ERROR in authenticate.c:303 UA Hello from client:x.x.x.x:9101 is invalid. Len=-4

In Bacula bconsole, if you ever encounter an annoying message which repeats itself endlessly, here's the solution.

Issue
bacula-dir: ERROR in authenticate.c:303 UA Hello from client:10.1.0.151:9101 is invalid. Len=-4

Cause
Unknown. I got this error when I tried to run a backup from a remote client via haproxy. I used haproxy to publish port range 9101-9103.

Have tried 

• Restart bacula services (dir, sd, fd)
• Restart bacula server 

but none of them helped.

Solution
In Bacula working folder (/var/lib/bacula, or /opt/bacula/working, or your custom build folder), delete or move these files to another folder:

• bacula-dir, bacula-dir.9101.state, bacula-dir.conmsg

then restart bacula service

bacula restart