find the logs directory inside.
Quick Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Logs to Check |
|---|---|
| Users can't log in | authnservice/, vizportal/, httpd/ |
| Dashboard won't load | vizqlserver/, dataserver/, hyper/, httpd/ |
| Extract refresh failed | backgrounder/, hyper/, filestore/ |
| Search not working | indexandsearchserver/, noninteractive/ |
| Cluster node unhealthy | tabadmincontroller/, clustercontroller/, tabadminagent/ |
| TSM commands failing | tabadmincontroller/, tabadminagent/, appzookeeper/ |
Process Log Reference
Core Request Processing
| Process | Log Folder | Check When |
|---|---|---|
| Gateway | httpd/ | User-facing errors, SSL problems |
| Application Server | vizportal/ | Web UI errors, REST API failures, login page issues |
| VizQL Server | vizqlserver/ | Viz rendering failures, session timeouts, memory issues |
| API Gateway | apigateway/ | REST API v3.x errors (check out http first) |
| Data Server | dataserver/ | Published data source issues |
Data & Query Processing
| Process | Log Folder | Check When |
|---|---|---|
| Data Engine (Hyper) | hyper/ | Extract query failures, Hyper crashes, memory exhaustion |
| File Store | filestore/ | Extract replication failures, missing extracts, sync issues |
| Cache Server | cacheserver/ | Query cache issues, Redis failures, session data loss |
Background Jobs
| Process | Log Folder | Check When |
|---|---|---|
| Backgrounder | backgrounder/ | Extract refresh failures, subscription failures, job queue backlog |
| Flow Processor | flowprocessor/ | Prep flow execution failures, flow step errors |
Authentication
| Process | Log Folder | Check When |
|---|---|---|
| Authentication Service | authnservice/ | SAML/OIDC failures, SSO redirect loops, token validation (also check the vizportal logs) |
| Identity Service | identityservice/ | SCIM provisioning, identity migration, user/group sync |
Cluster & Administration
| Process | Log Folder | Check When |
|---|---|---|
| Coordination Service | appzookeeper/ | Cluster quorum, split-brain, leader election failures |
| Cluster Controller | clustercontroller/ | Repository failover, node health, process state transitions |
| Repository | pgsql/ | Database connections, replication lag, failover problems |
| TSM Controller | tabadmincontroller/ | TSM command failures, config apply errors, backup/restore, service startup errors |
| TSM Agent | tabadminagent/ | Service startup/shutdown failures on specific nodes (also check the individual service's logs) |
Search & Indexing
| Process | Log Folder | Check When |
|---|---|---|
| Index and Search | indexandsearchserver/ | Search not returning results, indexing delays |
| Non-Interactive Container | noninteractive/ | Background indexing failures, metadata operations |
Ingesting Logs with ts-olly
If you want these logs in Splunk, Elasticsearch, Loki, or similar, you'll need to parse multiple formats — log4j, log4j2, httpd, JSON — and keep up as Tableau adds or changes processes over time.
ts-olly handles this. It reads Tableau's config files to learn the log formats automatically, detects new processes and their configs as they appear, and outputs unified JSON. You don't have to build or maintain parsers.
ts-olly -node node1 \
-logsdir /var/opt/tableau/tableau_server/data/tabsvc/logs \
-configdir /var/opt/tableau/tableau_server/data/tabsvc/config
MIT-licensed: github.com/highperformance-tech/ts-olly
Need help interpreting what you're seeing in these logs? We've helped dozens of organizations troubleshoot complex Tableau Server issues — from memory leaks that only show up under load to intermittent authentication failures that disappear when you're looking for them.
If you're dealing with a tricky performance issue or need someone to review your server health, feel free to reach out — happy to point you in the right direction.