# Troubleshooting client issues This document offers practical tips and insights to help you debug various problems, ensuring a seamless user experience. ## NetBird agent status The netbird agent is a daemon service that runs in the background; it provides information about peers connected and about the NetBird control services. You can check the status of the agent with the following command: ```shell netbird status --detail ```` This will output the following information: ```shell Peers detail: server-a.netbird.cloud: NetBird IP: 100.75.232.118/32 Public key: kndklnsakldvnsld+XeRF4CLr/lcNF+DSdkd/t0nZHDqmE= Status: Connected -- detail -- Connection type: P2P Direct: true ICE candidate (Local/Remote): host/host ICE candidate endpoints (Local/Remote): 10.128.0.35:51820/10.128.0.54:51820 Last connection update: 20 seconds ago Last Wireguard handshake: 19 seconds ago Transfer status (received/sent) 6.1 KiB/20.6 KiB Quantum resistance: false Routes: 10.0.0.0/24 Latency: 37.503682ms server-b.netbird.cloud: NetBird IP: 100.75.226.48/32 Public key: Mi6jtrK5Tokndklnsakldvnsld+XeRF4CLr/lcNF+DSdkd= Status: Connected -- detail -- Connection type: Relayed Direct: false ICE candidate (Local/Remote): relay/host ICE candidate endpoints (Local/Remote): 108.54.10.33:60434/10.128.0.12:51820 Last connection update: 20 seconds ago Last Wireguard handshake: 18 seconds ago Transfer status (received/sent) 6.1 KiB/20.6 KiB Quantum resistance: false Routes: - Latency: 37.503682ms OS: darwin/amd64 Daemon version: 0.27.4 CLI version: 0.27.4 Management: Connected to https://api.netbird.io:443 Signal: Connected to https://signal.netbird.io:443 Relays: [stun:turn.netbird.io:5555] is Available [turns:turn.netbird.io:443?transport=tcp] is Available Nameservers: [8.8.8.8:53, 8.8.4.4:53] for [.] is Available FQDN: maycons-mbp-2.netbird.cloud NetBird IP: 100.75.143.239/16 Interface type: Kernel Quantum resistance: false Routes: - Peers count: 2/2 Connected ``` As you can see, the output shows the peers connected, the NetBird IP address, the public key, the connection status, and the connection type. The status will also report if there is an issue connecting to the relay servers, the management server, or the signal server. As for Peers, the status will show the following information: * `Connection type`: P2P, Relayed, where relayed connections indicate a limitation in the network that prevents a direct connection between the peers. * `Direct`: true/false, where true indicates a direct connection between the peers without a local proxy. This case is common when the local peer is allocating the relay connection. * `ICE candidate (Local/Remote)`: relay/host, where relay indicates that the local peer is using a relay connection and host indicates that the remote peer is using a direct connection. * `Last Wireguard handshake`: Indicating the last time the Wireguard handshake was performed. Usually, this is performed every 2 minutes, and if you don\'t see an update here or if the value is empty, that indicates that the connection wasn\'t possible yet. * `Transfer status (received/sent)`: Indicating the amount of data received and sent by the peer. This is useful to check if the connection is being used. See more details about the status command [here](/get-started/cli#status). ## Getting client logs By default, client logs are located in the `/var/log/netbird/client.log` file on macOS and Linux and in the `C:\ProgramData\netbird\client.log` file on Windows. You can analyze the logs to identify the root cause of the problem. If you need help, open a [github issue](https://github.com/netbirdio/netbird/issues/new/choose) and attach the logs. ### Debug bundle A debug archive containing the recent logs and the status at the time of execution can be generated with the following command. Adding the `--anonymize (-A)` flag will anonymize the logs, removing sensitive information such as public IP addresses and domain names. In case you have tunneling issues, omitting the `--anonymize` flag might help our analysis. Adding the `--system-info (-S)` flag will add system information like network routes and interfaces ```shell netbird debug bundle --anonymize --system-info ``` This will output the path of the generated file. The output file is owned by and can only be accessed by the user NetBird is running as, by default it is: `Administrator` on Windows, `root` on MacOS/Linux or the operating system\'s equivalent. ### Debug for a specific time To capture logs for a specific time period, you can use the `debug for` command. This will generate a debug bundle after the specified time has elapsed. ```shell netbird debug for 5m --system-info ``` The flag `--anonymize (-A)` can be used to anonymize IP addresses and non-netbird.io domains in logs and status output when needed. To capture any issues arising during the `up` and `down` processes, this will set the log level to `TRACE` and bring netbird `up` and `down` up to a few times. After 5 minutes the netbird status will be restored to the previous state and the debug bundle will be generated. ### Debug bundle uploads Since version `0.43.1`, you can share debug bundle with the NetBird development team without local administrative privileges by using the `--upload-bundle (-U)` flag. It will securely generate and upload the debug bundle to our servers for access by the NetBird development team. See examples below: Run debug for a specific time and upload the bundle: ```shell netbird debug for 1m --system-info --upload-bundle ``` To generate a bundle without restarting the client and then uploading: ```shell netbird debug bundle --system-info --upload-bundle ``` This will output an `Upload file key`, which is effectively a random filename in our internal storage system and can be safely shared with us through public channels such as GitHub Issues or Slack. ```shell netbird debug bundle --system-info --upload-bundle Local file: /tmp/netbird.debug.2611377582.zip Upload file key: 1234567890ab27fb37c88b3b4be7011e22aa2e5ca6f38ffa9c4481884941f726/12345678-90ab-cdef-1234-567890abcdef ``` The flag `--anonymize` can be used to anonymize IP addresses and non-netbird.io domains in logs and status output when needed. ### Debug bundle uploads with GUI Since version `0.43.2` users can upload their debug bundle via the GUI client. To generate a bundle via GUI, you can access the application then go to `Settings` > `Create Debug Bundle` and follow the wizard to upload the bundle:

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If needed, you can update the upload URL and select to anonymize sensitive information like IP addresses and non-netbird.io domains in logs and status output.

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By default running with trace log enable before generating the bundle is selected. This will restart the client connections and provide a `disconnect to connected` information for our engineers. If you uncheck this option, a bundle will be generated without running this step. Which is very useful when you have an issue that recovers when restarting the client.

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Once the bundle generation is complete, you can click on `Copy Key` to get the uploaded key and share with NetBird\'s team. ## Enabling debug logs on agent Logs can be temporarily set using the following command. ```shell netbird debug log level debug ``` or ```shell netbird debug log level trace ``` The next time the daemon is restarted, the log level will return to the configured level. Using `netbird down` and `netbird up` will not reset the log level. To permanently set the log level, see the following sections. The default logging level is `info`. To revert back to the original state, you can repeat the procedure with `info` instead of `debug` or `trace`. ### On Linux with systemd The default systemd unit file reads a set of environment variables from the path `/etc/sysconfig/netbird`. You can add the following line to the file to enable debug logs: ```shell sudo mkdir -p /etc/sysconfig echo 'NB_LOG_LEVEL=debug' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysconfig/netbird sudo systemctl restart netbird ``` ### On Other Linux and MacOS ```shell sudo netbird service stop sudo netbird service uninstall sudo netbird service install --log-level debug # or trace sudo netbird service start ``` ### On Windows You need to run the following commands with an elevated PowerShell or `cmd.exe` window. ```shell [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("NB_LOG_LEVEL", "debug", "Machine") netbird service restart ``` ### On Docker You can set the environment variable `NB_LOG_LEVEL` to `debug` to enable debug logs. ```shell docker run --rm --name PEER_NAME --hostname PEER_NAME --cap-add=NET_ADMIN --cap-add=SYS_ADMIN --cap-add=SYS_RESOURCE -d \ -e NB_SETUP_KEY= -e NB_LOG_LEVEL=debug -v netbird-client:/var/lib/netbird netbirdio/netbird:latest ``` ### On Android Enable the ADB in the developer menu on the Android device. In the app set the the Trace log level setting - it is a checkbox in the advanced menu. With the ADB tool, you can get the logs from your device. The ADB is part of the SDK platform tools pack (zip file). You can download it from [here](https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools). Please extract it and run the next command in the case of Linux: ```shell sudo adb logcat -v time | grep GoLog ``` ## Running the agent in foreground mode You can run the agent in foreground mode to see the logs in the terminal. This is useful to debugging issues with the agent. ### Linux and MacOS ```shell sudo netbird service stop sudo netbird up -F ``` ### Windows On Windows, the agent depends on the Wireguard's `wintun.dll` and can only be executed as a system account. To run the agent in foreground mode, you need to use a tool called [PSExec](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/psexec). Once you have downloaded and extracted `psexec` open an elevated Powershell window: ```shell netbird service stop .