What you will do: find the problem you are seeing in the list below and apply the fix. Each fix here is one the product supports; where there is no safe do-it-yourself fix, we say so and ask you to contact support.
Time: 5 to 15 minutes for most problems.
You need: an administrator account on the server, and PowerShell opened with Run as administrator for the commands on this page.
First checks for any problem
- Check the Warden service is running. In PowerShell:
Get-Service PrixlWarden, PrixlUpdater- If
PrixlWardenis not Running, start it, or restart it if it is running but misbehaving. In PowerShell,sc startdoes not work (therescmeans something else), so use:
Start-Service PrixlWarden
Restart-Service PrixlWarden- Make sure the server can reach Prixl over the internet: outbound HTTPS (port 443) to api.warden.prixl.io, and to downloads.prixl.io for updates. Monitoring needs no inbound ports (only Prixl Guard’s Classic Static IP mode needs a port forwarded).
- Always open the dashboard from the Prixl Warden Dashboard icon on the desktop, not from a link in an email.
- If you contact support, attach the Warden log:
C:\ProgramData\Prixl\warden\logs\warden.log. For installer problems, also attachC:\Windows\Temp\prixl-warden-installer.log.
Installing
The server runs Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2
Warden does not support these. It needs Windows 10 or 11, or Windows Server 2016 or newer (64-bit). The installer does not check the Windows version, so on Windows 7 it completes, but the Warden service fails to start and the dashboard icon crashes. Uninstall it from Programs and Features and ask your IT vendor about upgrading Windows.
Windows will not run the downloaded installer
Files downloaded from the internet can be marked as blocked. Right-click PrixlWarden.msi, choose Properties, tick Unblock and click OK, or run:
Unblock-File -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\PrixlWarden.msi"If the installer stops with an error number (such as 1603 or 1618), note the number and send it with the installer log to support through the contact form.
The installer rejects your org.lic file
- “The selected file is not named ‘org.lic’.”: the file must be named exactly
org.lic. If your browser saved a second copy asorg (1).lic, rename it. - “The selected org.lic file is empty.” or “does not appear to contain a valid organization key”: save the attachment from your welcome email again (“Welcome to Prixl Warden”, from [email protected]) and pick that file. It should contain your organisation key on a single line.
- If you clicked Cancel, the install still finishes. Add the key afterwards from the dashboard with Upload .lic file, or copy
org.licintoC:\Program Files\Prixl\Warden\and restart the service withRestart-Service PrixlWarden.
“License validation did not complete within 60 seconds”
Warden installed and the service is running, but it could not confirm your licence in time. Open the dashboard from the desktop icon. If it asks for your licence, click Upload .lic file and choose your org.lic. If it still does not connect, check the outbound HTTPS access in First checks, step 3, then send the Warden log to support.
You lost the welcome email with org.lic
Signing up again with the same address does not resend it once the address is verified. Contact support through the contact form, giving that address.
Opening the dashboard
A “Session Expired” page, or the dashboard will not open
This page appears when the dashboard address is opened directly, for example from an email link or by typing http://localhost:9843. The dashboard has no username or password; the desktop icon signs you in. Close the page and double-click Prixl Warden Dashboard on the desktop, then click Yes at the permission prompt. If the icon is missing, run prixl-warden dashboard from a Command Prompt opened as administrator.
The dashboard only works on the server itself, and only in Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome. If Internet Explorer opens, copy the address into Edge or Chrome.
If prixl-warden dashboard prints an error:
| Message | Fix |
|---|---|
| Warden dashboard is not running. | Start the service: Start-Service PrixlWarden |
| Dashboard token file not found: | Restart the service: Restart-Service PrixlWarden |
| Access denied reading the dashboard token. | Open the prompt with Run as administrator. |
| Dashboard token is invalid | Delete the token file and restart the service (commands below). |
Remove-Item 'C:\ProgramData\Prixl\warden\data\dashboard_token.txt'
Restart-Service PrixlWardenIf the service is running but the dashboard still will not load, check whether another program is using the dashboard’s port, 9843, with netstat -an | findstr 9843, and send the result to support.
