BI Connector.config File Settings: How to Edit and Full Parameter Reference

Modified on Thu, 20 Aug at 9:10 AM

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The BI Connector.config file holds advanced settings that control how BI Connector behaves — logging, row limits, HTTP timeouts, data types, failure notifications, and more. This article covers where the file is, how to open and edit it safely, every available setting, and how to apply your changes.


Majority of users don't have to make any changes as the default values in this file would work. For users who want a high-level of customizations can read this document and make the changes they need.

 

Using a cluster or multiple nodes? — If you change this configuration on a server, replicate the same changes across all Gateways in the cluster, or all nodes in a Tableau Bridge pool or multi-node Server, so every node stays identical.

 

Where the file is located

The file is located here:

C:\ProgramData\Guidanz\BI Connector

 

The file name is BI Connector and its type is Config (see the screenshot below).

COMMENT: [SCREENSHOT 1: File Explorer at C:\ProgramData\Guidanz\BI Connector with the 'BI Connector' CONFIG file highlighted (folder screenshot provided by author)]

 

Open the file as administrator

Important — Open the file as an administrator, or Windows will not let you save your changes.

 

Right-click the BI Connector config file and open it as administrator.

 

Don't see an option to open as administrator? — Even with admin permissions, the right-click menu may not offer it. Open Notepad as administrator first (search for Notepad, right-click it, choose Run as administrator). Then in Notepad, go to File > Open, browse to
C:\ProgramData\Guidanz\BI Connector
and open the file.

 

Configuration settings

The file is plain text, with one setting per line in key=value format. For example:

async=0
LogLevel=11f
MaxRowsFetched=25000
SuppressSelectStar=1

 

Change only the values you need. The available settings are below.

 

KeyDefaultValid valuesWhat it does
launchNewUI10 / 11 = use the new UI dialogs; 0 = fall back to the old configDSN() UI.
LastUpdatedTime(empty)UTC datetimeTimestamp used to detect config changes and trigger a reload of the global config.
httpTimeout15Positive integer (minutes)Timeout for async HTTP data fetches
IgnoreInvalidCert00 / 11 = skip SSL/TLS certificate validation (accept self-signed / invalid certs).
SuppressSelectStar10 / 11 = rewrite SELECT * into an explicit column list.
ReportRowLimit00 / 11 = enable a row cap on report queries using ReportRowLimitCount parameter
ReportRowLimitCount1000000Positive integerRow count cap used in when ReportRowLimit = 1.
IgnoreEmptyTables10 / 11 = hide tables with 1 or fewer columns from the schema list.
IsConfigInfoMovedToInifalsetrue / falseLegacy one-time migration flag (registry -> ini); no longer used for runtime behaviour.
NullDateValue1900-12-31YYYY-MM-DD (must parse and be 10 characters)Value substituted for NULL dates (Power BI connector).
IgnoreCatalogNametruetrue / falsePower BI-specific: ignore the catalog name in table references.
MaxRowsFetched25000Positive integerHard cap on rows per fetch.
logRotationFreq7Positive integerDays of old log files to keep before deletion.
async00 / 11 = fetch capped number of rows; 0 = fetch without row limit.

 

Save your changes and restart the service

After editing, save the file (in Notepad, File > Save, or press Ctrl + S).

 

Your changes take effect only after you restart the BI Connector service. Open the Windows Services app (search for Services in the Start menu), find the BI Connector service, right-click it, and select Restart.

COMMENT: [SCREENSHOT 2: Windows Services app with the BI Connector service selected and the right-click Restart option]

 

Done! Your configuration changes are saved and take effect once the BI Connector service restarts.