# When a Golem provider looks offline, check the process, virtualization, and UDP A provider runs on x86-64 Linux. The guide’s healthy status is a running service, a valid VM, and an OK driver. A Mac can open the monitor. A Mac cannot be the provider. Offline does not set GLM to zero. - Canonical: https://iotahome.site/en/learn/golem-provider-offline-checks - Publisher: IOTA Watch - Topics: Golem - Published: 2026-10-24 - Updated: 2026-10-24 ## At a glance On the machine, read service, VM, and driver, then KVM and UDP port 11500. If the browser’s online flag is missing, leave it unknown. ## Which layer failed | Check | What healthy looks like | What a failure means | | --- | --- | --- | | Platform | x86-64 Linux. Docker is the recommended path; a direct install also exists | ARM and macOS cannot run the provider. A Mac is only for opening the monitor | | Three status lines | Service is running, VM valid, Driver Ok | If VM is not valid, the guide points at the container missing /dev/kvm | | UDP 11500 | Forwarding makes a direct path easier. Without it, the network can still relay | No forward does not mean the process is down. Check the service first | | Online flag on the monitor | The source shows true or false | No flag means unknown. Not earnings of zero, and not proof you powered off | When a Golem provider “looks offline,” separate three questions: whether this machine is allowed to be a provider, whether the process and the VM are healthy, and whether the network merely lacks a direct public path. The online flag in the browser is one read of the public stats. If it is missing, the state is unknown. GLM does not become zero. ## What the guide calls healthy The provider requires x86-64 Linux. The guide states that ARM, including Apple silicon and ARM servers, cannot run a provider for now, and that macOS is not supported on any hardware. Docker is the recommended path because the container keeps running after you close the terminal and comes back after a crash or reboot. The same guide also documents a direct install. In that mode golemsp run stays attached to the terminal, so you need a process manager such as systemd. Docker Desktop for Windows, including WSL 2, or a Linux VM with nested virtualization, is described as usually working and, in the same paragraph, as unsupported, with no help offered for those setups. Opening [the Golem project page](https://iotahome.site/en/projects/golem) on a Mac is fine. The Mac is the client that views the record. It is not the provider host. In golemsp status, the healthy combination given in the guide is Service is running, VM valid, and Driver Ok. When VM is not valid, the guide points to the container being unable to reach the host’s /dev/kvm. Tasks run inside virtual machines, so that device is required. The tutorial’s premise is a physical machine, or a virtual machine with nested virtualization enabled. Yagna uses UDP port 11500. The guide says the network can still relay traffic when you do not forward the port, while a public address is more stable. Forwarding is encouraged, not an absolute condition for starting. With Docker host networking, you forward the port the same way you would on the machine itself. There is no extra container port mapping. The Stats page states that versions older than 0.17.7 are no longer allowed on the network. Replace the image tag in the install sample with the current stable tag on Docker Hub. Do not treat one sample tag as the only version forever. ## Check in this order - Confirm the host is x86-64 Linux and that /dev/kvm exists. “Offline” on ARM or on a Mac is not a tuning problem. That machine cannot be the provider. - Read the three status lines. If the service is not running, see whether the terminal was closed (direct install) or the container is not being restarted. - If VM is not valid, follow the guide and check that KVM is passed into the container before you change prices. - If the service is fine and requestors still struggle to connect, then look at UDP 11500 on the router. If you have not forwarded it, remember that relay still exists. Do not write “no public port” as “process is dead.” - Last, read the online flag and the update time on the monitor. An empty flag stays unknown. Compare it with status on the machine. Do not let one overwrite the other. ## What to do next - All three lines are healthy and tasks stay at zero: offline checks stop here. Continue with [capacity and tasks](https://iotahome.site/en/learn/golem-offers-tasks-availability). Price and subnet are not proved on this page. - The online flag is true and GLM is empty: online is not payment. The two GLM figures are in [rolling 24 hours and lifetime](https://iotahome.site/en/learn/golem-monitor-guide). - The version is below the line Stats states as allowed: switch to the current stable tag as the install guide describes, then read status again. The monitor cannot upgrade the container for you. ## Example Illustrative, not a measurement of a specific machine: a laptop with Apple silicon opens the monitor and the node’s online flag is empty. The empty flag stays unknown, and the GLM column is not written as zero. That laptop cannot be installed as the provider. On a separate x86-64 Linux host, status showing the service not running and VM not valid means restoring the process and /dev/kvm before touching the rolling 24-hour column. ## Related tool The monitor only stores the node record you choose. Free is five saved devices per project, Pro 50. It cannot log in to your machine, open UDP, or promise tasks or GLM after the provider recovers. ## Common questions ### If I do not forward UDP 11500, is the provider broken? The guide says traffic can still be relayed without forwarding, and a public address is better. See whether the service is running before you decide to forward the port. ### If a Mac does not show online, should I reinstall the provider on the Mac? No. macOS cannot be the provider. The Mac only opens the monitor. Install the provider on x86-64 Linux and compare status on that machine. ### If the online flag is empty, do I record earnings as zero? No. Unknown online and unknown GLM are separate columns. A column is zero only when the source explicitly shows zero. ## Sources and implementation - [Golem Network](https://golem.network/) - [Golem provider installation](https://docs.golem.network/docs/providers/provider-installation) - [Golem Stats](https://stats.golem.network/)