netbirdio/netbird · warning

failed initializing log %v

Error message

failed initializing log %v

What it means

Thrown by upFunc (client/cmd/up.go:103). util.InitLog(logLevel, util.LogConsole) calls logrus.ParseLevel on the --log-level flag value and returns 'failed parsing log-level ...' when it is not one of logrus's level names (trace, debug, info, warn/warning, error, fatal, panic - case-insensitive). 'netbird up' aborts before any network action.

Source

Thrown at client/cmd/up.go:103

			`or --extra-dns-labels ""`,
	)

	upCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&noBrowser, noBrowserFlag, false, noBrowserDesc)
	upCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&showQR, showQRFlag, false, showQRDesc)
	upCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&profileName, profileNameFlag, "", profileNameDesc)
	upCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&configPath, "config", "c", "", "(DEPRECATED) NetBird config file location. ")

}

func upFunc(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
	SetFlagsFromEnvVars(rootCmd)
	SetFlagsFromEnvVars(cmd)

	cmd.SetOut(cmd.OutOrStdout())

	err := util.InitLog(logLevel, util.LogConsole)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed initializing log %v", err)
	}

	err = validateNATExternalIPs(natExternalIPs)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	dnsLabelsValidated, err = validateDnsLabels(dnsLabels)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	ctx := internal.CtxInitState(cmd.Context())

	if hostName != "" {
		// nolint
		ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, system.DeviceNameCtxKey, hostName)
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 93e97f4bf1)

Solutions

1. Use a supported level: trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal, or panic (debug/info are the common ones)
2. Remove the --log-level flag to use the default
3. Check any env var or systemd unit that injects the level for typos

Example fix

// before
err := util.InitLog(logLevel, util.LogConsole)
if err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("failed initializing log %v", err)
}

// after: validate early with an actionable message
if _, perr := logrus.ParseLevel(logLevel); perr != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("invalid --log-level %q (valid: trace,debug,info,warn,error,fatal,panic)", logLevel)
}

if _, err := logrus.ParseLevel(logLevel); err != nil {
    log.Fatalf("--log-level must be one of trace|debug|info|warn|error|fatal|panic, got %q", logLevel)
}

func isValidLogLevel(s string) bool {
    _, err := logrus.ParseLevel(s)
    return err == nil
}

When it happens

Trigger: 'netbird up --log-level verbose' or --log-level notice, --log-level 3, or any string logrus does not recognize. Also NB_LOG_LEVEL-style env vars if wired via SetFlagsFromEnvVars.

Common situations: Habitual levels from other ecosystems (verbose, notice, all); numeric levels; a typo in wrapper scripts or systemd unit Environment= lines.

Related errors

• invalid direction: use 'in' or 'out'
• invalid protocol: use tcp/udp/icmp
• invalid source port: %v
• invalid destination port: %v
• unknown log level: %s. Available levels are: panic, fatal, e

AI-assisted analysis of netbirdio/netbird@93e97f4bf1 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/815a9b15e5d56e1d. Report an issue: GitHub.