# Starting and claiming (/run/troubleshooting/start-and-claim) Fix a server that won't start, and claim an instance when the setup code is lost. The server checks its settings, its socket and its data before it opens a port. A refusal is a line in its log, and the server exits. ## The server cannot start; fix these settings [#the-server-cannot-start-fix-these-settings] A setting has a value the server doesn't accept, such as a number out of range. The server checks every setting before it opens the database, and names each one it refused: ```text The server cannot start; fix these settings: RATE_LIMIT_REQUESTS must be a whole number, 1 or more (got "0") ``` Correct each value it names. [Settings](/run/settings) lists the values each setting takes. ## MARFA_AUTH_SECRET must be set in production [#marfa_auth_secret-must-be-set-in-production] With `NODE_ENV=production`, the server needs `API_KEY_SALT`, `MARFA_AUTH_SECRET` and `MARFA_AUTH_BASE_URL`. It refuses a secret that is missing, short or a placeholder. Outside production it fills in what's missing, but still refuses a `MARFA_AUTH_SECRET` under 32 characters. Generate each secret with `openssl rand -hex 32`, and set `MARFA_AUTH_BASE_URL` to the address clients use. [Deploy](/run/deploy) shows a complete production setup. ## MARFA_CONTROL_SOCKET must be a normalized absolute Unix socket path [#marfa_control_socket-must-be-a-normalized-absolute-unix-socket-path] The full message ends `of at most 103 bytes`. The server opens a private socket at `control/marfa.sock` beside the database, and a database deep in the file system makes that path longer than a Unix socket allows. Keep the data in a shorter directory, or set `MARFA_CONTROL_SOCKET` to a shorter path. The socket's directory must belong to the account that runs the server, and no one else may read it. ## Control path is a symbolic link or not a directory [#control-path-is-a-symbolic-link-or-not-a-directory] The path to the socket's directory passes through a symbolic link. On macOS, `/tmp` is one: it points to `/private/tmp`. Give the server a path with no links in it, such as `/private/tmp/marfa/marfa.db` in place of `/tmp/marfa/marfa.db`. In a shell, `pwd -P` prints the current directory with its links resolved. ## listen EADDRINUSE: address already in use [#listen-eaddrinuse-address-already-in-use] Another process listens on the server's port, often an earlier Marfa server that is still running. Stop the other process, or set `PORT` to a free port. ## I lost the setup code [#i-lost-the-setup-code] An unclaimed instance prints its setup code when it starts, as `Claim this Marfa at /setup with setup code: …`. On the instance's own machine, you don't need the code: claim through the private socket, as the [Quickstart](/quickstart) does. ```bash marfa --socket "$(pwd -P)/data/control/marfa.sock" setup claim --email you@example.com ``` For a new code, restart the server or run `marfa --socket setup code`. Either way, the earlier code stops working. ## 409 owner_exists [#409-owner_exists] The instance already has an owner, and an instance is claimed only once. If you are the owner and have lost the password, [recover the owner's password](/run/sign-in-as-the-owner#recover-the-owners-password) from the instance's own machine. ## Covered in their guides [#covered-in-their-guides] These refusals belong to one task, and its guide explains them. | Message in the log | Guide | | - | - | | `The file folder … is missing its store marker` | [Restore the copy](/run/back-up-and-restore#restore-the-copy) | | `… older than the replica` | [With a bucket](/run/back-up-and-restore#with-a-bucket) | | `The schema in … is not this build's` | [When a build refuses the database](/run/upgrade#when-a-build-refuses-the-database) | | `… which a newer build wrote` | [When a build refuses the database](/run/upgrade#when-a-build-refuses-the-database) | | `… which needs … bytes free beside it` | [When a build refuses the database](/run/upgrade#when-a-build-refuses-the-database) | | `Updating the database in … did not give this build's database` | [When a build refuses the database](/run/upgrade#when-a-build-refuses-the-database) | | A restore refuses the archive | [Restore an archive](/run/export-and-restore#restore-an-archive) |