{"record":{"id":"d6d72bc5489bf853","repo":"kubernetes/kops","slug":"getting-location-for-bucket-q-w","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"getting location for bucket %q: %w","messagePattern":"getting location for bucket %q: %w","errorType":"exception","errorClass":null,"httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"util/pkg/vfs/s3context.go","lineNumber":309,"sourceCode":"\tdefer span.End()\n\n\tout, err := s3Client.HeadBucket(ctx, &s3.HeadBucketInput{\n\t\tBucket: aws.String(bucket),\n\t})\n\tif err == nil {\n\t\tif out.BucketRegion != nil && *out.BucketRegion != \"\" {\n\t\t\treturn *out.BucketRegion, nil\n\t\t}\n\t\treturn \"\", fmt.Errorf(\"HeadBucket on %q did not return a bucket region\", bucket)\n\t}\n\n\tvar respErr *smithyhttp.ResponseError\n\tif errors.As(err, &respErr) && respErr.Response != nil && respErr.Response.Response != nil {\n\t\tif bucketRegion := respErr.Response.Header.Get(\"x-amz-bucket-region\"); bucketRegion != \"\" {\n\t\t\treturn bucketRegion, nil\n\t\t}\n\t}\n\treturn \"\", fmt.Errorf(\"getting location for bucket %q: %w\", bucket, err)\n}\n\n// isRunningOnEC2 determines if we could be running on EC2.\n// It is used to avoid a call to the metadata service to get the current region,\n// because that call is slow if not running on EC2\nfunc isRunningOnEC2(ctx context.Context) (bool, error) {\n\tif runtime.GOOS == \"linux\" {\n\t\t// Approach based on https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/identify_ec2_instances.html\n\t\tproductUUID, err := os.ReadFile(\"/sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/product_uuid\")\n\t\tif err != nil {\n\t\t\tklog.V(2).Infof(\"unable to read /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/product_uuid, assuming not running on EC2: %v\", err)\n\t\t\treturn false, nil\n\t\t}\n\n\t\ts := strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(string(productUUID)))\n\t\tif strings.HasPrefix(s, \"ec2\") {\n\t\t\tklog.V(2).Infof(\"product_uuid is %q, assuming running on EC2\", s)\n\t\t\treturn true, nil","sourceCodeStart":291,"sourceCodeEnd":327,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kops/blob/4c8573c808a73d578c5eadc86d410646ea0b0d73/util/pkg/vfs/s3context.go#L291-L327","documentation":"bucketLocationViaHead resolves an S3 bucket's region via HeadBucket. On any HeadBucket failure where the region could not be recovered from the x-amz-bucket-region response header (e.g. 403 Forbidden with no such header, 404 NoSuchBucket, network failure, or a client-side error that isn't a smithy ResponseError), it wraps the underlying AWS SDK error and throws this error. It means kOps could not determine which region the state-store bucket lives in, so the S3 VFS context cannot be built.","triggerScenarios":"s3Client.HeadBucket fails and either (a) errors.As(err, *smithyhttp.ResponseError) is false (network error, DNS failure, credential/sts error, request signing failure), (b) the response error carries no x-amz-bucket-region header (404 for a nonexistent/deleted bucket, 403 without region info, connection reset), or (c) the header is present but empty. Triggered during getDetailsForBucket when initializing the S3 VFS context for a cluster state store.","commonSituations":"Typo in the state store bucket name or bucket deleted before running kops; IAM credentials lack s3:ListBucket/HeadBucket permission on the bucket; network egress/firewall or VPC endpoint misconfiguration blocking s3.<region>.amazonaws.com; DNS problems in restricted clusters (air-gapped environments); using a bucket name that exists in another account you can't access.","solutions":["Verify the bucket exists and the name is spelled correctly: aws s3api head-bucket --bucket <name> — reproduce the same 404/403 locally","Fix credentials/permissions: grant s3:ListBucket (HeadBucket) on the bucket to the calling principal, or fix AWS_PROFILE / credential chain","Check network reachability to the S3 endpoint (proxy, VPC endpoint, DNS); test with curl -v https://s3.amazonaws.com/<bucket>","If the bucket moved or the state store was changed, run kops update cluster / export with the correct --state store value","Retry on transient network errors; if region ambiguity persists, set the region explicitly in cluster config or AWS_REGION so a wrong-region client isn't used"],"exampleFix":"// before: no permission on cross-account bucket\n$ kops get cluster --state s3://our-cluster-state\nerror: getting location for bucket \"our-cluster-state\": operation error S3: HeadBucket, https response error StatusCode: 403\n// after: add HeadBucket permission\n{\n  \"Effect\": \"Allow\",\n  \"Action\": [\"s3:ListBucket\", \"s3:GetBucketLocation\"],\n  \"Resource\": \"arn:aws:s3:::our-cluster-state\"\n}","handlingStrategy":"fallback","validationCode":null,"typeGuard":null,"tryCatchPattern":"region, err := bucketLocationViaHead(ctx, client, bucket)\nif err != nil {\n\t// fall back to GetBucketLocation API before giving up\n\tloc, lerr := client.GetBucketLocation(ctx, &s3.GetBucketLocationInput{Bucket: aws.String(bucket)})\n\tif lerr == nil && loc.LocationConstraint != \"\" {\n\t\tregion = string(loc.LocationConstraint)\n\t} else {\n\t\treturn fmt.Errorf(\"getting location for bucket %q: %w\", bucket, err)\n\t}\n}","preventionTips":["Set AWS_REGION explicitly so HeadBucket is issued against a sane default region endpoint","Ensure IAM permissions (HeadBucket/ListBucket) before automation; pre-flight with aws s3api head-bucket","Monitor state-bucket existence (CloudTrail/alarms) to catch deletion before kops runs","Use stable network paths (VPC S3 endpoints) to avoid intermittent HeadBucket failures"],"tags":["aws","s3","network","permissions"],"backgroundTag":"s3-bucket-region-unresolvable","analyzedSha":"4c8573c808a73d578c5eadc86d410646ea0b0d73","analyzedAt":"2026-09-05T04:13:19.212Z","contentChangedAt":"2026-09-05T04:13:19.212Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-09-12T07:17:12.445Z"}