\PsExec64.exe -s cmd.exe /c "netbird up -F --log-level debug > c:\windows\temp\netbird.out.log 2>&1" ``` In case you need to configure environment variables, you need to add them as system variables so they get picked up by the agent on the next psexec run: ```shell [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("PIONS_LOG_DEBUG", "all", "Machine") ```` ## Enabling WireGuard in user space Sometimes, you want to test NetBird running on userspace mode instead of a kernel module. That can be a check to see if there is a problem with NetBird's firewall management in kernel mode. You must run the agent in foreground mode and set the environment variable `NB_WG_KERNEL_DISABLED` to `true`. ```shell sudo netbird service stop sudo bash -c 'NB_WG_KERNEL_DISABLED=true netbird up -F' > /tmp/netbird.log ``` ## Debugging GRPC The NetBird agent communicates with the Management and Signal servers using the GRPC framework. With these parameters, you can set verbose logging for this service. ```shell sudo netbird service stop sudo bash -c 'GRPC_GO_LOG_VERBOSITY_LEVEL=99 GRPC_GO_LOG_SEVERITY_LEVEL=info netbird up -F' > /tmp/netbird.log ``` ## Debugging ICE connections The Netbird agent communicates with other peers through the Interactive Connectivity Establishment (ICE) protocol described in the [RFC 8445](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc8445). To debug the connection procedure, set verbose logging for the the [Pion/ICE](https://github.com/pion/ice) library with the `PIONS_LOG_DEBUG` or `PIONS_LOG_TRACE` variable. ```shell {{ title: 'Environment variable' }} PIONS_LOG_DEBUG=all NB_LOG_LEVEL=debug ``` ```shell sudo netbird service stop sudo bash -c 'PIONS_LOG_DEBUG=all NB_LOG_LEVEL=debug netbird up -F' > /tmp/netbird.log ``` ## Client login failures A single machine can only connect to one NetBird account as the same user/login method throughout the lifetime of the `config.json` file: - `/var/lib/netbird/default.json` for Linux/MacOS - `C:\ProgramData\netbird\default.json` for Windows You might get errors like below when trying to use Setup Key/different SSO user account during login: ``` 2025-04-08T15:03:04+01:00 ERRO management/client/grpc.go:351: failed to login to Management Service: rpc error: code = PermissionDenied desc = peer login has expired, please log in once more 2025-04-08T15:03:04+01:00 ERRO management/client/grpc.go:351: failed to login to Management Service: rpc error: code = PermissionDenied desc = invalid user 2025-04-08T15:03:04+01:00 ERRO client/internal/login.go:145: failed registering peer rpc error: code = PermissionDenied desc = invalid user,00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 2025-04-08T15:03:04+01:00 WARN client/server/server.go:267: failed login: rpc error: code = PermissionDenied desc = invalid user ``` Starting with the release `0.50.0` the `invalid user` message is more descriptive: `peer is already registered by a different User or a Setup Key` The most notable examples of encountering the issue are: - a shared machine and/or machine previously logged in by somebody else, - a machine that was previously logged in using Setup Key, but now attempts SSO login, - the user makes a mistake and selects - the user uses different browser/profile or selects the wrong account during SSO login at the start of the workday, If you know the exact previous Peer which was logged in, you can just delete it from Dashboard without doing anything else and attempt login again. Otherwise, to resolve the issue, you will need to remove the file manually to use the machine as a different user/Setup Key while the NetBird client daemon is stopped: 1. `netbird service stop` 2. `sudo rm /var/lib/netbird/default.json` (*nix) or `rm C:\ProgramData\netbird\config.json` (Windows) 3. `netbird service start` ## Debugging access to network resources In this section we will be presenting methodology of troubleshooting access issues involving Netbird. We will start by presenting a glossary of all machines and services involved. A sub-section will describe a specific use case. Each will start with a concise summary of usual troubleshooting steps then expand into more detailed step-by-step guides. ### Glossary We will be using the following names for resources outside the Netbird network: - `int-net1`: an internal network `10.123.45.0/24`, - `srv-c`: an internal HTTP server running at `10.123.45.17`, - `int-dns1`: an internal DNS server running at `10.123.45.6`, - `int-dns2`: an internal DNS server nunning at `10.7.8.9`, - `cf-dns`: an Internet-accessible CloudFlare DNS server at `1.1.1.1` and `1.0.0.1`, and following Netbird network resources: - `peer-a`: end user's device running Netbird Client, - `peer-b`: a linux server inside the internal network running Netbird Client, - it has direct access to the whole `int-net1` IP range, - `users:employees`: a Netbird Group containing `peer-a`, - `routers:int-net1`: a Netbird Group containing `peer-b`, - `access:srv-c`: a Netbird Groups used as a target of ACL rules for `srv-c` only, - `access:int-net1`: a Netbird Groups used as a target of ACL rules for the whole subnet, - `net-a`: a Netbird Network - `net-a:srv-c`: a Network Resource handling traffic to `10.123.45.17/32` (`srv-c`), - `net-a:int-net1`: a Network Resource handling traffic to `10.123.45.0/24` (`int-net1`), - `route:int-net1`: a Netbird Network Route handling traffic to `10.123.45.0/24` (`int-net1`), - `route:srv-c`: a Netbird Network Route handling traffic to `10.123.45.17/32` (`srv-c`), ### Access from `peer-a` to `srv-c` In short: 1. Does `peer-b` have direct access to `srv-c`'s port `80`? 2. Can a routing peer `peer-b` forward traffic to `srv-c`? 3. Are Netbird's network routing resources configured? 4. Do Netbird's Access Control rules allow access from `peer-a` to the target's ACL Group? 5. Is `peer-a`'s operating system configured to use the route? Access Control rule is not required for connectivity from `peer-a` to `peer-b` #### Does `peer-b` have direct access to `srv-c`'s port `80`? After logging in to `peer-b` you can confirm/troubleshoot the HTTP port `80` connection by issuing any of the following commands: ```shell curl -v "http://10.123.45.17" curl --fail -v --max-time=2 "http://10.123.45.17:80" wget -O - --timeout=2 "http://10.123.45.17:80" nc -nvz -w 2 10.123.45.17 80 ``` You can also try `ping` (an ICMP packet), but the firewall might have a different configuration for ICMP and TCP ports: ```shell ping --numeric --count=1 --timeout=2 10.123.45.17 ``` #### Can a routing peer `peer-b` forward traffic to `srv-c`? This is more complicated to test, but usually boils down to confirming `net.ipv4.ip_forward` is set to `1` on `peer-b`'s Linux operating system: ```shell > sysctl net.ipv4.ip_forward net.ipv4.ip_forward = 1 ``` It should be set up automatically by the Netbird client unless it runs inside a container (which would not be able to modify `sysctl`), then it requires manual setup. For setting up the value persistently (across reboots) please consult your operating system's documentation. It is often handled by either `/etc/sysctl.conf` or `/etc/sysctl.d/*.conf` files. Testing the functionality in practice involves: - connecting to another machine with direct access to `peer-b`, - adding a routing table entry to route `int-net1` (`10.123.45.0/24`) traffic through it, - trying to at least `ping 10.123.45.17` (`srv-c`) #### Are Netbird's network routing resources configured? For Netbird network routing resources configurations you can use either (new) _Networks_ or (old) _Network Routes_. A Network `net-a` should have at minimum: - _Network Resource_: `net-a:srv-c` with either of: - an _Address_ set to `10.123.45.17/32` to configure route to `srv-c` exclusively and nothing else, - _Assigned Groups_ set to `access:srv-c` - _Routing Peer Group_ assigned to `routers:int-net1` A _Network Route_ `route:srv-c` should have at least: - a _Network Range_ set to `10.123.45.17/32` to configure route to `srv-c` exclusively and nothing else, - _Routing Peer Group_ assigned to `routers:int-net1`, - _Distribution Group_ assigned to `users:employees`, - (optional) _Access Control Groups_ assigned to `access:srv-c`, You can loosen the rules and replace following to grant access to the whole `int-net1` network range: - _Address_: `10.123.45.17/32` -> `10.123.45.0/24`, - _Assigned Groups_ / _Access Control Groups_: `access:srv-c` -> `access:int-net1` #### Do Netbird's Access Control rules allow access from `peer-a` to the target's ACL Group? You can skip this check, when you are using (old) Network Route feature without filling in _Access Control Groups ( optional)_ section. Otherwise, there should be an _Access Control Policy_ present allowing