Skip to main content
Version: 2.0 (Preview)

Troubleshooting and FAQ

Where Do I Start When Something Is Wrong?​

Check the registration, daemon, and configuration:

surfmeter auth status --verify
surfmeter daemon status
surfmeter config show --paths
journalctl --user -u surfmeter-daemon -n 100

To reproduce a problem, run the study by hand with --verbose, or look at the log file that a failed run points to. See Logging and Scheduling Daemon.

The Probe Is Not Measuring​

  • Run surfmeter daemon status. If no daemon answers, start it with systemctl --user start surfmeter-daemon.service. The daemon refuses to start if the client is not registered.
  • If the daemon has no jobs for your studies, the client may have no configuration. Check that one is assigned to the client and that it is published, and run surfmeter config update.
  • If the status shows schedule issues, the configuration has errors. The daemon reports these, and keeps the entries that are valid.

The Daemon Stops When I Log Out​

The daemon is a systemd user service, which needs lingering to be enabled. The setup script does this, but you can also run it yourself:

sudo loginctl enable-linger <username>

surfmeter config set Refuses to Run​

The command refuses to change the configuration while the probe gets updates from the server, since these would overwrite your changes. See Local Configuration.

Runs Are Reported as Aborted with previousRunStillActive​

A run was due while the previous run of the same entry was still active. Schedule the entry less frequently, or use an interval, which is measured from the end of the previous run.

How Can I See the Virtual Display Remotely?​

Follow the VNC Connection guide.

The Browser Is Missing or Does Not Start​

Check the installed browser, and install it again together with its system packages:

surfmeter browser list
sudo surfmeter browser install --withDeps --force

DRM-Protected Videos Do Not Play​

DRM requires Widevine, which is only available on amd64. See the requirements.

How Can I Get a Readable Log Output?​

Add --verbose to any command. See Logging.

The Probe Runs Behind a Proxy​

The installation and the daemon both need to know about the proxy. See Behind a Proxy.