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NinjaOne Backup — Error 317: Unable to Request Credentials

Audience: T1 / T2 Use when: Backup fails with "Error 317: UNABLE_TO_REQUEST_CREDENTIALS."

What This Error Means

Lockhart's pre-flight check requires retrieving the NAS credentials from NinjaOne's cloud platform before it can connect to the NAS. Error 317 means Lockhart could not reach the NinjaOne platform to fetch those credentials — the cloud connectivity problem happens before the NAS is even attempted.

This is a cloud connectivity issue affecting the credential retrieval step, not the NAS itself.

How 317 Differs from 315 and 316

Error What Failed
315 Got to the NAS, credentials were rejected
316 Can't reach the NAS hostname
317 Can't reach NinjaOne cloud to get the credentials in the first place

Step 1 — Rule Out a Transient Issue

Retry the backup manually. If a one-time internet hiccup occurred during the backup window, a retry will succeed:

  1. NinjaOne → device → Backup → Run Backup Plan
  2. Monitor the activity log

If it succeeds: the original failure was transient. Document and monitor.

Step 2 — Test NinjaOne Cloud Connectivity

# Test connectivity to NinjaOne credential endpoint
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName "app.ninjarmm.com" -Port 443
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName "backup.ninjarmm.com" -Port 443

# Test DNS
Resolve-DnsName "app.ninjarmm.com"
Resolve-DnsName "backup.ninjarmm.com"

If either TCP test fails: the device cannot reach NinjaOne's cloud — firewall or DNS issue.

Step 3 — Check UDM and DNS

# Confirm device is using UDM as DNS (DTC standard)
Get-DnsClientServerAddress -AddressFamily IPv4 | Where-Object {$_.InterfaceAlias -notlike "*Loopback*"} |
Select InterfaceAlias, ServerAddresses

# The ServerAddresses should show the UDM's IP, not an external DNS like 8.8.8.8 directly

If DNSFilter is active: verify ninjarmm.com is not in a blocked category.

Check UDM content filtering for blocks on *.ninjarmm.com.

Step 4 — Restart Lockhart

Sometimes Lockhart's internal connection state gets stuck. A restart clears it:

Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like "*Lockhart*"} | Restart-Service -PassThru

Wait 2 minutes, then trigger a manual backup run.

Step 5 — Check If the NinjaOne Agent Is Also Affected

Error 317 is specifically Lockhart failing to reach NinjaOne. If the main NinjaOne agent is also showing offline or having connectivity issues, the problem is broader — a site-wide internet or NinjaOne connectivity issue:

# Check main agent status
Get-Service NinjaRMMAgent | Select Status

# If NinjaRMMAgent is also struggling: site-level internet issue
# If NinjaRMMAgent is fine: Lockhart-specific cloud path issue

Escalate to T2 If:

  • Internet connectivity is confirmed healthy, NinjaRMMAgent is online, but Error 317 persists
  • Multiple devices at the same site are getting Error 317 simultaneously
  • Lockhart service restarts don't clear the error
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