# Problems while installing

Canonical: https://godspeedmissioncontrol.com/guide/troubleshooting-install

Search this page for a few words of your message: press Ctrl+F, or Cmd+F on a Mac. A few warnings are wrong and safe to ignore; they are on [Known issues](/guide/known-issues).

## On Windows

### "Windows protected your PC"

Microsoft SmartScreen warns about programs it does not know well, and the installer has no publisher's signature.

1. Check that you downloaded `GodspeedSetup.exe` from [the releases page](https://github.com/MichaelZelbel/godspeed-mission-control/releases/latest).
2. Click **More info**.


3. Click **Run anyway**.

### "Setup did not finish"

The installer stopped, and nothing you had is lost. The reason is in its log.

1. Press Windows+R, paste `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Godspeed\setup-log.txt` and press Enter. The log opens.
2. Near the end, find the line that starts with `STOPPED:`. Look up its words on this page.
3. Fix what it names, then run `GodspeedSetup.exe` again. Click **Next** on every page, so it finishes the mission control you have.

### "Git is missing and this PC has no App Installer"

The installer fetches Git and Node.js with App Installer, a part of Windows this PC does not have.

1. Install the program the message names: Git from [git-scm.com](https://git-scm.com/download/win) with its default choices, or Node.js from [nodejs.org](https://nodejs.org) in its LTS version.
2. Run `GodspeedSetup.exe` again.

### "I will not put your mission control there."

The folder you chose is inside Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos or OneDrive. Cloud drives sync those folders, and syncing damages a mission control's history.

1. Click **OK**.
2. Type a folder outside them, such as `C:\Users\<you>\godspeed-v2`, the one the installer offered first.

### "already exists and has things in it, but it is not a mission control"

The `STOPPED:` line says this, or "That folder already holds files". The folder you chose holds other files. Run `GodspeedSetup.exe` again and choose an empty folder, or one that does not exist yet.

### "it cannot sit beside itself"

You ticked **Make a second mission control somewhere else**, then typed the folder of the mission control you already have.

- **To update the one you have:** click **Back**, untick the box and click **Next**.
- **To keep the previous edition untouched** (usually `C:\Users\<you>\godspeed`): keep the box ticked and type a new folder, such as `C:\Users\<you>\godspeed-v2`.

### "This PC already has a newer Godspeed Mission Control than this installer carries"

You ran an older `GodspeedSetup.exe` than the one you installed with. It stopped before it changed anything, so your notebook runs as before.

1. To update, choose **Update my mission control** in the Start menu, or download the newest `GodspeedSetup.exe` from [the releases page](https://github.com/MichaelZelbel/godspeed-mission-control/releases/latest).

An older installer may say "This installer holds an older version" instead, after it has put its older program in place and stopped your notebook. Your notes and settings are untouched: run the newest `GodspeedSetup.exe` right away, and it puts the right program back.

### "The notebook that is running now could not be stopped"

The installer could not stop your notebook, often because it was started from a window opened as administrator. Nothing was changed.

1. Restart Windows. At sign-in the notebook starts the usual way.
2. Run `GodspeedSetup.exe` again.

### "The notebook did not start."

Your notes are safe.

1. Press Windows+R, paste `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Godspeed Mission Control State` and press Enter. If you installed before 2.0.0-beta.11, the folder is still `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Godspeed Mission Control Full Alpha State`, also after updating.
2. Open `service-error.log`. Its last lines say what went wrong.
3. Restart Windows and run `GodspeedSetup.exe` again.
4. If it stops the same way, report it with that log, as [Get help](/guide/get-help) shows.

If the line says "Another notebook already uses port 47831 on this PC" instead, another copy of the notebook holds its address. A restart stops it. Then run the installer again.

### "The notebook is still starting."

The update worked and your notes are unchanged. The first start after an update reads your whole mission control, which can take a few minutes. The notebook opens by itself when it is ready. If it has not opened after a quarter of an hour, follow the steps under "The notebook did not start."

### "Hermes, the program your assistant runs in, could not be installed."

[Hermes](/guide/glossary#hermes), the program that runs your assistant, could not be installed. Your notebook is fine. Check your internet connection and run `GodspeedSetup.exe` again.

If the line says "Hermes installer integrity check failed." instead, your copy of the installer is damaged. Download `GodspeedSetup.exe` again.

## On a Mac or Linux computer

The installer is `install-godspeed.sh`. Its messages appear in the terminal where you ran it, and those not listed here say themselves what to do.

### Check that a website can be reached

Several entries below ask you to check this. Run it with the site the entry names:

```bash
curl -sI https://github.com | head -n 1
```

An answer that starts with `HTTP` means the site can be reached. "Could not resolve host", or no answer, means it cannot: check your network, or ask whoever runs it whether a firewall blocks the site.

### "This Mac needs Homebrew first."

The installer uses Homebrew, the usual way to install programs on a Mac, and does not install it for you. It stopped before it changed anything.

1. Open [brew.sh](https://brew.sh) and copy the line under **Install Homebrew**.
2. Paste it into Terminal and press Return. It asks for your Mac password.
3. When it has finished, run the Godspeed line again.

### "Git is not on this computer and I could not install it."

Install Git, then run the installer again: on a Mac, `brew install git` (after [Homebrew](#this-mac-needs-homebrew-first)); on Ubuntu or Debian, `sudo apt-get install -y git`.

### "I could not load the install code."

Check that this computer can reach `https://raw.githubusercontent.com`, as [above](#check-that-a-website-can-be-reached), then run the installer again.