traffic from one of `peer-a`'s Groups to: - _Networks Resource_'s _Assigned Groups_: `access:srv-c` or `access:int-net1`, - _Network Route_'s _Access Control Groups_: `access:srv-c` or `access:int-net1`, You can confirm the _Policy_ is working by: 1. logging in to `peer-a`, 2. issuing `netbird status -d` command, 3. finding `peer-b.netbird.cloud` under `Peers detail`, 4. finding `10.123.45.0/24` or `10.123.45.17/32` under `peer-b.netbird.cloud`'s _Networks_ field, In the most specific setup it should have at: - have `TCP` protocol selected, - a blue arrow should point from left to right and a second right-to-left arrow should be greyed out, - a _Source group_ set to `users:employees`, - a _Destination group_ set to `access:srv-c`, - have `80` in the Ports section, Just like with the previous section you can loosen the above example by: - replacing `access:srv-c` _Group_ with `access:int-net1` _Group_, - allowing `ALL` protocol, _Ports_ will become greyed out because all traffic will be allowed, - creating a bidirectional rule (both arrows should be green), always true for the protocol `ALL`, - selecting a different source group from the pool assigned to `peer-a`, - it could be built-in `All` group, but it is discouraged, - selecting a different destination group from the pool assigned to `peer-b`, - it could be built-in `All` group, but it is discouraged, #### Is `peer-a`'s operating system configured to use the route? After all resources are configured in the Netbird management you should check whether they are properly registered with your operating system. You can start by checking Netbird client's configuration with `netbird status -d` command: ```shell % netbird status -d Peers detail: brys-vm-nbt-ubuntu-isolated-01.netbird.cloud: ... Status: Connected -- detail -- Connection type: P2P ... Networks: 10.123.45.0/24 ... Peers count: 1/1 Connected ``` You should be primarily looking for _Networks_ section under each _Peers detail_, but you can also check: - _Peer_'s name, - _Peer_'s _Status_: it should be `Connected`, - _Peer_'s _Connection type_: it can be either `P2P` (direct) or `Relayed` (over the Internet), - _Peers count_ near the end of the output, If it's missing you can search for clues with `netbird networks ls` command: ```shell % netbird networks ls Available Networks: ... - ID: net-a:int-net1 Network: 10.123.45.0/24 Status: Selected ... ``` The _Status_ could be `Not Selected`, which you can fix with `netbird networks select ` or `netbird networks select all` ##### Verifying routing configuration on the Windows operating system Below commands assume running a PowerShell prompt with administrator's privileges. The easiest way is to read output of `Get-NetRoute` command: ```shell PS C:\Users\user> Get-NetRoute ifIndex DestinationPrefix NextHop RouteMetric ifMetric PolicyStore ------- ----------------- ------- ----------- -------- ----------- ... 17 10.123.45.255/32 0.0.0.0 256 5 ActiveStore 17 10.123.45.0/24 0.0.0.0 1 5 ActiveStore ... 17 100.83.255.255/32 0.0.0.0 256 5 ActiveStore 17 100.83.183.133/32 0.0.0.0 256 5 ActiveStore 17 100.83.0.0/16 0.0.0.0 256 5 ActiveStore ... ``` You should be looking for your specific subnet's IP ranges (`10.123.45.0/24` in case of `int-net1`) and anything from `100.*.0.0/16` range. Some other alternatives are `route print` & `Get-NetIPConfiguration`. ##### Verifying routing configuration on the MacOS operating system The easiest way to verify system configuration is `netstat -nr` command: ```shell % netstat -nr Routing tables Internet: Destination Gateway Flags Netif Expire ... 100.83/16 utun100 USc utun100 100.83.19.63 100.83.19.63 UH utun100 ... 10.123.45 utun100 USc utun100 ... Internet6: Destination Gateway Flags Netif Expire ... ``` You should be looking for `utun*` interface in 4th column and searching the rows for your specific subnet's clamped IP ranges (`10.123.45` in case of `int-net1`) and anything from `100.*/16` range. ##### Verifying routing configuration on the Linux operating system Depending on specifics of your Linux distribution (or even your configuration of it) you should be able to use either `iproute2` or `net-tools` family of network commands. Netbird client stores it's custom routes in the routing table `7120` (or `0x1BD0`) when it's available (through `iproute2` interface). For `iproute2` (`ip`, `ss` tools): - `ip route` to find built-in `100.*.0.0/16` route, - `ip route show table 7120` or `ip route show table all` to find the specific routed networks, For `net-tools` (`ifconfig`, `route`, `netstat` tools): - `route -n` to find built-in `100.*.0.0/16` route, - neither `route` nor `netstat` support viewing content of custom routing tables,