Common Issues and Solutions

Note: Check the Firefly Status Page for Firefly's current status.

This guide covers the most frequently encountered issues and their solutions when working with Firefly.

---

Resource Management Issues

Ghost Assets

Q: How do I resolve a "ghost drift" asset showing in Firefly?

A ghost drift asset occurs when Firefly detects a mismatch between your Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and actual cloud resources.

What causes ghost drift assets:

• Resource exists in IaC but not in the cloud.

• Resource was manually deleted without updating IaC.

Resolution steps:

• Remove it from your IaC configuration. Available in Firefly, check the delete asset action guide.

• For Terraform: Use terraform state rm <resource> or delete from code and run terraform apply.

• Firefly will stop listing it as ghost once the IaC reference is removed.

Prevention tips:

• Always use proper IaC destroy commands instead of manual deletions.

• Use Firefly's drift detection feature to detect and resolve ghost assets.

• Implement proper change management processes.

Undetermined Resources

Q: Some of my cloud resources show as Undetermined in Firefly. What does this mean?

Firefly does not fully support certain cloud resources, especially niche offerings.

What to expect:

• Resources appear in Inventory with limited information.

• Policies not be evaluated on these resources.

• Classification as managed/unmanaged is not available.

Solutions:

• Continue managing these resources via IaC.

• Contact Firefly support to request support for specific resource types.

---

Integration Issues

Missing Assets After Integration

Q: I just integrated a cloud account, but I don't see any assets in Firefly.

Troubleshooting steps:

1. Check integration status:

   • Navigate to Settings > Integrations and select the data source.

   • Verify the Scanning Status is in the last few hours.

   • Look for error messages and resolve any credential issues. For more information, contact Firefly support.

2. Wait for initial scan:

   • Initial scans can take several hours for large environments

   • Check if a scan is currently in progress

3. Trigger manual scan:

   • Go to Settings > Integrations and select the data source.

   • In the integration menu, click on the Scan Assets option.

4. Verify permissions:

   • AWS: Ensure IAM role has ReadOnlyAccess or equivalent.

   • Azure: Verify service principal has Reader role.

   • GCP: Check service account has appropriate viewer permissions.

   • For any other data source, check the relevant token permissions. For more information, check the Integration Guide.

Event-Driven Upgrade

Q: Firefly shows Event-Driven disabled for my cloud integration. What is this?

Event-driven mode provides real-time updates instead of periodic scanning.

Benefits:

• Near-instant drift detection (minutes vs. up to 24 hours).

• More accurate resource state tracking.

• Faster policy violation alerts.

How to upgrade:

• Check the Integration Guide for the specific cloud provider.

• Contact Firefly support for further assistance.

Note: If you cannot upgrade due to cost or complexity concerns, daily polling will continue to work.

---

Notification and Alert Issues

Troubleshooting Missing Notifications

Q: My Firefly notifications aren't coming through (Slack/Email/etc). How do I debug?

Step-by-step debugging:

1. Verify notification rules:

   • Go to the Notifications page.

   • Check that rules are active (toggle on).

   • Confirm events have occurred that match your criteria.

2. Test the integration:

   • Go to Settings > Integrations and select the notification integration.

   • Click on the Test button to send a test notification.

3. Common fixes:

   • Check the Integration Guide for the specific notification integration.

   • Contact Firefly support for further assistance.

---

Workflows and Guardrails Issues

Blocked Terraform Plans by Guardrails

Q: A Terraform plan is being blocked by a guardrail in Firefly, but I believe the change is okay.

Resolution options:

1. Override (if available):

   • Go to Workflows > Workspaces and select the blocked run.

   • Use the Override option (requires appropriate permissions).

2. Adjust the change:

   • Review the policy violation message.

   • Modify your Terraform code to comply.

   • Common fixes: add required tags, enable encryption, adjust resource sizes.

3. Update the policy:

   • Go to Workflows > Guardrails and select the guardrail.

   • Click on the Edit button.

   • Update the policy to your needs.

   • Click on the Save button.

Pro tip: Use violation remediation to quickly fix compliance issues rather than bypassing guardrails.

Endpoint Availability

Q: What happens to my run if Firefly's endpoint is unavailable?

Behavior during outages:

• CI/CD pipeline execution continues normally.

• Infrastructure changes are applied as usual.

• Deployment updates and logs won't appear in Firefly dashboard.

• Status tracking resumes once endpoint is accessible.

Recommendations:

• Configure fireflyci to not block pipelines on Firefly errors.

• Monitor Firefly's status page for service updates.

Slow or Stuck Workflows

Q: My Firefly workflow is running slowly or appears stuck.

Common causes and solutions:

1. Large plan files:

   • Break down large Terraform configurations.

   • Use targeted applies when possible.

2. Network connectivity:

   • Check firewall rules for Firefly endpoints.

   • Verify DNS resolution.

   • Test connectivity from CI/CD environment.

3. Resource contention:

   • Check for concurrent workflows.

   • Review resource limits in CI/CD system.

4. Workflow configuration:

   • Verify workflow triggers are correct.

   • Review timeout settings.

For more information, check the Workflows CI/CD integration guide.

---

General Troubleshooting Tips

Getting Help

1. Check Firefly Status:

   • Visit Firefly's status page for known issues.

   • Check maintenance windows and scheduled updates.

2. Gather Information:

   • Screenshot error messages.

   • Collect relevant logs from CI/CD systems.

   • Note timing of issues (when they started).

3. Contact Support:

   • Use the in-app support chat.

   • Email support with detailed context.

   • Include account information and affected resources.

   • For more information, check the contacting support guide.