abiosoft/colima · error

error preparing storage pools directory: %w

Error message

error preparing storage pools directory: %w

What it means

wipeDisk begins by running 'sudo rm -rf <disk_file> <meta_dir>' in the guest to clear old pool artifacts before recreating storage; that cleanup command failed. rm failures here usually mean the pool file is busy (zfs still holding it), sudo failed, or the guest filesystem errored.

Source

Thrown at environment/container/incus/incus.go:486

		return err
	}

	if out != poolName {
		return fmt.Errorf("default storage pool recovery failure")
	}

	return nil
}

func (c *incusRuntime) wipeDisk(size int) error {
	// prepare by deleting relevant files/directories
	deleteScript := strings.NewReplacer(
		"{disk_file}", poolDiskFile,
		"{meta_dir}", poolMetaDir,
	).Replace("sudo rm -rf {disk_file} {meta_dir}")

	if err := c.guest.RunQuiet("sh", "-c", deleteScript); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("error preparing storage pools directory: %w", err)
	}

	// create new storage pool
	var diskSize = fmt.Sprintf("%dGiB", size)
	return c.guest.RunQuiet("sudo", "incus", "storage", "create", poolName, storageDriver, "size="+diskSize)
}

// migrationScript returns a script that migrates from the old disk layout
// (separate incus-disks and incus-backups subdirectories) to the new layout
// (full /var/lib/incus directory).
func migrationScript() string {
	mountPoint := limautil.MountPoint()
	return `MOUNT_POINT="` + mountPoint + `"
if [ -d "$MOUNT_POINT/incus-disks" ] && [ ! -d "$MOUNT_POINT/incus" ]; then
  mkdir -p "$MOUNT_POINT/incus"
  if [ -d /var/lib/incus ]; then
    cp -a /var/lib/incus/. "$MOUNT_POINT/incus/"
  fi

View on GitHub (pinned to c3a5f9184d)

Solutions

1. Check what holds the files: 'colima ssh -- sudo lsof +D /var/lib/incus; sudo zpool list'
2. Export any imported pool first: 'colima ssh -- sudo zpool export <pool>' then retry
3. Retry after a full stop/start: 'colima stop && colima start'
4. If the data volume is faulty, recreate the VM: 'colima delete && colima start'

// ensure nothing holds the pool before wiping
if c.poolImported() {
    _ = c.guest.RunQuiet("sh", "-c", "sudo zpool export "+poolName)
}

if err := c.guest.RunQuiet("sh", "-c", deleteScript); err != nil {
    // busy files clear after services stop; retry once post-stop
    _ = c.systemctl.Stop("incus.service")
    if err2 := c.guest.RunQuiet("sh", "-c", deleteScript); err2 != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("error preparing storage pools directory: %w", err2)
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: guest.RunQuiet('sh','-c', 'sudo rm -rf ...') errors: zfs pool still imported and holding the .img, another process has files open under the meta dir, permissions changed, guest disk in read-only/error state.

Common situations: Wiping after a failed recovery where the pool got imported in between, concurrent incus operations in the guest, disk I/O errors on the data volume.

Related errors

• no existing storage pool disks found
• cannot recover disk: %w, creating new storage pool
• cannot list storage pool disks: %w
• error recovering storage pool: %w
• default storage pool recovery failure

AI-assisted analysis of abiosoft/colima@c3a5f9184d (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7ca12a81e9e69d70. Report an issue: GitHub.