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FAQ

Failed to connect to bus​

If you get this error when running:

brew services start fileflows-node
Failed to connect to bus: No medium found

it means your user systemd services are not fully enabled or your shell is missing the right environment variables.

Step 1: Enable systemd user lingering for your user​

This lets your user’s systemd services run even when you’re not actively logged in.

Run this command once (replace john with your username):

sudo loginctl enable-linger john

Why?
This allows systemd to keep user services running in the background after logout or without an active session.

Step 2: Set your DBUS environment variable​

Your shell needs to know where the user systemd message bus is so it can communicate with it.

Run this command:

export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/$(id -u)/bus

Why?
This points your shell to the correct communication socket for your user’s systemd services.

Step 3: Start the service with brew​

Now you can start your service as your normal user:

brew services start fileflows-node

You should see confirmation that the service started successfully.

Add the following line to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.profile file:

echo 'export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/$(id -u)/bus' >> ~/.bashrc

Then reload your shell:

source ~/.bashrc

Why?
This makes sure the environment variable is always set automatically when you open a new terminal session.