Knowledge Base

Troubleshooting Neo4j Desktop Issues on Linux

This page describes common issues users may encounter when running Neo4j Desktop on Linux.

Error: The SUID sandbox helper binary was found, but is not configured correctly.

The SUID sandbox helper binary was found, but is not configured correctly.
Rather than run without sandboxing I'm aborting now.
You need to make sure that /tmp/.mount_neo4j-0qHCJ1/chrome-sandbox is owned by root and has mode 4755.

Explanation

Neo4j Desktop is an Electron app.

Electron is using a feature from the Linux kernel that is disabled in some distributions (eg. Debian).

They have a fallback binary for these cases but it seems like electron-builder is packaging it with the wrong permissions, hence the permission error you got.

This comment explains the issue more in detail.

Solution

Execute Neo4j Desktop (as a regular user) with the --no-sandbox flag, or run this command to enable the kernel feature Electron is using:

$ sysctl kernel.unprivileged_userns_clone=1

Error: The name org.freedesktop.secrets was not provided by any .service files

App initialization error: Error: The name org.freedesktop.secrets was not provided by any .service files {
  constructor: 'Error',
  stack: 'Error: The name org.freedesktop.secrets was not provided by any .service files'
}

Explanation:

Neo4j Desktop uses the system keyring to store credentials. On Linux (regardless of distribution or desktop environment) this is gnome-keyring. On previous versions not having gnome-keyring would make the application fail to start. Now it switches to the built-in keyctl utility if it can’t find gnome-keyring.

Solution:

Update to the latest Neo4j Desktop or install and enable gnome-keyring.

Error: spawn keyctl ENOENT

Error: spawn keyctl ENOENT

Explanation

keyctl is a key management utility used as a fallback when gnome-keyring is not available as the system keyring.

This utility is included in the core packages of most distributions, but if you see this error it means you don’t have it installed.

Solution

Install the keyutils or gnome-keyring.

Error: Neo4j Desktop is not showing in the applications menu.

Neo4j Desktop is not showing in the applications menu.

Explanation

Neo4j Desktop is distributes as an AppImage.

Solution

Install AppImageLauncher and integrate the Neo4j Desktop AppImage.