### `invalid configuration: no configuration has been provided`
This typically means that no `kubeconfig` file can be found for the Ark client to use. Ark looks for a kubeconfig in the
following locations:
* the path specified by the `--kubeconfig` flag, if any
* the path specified by the `$KUBECONFIG` environment variable, if any
*`~/.kube/config`
### Backups or restores stuck in `New` phase
This means that the Ark controllers are not processing the backups/restores, which usually happens because the Ark server is not running. Check the pod description and logs for errors:
```
kubectl -n heptio-ark describe pods
kubectl -n heptio-ark logs deployment/ark
```
## AWS
### `NoCredentialProviders: no valid providers in chain`
This means that the secret containing the AWS IAM user credentials for Ark has not been created/mounted properly
into the Ark server pod. Ensure the following:
* The `cloud-credentials` secret exists in the Ark server's namespace
* The `cloud-credentials` secret has a single key, `cloud`, whose value is the contents of the `credentials-ark` file
* The `credentials-ark` file is formatted properly and has the correct values:
```
[default]
aws_access_key_id=<yourAWSaccesskeyID>
aws_secret_access_key=<yourAWSsecretaccesskey>
```
* The `cloud-credentials` secret is defined as a volume for the Ark deployment
* The `cloud-credentials` secret is being mounted into the Ark server pod at `/credentials`
## Azure
### `Failed to refresh the Token` or `adal: Refresh request failed`
This means that the secrets containing the Azure service principal credentials for Ark has not been created/mounted
properly into the Ark server pod. Ensure the following:
* The `cloud-credentials` secret exists in the Ark server's namespace