Vault (dev mode) crashes during initial startup

Vault
1

Hi, I’m getting started with Vault on Oracle Linux 8, installed via RPM. Everything is default except:

  • When it starts, it fails to bind to port 8200, saying that another process is using the port. I cannot find any other process using the port, nor any permission issue with opening it. For now, I’ve adjusted the “tcp” listener block to set address = "0.0.0.0:8300"
  • I’ve set log_level = "debug"
  • I’ve added a systemd service override:
    # /etc/systemd/system/vault.service.d/override.conf
[Service]
ExecStart=
ExecStart=/usr/bin/vault server -config=/etc/vault.d/vault.hcl -dev -dev-root-token-id="dev-only-token"
Restart=
Restart=n

When I attempt to start the service, it appears to start successfully and then immediately crashes with exit code 1:

Mar 02 17:03:02 systemd[1]: Starting "HashiCorp Vault - A tool for managing secrets"...
-- Subject: Unit vault.service has begun start-up
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://support.oracle.com
--
-- Unit vault.service has begun starting up.
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: ==> Vault server configuration:
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: Administrative Namespace:
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]:              Api Address: http://127.0.0.1:8200
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]:                      Cgo: disabled
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]:          Cluster Address: https://127.0.0.1:8201
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]:    Environment Variables: GODEBUG, GOTRACEBACK, HOME, INVOCATION_ID, JOURNAL_STREAM, LANG, LOGNAME, NOTIFY_SOCKET, PATH, USER
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]:               Go Version: go1.21.7
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]:               Listener 1: tcp (addr: "127.0.0.1:8200", cluster address: "127.0.0.1:8201", max_request_duration: "1m30s", max_request_size: "33554432", tls: "disabled")
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]:               Listener 2: tcp (addr: "0.0.0.0:8300", cluster address: "0.0.0.0:8301", max_request_duration: "1m30s", max_request_size: "33554432", tls: "enabled")
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]:                Log Level: debug
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]:                    Mlock: supported: true, enabled: false
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]:            Recovery Mode: false
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]:                  Storage: file
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]:                  Version: Vault v1.15.6, built 2024-02-28T17:07:34Z
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]:              Version Sha: 615cf6f1dce9aa91bc2035ce33b9f689952218f0
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: Error initializing Dev mode: open /home/vault/.vault-token.tmp: no such file or directory
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.490Z [INFO]  proxy environment: http_proxy="" https_proxy="" no_proxy=""
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.490Z [INFO]  incrementing seal generation: generation=1
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.490Z [WARN]  no `api_addr` value specified in config or in VAULT_API_ADDR; falling back to detection if possible, but this value should be manually set
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.490Z [DEBUG] core: set config: sanitized config="{\"administrative_namespace_path\":\"\",\"api_addr\":\"\",\"cache_size\":0,\"cluster_addr\":\"\",\"cluster_cipher_suites\":\"\",\"cluster_name\":\"\",\"default_lease_ttl\":0,\"default_max_request_duration\":0,\"detect_deadlocks\":\"\",\"disable_cache\":false,\"disable_clustering\":false,\"disable_indexing\":false,\"disable_mlock\":true,\"disable_performance_standby\":false,\"disable_printable_check\":false,\"disable_sealwrap\":false,\"disable_sentinel_trace\":false,\"enable_response_header_hostname\":false,\"enable_response_header_raft_node_id\":false,\"enable_ui\":true,\"experiments\":null,\"imprecise_lease_role_tracking\":false,\"introspection_endpoint\":false,\"listeners\":[{\"config\":{\"address\":\"127.0.0.1:8200\",\"proxy_protocol_authorized_addrs\":\"127.0.0.1:8200\",\"proxy_protocol_behavior\":\"allow_authorized\",\"tls_disable\":true},\"type\":\"tcp\"},{\"config\":{\"address\":\"0.0.0.0:8300\",\"tls_cert_file\":\"/opt/vault/tls/tls.crt\",\"tls_key_file\":\"/opt/vault/tls/tls.key\"},\"type\":\"tcp\"}],\"log_format\":\"\",\"log_level\":\"debug\",\"log_requests_level\":\"\",\"max_lease_ttl\":0,\"pid_file\":\"\",\"plugin_directory\":\"\",\"plugin_file_permissions\":0,\"plugin_file_uid\":0,\"raw_storage_endpoint\":false,\"seals\":[{\"disabled\":false,\"name\":\"shamir\",\"priority\":1,\"type\":\"shamir\"}],\"storage\":{\"cluster_addr\":\"\",\"disable_clustering\":false,\"redirect_addr\":\"\",\"type\":\"file\"},\"telemetry\":{\"add_lease_metrics_namespace_labels\":false,\"add_mount_point_rollback_metrics\":false,\"circonus_api_app\":\"\",\"circonus_api_token\":\"\",\"circonus_api_url\":\"\",\"circonus_broker_id\":\"\",\"circonus_broker_select_tag\":\"\",\"circonus_check_display_name\":\"\",\"circonus_check_force_metric_activation\":\"\",\"circonus_check_id\":\"\",\"circonus_check_instance_id\":\"\",\"circonus_check_search_tag\":\"\",\"circonus_check_tags\":\"\",\"circonus_submission_interval\":\"\",\"circonus_submission_url\":\"\",\"disable_hostname\":true,\"dogstatsd_addr\":\"\",\"dogstatsd_tags\":null,\"lease_metrics_epsilon\":3600000000000,\"maximum_gauge_cardinality\":500,\"metrics_prefix\":\"\",\"num_lease_metrics_buckets\":168,\"prometheus_retention_time\":86400000000000,\"stackdriver_debug_logs\":false,\"stackdriver_location\":\"\",\"stackdriver_namespace\":\"\",\"stackdriver_project_id\":\"\",\"statsd_address\":\"\",\"statsite_address\":\"\",\"usage_gauge_period\":600000000000}}"
