Activating Tableau Desktop in an Air Gap Environment

1. On the computer that is disconnected from the Internet, follow steps 1-4 described in Activating Tableau Offline in order to save the offline.tlq file.
2. On a separate computer that is connected to the Internet and is capable of sending email, download the attached offline-template.tlq template file for completing an offline activation of Tableau Desktop. 
   Note: This template is a simple XML text file. 
3. Open this template file using a simple text editor like Notepad, UltraEdit, Sublime, or Notepad++. Do not use Word, as this can cause character encoding issues.
4. Replace the values in the template file on the computer that is connected to the Internet with the same values from offline.tlq file on the computer that is disconnected from the Internet (see instructions below for details).
   Note: XML elements and values are case sensitive. (Double check the most common misinterpreted characters: number 8 versus letter B, number 0 versus the letter O, number 5 versus letter S).
5. Upload the completed template to Tableau Offline Activation website. The website will guide you through the steps to receive the activation.tlf file which will fulfill the activation.
6. Transfer this activation.tlf file back onto the computer to be activated, and double click the file which will complete the fulfilled activation. Alternately, if double-click did not successfully activate, right-click the activation.tlf file and run as an administrator. 

Values to copy from offline.tlq on disconnected computer to the template file on computer with internet access:
If you are using a text editor that displays line numbers, the template file should have the values on lines listed as below:

• Line 2 -   <EntitlementId>XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX</EntitlementId>
  • EntitlementId: The value that represents the license key. This license key must be associated with the current maintenance date.  
• Line 5 -   <ClientVersion>XX.X.X</ClientVersion>
  • ClientVersion: The value that represents the FlexNet from Flexera Software version implemented with Tableau. Note this is not the version number of Tableau Desktop.
• Line 5 -   <RevisionType>XXX</RevisionType>
  • Revision Type: A 3 letter value that is used by the FlexNet licensing server to know the type of license system in use. Normally this will be **ASR**, but could also be **SRV**.

• Line 5 -   <MachineIdentifier>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</MachineIdentifier>
  • MachineIdentifier: A generated value that uses attributes of your system. This value is then used to bind trusted storage to the system. Also known as a "binding hash," these bound items take the individual characteristics of the computer and are used in combination to create a signature of the system hardware. 
• Line 7 -   <PlatformTypeName>XXXXXX</PlatformTypeName>
  • PlatformTypeName: The value that indicates the bitness of the computer's system: 32-bit systems normally have a value of **i86_n3** while 64-bit machines will normally have a value of **x64_n6**.
• Line 11 - <UniqueMachineNumber><Type>1</Type><Value>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</Value></UniqueMachineNumber>
• Line 12 - <UniqueMachineNumber><Type>2</Type><Value>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</Value></UniqueMachineNumber>
  • UniqueMachineNumbers: The unique machine numbers (UMN) is a generated value designed to be unique and constant. The UMN is used by the Tableau activation server to identify the computer that is requesting the transaction. For a Windows computer, the UMN can include the boot disk serial number.
• Line 14 - <SequenceNumber>X</SequenceNumber>
  • SequenceNumber: A randomly generated value that is stored in a trusted storage file when initially created. However, this is not linked to any physical attribute of your system’s hardware. This can be either a single or double integer such as 2 or 11.
• Line 36 - <Hash>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</Hash>  ​
  • Hash: A hash value (i.e., a string of numbers and letters) that is comprised of the contents of the offline.tlq file and used to validate the file integrity. This value ensures that the information in the file has not been modified.
• Note: The MachineIdentifier, UniqueMachineNumbers, and the Hash values will all be hexadecimal values. This means the only valid characters will be 0-9 and A-F. 
   

Deactivating Tableau Desktop in an Air Gap Environment

1. On the computer that is disconnected from the Internet, follow steps 1-4 described in Deactivate Offline in order to save the return.tlq file.
2. Contact Tableau Technical Support to provide the Tableau Desktop key being deactivated and locate in the return.tlq file, the FID_#marker. The FID string can be from 26 to 36 characters in length. The return.tlq can be opened with any XML editor such as NotePad++. We can return the activation on our Tableau License Server on your behalf.