### "The notebook needs Node.js 22 (22.19 or newer)"

The notebook's own copy of Node.js could not be downloaded. Check that this computer can reach `https://nodejs.org`, then run the installer again. Installing Node.js 22 yourself, version 22.19 or a later 22, also works.

### "This computer's Node.js has no npm"

The notebook's own Node.js could not be downloaded, and this computer's has no npm. Check that it can reach `https://nodejs.org` and run the installer again, or install npm with your package manager.

### "Hermes did not become usable."

1. Open a new terminal window and run `~/.local/bin/hermes --version`.
2. If it answers with a version, run the installer again.
3. If not, check that this computer can reach `https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com`, then run the installer again.

### Commands are not found after installing

Close the terminal window and open a new one, as the installer says near its end. The commands are in `~/.local/bin`, which the installer adds to the settings of bash and zsh.

### "A notebook started by the computer's administrator is running."

If you may use `sudo`, run this yourself, otherwise ask the computer's administrator to. Then run the installer again.

```bash
sudo systemctl stop godspeed-integrated-notebook.service
```

### "Another Godspeed Mission Control notebook, not this installation's, answers on port 47831."

Another installation's notebook holds the address this one needs. On Windows, every Linux under WSL shares one network, so it can be the notebook of another Linux you installed there. Stop that notebook, or install this one on another port: put `GODSPEED_PORT=47841` before the install command, for example `GODSPEED_PORT=47841 bash install-godspeed.sh`. Your notebook then opens at `http://127.0.0.1:47841/dashboard`.

### "The notebook did not answer after it was started."

Run the `journalctl` command the message names. It shows the notebook's last 50 lines, with the reason it stopped. During an update, it ends with "Your data backup is at:" and a folder. It holds your notes and media from before the update ([Back up and restore](/guide/back-up)).

### "The new notebook did not answer, so the version that ran before is being put back."

An update did not take. The message goes on with one of these:

- "The previous notebook is running again; the upgrade was not applied." Your old version runs as before.
- "The previous notebook did not come back either. Start it by hand:" Run the command that follows.

The `journalctl` command in the message shows why the new version failed. If it happens again, report it as [Get help](/guide/get-help) shows.

### "The pre-upgrade backup could not be made"

Nothing was changed. The line below it says why. The usual reason is a full disk: "Creating a backup needs" a size "free, but only" a smaller size "is available".

1. Run `df -h ~` to see the free space under `Avail`.
2. Free at least the difference the message names, then run the installer again.

The copy holds only what an update can change, never your `work/` folder, so it is usually small.

### "Older backups made before updates could not all be removed."

The update worked. Delete the older copies in the folder the message names, and keep the newest one.

### "The notebook runs while you are logged in."

The notebook stops when you log out. To keep it running, run this once with your user name, or ask the computer's administrator to:

```bash
sudo loginctl enable-linger <user>
```

### "The notebook and its assistant run as root here"

The installation finished, but your assistant has full rights over the computer. Before you put notes in it, [uninstall it](/guide/uninstall) and install again from an ordinary account that may use `sudo`.

## On a server

These messages come from the one-line command, `curl -fsSL https://godspeedmissioncontrol.com/server | bash`, unless an entry names a [server without Docker](/guide/glossary#server-without-docker). Messages not listed here say themselves what to do.

### "already uses port 80"

Another program holds ports 80 and 443, the ones websites use, often a web server or a control panel that came with the server. The message names it in brackets. On a server without Docker it says the program "answers on ports 80 and 443".

1. Do not stop a program you are not sure about: the server may need it.
2. Use a server that runs nothing else. On a new server, reinstall it as plain Ubuntu in your hosting company's control panel, which erases everything on it.
3. Run the install line again.

On a server without Docker, a Caddy web server already running there is fine: the installer adds the notebook's address to it.

### "it could not get its security certificate"

The certificate lets browsers open your `https://` address safely. It is given only to a server the internet can reach on ports 80 and 443.

1. Open ports 80 and 443 in your hosting company's firewall, or forward them on your home router to this machine.
2. If you gave your own domain name with `GODSPEED_HOST`, run `nslookup your.domain.com`. It must show your server's public address.
3. Run the install line again. Your settings and data are kept.

### "does not answer yet"

On a server without Docker, the notebook's web address does not answer. Open ports 80 and 443 in your hosting company's firewall. The `journalctl` command at the end of the message shows what went wrong.

### "Could not find this server's public internet address."

Without a domain name, the server needs a public IPv4 address, four numbers such as `203.0.113.7`. Your hosting company's control panel shows which addresses yours has.

- If a domain name points at the server, give it:

  ```bash
  curl -fsSL https://godspeedmissioncontrol.com/server | GODSPEED_HOST=your.domain.com bash
  ```

- If it has neither, add a public IPv4 address at your hosting company, or choose a server that has one.

### "The download did not finish." or "Godspeed Mission Control did not start."

1. Log in as root and read the last lines of the installer's log:

   ```bash
   tail -n 50 /opt/godspeed-mission-control/install.log
   ```

2. Run the install line again.
3. If it stops the same way, report it with those lines, as [Get help](/guide/get-help) shows.

### "already runs an earlier Godspeed Mission Control" or "already runs on this server"

The line updates only an installation it made itself, never one set up another way, so nothing was changed. To keep that installation, manage it the way it was set up, for example in your hosting company's control panel. To use the one-line server instead:

1. If the other installation holds notes you want, copy them off the server.
2. Remove it, as [Uninstall](/guide/uninstall) shows, or use a fresh server.
3. Run the install line again.