Banners at the top of the dashboard
| Banner | What to do |
|---|---|
| No license file found. Upload your org.lic to get started. | Click Upload .lic file and choose the org.lic from your welcome email. Any old file is kept as org.lic.previous. |
| Device is not yet enrolled with the cloud. | Warden retries every 2 minutes. Wait, then click Refresh License. If it persists, check outbound HTTPS (First checks, step 3). |
| The org_key in org.lic was not recognized. | The key is wrong. Upload the org.lic from your welcome email with Upload .lic file, then restart the service. |
| A Re-enroll button appears | Click it. Do not use Settings, Advanced, Force Re-enroll unless support asks you to. |
| Licence expired, grace period, or cloud monitoring paused | Renew, then click Refresh License. See Trial, licence renewal and what happens at expiry. |
| Mentions a signature that does not verify, or a state that cannot be decrypted | Contact support through the contact form. |
| Cloud unreachable; running on cached license. | Warden cannot reach Prixl. Check the internet connection and outbound HTTPS. |
| Monitoring degraded | The service is up but is not processing security events. Restart it with Restart-Service PrixlWarden. If the banner comes back, send the Warden log to support. |
When something is wrong, the dashboard also shows a “Recent issues from agent log” panel. Include what it says when you contact support.
Emails
Emails are not arriving
- Check spam or junk, and add [email protected] to your safe senders.
- In the dashboard, open Settings, Alert Recipients. The address must be listed and must not show “awaiting verification”.
- Check the Daily digest and Weekly reports switches under Regular Summaries, and the switches under Notification Categories.
- For odd-hour sign-ins: save your working hours. Until you do, they are recorded but not emailed.
Remember that only high and critical events are emailed immediately, the daily digest is sent only on days with something to report, and the free trial allows one recipient and limits how many alerts are sent each hour and each day. See What each Warden email means.
A “Device Unreachable” email
The server has not reported to Prixl for more than 72 hours: it is switched off, offline, or the service has stopped. Run the First checks above. If the service will not stay running, send the Warden log to support.
Times in emails do not match the server
Working hours are read in the server’s own time zone (shown on the Settings tab as “(server)”). Emails, the daily digest and the weekly reports use Indian Standard Time. If the server’s time zone is wrong, ask your IT vendor to correct it.
Features and lock-outs
No button to apply fixes, or “View only” on the Hardening tab
You are on the free trial, which shows the audit but cannot apply fixes. Applying fixes needs a paid plan: see the pricing page.
The Secure Access tab is greyed out
Your plan does not include Prixl Guard. It needs the Warden + Guard plan (the dashboard calls this the Business Guard plan). See Prixl Guard.
Locked out after changing the Remote Desktop port
Connect using the new port number you wrote down when you applied the fix. If you do not have it, get into the server another way (cloud console, IPMI/iLO or the physical keyboard), open the dashboard and click Reset to 3389 on the RDP Port card of the Overview tab. Remember to update any router forward to match.
Locked out after blocking your own address
Get into the server another way (cloud console, IPMI/iLO or the physical keyboard), open the dashboard, go to IP Blocking and click Unblock next to your address in Currently Blocked. Then add your office and home addresses on the Trusted IPs tab so auto-block never blocks them. See Block attackers.
Warden switched an audit policy back on after you turned it off
This is by design. Warden needs sign-in auditing to detect attacks, so it switches required audit policies back on and sends an alert to say it has done so.
Check it worked
Get-Service PrixlWardenshows Running.- The dashboard opens from the desktop icon with no banner, or with only the banner you expected, and the protection line on the Overview tab reads “All protections in force”.
- The top bar shows your organisation and server name.
If something goes wrong
- Problem not listed, or the fix did not help: contact support through the contact form with the server name, what you see (a screenshot helps) and the Warden log.
- For Prixl Guard connection problems, see Troubleshooting Guard.
Next
- Previous: Uninstall Warden
- Next: Prixl Guard (Secure Access) guides
- Back to all Prixl Warden guides