Installation on MacOS

[alexkorotysh]

Describe the problem

I have 2 MacOS, with m1 and m3 chips.
I can install and run on one, but I can't do it on another MacOS.

To Reproduce

Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Install with script
   curl -fsSL https://pkgs.netbird.io/install.sh | sh

Expected behavior
Daemon works, I have a socket

Are you using NetBird Cloud?
It doesn't matter, Cloud of Self-Hosy

NetBird version

0.41.3

Is any other VPN software installed?

WireGuard, ProtonVPN, OpenVPN, Tailscale

Debug output

To help us resolve the problem, please attach the following debug output

netbird status -dA

netbird status -dA
2025-04-18T09:25:42+03:00 INFO ./caller_not_available:0: 2025/04/18 09:25:42 WARNING: [core] [Channel #1 SubChannel #2]grpc: addrConn.createTransport failed to connect to {Addr: "/var/run/netbird.sock", ServerName: "localhost", Attributes: {"<%!p(networktype.keyType=grpc.internal.transport.networktype)>": "unix" }, }. Err: connection error: desc = "transport: Error while dialing: dial unix /var/run/netbird.sock: connect: no such file or directory"

As well as the file created by

netbird debug for 1m -AS

Error: failed to connect to daemon error: context deadline exceeded
If the daemon is not running please run:
netbird service install
netbird service start

We advise reviewing the anonymized output for any remaining personal information.

Screenshots

Additional context
cat /Library/LaunchDaemons/netbird.plist

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
	<key>Disabled</key>
	<false/>
	<key>KeepAlive</key>
	<true/>
	<key>Label</key>
	<string>netbird</string>
	<key>ProgramArguments</key>
	<array>
		<string>/opt/homebrew/bin/netbird</string>
		<string>service</string>
		<string>run</string>
		<string>--config</string>
		<string>/etc/netbird/config.json</string>
		<string>--log-level</string>
		<string>trace</string>
		<string>--daemon-addr</string>
		<string>unix:///var/run/netbird.sock</string>
		<string>--log-file</string>
		<string>/var/log/netbird/client.log</string>
	</array>
	<key>RunAtLoad</key>
	<false/>
	<key>SessionCreate</key>
	<false/>
	<key>StandardErrorPath</key>
	<string>/var/log/netbird.err.log</string>
	<key>StandardOutPath</key>
	<string>/var/log/netbird.out.log</string>
</dict>
</plist>

If I take the command from netbird.plist and build string and add sudo, it starts to work.

Have you tried these troubleshooting steps?

• Checked for newer NetBird versions
• Searched for similar issues on GitHub (including closed ones)
• Restarted the NetBird client
• Disabled other VPN software
• Checked firewall settings

[alexkorotysh]

netbird service install

Init already exists: /Library/LaunchDaemons/netbird.plist
Error: Init already exists: /Library/LaunchDaemons/netbird.plist

netbird service start

"launchctl" failed with stderr: Warning: Expecting a LaunchAgents path since the command was ran as user. Got LaunchDaemons instead.
`launchctl bootstrap` is a recommended alternative.
Load failed: 5: Input/output error
Try running `launchctl bootstrap` as root for richer errors.

Error: "launchctl" failed with stderr: Warning: Expecting a LaunchAgents path since the command was ran as user. Got LaunchDaemons instead.
`launchctl bootstrap` is a recommended alternative.
Load failed: 5: Input/output error
Try running `launchctl bootstrap` as root for richer errors.

[alexkorotysh]

Add a few words, m3, like a new laptop, I mean, I don't use m3, but here during installation I saw the same issue, but socket started.
M1 is my main laptop. Previously, maybe 6 months ago, Netbird worked, but I deleted the client cause smth happened with the client and it didn't work
Now I'm back to Netbird, I can't debug what is going on with the starting daemon.

If I run and keep opened terminal open
sudo /opt/homebrew/bin/netbird service run --config /etc/netbird/config.json --log-level info --daemon-addr unix:///var/run/netbird.sock

and run
netbird up --management-url https://netbird.mod5.tech:33073 --admin-url https://netbird.mod5.tech

it starts working

[nazarewk]

I don't see much detail on what is not working, but it is currently required to remove the config.json manually when it stops matching the Peer in the Dashboard:

• Peer removed from Dashboard,
• switching NetBird accounts (can provide a config path manually instead),
• changing logged in user or switching to/from Setup Keys (seen it happen a few times on corporate device handovers)

to summarize:

1. the launchctl error is clearly due to missing sudo
2. the top post errors are due to the system daemon not starting

so I have those questions:

1. Can you clear up which device is not working for you? Is it a new one or the old one?
2. Did you configure both devices with brew?
3. for the daemon not starting issue were you able to find anything in /var/log/netbird/client.log or the MacOS logs?