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.490Z [DEBUG] storage.cache: creating LRU cache: size=0
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.491Z [INFO]  core: Initializing version history cache for core
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.491Z [INFO]  events: Starting event system
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.494Z [DEBUG] cluster listener addresses synthesized: cluster_addresses=[127.0.0.1:8201, 0.0.0.0:8301]
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.495Z [INFO]  core: security barrier not initialized
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.495Z [INFO]  core: security barrier initialized: stored=1 shares=1 threshold=1
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.497Z [DEBUG] core: cluster name not found/set, generating new
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.497Z [DEBUG] core: cluster name set: name=vault-cluster-14e31753
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.497Z [DEBUG] core: cluster ID not found, generating new
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.497Z [DEBUG] core: cluster ID set: id=2d15a494-0080-af2c-7c28-41974bc0bc58
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.497Z [INFO]  core: post-unseal setup starting
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.497Z [DEBUG] core: clearing forwarding clients
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.497Z [DEBUG] core: done clearing forwarding clients
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.497Z [DEBUG] core: persisting feature flags
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.506Z [INFO]  core: loaded wrapping token key
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.506Z [INFO]  core: successfully setup plugin runtime catalog
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.506Z [INFO]  core: successfully setup plugin catalog: plugin-directory=""
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.506Z [INFO]  core: no mounts; adding default mount table
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.508Z [INFO]  core: successfully mounted: type=cubbyhole version="v1.15.6+builtin.vault" path=cubbyhole/ namespace="ID: root. Path: "
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.508Z [INFO]  core: successfully mounted: type=system version="v1.15.6+builtin.vault" path=sys/ namespace="ID: root. Path: "
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.509Z [INFO]  core: successfully mounted: type=identity version="v1.15.6+builtin.vault" path=identity/ namespace="ID: root. Path: "
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.511Z [INFO]  core: successfully mounted: type=token version="v1.15.6+builtin.vault" path=token/ namespace="ID: root. Path: "
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.511Z [INFO]  rollback: Starting the rollback manager with 256 workers
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.511Z [INFO]  rollback: starting rollback manager
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.512Z [INFO]  core: restoring leases
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.512Z [DEBUG] expiration: collecting leases
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.512Z [DEBUG] expiration: leases collected: num_existing=0
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.512Z [INFO]  expiration: lease restore complete
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.512Z [DEBUG] identity: loading entities
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.512Z [DEBUG] identity: entities collected: num_existing=0
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.513Z [INFO]  identity: entities restored
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.513Z [DEBUG] identity: identity loading groups
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.513Z [DEBUG] identity: groups collected: num_existing=0
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.513Z [INFO]  identity: groups restored
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.513Z [DEBUG] identity: identity loading OIDC clients
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.513Z [INFO]  core: Recorded vault version: vault version=1.15.6 upgrade time="2026-03-02 17:03:02.513307644 +0000 UTC" build date=2024-02-28T17:07:34Z
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.513Z [DEBUG] secrets.identity.identity_567ee0f6: wrote OIDC default provider
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.514Z [DEBUG] secrets.identity.identity_567ee0f6: wrote OIDC default key
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.514Z [DEBUG] secrets.identity.identity_567ee0f6: wrote OIDC allow_all assignment
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.514Z [INFO]  core: post-unseal setup complete
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.514Z [DEBUG] token: no wal state found when generating token
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.514Z [INFO]  core: root token generated
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.514Z [INFO]  core: pre-seal teardown starting
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.514Z [DEBUG] expiration: stop triggered
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.514Z [DEBUG] expiration: finished stopping
