error loading private key (%v) and cleaning up parent storag

Error message

error loading private key (%v) and cleaning up parent storage key %s: %v

What it means

Error "error loading private key (%v) and cleaning up parent storage key %s: %v" thrown in caddyserver/caddy.

Source

Thrown at modules/caddytls/ech.go:546

// non-nil privKeyBin and configBin values before using.
func loadECHConfig(ctx caddy.Context, configID string) (echConfig, error) {
	storage := ctx.Storage()
	logger := ctx.Logger()

	cfgIDKey := path.Join(echConfigsKey, configID)
	keyKey := path.Join(cfgIDKey, "key.bin")
	configKey := path.Join(cfgIDKey, "config.bin")
	metaKey := path.Join(cfgIDKey, "meta.json")

	// if loading anything fails, might as well delete this folder and free up
	// the config ID; spec is designed to rotate configs frequently anyway
	// (I consider it a more serious error if we can't clean up the folder,
	// since leaving stray storage keys is confusing)
	privKeyBytes, err := storage.Load(ctx, keyKey)
	if err != nil {
		delErr := storage.Delete(ctx, cfgIDKey)
		if delErr != nil {
			return echConfig{}, fmt.Errorf("error loading private key (%v) and cleaning up parent storage key %s: %v", err, cfgIDKey, delErr)
		}
		logger.Warn("could not load ECH private key; deleting its config folder",
			zap.String("config_id", configID),
			zap.Error(err))
		return echConfig{}, nil
	}
	echConfigBytes, err := storage.Load(ctx, configKey)
	if err != nil {
		delErr := storage.Delete(ctx, cfgIDKey)
		if delErr != nil {
			return echConfig{}, fmt.Errorf("error loading ECH config (%v) and cleaning up parent storage key %s: %v", err, cfgIDKey, delErr)
		}
		logger.Warn("could not load ECH config; deleting its config folder",
			zap.String("config_id", configID),
			zap.Error(err))
		return echConfig{}, nil
	}
	var cfg echConfig

View on GitHub (pinned to 50e54ee279)

Solutions

Inspect both wrapped errors: the private key failed to load, and cleanup of its storage key also failed. Check storage health and key data.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at modules/caddytls/ech.go:546 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of caddyserver/caddy@50e54ee279 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/27891e1152a5153e. Report an issue: GitHub.