# Can't start Netdata with /home/netdata as cache directory **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Tags:** agent\ **Created:** [June 9, 2021, 7:25am UTC](https://community.netdata.cloud/t/cant-start-netdata-with-home-netdata-as-cache-directory/1412 "2021-06-09T07:25:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DeWaRs1206](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/community.netdata.cloud/dewars1206/32/697_2.png) [@DeWaRs1206](https://community.netdata.cloud/u/DeWaRs1206)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 7:25am UTC](https://community.netdata.cloud/t/cant-start-netdata-with-home-netdata-as-cache-directory/1412/1 "2021-06-09T07:25:50Z")
## Environment Ubuntu 18.04 / netdata v1.31.0-43-g83519b5df ## Problem/Question Hello community ! I have a master with around 25 nodes connected on it. I’m trying to cache the cache directory of netdata to store more metrics. With the following config: > [global] > hostname = NETDATA-MASTER-PROD > enabled = yes > cloud base url = [https://app.netdata.cloud](https://app.netdata.cloud) > default memory mode = dbengine > page cache size = 32 > dbengine multihost disk space = 312561 > cache directory = /netdata > [web] > bind to = \* Everything works fine. But when I try to change `cache directory` setting to `/home/netdata` I have the following error: > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : resources control: allowed file descriptors: soft = 65536, max = 65536 > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : Out-Of-Memory (OOM) score is already set to the wanted value 1000 > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : Adjusted netdata scheduling policy to idle (5), with priority 0. > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : Running with process scheduling policy ‘idle’ > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : netdata started on pid 6373. > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : Initializing spawn client. > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : Executing /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/system-info.sh > Spawn server is up. > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_CONTAINER\_OS\_NAME=none > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_CONTAINER\_OS\_ID=none > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_CONTAINER\_OS\_ID\_LIKE=none > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_CONTAINER\_OS\_VERSION=none > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_CONTAINER\_OS\_VERSION\_ID=none > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_CONTAINER\_OS\_DETECTION=none > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_HOST\_OS\_NAME=Ubuntu > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_HOST\_OS\_ID=ubuntu > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_HOST\_OS\_ID\_LIKE=debian > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_HOST\_OS\_VERSION=18.04.5 LTS (Bionic Beaver) > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_HOST\_OS\_VERSION\_ID=18.04 > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_HOST\_OS\_DETECTION=/etc/os-release > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_HOST\_IS\_K8S\_NODE=false > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_SYSTEM\_KERNEL\_NAME=Linux > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_SYSTEM\_KERNEL\_VERSION=4.15.0-143-generic > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_SYSTEM\_ARCHITECTURE=x86\_64 > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_SYSTEM\_VIRTUALIZATION=none > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_SYSTEM\_VIRT\_DETECTION=systemd-detect-virt > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_SYSTEM\_CONTAINER=none > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_SYSTEM\_CONTAINER\_DETECTION=systemd-detect-virt > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_SYSTEM\_CPU\_LOGICAL\_CPU\_COUNT=8 > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_SYSTEM\_CPU\_VENDOR=GenuineIntel > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_SYSTEM\_CPU\_MODEL=Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1270 v6 @ 3.80GHz > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_SYSTEM\_CPU\_FREQ=4200000000 > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_SYSTEM\_CPU\_DETECTION=lscpu > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_SYSTEM\_TOTAL\_RAM=33400356864 > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_SYSTEM\_RAM\_DETECTION=procfs > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_SYSTEM\_TOTAL\_DISK\_SIZE=0 > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : NETDATA\_SYSTEM\_DISK\_DETECTION=sysfs > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata ERROR : MAIN : Failed to initialize database at /home/netdata/netdata-meta.db, due to “unable to open database file” > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata FATAL : netdata : Failed to initialize SQLite # : Success > 2021-06-09 07:11:04: netdata INFO : MAIN : /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/anonymous-statistics.sh ‘FATAL’ ‘netdata:netdata’ ‘0659@database/r:rrd\_init /0’ > 