# Can't start packetbeat service on Ubuntu 18.04

**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cant-start-packetbeat-service-on-ubuntu-18-04/229458
**Category:** Beats
**Tags:** packetbeat
**Created:** [April 23, 2020, 11:39am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cant-start-packetbeat-service-on-ubuntu-18-04/229458 "2020-04-23T11:39:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![cezar996](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@cezar996](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/cezar996)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2020, 11:39am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cant-start-packetbeat-service-on-ubuntu-18-04/229458/1 "2020-04-23T11:39:12Z")

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Hi!

I can't start packetbeat service in Ubuntu 18.04. It runs perfectly If I start the service exactly after it is installed. But if I stop it or restart it in order to make some changes in `packetbeat.yml` and then try to start it again, I get the following error:

 ![1](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/2/5/2551dc08b4da382d8b9cddd0a52d22aae05de874.jpeg)

Does anybody have any idea?

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### Author: ![warkolm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/warkolm/32/39224_2.png) [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2020, 11:53pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cant-start-packetbeat-service-on-ubuntu-18-04/229458/2 "2020-04-23T23:53:49Z")

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Please don't post pictures of text, they are difficult to read, impossible to search and some people may not be even able to see them 🙂

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### Author: ![spike83](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/spike83/32/47036_2.png) [@spike83](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/spike83)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2020, 6:45am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cant-start-packetbeat-service-on-ubuntu-18-04/229458/3 "2020-04-24T06:45:03Z")

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Can you paste the text from journalctl -xe or the log file

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### Author: ![cezar996](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@cezar996](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/cezar996)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cant-start-packetbeat-service-on-ubuntu-18-04/229458/4 "2020-04-24T17:17:52Z")

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Hello guys!

Thank you for your desire to help me! Finally, I have succeeded in making the service to start. After I have unpacked the `packetbeat deb` file, I tried to start it, but I forgot to install `libpacap`. After I have installed `libpcap`, I still had the error I posted in the picture. After a lot of trials, I have found the solution. I have ran `sudo packetbeat test config -e`. This last command has saved my life. It printed an error where it was written what command should I run in order to make it start (it was: `sudo chmod go-w packetbeat.yml`, because I had previously ran `sudo chmod 777 packetbeat.yml` in order to have the possibility to edit this configuration file). Best luck!

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### Author: ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cant-start-packetbeat-service-on-ubuntu-18-04/229458/5 "2020-05-22T17:18:01Z")

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