abiosoft/colima · warning

failed to execute %v: %w

Error message

failed to execute %v: %w

What it means

macOSProductVersion runs sw_vers -productVersion via cmd.Output(); this error means the process could not be executed or exited non-zero. The %v shows the exact argv ([sw_vers -productVersion]). The sole caller (minMacOSVersion, error 276) downgrades it to a warning and assumes an unknown/older version.

Source

Thrown at util/macos.go:149

// RosettaRunning checks if Rosetta process is running.
func RosettaRunning() bool {
	if !MacOS() {
		return false
	}
	cmd := cli.Command("pgrep", "oahd")
	cmd.Stderr = nil
	cmd.Stdout = nil
	return cmd.Run() == nil
}

// macOSProductVersion returns the host's macOS version.
func macOSProductVersion() (*semver.Version, error) {
	cmd := exec.Command("sw_vers", "-productVersion")
	// output is like "12.3.1\n"
	b, err := cmd.Output()
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to execute %v: %w", cmd.Args, err)
	}
	verTrimmed := strings.TrimSpace(string(b))
	// macOS 12.4 returns just "12.4\n"
	for strings.Count(verTrimmed, ".") < 2 {
		verTrimmed += ".0"
	}
	verSem, err := semver.NewVersion(verTrimmed)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse macOS version %q: %w", verTrimmed, err)
	}
	return verSem, nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to c3a5f9184d)

Solutions

1. Verify with: sw_vers -productVersion; echo $? in the same environment
2. Fix PATH so /usr/bin/sw_vers resolves
3. Treat the host as version-unknown and rely on the conservative fallback path
4. Loosen the sandbox policy if the version check is required

// probe once, cache the answer
var swVersAvailable bool
func init() {
    _, err := exec.LookPath("sw_vers")
    swVersAvailable = err == nil
}

ver, err := macOSVersion() // wrapper around sw_vers
if err != nil {
    // assume unknown/older macOS and take the conservative path
    log.Printf("warning: %v; assuming older macOS", err)
    return legacyPath()
}

When it happens

Trigger: sw_vers missing from PATH or not executable; process spawn blocked by sandbox/MDM policy; subprocess killed before producing stdout.

Common situations: Heavily restricted macOS hosts; sandboxed test harnesses; broken PATH in daemon contexts where /usr/bin is absent.

Related errors

• error retrieving macOS version: %w
• failed to parse macOS version %q: %w
• error during Lima prune: %w
• error in config: %w
• error editing config file: %w

AI-assisted analysis of abiosoft/colima@c3a5f9184d (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/18f190a856188cfd. Report an issue: GitHub.