{"record":{"id":"d97e1a694d486753","repo":"hashicorp/packer","slug":"failed-to-determine-latest-packer-version-w","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"failed to determine latest Packer version: %w","messagePattern":"failed to determine latest Packer version: %w","errorType":"exception","errorClass":null,"httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"provisioner/hcp-sbom/packer_release_fetch.go","lineNumber":229,"sourceCode":"}\n\n// downloadPackerRelease fetches the latest stable Packer version from the\n// HashiCorp releases index (releases.hashicorp.com/packer/index.json), then\n// downloads and checksum-verifies the zip for the given GOOS/GOARCH.\n// All HTTP operations are retried up to three times.\nfunc downloadPackerRelease(ctx context.Context, goos, goarch string) (string, error) {\n\tbase := getReleaseBaseURL()\n\tclient := &http.Client{Timeout: 5 * time.Minute}\n\n\tvar zipPath string\n\terr := retry.Config{\n\t\tTries:      3,\n\t\tRetryDelay: func() time.Duration { return 5 * time.Second },\n\t}.Run(ctx, func(ctx context.Context) error {\n\t\t// Resolve the latest stable version from the releases index.\n\t\tv, err := fetchLatestPackerVersion(ctx, client)\n\t\tif err != nil {\n\t\t\treturn fmt.Errorf(\"failed to determine latest Packer version: %w\", err)\n\t\t}\n\n\t\tfileName := fmt.Sprintf(\"packer_%s_%s_%s.zip\", v, goos, goarch)\n\t\tzipURL := fmt.Sprintf(\"%s/packer/%s/%s\", base, v, fileName)\n\t\tshaSumsURL := fmt.Sprintf(\"%s/packer/%s/packer_%s_SHA256SUMS\", base, v, v)\n\n\t\tlog.Printf(\"[INFO] Downloading and verifying Packer %s for %s/%s...\", v, goos, goarch)\n\n\t\tcandidateZipPath, err := downloadURLToTempFile(ctx, client, zipURL, \".zip\")\n\t\tif err != nil {\n\t\t\treturn fmt.Errorf(\"failed to download Packer release zip: %w\", err)\n\t\t}\n\t\tkeepCandidate := false\n\t\tdefer func() {\n\t\t\tif !keepCandidate {\n\t\t\t\t_ = os.Remove(candidateZipPath)\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t}()","sourceCodeStart":211,"sourceCodeEnd":247,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/hashicorp/packer/blob/eb36e3c3e48a036f3e8cc94087636ee72e1303c9/provisioner/hcp-sbom/packer_release_fetch.go#L211-L247","documentation":"Wrapped by downloadPackerRelease when fetchLatestPackerVersion cannot resolve the latest stable Packer version from the releases index (releases.hashicorp.com/packer/index.json). Failures include request construction errors, network errors, non-200 HTTP status, JSON decode failures, or an index with no parseable stable (non-prerelease) versions. It is retried up to 3 times (5s delay) inside retry.Config before surfacing, then wrapped again by error 457.","triggerScenarios":"fetchLatestPackerVersion returns an error: http.NewRequestWithContext fails, client.Do fails (DNS/network/timeout), releases.hashicorp.com returns HTTP != 200 for /packer/index.json, the response body is not valid JSON matching releaseIndex, or no stable semver entries exist in the index.","commonSituations":"No internet access or DNS failure from the build machine; corporate proxy/firewall blocking releases.hashicorp.com; transient 5xx or CDN outage; TLS interception breaking the connection; a malformed or changed index.json schema.","solutions":["Verify network connectivity from the build machine to https://releases.hashicorp.com/packer/index.json (curl it manually).","Configure proxy environment variables (HTTP_PROXY/HTTPS_PROXY) if the build host is behind a proxy.","Re-run the build: the fetch is retried 3 times with 5s delay, so transient outages may self-heal.","If the endpoint is intentionally unreachable, pre-provision Packer on the guest instead of using the auto-download path."],"exampleFix":"// before\nv, err := fetchLatestPackerVersion(ctx, client)\nif err != nil {\n\treturn fmt.Errorf(\"failed to determine latest Packer version: %w\", err)\n}\n// after (caller-side hardening: check reachability up front)\nresp, err := http.Head(\"https://releases.hashicorp.com/packer/index.json\")\nif err != nil || resp.StatusCode != 200 {\n\treturn errors.New(\"releases.hashicorp.com unreachable; fix network/proxy before running hcp-sbom auto_generate\")\n}","handlingStrategy":"retry","validationCode":"resp, err := http.Get(\"https://releases.hashicorp.com/packer/index.json\")\nif err != nil {\n\treturn fmt.Errorf(\"release index unreachable: %w\", err)\n}\nresp.Body.Close()\nif resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {\n\treturn fmt.Errorf(\"release index returned HTTP %d\", resp.StatusCode)\n}","typeGuard":null,"tryCatchPattern":"if err := runBuild(); err != nil {\n\tvar netErr net.Error\n\tif errors.As(err, &netErr) || strings.Contains(err.Error(), \"failed to determine latest Packer version\") {\n\t\t// back off and retry the whole build after network is verified\n\t}\n}","preventionTips":["Ensure build hosts have outbound HTTPS to releases.hashicorp.com","Configure HTTP_PROXY/HTTPS_PROXY for proxied networks","Monitor releases.hashicorp.com status before large CI runs","Rely on the built-in 3-try/5s retry for transient blips"],"tags":["network","http","provisioner","hcp-sbom"],"backgroundTag":"release-index-fetch-failed","analyzedSha":"eb36e3c3e48a036f3e8cc94087636ee72e1303c9","analyzedAt":"2026-09-05T13:20:43.127Z","contentChangedAt":"2026-09-05T13:20:43.127Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-09-12T17:17:11.597Z"}