---
title: Troubleshoot Elastic Defend
description: This topic covers common troubleshooting issues when using Elastic Defend's endpoint management tools. 
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/troubleshoot/security/elastic-defend
products:
  - Elastic Cloud Serverless
  - Elastic Security
---

# Troubleshoot Elastic Defend
This topic covers common troubleshooting issues when using Elastic Defend's [endpoint management tools](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/solutions/security/manage-elastic-defend).

## Endpoints

<dropdown title="Unhealthy Elastic Agent status">
  In some cases, an `Unhealthy` Elastic Agent status may be caused by a failure in the Elastic Defend integration policy. In this situation, the integration and any failing features are flagged on the agent details page in Fleet. Expand each section and subsection to display individual responses from the agent.
  <tip>
    Integration policy response information is also available from the **Endpoints** page in the Elastic Security app (**Manage** → **Endpoints**, then click the link in the **Policy status** column).
  </tip>

  ![Agent details page in Fleet with Unhealthy status and integration failures](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/troubleshoot/images/security-unhealthy-agent-fleet.png)
  Common causes of failure in the Elastic Defend integration policy include missing prerequisites or unexpected system configuration. Consult the following topics to resolve a specific error:
  - [Approve the system extension for Elastic Endpoint](/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/solutions/security/configure-elastic-defend/enable-access-for-macos#system-extension-endpoint) (macOS)
  - [Enable Full Disk Access for Elastic Endpoint](/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/solutions/security/configure-elastic-defend/enable-access-for-macos#enable-fda-endpoint) (macOS)
  - [Resolve a potential system deadlock](#linux-deadlock) (Linux)

  <tip>
    If the Elastic Defend integration policy is not the cause of the `Unhealthy` agent status, refer to [Common problems with Fleet and Elastic Agent](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/troubleshoot/ingest/fleet/common-problems) for help with the Elastic Agent.
  </tip>
</dropdown>

<dropdown title="Disabled to avoid potential system deadlock (Linux)">
  If you have an `Unhealthy` Elastic Agent status with the message `Disabled due to potential system deadlock`, that means malware protection was disabled on the Elastic Defend integration policy due to errors while monitoring a Linux host.You can resolve the issue by configuring the policy’s [advanced settings](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/solutions/security/configure-elastic-defend/configure-linux-file-system-monitoring) related to **fanotify**, a Linux feature that monitors file system events. By default, Elastic Defend works with fanotify to monitor specific file system types that Elastic has tested for compatibility, and ignores other unknown file system types.If your network includes nonstandard, proprietary, or otherwise unrecognized Linux file systems that cause errors while being monitored, you can configure Elastic Defend to ignore those file systems. This allows Elastic Defend to resume monitoring and protecting the hosts on the integration policy.
  <warning>
    Ignoring file systems can create gaps in your security coverage. Use additional security layers for any file systems ignored by Elastic Defend.
  </warning>
  To resolve the potential system deadlock error:
  1. Go to **Manage** → **Policies**, then click a policy’s name.
  2. Scroll to the bottom of the policy and click **Show advanced settings**.
  3. In the setting `linux.advanced.fanotify.ignored_filesystems`, enter a comma-separated list of file system names to ignore, as they appear in `/proc/filesystems` (for example: `ext4,tmpfs`). Refer to [Find file system names](/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/solutions/security/configure-elastic-defend/configure-linux-file-system-monitoring#find-file-system-names) for more on determining the file system names.
  4. Click **Save**.
     Once you save the policy, malware protection is re-enabled.
</dropdown>

<dropdown title="Required transform failed">
  If you encounter a `“Required transform failed”` notice on the Endpoints page, you can usually resolve the issue by restarting the transform. Refer to [Transforming data](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/explore-analyze/transforms) for more information about transforms.
  ![Endpoints page with Required transform failed notice](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/troubleshoot/images/security-endpoints-transform-failed.png)
  To restart a transform that’s not running:
  1. Go to Kibana's **Transforms** management page using the navigation menu or the [global search field](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/explore-analyze/find-and-organize/find-apps-and-objects).
  2. Enter `endpoint.metadata` in the search box to find the transforms for Elastic Defend.
  3. Click the **Actions** menu (**…**) and do one of the following for each transform, depending on the value in the **Status** column:
     - `stopped`: Select **Start** to restart the transform.
  - `failed`: Select **Stop** to first stop the transform, and then select **Start** to restart it.
    ![](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/troubleshoot/images/security-transforms-start.png)

