My Neo4j Desktop is running on my Linux-Mint, but is not possible to activate the Instance

Neo4j Graph Platform Desktop
1

While the application seams to be running ok, each time i try to activate my instance, it shows STOPPED status

Additional info:

  • No application at all is using the localhost:7474.
  • The behavior is rather erratic. In some occasions the instance runs for a couple of seconds , in others does not starts at all

I include here the portion of the log file generated with the errror statement.

Many Tks in advance for your help in this matter

Log.....

2026-05-24 13:41:29.114+0000 ERROR Failed to start Neo4j on localhost:7474.
java.lang.RuntimeException: Error starting Neo4j database server at /home/fico/.config/neo4j-desktop/Application/Data/dbmss/dbms-003e1743-a8dc-4e3e-a56c-c7728b5f6bc8/data/databases
at org.neo4j.graphdb.facade.DatabaseManagementServiceFactory.startDatabaseServer(DatabaseManagementServiceFactory.java:291)
at org.neo4j.graphdb.facade.DatabaseManagementServiceFactory.build(DatabaseManagementServiceFactory.java:225)
at com.neo4j.server.enterprise.EnterpriseDBMSProvider.createManagementService(EnterpriseDBMSProvider.java:39)
at com.neo4j.server.enterprise.EnterpriseDBMSProvider.(EnterpriseDBMSProvider.java:29)
at com.neo4j.server.enterprise.EnterpriseDBMSFactory.createManagementService(EnterpriseDBMSFactory.java:19)
at com.neo4j.server.enterprise.EnterpriseBootstrapper.createNeo(EnterpriseBootstrapper.java:40)
at org.neo4j.server.NeoBootstrapper.start(NeoBootstrapper.java:200)
at org.neo4j.server.NeoBootstrapper.start(NeoBootstrapper.java:143)
at org.neo4j.server.NeoBootstrapper.start(NeoBootstrapper.java:106)
at com.neo4j.server.enterprise.Neo4jEnterprise.main(Neo4jEnterprise.java:19)
Caused by: org.neo4j.kernel.lifecycle.LifecycleException: Component 'org.neo4j.bolt.protocol.common.connector.netty.SocketNettyConnector@532e00bd' was successfully initialized, but failed to start. Please see the attached cause exception "bind(..) failed with error(-98): Address already in use".
at org.neo4j.kernel.lifecycle.LifeSupport$LifecycleInstance.start(LifeSupport.java:364)
at org.neo4j.kernel.lifecycle.LifeSupport.start(LifeSupport.java:91)
at org.neo4j.bolt.BoltServer.start(BoltServer.java:443)
at org.neo4j.kernel.lifecycle.LifeSupport$LifecycleInstance.start(LifeSupport.java:347)
at org.neo4j.kernel.lifecycle.LifeSupport.start(LifeSupport.java:91)
at org.neo4j.graphdb.facade.DatabaseManagementServiceFactory.startDatabaseServer(DatabaseManagementServiceFactory.java:282)
... 9 more
Caused by: org.neo4j.configuration.helpers.PortBindException: An error occurred while trying to bind to the socket localhost/127.0.0.1:7687
at org.neo4j.bolt.protocol.common.connector.netty.AbstractNettyConnector.start(AbstractNettyConnector.java:229)
at org.neo4j.kernel.lifecycle.LifeSupport$LifecycleInstance.start(LifeSupport.java:347)
... 14 more
Caused by: io.netty.channel.unix.Errors$NativeIoException: bind(..) failed with error(-98): Address already in use
2026-05-24 13:41:29.146+0000 INFO Neo4j Server shutdown initiated by request
2026-05-24 13:41:29.148+0000 INFO Stopped.

2

I believe I fixed the problem
It seems that the instance activation and database creation are now running ok and stable.

TLDR

  • Using linux Mint and may be other linux distributions is necessary to install the keyring & dependencies
  • After fixing the keyrings clear the cache of the configuration of neo4j Desktop and check after quitting the neo4j for any java process concerning the usual ports of the application ( (7474|7473|7687)
  • Be polite when closing the neo4j Desktop. Use the menu to quit. ( May be killing the window was the cause of the PIDs still actives)

Have all a good day . Hope my experience could help someone
Fico

As It might be useful to someone else, I reproduce here in detail , the steps I followed to fix the issue .

1) Asking Electron , not to use the sandbox

Opening a terminal in my Application images folders where my desktop is located I asked:

./neo4j-desktop-2.1.4-x86_64.AppImage --no-sandbox

17:49:27.164 (main) › Proxy configured: Using system proxy
17:49:27.498 (main) › Map tile provider requests interceptor configured successfully
17:49:27.498 (main) › App starting in mode: PRODUCTION
17:49:27.572 (common) › Using electron net utils []
17:49:27.857 (common) › Using electron net utils []

Not enough. Problem subsists

2) Install Missing Keyring Dependencies

Take in mind I am using Linux Mint ( an Ubuntu fork....)

sudo apt update && sudo apt install gnome-keyring

Hit:1 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease                                                                     
Hit:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease                                                                               
Hit:3 http://ppa.launchpad.net/deadsnakes/ppa/ubuntu focal InRelease 

more....

Restarting the system and executing again neo4j AppImage
Not enough. Problem subsists

3) Controlling ports in use

sudo ss -tulpn | grep -E "(7474|7473|7687)

tcp   LISTEN 0       50        [::ffff:127.0.0.1]:7474                    *:*           users:(("java",pid=1488,fd=384))                
tcp   LISTEN 0       5                      [::1]:631                  [::]:*           users:(("cupsd",pid=996,fd=6))                  
tcp   LISTEN 0       4096      [::ffff:127.0.0.1]:7687                    *:*           users:(("java",pid=1488,fd=382))

So killed the 1488 PID of java which they really surprise to be alive after a restart of my linux.

kill -9 1488`

4) Clearing Caches

I wipe both folders of neo4j-desktop just in case..../Application/Cache/dbmss & /Application/Cache/runtime

Everything seems works fine. Instance is running and I am able to create databases
It seems as well that asking electron not to use the sandbox is not necessary after all

Have a nice day!

Fico

3

Great job fixing this and welcome to the community!

4

Thanks Ari, it is great to be here. See you!:smiling_face_with_sunglasses: