AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome · error

restarting service: %w

Error message

restarting service: %w

What it means

The service manager was created, but performing the Restart action on the AdGuard Home service failed. svcMgr.Perform wraps platform-specific errors from systemd/svc control commands.

Source

Thrown at internal/home/service.go:140

// restartService restarts the service.  It returns error if the service is not
// running.  l must not be nil.
func restartService(ctx context.Context, baseLogger *slog.Logger) (err error) {
	svcMgr, err := ossvc.NewManager(ctx, &ossvc.ManagerConfig{
		Clock:              timeutil.SystemClock{},
		Logger:             baseLogger.With(slogutil.KeyPrefix, svcLogPrefix),
		CommandConstructor: executil.SystemCommandConstructor{},
	})
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("initializing service manager: %w", err)
	}

	act := &ossvc.ActionRestart{
		ServiceName: serviceName,
	}

	err = svcMgr.Perform(ctx, act)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("restarting service: %w", err)
	}

	return nil
}

// handleServiceControlAction one of the possible control actions:
//
//   - install:  Installs a service/daemon.
//   - uninstall:  Uninstalls it.
//   - status:  Prints the service status.
//   - start:  Starts the previously installed service.
//   - stop:  Stops the previously installed service.
//   - restart:  Restarts the previously installed service.
//   - run:  This is a special command that is not supposed to be used directly
//     it is specified when we register a service, and it indicates to the app
//     that it is being run as a service/daemon.
func handleServiceControlAction(
	ctx context.Context,

View on GitHub (pinned to b41aefbe51)

Solutions

1. Run the update/restart as root or with sudo
2. Verify the service exists and is running: systemctl status AdGuardHome
3. In containers, skip service-based restart; restart the container instead

Example fix

# before
./AdGuardHome --update

# after
sudo ./AdGuardHome --update

// Check service state before restart:
if st, _ := svcMgr.Status(ctx, name); st != svc.StatusRunning { /* handle */ }

if err := svcMgr.Perform(ctx, act); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("restarting service: %w", err) // distinguish EPERM vs not-found in logs
}

When it happens

Trigger: cmdlineUpdate → restartService → svcMgr.Perform(ActionRestart) failing due to the service being stopped already, insufficient privileges (not root), or the service manager timing out.

Common situations: Running 'AdGuardHome --update' as a non-root user, D-Bus/systemd unavailable in containers, or the unit file having been removed manually.

Related errors

• action %q: %w
• initializing service: %w
• initializing service manager: %w
• getting current directory: %w
• %w: %q

AI-assisted analysis of AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome@b41aefbe51 (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/75a4500bcf0326cc. Report an issue: GitHub.