  1. On the confirmation message that displays, click **Start** to restart the transform.
  2. The transform’s status changes to `started`. If it doesn’t change, refresh the page.
</dropdown>

<dropdown title="Elastic Agent and Endpoint connection issues">
  After Elastic Agent installs Endpoint, Endpoint connects to Elastic Agent over a local relay connection to report its health status and receive policy updates and response action requests. If that connection cannot be established, the Elastic Defend integration will cause Elastic Agent to be in an `Unhealthy` status, and Endpoint won’t operate properly.

  ### Identify if the issue is happeningYou can identify if this issue is happening in the following ways:

  - Run Elastic Agent's status command:
    - `sudo /opt/Elastic/Agent/elastic-agent status` (Linux)
  - `sudo /Library/Elastic/Agent/elastic-agent status` (macOS)
  - `c:\Program Files\Elastic\Agent\elastic-agent.exe status` (Windows)
    If the status result for `endpoint-security` says that Endpoint has missed check-ins or `localhost:6788` cannot be bound to, it might indicate this problem is occurring.
  - If the problem starts happening right after installing Endpoint, check the value of `fleet.agent.id` in the following file:
    - `/opt/Elastic/Endpoint/elastic-endpoint.yaml` (Linux)
  - `/Library/Elastic/Endpoint/elastic-endpoint.yaml` (macOS)
  - `c:\Program Files\Elastic\Endpoint\elastic-endpoint.yaml` (Windows)
    If the value of `fleet.agent.id` is `00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000`, this indicates this problem is occurring.
    <note>
    If this problem starts happening after Endpoint has already been installed and working properly, then this value will have changed even though the problem is happening.
    </note>


  ### Examine Endpoint logsIf you’ve confirmed that the issue is happening, you can look at Endpoint log messages to identify the cause:

  - `Failed to find connection to validate. Is Agent listening on 127.0.0.1:6788?` or `Failed to validate connection. Is Agent running as root/admin?` means that Endpoint is not able to create an initial connection to Elastic Agent over port `6788`.
  - `Unable to make GRPC connection in deadline(60s). Fetching connection info again` means that Endpoint’s original connection to Elastic Agent over port `6788` worked, but the connection over port `6789` is failing.


  ### Resolve the issueTo debug and resolve the issue, follow these steps:

  1. Since 8.7.0, Endpoint diagnostics contain a file named `analysis.txt` that contains information about what may cause this issue. As of 8.11.2, Elastic Agent diagnostics automatically include Endpoint diagnostics. For previous versions, you can gather Endpoint diagnostics by running:
     - `sudo /opt/Elastic/Endpoint/elastic-endpoint diagnostics` (Linux)
  - `sudo /Library/Elastic/Endpoint/elastic-endpoint diagnostics` (macOS)
  - `c:\Program Files\Elastic\Endpoint\elastic-endpoint.exe diagnostics` (Windows)
  2. Make sure nothing else on your device is listening on ports `6788` or `6789` by running:
     - `sudo netstat -anp --tcp` (Linux)
  - `sudo netstat -an -f inet` (macOS)
  - `netstat -an` (Windows)
  3. Make sure `localhost` can be resolved to `127.0.0.1` by running:
     - `ping -4 -c 1 localhost` (Linux)
  - `ping -c 1 localhost` (macOS)
  - `ping -4 localhost` (Windows)
</dropdown>

<dropdown title="Elastic Defend deployment issues">
  After deploying Elastic Defend, you might encounter warnings or errors in the endpoint’s **Policy status** in Fleet if your mobile device management (MDM) is misconfigured or certain permissions for Elastic Endpoint aren’t granted. The following sections explain issues that can cause warnings or failures in the endpoint’s policy status.

