caddyserver/caddy · error

opening input file: %v

Error message

opening input file: %v

What it means

cmdImportStorage ('caddy storage import') failed at os.Open of the --input file (unless '-' was passed for stdin). The wrapped error is a standard os.PathError: usually 'no such file or directory' or 'permission denied'. Nothing has been imported yet at this point.

Source

Thrown at cmd/storagefuncs.go:105

		if err != nil {
			return caddy.ExitCodeFailedStartup, err
		}
		stor, err = val.(caddy.StorageConverter).CertMagicStorage()
		if err != nil {
			return caddy.ExitCodeFailedStartup, err
		}
	} else {
		stor = caddy.DefaultStorage
	}

	// setup input
	var f *os.File
	if importStorageCmdImportFile == "-" {
		f = os.Stdin
	} else {
		f, err = os.Open(importStorageCmdImportFile)
		if err != nil {
			return caddy.ExitCodeFailedStartup, fmt.Errorf("opening input file: %v", err)
		}
		defer f.Close()
	}

	// store each archive element
	tr := tar.NewReader(f)
	for {
		hdr, err := tr.Next()
		if err == io.EOF {
			break
		}
		if err != nil {
			return caddy.ExitCodeFailedQuit, fmt.Errorf("reading archive: %v", err)
		}

		b, err := io.ReadAll(tr)
		if err != nil {
			return caddy.ExitCodeFailedQuit, fmt.Errorf("reading archive: %v", err)

View on GitHub (pinned to 50e54ee279)

Solutions

1. Verify the path exists and is readable: ls -l <input.tar>
2. Use an absolute path for --input to avoid cwd ambiguity
3. Fix permissions/ownership or copy the file to a location the invoking user can read
4. To stream from another command, pass --input - and pipe the tar in

Example fix

# before
caddy storage import --config caddy.json --input backup.tar
# error: opening input file: open backup.tar: no such file or directory

# after
caddy storage import --config caddy.json --input /var/backups/caddy/storage.tar

INPUT=/var/backups/caddy/storage.tar
[ -r "$INPUT" ] || { echo "missing/unreadable: $INPUT"; exit 1; }
file "$INPUT"   # should report: POSIX tar archive (not gzip!)

When it happens

Trigger: Passing a wrong path to --input; passing a gzip-compressed archive is fine here (path opens) but a missing/unreadable file triggers this; relative path resolved from the wrong cwd; input file owned by another user.

Common situations: Importing a storage tar produced on another server with a typo'd path; running caddy as a service user without read access to /root/backup.tar; SELinux denying read of a file in /tmp.

Related errors

• opening output file: %v
• checking if default Caddyfile exists: %v
• reading default Caddyfile: %v
• retrieving current executable permission bits: %v
• resolving current executable symlink: %v

AI-assisted analysis of caddyserver/caddy@50e54ee279 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fa3e2866edd5bd36. Report an issue: GitHub.