GyulyVGC/sniffnet · error

Could not restore default settings

Error message

Could not restore default settings

What it means

Printed when the `--restore-default` CLI flag is given and `Conf::default().store()` fails (src/cli/mod.rs:66). store() serializes the default configuration via confy to the user's config file; on failure Sniffnet prints this message to stderr and exits with code 1 instead of launching the GUI. The confy error itself is swallowed — only the generic message is shown.

Source

Thrown at src/cli/mod.rs:66

                    std::process::exit(0);
                }
                std::process::exit(1);
            } else {
                // truncate logs file
                let _ = std::fs::OpenOptions::new()
                    .write(true)
                    .truncate(true)
                    .open(logs_file)
                    .log_err(crate::location!());
            }
        }

        if args.restore_default {
            if Conf::default().store().is_ok() {
                println!("Restored default settings");
                std::process::exit(0);
            } else {
                eprintln!("Could not restore default settings");
                std::process::exit(1);
            }
        }

        if args.config_path {
            if let Ok(config_path) =
                confy::get_configuration_file_path(SNIFFNET_LOWERCASE, Conf::FILE_NAME)
            {
                println!("{}", config_path.display());
                std::process::exit(0);
            } else {
                eprintln!("Could not retrieve configuration file path");
                std::process::exit(1);
            }
        }

        args
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to 48b0575dc0)

Solutions

1. Check and fix ownership/permissions of the config file and its parent directory (e.g. `chown -R $USER ~/.config/sniffnet` on Linux, `chmod u+w` on the file).
2. Locate the file with `sniffnet --config-path` (or compute the confy path) and ensure its parent directory exists and is writable.
3. Verify HOME / XDG_CONFIG_HOME are set to a writable path in the environment where the command runs.
4. If the config is corrupt or unfixable, delete/rename the file and rerun `--restore-default` so a fresh default file is created.
5. Free disk space if the write fails due to a full filesystem.

Example fix

// before — failure reason is swallowed
if Conf::default().store().is_ok() {
    println!("Restored default settings");
    std::process::exit(0);
} else {
    eprintln!("Could not restore default settings");
    std::process::exit(1);
}

// after — surface the confy error for diagnosis
match Conf::default().store() {
    Ok(()) => {
        println!("Restored default settings");
        std::process::exit(0);
    }
    Err(e) => {
        eprintln!("Could not restore default settings: {e}");
        std::process::exit(1);
    }
}

# verify the config file is replaceable before running --restore-default
$ cfg=$(sniffnet --config-path 2>/dev/null || echo "$HOME/.config/sniffnet/sniffnet.toml")
$ touch "$cfg" 2>/dev/null && echo writable || echo "fix permissions first: chown $USER $(dirname "$cfg")"

When it happens

Trigger: Running `sniffnet --restore-default` when the configuration file path is not writable: confy::store failing because the config directory doesn't exist or can't be created, the file is read-only or owned by another user (e.g. previously created with sudo), the disk is full, or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/$HOME point to an invalid location.

Common situations: User previously ran Sniffnet with sudo, leaving root-owned config files that the normal user cannot overwrite; HOME or XDG_CONFIG_HOME unset in a minimal/SSH session or in a unit file; a full disk or read-only home (live USB); migrating the config directory between versions while old files remain with wrong permissions.

Related errors

• Could not retrieve configuration file path
• Sniffnet error at [{file}:{line}]: {e}
• panic!() (bare panic triggered by ErrorLogger on Err in debu
• An error occurred!
• No traffic can be observed because the adapter you selected

AI-assisted analysis of GyulyVGC/sniffnet@48b0575dc0 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/99467ef790a0677b. Report an issue: GitHub.