Access Server: SERVICE_INSTANTIATION_FAILED – LOCAL_ADDR <interface_name>: bad local address name or interface is not up

Overview

After restoring an Access Server configuration backup to a new server, the VPN service may fail to start and display an error similar to the following:

{
  "message": "LOCAL_ADDR <interface_name> : bad local address name or interface is not up; must be 'all', 'localhost', a local IP address, or an interface name",
  "tag": "SERVICE_INSTANTIATION_FAILED"
}

Symptoms

You may observe the following behavior after restoring a configuration backup:

• The VPN service doesn't start.
• Web UI is not available;
• Service status reports an error similar to:

{
  "errors": {
    "ServiceSet": [
      {
        "message": "LOCAL_ADDR <interface_name> : bad local address name or interface is not up"
      }
    ]
  },
  "services_init_done": false
}

Cause

The restored configuration contains a network interface binding from the original server.

During migration, the source server may have used a specific interface name, such as ens160, eth0, or enp0s3. If that interface doesn't exist on the new server, or if the interface is unavailable, Access Server can't bind the VPN service to it.

Resolution

Option 1: Configure Access Server to listen on all interfaces

1. Run the following command to identify the configuration values that reference the interface shown in the error message:

   sacli configquery | grep "<interface_name>"

   Replace <interface_name> with the interface name reported in the error.

   Example:

   sacli configquery | grep "enp3s0"

   Example output:

   "admin_ui.https.ip_address": "enp3s0",
   "cs.https.ip_address": "enp3s0",
   "vpn.daemon.0.listen.ip_address": "enp3s0",

2. Update the configuration to listen on all available interfaces:

   sacli --key "admin_ui.https.ip_address" --value "all" ConfigPut
   
   sacli --key "cs.https.ip_address" --value "all" ConfigPut
   
   sacli --key "vpn.daemon.0.listen.ip_address" --value "all" ConfigPut

3. Restart openvpnas service:

   service openvpnas restart

Option 2: Configure Access Server to use a valid interface or local IP address

1. Identify the available interfaces on the new server:

   ip addr

2. Update the configuration to use a valid interface name or local IP address.

   Example:

   sacli --key "admin_ui.https.ip_address" --value "eth0" ConfigPut
   
   sacli --key "cs.https.ip_address" --value "eth0" ConfigPut
   
   sacli --key "vpn.daemon.0.listen.ip_address" --value "eth0" ConfigPut

3. Restart openvpnas service:

   service openvpnas restart

Verify the configuration

Run the following command:

sacli status

The VPN service should start successfully without the SERVICE_INSTANTIATION_FAILED error.

If the issue persists, submit a support ticket for further assistance.