  ### Connect Kernel has failedThis means that the system extension or kernel extension was not approved. Consult the following topics for approving the system extension with or without MDM:

  - [Approve the system extension with MDM](/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/solutions/security/configure-elastic-defend/deploy-on-macos-with-mdm#system-extension-jamf)
  - [Approve the system extension without MDM](/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/solutions/security/configure-elastic-defend/enable-access-for-macos#system-extension-endpoint)
  You can validate the system extension is loaded by running:
  ```shell
  sudo systemextensionsctl list | grep co.elastic.systemextension
  ```
  In the command output, the system extension should be marked as "active enabled".

  ### Connect Kernel has failed and the system extension is loadedIf the system extension is loaded and kernel connection still fails, this means that Full Disk Access was not granted. Elastic Endpoint requires Full Disk Access to subscribe to system events through the Elastic Defend framework, which is one of the primary sources of eventing information used by Elastic Endpoint. Consult the following topics for granting Full Disk Access with or without MDM:

  - [Enable Full Disk Access with MDM](/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/solutions/security/configure-elastic-defend/deploy-on-macos-with-mdm#fda-jamf)
  - [Enable Full Disk Access without MDM](/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/solutions/security/configure-elastic-defend/enable-access-for-macos#enable-fda-endpoint)
  You can validate that Full Disk Access is approved by running
  ```shell
  sudo /Library/Elastic/Endpoint/elastic-endpoint test install
  ```
  If the command output doesn’t contain a message about enabling Full Disk Access, the approval was successful.

  ### Detect Network Events has failedThis means that the network extension content filtering was not approved. Consult the following topics for approving network content filtering with or without MDM:

  - [Approve network content filtering with MDM](/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/solutions/security/configure-elastic-defend/deploy-on-macos-with-mdm#content-filtering-jamf)
  - [Approve network content filtering without MDM](/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/solutions/security/configure-elastic-defend/enable-access-for-macos#allow-filter-content)
  You can validate that network content filtering is approved by running
  ```shell
  sudo /Library/Elastic/Endpoint/elastic-endpoint test install
  ```
  If the command output doesn’t contain a message about approving network content filtering, the approval was successful.

  ### Full Disk Access has a warningThis means that Full Disk Access was not granted for one or all Elastic Endpoint components. Consult the following topics for granting Full Disk Access with or without MDM:

  - [Enable Full Disk Access with MDM](/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/solutions/security/configure-elastic-defend/deploy-on-macos-with-mdm#fda-jamf)
  - [Enable Full Disk Access without MDM](/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/solutions/security/configure-elastic-defend/enable-access-for-macos#enable-fda-endpoint)
  You can validate that Full Disk Access is approved by running
  ```shell
  sudo /Library/Elastic/Endpoint/elastic-endpoint test install
  ```
  If the command output doesn’t contain a message about enabling Full Disk Access, the approval was successful.
</dropdown>

<dropdown title="Disable Elastic Defend's self-healing feature on Windows">
  ### Volume Snapshot Service issuesElastic Defend's self-healing feature rolls back recent filesystem changes when a prevention alert is triggered. This feature uses the Windows Volume Snapshot Service. Although it’s uncommon for this to cause issues, you can turn off this Elastic Defend feature if needed.
  If issues occur and the self-healing feature is enabled, you can turn it off by setting `windows.advanced.alerts.rollback.self_healing.enabled` to `false` in the integration policy advanced settings. Refer to [Configure self-healing rollback for Windows endpoints](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/4236/solutions/security/configure-elastic-defend/configure-self-healing-rollback-for-windows-endpoints) for more information.Elastic Defend may also use the Volume Snapshot Service to ensure the feature works properly even when it’s turned off. To opt out of this, set `windows.advanced.diagnostic.rollback_telemetry_enabled` to `false` in the same settings.

  ### Known compatibility issuesThere are some known compatibility issues between Elastic Defend's self-healing feature and filesystem replication features, including [DFS Replication](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/dfs-replication/dfsr-overview) and Veeam Replication. This may manifest as `DFSR Event ID 1102`:
  `The DFS Replication service has temporarily stopped replication because another application is performing a backup or restore operation. Replication will resume after the backup or restore operation has finished.`There are no known workarounds for this issue other than to turn off the self-healing feature.
</dropdown>