⚠️ The information in this article applies only to a local / on-premise installation of ABRA Flexi on macOS.
Flexi on macOS runs as two system services that start automatically when the computer boots. This article describes how to start and stop them manually, and what to do if they fail to start.
ℹ️ This applies only to installations of Flexi on your own computer or macOS server (on-premise). For cloud instances (address companyname.flexibee.eu), the services are managed by ABRA and the customer does not have access to them. Enter all commands in Terminal using an account with administrator privileges.
Which services Flexi uses
eu.flexibee.server – the Flexi application server
eu.flexibee.postgresql – the PostgreSQL database server
The definitions of both services are stored in the /Library/LaunchDaemons/ directory as the files eu.flexibee.server.plist and eu.flexibee.postgresql.plist. Without these files, the services cannot be started.
Verifying that the services are running
ps aux | grep -i flexi
If the output list shows Java and PostgreSQL processes running under the user winstrom, the services are running.
Starting and stopping a service
To start or stop an already registered service one time:
launchctl start eu.flexibee.server
launchctl stop eu.flexibee.server
The same commands apply to the database as well — just use the name eu.flexibee.postgresql.
Permanently disabling and enabling a service
If you need to permanently disable a service (for example, for maintenance), use unload and load:
sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/eu.flexibee.server.plist
sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/eu.flexibee.server.plist
sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/eu.flexibee.postgresql.plist
sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/eu.flexibee.postgresql.plist
⚠️ After running the unload command, the service will not start on its own, even after restarting the computer. You can reactivate it only with the load command. Always disable the database only after disabling the application server.
The service doesn't start or is missing after installation
The most common cause is an incomplete installation: the installer ends with a generic error but appears to have completed successfully — however, it finishes without PostgreSQL and without registering the services.
Step 1: Check the installation log
You can find the log in the file /var/log/flexibee-install-log.txt. A successful installation ends with the line Postinstall successfull. If the log ends at the Preinstall phase and contains no Postinstall lines, the post-installation script never ran.
Step 2: Verify that the service files exist
Both service files .plist mentioned above must be present in the /Library/LaunchDaemons/ directory. If they are missing, the services cannot be started even with the load command.
Step 3: Run the Postinstall script manually
The Postinstall script is included in the mounted installation image (DMG). Run it in Terminal as sudo. Messages such as File exists for libraries or service already loaded are harmless — they simply mean that particular part has already been created. Once the script finishes, verify that the services are running using the steps described above.
Step 4: If the problem persists
Run the installation again using a freshly downloaded package. If this still doesn't help, contact support and attach the contents of the file /var/log/flexibee-install-log.txt along with your macOS version.