GoogleContainerTools/skaffold · error

unable to create log file for statuscheck step: %w

Error message

unable to create log file for statuscheck step: %w

What it means

withLogFile mutes verbose container logs by redirecting them to a file when log lines exceed maxLogLines. If logfile.Create("statuscheck", container+".log") fails, the error is wrapped as "unable to create log file for statuscheck step". The status check continues printing to the original writer only; full logs are lost from the file.

Source

Thrown at pkg/skaffold/kubernetes/status/resource/logfile.go:34

package resource

import (
	"bytes"
	"fmt"
	"io"

	"github.com/GoogleContainerTools/skaffold/v2/pkg/skaffold/logfile"
)

// withLogFile returns a multiwriter that writes both to a file and a buffer, with the buffer being written to the provided output buffer in case of error
func withLogFile(container string, out io.Writer, l []string, muted bool) (io.Writer, func([]string), error) {
	if !muted || len(l) <= maxLogLines {
		return out, func([]string) {}, nil
	}
	file, err := logfile.Create("statuscheck", container+".log")
	if err != nil {
		return out, func([]string) {}, fmt.Errorf("unable to create log file for statuscheck step: %w", err)
	}

	// Print logs to a memory buffer and to a file.
	var buf bytes.Buffer
	w := io.MultiWriter(file, &buf)

	// After the status check updates finishes, close the log file.
	return w, func(lines []string) {
		file.Close()
		// Write last few lines to out
		for _, l := range lines {
			out.Write([]byte(l))
		}
		fmt.Fprintf(out, "%s %s Full logs at %s\n", tab, tab, file.Name())
	}, err
}

View on GitHub (pinned to a1189de023)

Solutions

1. Check disk space (df -h) and free space / raise quota
2. Verify the skaffold log directory is writable (permissions, not read-only mount)
3. Ensure HOME/TMPDIR env vars are set correctly in CI containers
4. Manually create the expected log directory path used by the logfile package

Example fix

// before (CI container)
# skaffold dev  # fails: unable to create log file for statuscheck step
// after
ENV HOME=/home/skaffold TMPDIR=/tmp
RUN mkdir -p /home/skaffold/.skaffold && chmod u+w /home/skaffold/.skaffold

logDir := os.Getenv("HOME") + "/.skaffold"
if info, err := os.Stat(logDir); err != nil || !info.IsDir() {
    os.MkdirAll(logDir, 0o755)
}
if f, err := os.CreateTemp(logDir, "probe"); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("log dir not writable: %w", err)
} else {
    f.Close(); os.Remove(f.Name())
}

file, err := logfile.Create("statuscheck", container+".log")
if err != nil {
    log.Warnf("falling back to in-memory logs only: %v", err)
    return out, func([]string) {}, nil // degrade gracefully instead of failing
}

When it happens

Trigger: logfile.Create fails while ReportSinceLastUpdated handles a container with more than maxLogLines log lines and output not muted — caused by an unwritable log directory, disk full, or permission errors.

Common situations: Read-only filesystem or HOME not set so the log dir resolves badly; disk quota exceeded in CI; sandboxed environments denying file creation; container names with characters problematic for filenames.

Related errors

• errStr (aggregated event log file errors, e.g. "eventV2 log
• unable to create log file for deploy step: %w
• unable to create log file for render step: %w
• rs.ae.Message (actionable error message from status check)
• writing build output to file: %w

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/skaffold@a1189de023 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/22888dfab4d8f1ee. Report an issue: GitHub.