netbirdio/netbird · error

failed to connect to daemon error: %v If the daemon is not r

Error message

failed to connect to daemon error: %v
If the daemon is not running please run: 
netbird service install 
netbird service start

What it means

Thrown by createProfile (client/cmd/up.go:187) when DialClientGRPCServer(ctx, daemonAddr) cannot connect to the daemon's IPC socket (unix socket such as /var/run/netbird.sock, or the Windows named pipe npipe://netbird). The message embeds recovery instructions because profile auto-create is one of the first operations that needs a live daemon. Same failure shape as the dial in runInDaemonMode.

Source

Thrown at client/cmd/up.go:187

			}
			return err
		}
	}

	if err := pm.SwitchProfile(resolvedID); err != nil {
		return err
	}
	return nil
}

// createProfile dials the daemon and creates a new profile with the given
// display name, returning its generated ID. Use addProfileOnDaemon directly
// when a daemon client is already available to reuse the connection.
func createProfile(ctx context.Context, profileName, username string) (profilemanager.ID, error) {
	conn, err := DialClientGRPCServer(ctx, daemonAddr)
	if err != nil {
		//nolint
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to connect to daemon error: %v\n"+
			"If the daemon is not running please run: "+
			"\nnetbird service install \nnetbird service start\n", err)
	}
	defer conn.Close()

	return addProfileOnDaemon(ctx, proto.NewDaemonServiceClient(conn), profileName, username)
}

func runInForegroundMode(ctx context.Context, cmd *cobra.Command, activeProf *profilemanager.Profile) error {
	// override the default profile filepath if provided
	if configPath != "" {
		_ = profilemanager.NewServiceManager(configPath)
	}

	err := handleRebrand(cmd)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 93e97f4bf1)

Solutions

1. Run 'netbird service install' and 'netbird service start' (exactly as the error text instructs), then retry
2. Check service health: systemctl status netbird / journalctl -u netbird (or the Windows service), and restart if crashed
3. Verify the socket exists and is accessible (ls -l /var/run/netbird.sock; adjust group/permissions or SELinux policy)
4. If the daemon was just started, give it a moment and retry - the listener may still be binding

// unix socket: confirm the daemon listener exists before dialing
if _, err := os.Stat("/var/run/netbird.sock"); err != nil {
    log.Fatal("daemon socket missing: run netbird service install && netbird service start")
}

func isDaemonUnavailable(err error) bool {
    st, ok := gstatus.FromError(err)
    return ok && st.Code() == codes.Unavailable
}

conn, err := DialClientGRPCServer(ctx, daemonAddr)
if err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "connect: no such file or directory") {
        // socket absent: guide to install/start the service, then retry once
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: 'netbird up --profile <name>' (or any path hitting createProfile) while the netbird service is not installed/started; the socket file missing or replaced; permission denial on the unix socket (wrong group/SELinux/AppArmor); the daemon still initializing its listener.

Common situations: Fresh installs where 'netbird service install/start' was skipped; the service crashed (check journalctl/systemctl); running the CLI as a user denied access to the socket; Windows named pipe ACLs blocking non-admin callers.

Related errors

• %s: %w
• failed to set log level: %v
• wait for extend session: %v
• switch profile: %v
• switch profile on daemon: %v

AI-assisted analysis of netbirdio/netbird@93e97f4bf1 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5e788ad5242b8d6a. Report an issue: GitHub.