[alexkorotysh]

1. Doesn't work with the old one (Apple M1 Pro - 15.4.1 (24E263))
2. Yes, brew is used for both
3. There are no logs, a log file is created only if I run the daemon with sudo

sudo cat /var/log/netbird/client.log
cat: /var/log/netbird/client.log: No such file or directory
###
ls -la /var/log/netbird/
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   2 root  wheel    64 18 Apr 09:17 .
drwxr-xr-x  50 root  wheel  1600 18 Apr 00:30 ..

❯ sudo rm /etc/netbird/config.json
Password:
rm: /etc/netbird/config.json: No such file or directory
~
❯ netbird up --management-url https://netbird.XXXXX.XXXXX:33073 --admin-url https://netbird.XXXXXX.XXXXX
2025-04-18T10:42:50+03:00 INFO ./caller_not_available:0: 2025/04/18 10:42:50 WARNING: [core] [Channel #1 SubChannel #2]grpc: addrConn.createTransport failed to connect to {Addr: "/var/run/netbird.sock", ServerName: "localhost", Attributes: {"<%!p(networktype.keyType=grpc.internal.transport.networktype)>": "unix" }, }. Err: connection error: desc = "transport: Error while dialing: dial unix /var/run/netbird.sock: connect: no such file or directory"
2025-04-18T10:42:51+03:00 INFO ./caller_not_available:0: 2025/04/18 10:42:51 WARNING: [core] [Channel #1 SubChannel #2]grpc: addrConn.createTransport failed to connect to {Addr: "/var/run/netbird.sock", ServerName: "localhost", Attributes: {"<%!p(networktype.keyType=grpc.internal.transport.networktype)>": "unix" }, }. Err: connection error: desc = "transport: Error while dialing: dial unix /var/run/netbird.sock: connect: no such file or directory"
2025-04-18T10:42:53+03:00 INFO ./caller_not_available:0: 2025/04/18 10:42:53 WARNING: [core] [Channel #1 SubChannel #2]grpc: addrConn.createTransport failed to connect to {Addr: "/var/run/netbird.sock", ServerName: "localhost", Attributes: {"<%!p(networktype.keyType=grpc.internal.transport.networktype)>": "unix" }, }. Err: connection error: desc = "transport: Error while dialing: dial unix /var/run/netbird.sock: connect: no such file or directory"
Error: failed to connect to daemon error: context deadline exceeded
If the daemon is not running please run:
netbird service install
netbird service start

~                                                                                                                                                                      3s
❯ netbird service start
"launchctl" failed with stderr: Warning: Expecting a LaunchAgents path since the command was ran as user. Got LaunchDaemons instead.
`launchctl bootstrap` is a recommended alternative.
Load failed: 5: Input/output error
Try running `launchctl bootstrap` as root for richer errors.

Error: "launchctl" failed with stderr: Warning: Expecting a LaunchAgents path since the command was ran as user. Got LaunchDaemons instead.
`launchctl bootstrap` is a recommended alternative.
Load failed: 5: Input/output error
Try running `launchctl bootstrap` as root for richer errors.

[alexkorotysh]

• Peer removed from Dashboard,
• switching NetBird accounts (can provide a config path manually instead),
• changing logged in user or switching to/from Setup Keys (seen it happen a few times on corporate device handovers)

I can't remove, cause I can't add peer, it doesn't work with cloud and self-hosted

[nazarewk]

❯ netbird service start

I'm pretty sure you need to prefix all/most netbird service commands with sudo on all unix systems

[alexkorotysh]

sudo netbird service install

Init already exists: /Library/LaunchDaemons/netbird.plist
Error: Init already exists: /Library/LaunchDaemons/netbird.plist

sudo netbird service start

"launchctl" failed with stderr: Load failed: 5: Input/output error
Try running `launchctl bootstrap` as root for richer errors.