2021-06-09 07:11:05: netdata ERROR : MAIN : Execution of anonymous statistics script returned http code 400. > 2021-06-09 07:11:05: netdata INFO : MAIN : EXIT: netdata prepares to exit with code 1… > 2021-06-09 07:11:05: netdata INFO : MAIN : /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/anonymous-statistics.sh ‘EXIT’ ‘ERROR’ ‘-’ > 2021-06-09 07:11:05: netdata ERROR : MAIN : Execution of anonymous statistics script returned http code 400. > 2021-06-09 07:11:05: netdata INFO : MAIN : EXIT: cleaning up the database… > 2021-06-09 07:11:05: netdata INFO : MAIN : Cleaning up database [0 hosts(s)]… > 2021-06-09 07:11:05: netdata INFO : MAIN : EXIT: removing netdata PID file ‘/var/run/netdata/netdata.pid’… > 2021-06-09 07:11:05: netdata INFO : MAIN : EXIT: all done - netdata is now exiting - bye bye… > EOF found in spawn pipe. The chmod for my folder seems right: `drwxr-xr-x 2 netdata netdata 4096 Jun 9 07:10 netdata/` I updated my service file to create the folder automatically: > [Service] > Type=simple > User=netdata > Group=netdata > RuntimeDirectory=netdata > RuntimeDirectoryMode=0775 > PIDFile=/var/run/netdata/netdata.pid > ExecStart=/usr/sbin/netdata -P /var/run/netdata/netdata.pid -D > ExecStartPre=/bin/mkdir -p /var/cache/netdata > ExecStartPre=/bin/chown -R netdata:netdata /var/cache/netdata > ExecStartPre=/bin/mkdir -p /var/run/netdata > ExecStartPre=/bin/chown -R netdata:netdata /var/run/netdata > ExecStartPre=/bin/mkdir -p /home/netdata > ExecStartPre=/bin/chown -R netdata:netdata /home/netdata > ExecStopPost=/usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/reset\_netdata\_trace.sh > PermissionsStartOnly=true ## What I expected to happen I would like to be able to change the cache directory to `/home/netdata` as this is where I have some disk space ---
**Author:** ![Stelios\_Fragkakis](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/community.netdata.cloud/stelios_fragkakis/32/136_2.png) [@Stelios\_Fragkakis](https://community.netdata.cloud/u/Stelios_Fragkakis)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 7:58am UTC](https://community.netdata.cloud/t/cant-start-netdata-with-home-netdata-as-cache-directory/1412/2 "2021-06-09T07:58:55Z")
Hi @DeWaRs1206 Make sure that the /home directory has **x** permission for **other** try ```auto cd /home chmod o+x . ``` and restart the agent ---
**Author:** ![DeWaRs1206](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/community.netdata.cloud/dewars1206/32/697_2.png) [@DeWaRs1206](https://community.netdata.cloud/u/DeWaRs1206)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 9:14am UTC](https://community.netdata.cloud/t/cant-start-netdata-with-home-netdata-as-cache-directory/1412/3 "2021-06-10T09:14:19Z")
Hi @Stelios_Fragkakis Thanks for your answer. Unfortunately, it was already the case: > root@ns3117200:~# cd /home/ > root@ns3117200:/home# ll > total 40 > drwxr-xr-x 7 root root 4096 Jun 9 07:10 ./ > drwxr-xr-x 24 root root 4096 Jun 9 07:26 …/ > drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Jun 9 07:00 back/ > drwx------ 2 root root 16384 May 11 09:58 lost+found/ > drwxr-xr-x 2 netdata netdata 4096 Jun 9 07:10 netdata/ > drwxr-xr-x 32 root root 4096 Jun 3 14:02 netdata\_source/ > root@ns3117200:/home# chmod o+x . > root@ns3117200:/home# ll > total 40 > drwxr-xr-x 7 root root 4096 Jun 9 07:10 ./ > drwxr-xr-x 24 root root 4096 Jun 9 07:26 …/ > drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Jun 9 07:00 back/ > drwx------ 2 root root 16384 May 11 09:58 lost+found/ > drwxr-xr-x 2 netdata netdata 4096 Jun 9 07:10 netdata/ > drwxr-xr-x 32 root root 4096 Jun 3 14:02 netdata\_source/ Any other idea? ---
**Author:** ![DeWaRs1206](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/community.netdata.cloud/dewars1206/32/697_2.png) [@DeWaRs1206](https://community.netdata.cloud/u/DeWaRs1206)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 9:16am UTC](https://community.netdata.cloud/t/cant-start-netdata-with-home-netdata-as-cache-directory/1412/4 "2021-06-10T09:16:29Z")
The disk is a mounted disk: /dev/md4 on /home type ext4 (rw,relatime,data=ordered) That’s the only difference I can see compare to the “/” root folder ---
**Author:** ![Stelios\_Fragkakis](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/community.netdata.cloud/stelios_fragkakis/32/136_2.png) [@Stelios\_Fragkakis](https://community.netdata.cloud/u/Stelios_Fragkakis)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 3:24pm UTC](https://community.netdata.cloud/t/cant-start-netdata-with-home-netdata-as-cache-directory/1412/5 "2021-06-10T15:24:07Z")
Hi @DeWaRs1206 Looks like it is the `ProtectHome=read-only` option in the service.file that causes this. You will need to change that, or mount the cache directory in a place other than /home ---
**Author:** ![DeWaRs1206](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/community.netdata.cloud/dewars1206/32/697_2.png) [@DeWaRs1206](https://community.netdata.cloud/u/DeWaRs1206)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://community.netdata.cloud/t/cant-start-netdata-with-home-netdata-as-cache-directory/1412/6 "2021-06-10T15:45:59Z")
Yes !!! Thanks a lot ! That was the issue !