# Unable to create private location
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/unable-to-create-private-location/386864
**Category:** Elastic Agent
**Tags:** fleet
**Created:** [June 15, 2026, 1:45pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/unable-to-create-private-location/386864 "2026-06-15T13:45:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@umesh2020](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/umesh2020)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2026, 1:45pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/unable-to-create-private-location/386864/1 "2026-06-15T13:45:57Z")
Invalid spaces. Private location spaces [default] must be fully contained within agent policy 532963e5-1c04-4475-b0a3-0d807c6a12e7 spaces [].
> GET kbn:/api/fleet/agent\_policies/532963e5-1c04-4475-b0a3-0d807c6a12e7
>
> {
>
> "item": {
>
> "id": "532963e5-1c04-4475-b0a3-0d807c6a12e7",
>
> "version": "WzE2OTIyLDY0XQ==",
>
> "created\_at": "2026-06-12T19:00:00.169Z",
>
> "space\_ids": [],
>
> "description": "Private Location Agent Policy",
>
> "monitoring\_enabled": [
>
> "logs",
>
> "metrics"
>
> ```
> \],
>
> ```
>
> "inactivity\_timeout": 1209600,
>
> "schema\_version": "1.1.1",
>
> "package\_policies": [],
>
> "agents": 0,
>
> "name": "Priv Location Agent Policy",
>
> "namespace": "default",
>
> "status": "active",
>
> "is\_managed": false,
---
### Author:  [@rozling](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/rozling)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2026, 10:04am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/unable-to-create-private-location/386864/2 "2026-06-16T10:04:52Z")
Same issue here on self-managed ECK 9.4.2.
We’re trying to use Synthetics private locations for internal HTTPS / certificate monitoring. My understanding is that this _should_ be possible without Fleet Space Awareness / Enterprise, because we only need a private location on our own Elastic Agent in the default space.
We have:
- Fleet Server running
- Elastic Agent enrolled and online
- Agent assigned to the intended policy
- Synthetics available in Kibana
The blocker is creating the private location.
Based on the error message, `POST /api/private_locations` seems to validate that the requested private location's `spaces` are contained within the selected Fleet agent policy’s `space_ids`.
The problem is that on our 9.4.2 deployment, newly created Fleet policies don't get useful `space_ids`.
In the Fleet API they appear as `null` (effectively `[]`), even when you specify `space_ids` in the create request.
That seems to match your [other thread](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/newly-created-agent-policy-has-space-id-set-to-null-in-version-9-4-2/386845/3).
@leandrojmp mentions there that this is expected unless Fleet Space Awareness is enabled. But Fleet Space Awareness requires Enterprise, which we do not have.
That leaves us stuck:
- Creating a private location with `spaces: ["default"]` fails with:
```auto
Invalid spaces. Private location spaces [default] must be fully contained within agent policy spaces [].
```
- Creating a private location with `spaces` omitted fails with:
```auto
options.namespaces cannot be an empty array
```
The second case also seems to contradict the API docs, which say of the `spaces` parameter:
> If it is not provided, the private location is available in all spaces.
> **[Body Required - Create a private location | Kibana API documentation](https://www.elastic.co/docs/api/doc/kibana/operation/operation-post-private-location#operation-post-private-location-body-application-json-spaces)**
>
> Spaces method and path for this operation:
> post /s/{spaceid}/api/synthetics/privatelocations
> Refer to Spaces for more information.
> You must have all privileges for the Synt...
So it looks like private locations may currently be blocked on upgraded, non-space-aware Fleet deployments: the Synthetics API requires space alignment, but the Fleet policy has no usable `space_ids`, and enabling Fleet Space Awareness is not available on Basic.
Is this expected behaviour in 9.4.2, or a bug/regression in the private location validation for non-space-aware Fleet policies?
Happy to share the exact API payloads, Fleet policy response, Kibana logs etc if useful.
---
### Author:  [@rozling](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/rozling)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2026, 10:09am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/unable-to-create-private-location/386864/3 "2026-06-16T10:09:02Z")
Repro steps:
### Environment
- Elasticsearch / Kibana **9.4.2** (self-managed, ECK)
- Fleet space awareness: **not** enabled
- Elasticsearch license: **basic**
- Kibana space: **default**
- Fleet agent policy with an enrolled, online agent (created for private-location use)
* * *
### Setup
```bash
export KIBANA_URL="https://"
export KIBANA_USER=""
export KIBANA_PASS=""
export POLICY_ID=""
```
* * *
### 1. Fleet policy has no meaningful `space_ids`
```bash
curl -sk -u "${KIBANA_USER}:${KIBANA_PASS}" -H 'kbn-xsrf: true' \
"${KIBANA_URL}/s/default/api/fleet/agent_policies?perPage=1000" \
| jq --arg id "$POLICY_ID" '.items[] | select(.id == $id) | {id, name, space_ids, agents, namespace}'
```
**Response:**
```json
{
"id": "",
"name": "",
"space_ids": null,
"agents": 0,
"namespace": ""
}
```
All other policies on this cluster also return `space_ids: null`.
* * *
### 2. Create private location - omit `spaces` (API docs: "available in all spaces")
```bash
curl -sk -u "${KIBANA_USER}:${KIBANA_PASS}" \
-H 'kbn-xsrf: true' -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-X POST "${KIBANA_URL}/s/default/api/synthetics/private_locations" \
-d "{\"label\":\"demo-no-spaces\",\"agentPolicyId\":\"${POLICY_ID}\",\"tags\":[\"demo\"]}"
```
**Response - HTTP 500:**
```json
{
"statusCode": 500,
"error": "Internal Server Error",
"message": "An internal server error occurred. Check Kibana server logs for details."
}
```
Kibana log:
```plaintext
Error: options.namespaces cannot be an empty array: Bad Request
```
* * *
### 3. Create private location - `spaces: ["default"]`
```bash
curl -sk -u "${KIBANA_USER}:${KIBANA_PASS}" \
-H 'kbn-xsrf: true' -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-X POST "${KIBANA_URL}/s/default/api/synthetics/private_locations" \
-d "{\"label\":\"demo-with-spaces\",\"agentPolicyId\":\"${POLICY_ID}\",\"tags\":[\"demo\"],\"spaces\":[\"default\"]}"
```
**Response - HTTP 400:**
```json
{
"statusCode": 400,
"error": "Bad Request",
"message": "Invalid spaces. Private location spaces [default] must be fully contained within agent policy spaces []."
}
```
* * *
### 4. `space_ids` in policy create request does not persist
```bash
curl -sk -u "${KIBANA_USER}:${KIBANA_PASS}" \
-H 'kbn-xsrf: true' -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-X POST "${KIBANA_URL}/s/default/api/fleet/agent_policies" \
-d '{
"name": "demo-policy-delete-me",
"description": "space_ids test",
"namespace": "default",
"monitoring_enabled": ["logs", "metrics"],
"space_ids": ["default"]
}'
```
**Create response (excerpt):**
```json
{
"item": {
"id": "",
"name": "demo-policy-delete-me",
"space_ids": null
}
}
```
**List after create:**
```json
{
"id": "",
"name": "demo-policy-delete-me",
"space_ids": null
}
```
**Private location on that new policy - same 400:**
```json
{
"statusCode": 400,
"error": "Bad Request",
"message": "Invalid spaces. Private location spaces [default] must be fully contained within agent policy spaces []."
}
```