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.514Z [INFO]  rollback: stopping rollback manager
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.515Z [INFO]  core: pre-seal teardown complete
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.515Z [DEBUG] core: unseal key supplied: migrate=false
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.515Z [DEBUG] core: starting cluster listeners
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.515Z [INFO]  core.cluster-listener.tcp: starting listener: listener_address=127.0.0.1:8201
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.515Z [INFO]  core.cluster-listener.tcp: starting listener: listener_address=0.0.0.0:8301
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.515Z [INFO]  core.cluster-listener: serving cluster requests: cluster_listen_address=127.0.0.1:8201
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.515Z [INFO]  core.cluster-listener: serving cluster requests: cluster_listen_address=[::]:8301
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.515Z [INFO]  core: post-unseal setup starting
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.515Z [DEBUG] core: clearing forwarding clients
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.515Z [DEBUG] core: done clearing forwarding clients
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.515Z [DEBUG] core: persisting feature flags
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.516Z [INFO]  core: loaded wrapping token key
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.516Z [INFO]  core: successfully setup plugin runtime catalog
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.516Z [INFO]  core: successfully setup plugin catalog: plugin-directory=""
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.517Z [INFO]  core: successfully mounted: type=system version="v1.15.6+builtin.vault" path=sys/ namespace="ID: root. Path: "
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.518Z [INFO]  core: successfully mounted: type=identity version="v1.15.6+builtin.vault" path=identity/ namespace="ID: root. Path: "
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.518Z [INFO]  core: successfully mounted: type=cubbyhole version="v1.15.6+builtin.vault" path=cubbyhole/ namespace="ID: root. Path: "
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.519Z [INFO]  core: successfully mounted: type=token version="v1.15.6+builtin.vault" path=token/ namespace="ID: root. Path: "
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.519Z [INFO]  rollback: Starting the rollback manager with 256 workers
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.519Z [INFO]  rollback: starting rollback manager
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.519Z [INFO]  core: restoring leases
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.520Z [DEBUG] identity: loading entities
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.520Z [DEBUG] identity: entities collected: num_existing=0
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.520Z [DEBUG] expiration: collecting leases
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.520Z [DEBUG] expiration: leases collected: num_existing=0
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.520Z [INFO]  identity: entities restored
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.520Z [DEBUG] identity: identity loading groups
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.520Z [INFO]  expiration: lease restore complete
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.520Z [DEBUG] identity: groups collected: num_existing=0
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.520Z [INFO]  identity: groups restored
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.520Z [DEBUG] identity: identity loading OIDC clients
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.520Z [DEBUG] core: request forwarding setup function
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.520Z [DEBUG] core: clearing forwarding clients
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.520Z [DEBUG] core: done clearing forwarding clients
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.520Z [DEBUG] core: request forwarding not setup
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.520Z [DEBUG] core: leaving request forwarding setup function
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.520Z [INFO]  core: post-unseal setup complete
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.520Z [INFO]  core: vault is unsealed
Mar 02 17:03:02 vault[2782999]: 2026-03-02T17:03:02.523Z [INFO]  expiration: revoked lease: lease_id=auth/token/root/h954fe5e043a20eb6c432ce21d1225b6ab37b0e434071a95dbafe9a40f327e905
Mar 02 17:03:02 systemd[1]: vault.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Mar 02 17:03:02 systemd[1]: vault.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
-- Subject: Unit failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://support.oracle.com
--
-- The unit vault.service has entered the 'failed' state with result 'exit-code'.
Mar 02 17:03:02 systemd[1]: Failed to start "HashiCorp Vault - A tool for managing secrets".
-- Subject: Unit vault.service has failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://support.oracle.com
--
-- Unit vault.service has failed.
--
-- The result is failed.

Since the server can’t start, I can’t use commands like vault debug or vault audit. Please advise! :slight_smile:

2

What if you just download the binary directly from Vault Versions | HashiCorp Releases instead of installing via a package manager - does that work?