abiosoft/colima · error

cannot create file '%s': %w

Error message

cannot create file '%s': %w

What it means

Download had no usable resumable partial (none exists, or resume info was invalid), fell through to os.Create(opts.DestPath) on the .downloading cache file, and the OS refused. The wrapped *fs.PathError names the exact path; typical errnos are EACCES, ENOSPC, EROFS, ENOENT (parent dir deleted after MkdirAll).

Source

Thrown at util/downloader/http.go:122

	var file *os.File
	var existingSize int64
	var err error

	if opts.ResumeFromByte > 0 {
		file, err = os.OpenFile(opts.DestPath, os.O_WRONLY|os.O_APPEND, 0644)
		if err != nil {
			// can't resume, start fresh
			opts.ResumeFromByte = 0
			opts.ExpectedETag = ""
		} else {
			existingSize = opts.ResumeFromByte
		}
	}

	if file == nil {
		file, err = os.Create(opts.DestPath)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot create file '%s': %w", opts.DestPath, err)
		}
	}
	defer func() { _ = file.Close() }()

	// build request
	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodGet, opts.URL, nil)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid URL '%s': %w", opts.URL, err)
	}
	req.Header.Set("User-Agent", h.userAgent)

	// add Range header for resume
	if existingSize > 0 {
		req.Header.Set("Range", fmt.Sprintf("bytes=%d-", existingSize))
		// add If-Range with ETag if available for safe resume
		if opts.ExpectedETag != "" {
			req.Header.Set("If-Range", opts.ExpectedETag)
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to c3a5f9184d)

Solutions

1. Check free space with df -h and free enough for the artifact
2. Fix ownership/permissions of the cache directory
3. Retry: transient cleanup races resolve on the next attempt
4. Exclude the colima cache dir from tmpwatch/cleaner tools

dir := filepath.Dir(destPath)
if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0o755); err != nil {
    return err
}
var st syscall.Statfs_t
if err := syscall.Statfs(dir, &st); err == nil {
    free := st.Bavail * uint64(st.Bsize)
    if free < requiredBytes {
        return fmt.Errorf("insufficient disk space: need %d, free %d", requiredBytes, free)
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Cache dir deleted between MkdirAll and os.Create (cleanup race); directory not writable; disk full; DestPath already exists as a directory.

Common situations: Disk full when pulling large images; cache-cleaner tools racing the download; root-owned caches directory from earlier sudo runs.

Related errors

• error preparing cache dir: %w
• error during prune: %w
• error creating temp file: %w
• error writing temp file: %w
• failed to create bundle directory: %w

AI-assisted analysis of abiosoft/colima@c3a5f9184d (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/731b587ac6c50ffc. Report an issue: GitHub.