Error: "launchctl" failed with stderr: Load failed: 5: Input/output error
Try running `launchctl bootstrap` as root for richer errors.

[nazarewk]

did you try running sudo netbird service uninstall followed by sudo netbird service install to see if this resolves your issue?

[alexkorotysh]

❯ sudo netbird service uninstall

Netbird service has been uninstalled

❯ sudo netbird service install

Netbird service has been installed

❯ sudo netbird service start

"launchctl" failed with stderr: Load failed: 5: Input/output error
Try running `launchctl bootstrap` as root for richer errors.

Error: "launchctl" failed with stderr: Load failed: 5: Input/output error
Try running `launchctl bootstrap` as root for richer errors.

[nazarewk]

seems to be caused by launchctl list.

for my MacOS VM it looks like:

kdn@oams ~> ssh anji-vm-macos-01.lan.etra.net.int.kdn.im. launchctl list | grep netbird
597	0	application.io.netbird.client.56499.56507
kdn@oams ~> ssh anji-vm-macos-01.lan.etra.net.int.kdn.im. launchctl list application.io.netbird.client.56499.56507
{
	"LimitLoadToSessionType" = "Aqua";
	"_AdditionalProperties" = {
		"RunningBoard" = {
			"HOME" = "/Users/kdn";
			"RunningBoardLaunchedIdentity" = {
				"AJL" = "application.io.netbird.client.56499.56507";
				"TYPE" = 1;
				"EAI" = "io.netbird.client";
				"AUID" = 				"PLAT" = 			};
			"RunningBoardLaunched" = true;
		};
	};
	"Label" = "application.io.netbird.client.56499.56507";
	"OnDemand" = true;
	"LastExitStatus" = 0;
	"PID" = 597;
	"Program" = "/Applications/NetBird UI.app/netbird-ui";
	"ProgramArguments" = (
		"/Applications/NetBird UI.app/netbird-ui";
	);
	"PerJobMachServices" = {
		"com.apple.tsm.portname" = mach-port-object;
		"com.apple.coredrag" = mach-port-object;
		"com.apple.axserver" = mach-port-object;
	};
};

Can you try running equivalent commands to identify a NetBird service in the launchctll and run the same launhctl list with discovered service name directly in your terminal? I am not a MacOS expert, but I feel like there might be something wrong with the OS configuration itself.

[alexkorotysh]

❯ launchctl list | grep netbird

PID	Status	Label
-	78	netbird
22722	0	application.io.netbird.client.168195799.168195808

❯ launchctl list application.io.netbird.client.168195799.168195808

{
	"LimitLoadToSessionType" = "Aqua";
	"_AdditionalProperties" = {
		"RunningBoard" = {
			"TMPDIR" = "/var/folders/jh/6mggjmnd13920q9wqtl52p5r0000gn/T/";
			"HOME" = "/Users/koro";
			"RunningBoardLaunchedIdentity" = {
				"AJL" = "application.io.netbird.client.168195799.168195808";
				"TYPE" = 1;
				"EAI" = "io.netbird.client";
				"AUID" = 				"PLAT" = 			};
			"RunningBoardLaunched" = true;
		};
	};
	"Label" = "application.io.netbird.client.168195799.168195808";
	"OnDemand" = true;
	"LastExitStatus" = 0;
	"PID" = 22722;
	"Program" = "/Applications/Netbird UI.app/netbird-ui";
	"ProgramArguments" = (
		"/Applications/Netbird UI.app/netbird-ui";
	);
	"PerJobMachServices" = {
		"com.apple.tsm.portname" = mach-port-object;
		"com.apple.coredrag" = mach-port-object;
		"com.apple.axserver" = mach-port-object;
	};
};

❯ launchctl list netbird

{
	"StandardOutPath" = "/var/log/netbird.out.log";
	"LimitLoadToSessionType" = "Aqua";
	"StandardErrorPath" = "/var/log/netbird.err.log";
	"Label" = "netbird";
	"OnDemand" = false;
	"LastExitStatus" = 19968;
	"Program" = "/opt/homebrew/bin/netbird";
	"ProgramArguments" = (
		"/opt/homebrew/bin/netbird";
		"service";
		"run";
		"--config";
		"/etc/netbird/config.json";
		"--log-level";
		"info";
		"--daemon-addr";
		"unix:///var/run/netbird.sock";
		"--log-file";
		"/var/log/netbird/client.log";
	);
};