VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics · error

cannot parse proxy auth config: %w

Error message

cannot parse proxy auth config: %w

What it means

Analogous to error 938 but for the proxy credentials: ProxyClientConfig.NewConfig(baseDir) fails while building the Vultr client when proxy auth options are invalid (unreadable files, conflicting options), so discovery aborts before contacting api.vultr.com.

Source

Thrown at lib/promscrape/discovery/vultr/api.go:47

	port := sdc.Port
	if port == 0 {
		port = 80
	}

	// See: https://www.vultr.com/api/
	apiServer := "https://api.vultr.com"

	if sdc.HTTPClientConfig.BearerToken == nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("missing `bearer_token` option")
	}

	ac, err := sdc.HTTPClientConfig.NewConfig(baseDir)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot parse auth config: %w", err)
	}
	proxyAC, err := sdc.ProxyClientConfig.NewConfig(baseDir)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot parse proxy auth config: %w", err)
	}

	c, err := discoveryutil.NewClient(apiServer, ac, sdc.ProxyURL, proxyAC, &sdc.HTTPClientConfig)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot create client for %q: %w", apiServer, err)
	}

	// Prepare additional query params for list instance API.
	// See https://www.vultr.com/api/#tag/instances/operation/list-instances
	var qp url.Values
	if sdc.Label != "" {
		qp.Set("label", sdc.Label)
	}
	if sdc.MainIP != "" {
		qp.Set("main_ip", sdc.MainIP)
	}
	if sdc.Region != "" {
		qp.Set("region", sdc.Region)

View on GitHub (pinned to 5079fb58f1)

Solutions

1. Inspect the wrapped cause to find the failing proxy option.
2. Fix the proxy auth file paths/permissions or inline credentials.
3. Remove proxy auth if the proxy needs none.
4. Re-validate the config after changes.

Example fix

# before
proxy_client_config:
  basic_auth:
    password_file: /gone/proxy_pass
# after
proxy_client_config:
  basic_auth:
    password_file: /run/secrets/proxy_pass

if sdc.ProxyClientConfig.HasAuth() {
    for _, p := range sdc.ProxyClientConfig.AuthFilePaths() {
        if _, err := os.Stat(p); err != nil { return fmt.Errorf("missing proxy auth file: %s", p) }
    }
}

labels, err := sdc.GetLabels(baseDir)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "cannot parse proxy auth config") { /* fix proxy auth options */ }

When it happens

Trigger: vultr SDConfig with `proxy_client_config` containing an invalid basic_auth/bearer/tls option, e.g. password_file that does not exist.

Common situations: Corporate proxy environments where proxy secret files are not present in the scrape agent's container or paths changed after a migration.

Related errors

• cannot parse proxy auth config for `job_name` %q: %w
• cannot parse proxy auth config: %w
• cannot parse proxy auth config: %w
• cannot parse proxy auth config: %w
• cannot parse proxy auth config: %w

AI-assisted analysis of VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics@5079fb58f1 (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/85db6fc3309a6107. Report an issue: GitHub.