caddyserver/caddy · error

unable to enumerate installed plugins: %v

Error message

unable to enumerate installed plugins: %v

What it means

`caddy upgrade` fails before doing anything when getModules() cannot enumerate installed plugins. getModules reads the binary's embedded Go build information (debug.ReadBuildInfo) and reflects over registered Caddy modules; the most common underlying error is 'no build info', meaning the running binary was compiled without module metadata.

Source

Thrown at cmd/packagesfuncs.go:39

	"net/http"
	"net/url"
	"os"
	"os/exec"
	"path/filepath"
	"reflect"
	"runtime"
	"runtime/debug"
	"strings"

	"go.uber.org/zap"

	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
)

func cmdUpgrade(fl Flags) (int, error) {
	_, nonstandard, _, err := getModules()
	if err != nil {
		return caddy.ExitCodeFailedStartup, fmt.Errorf("unable to enumerate installed plugins: %v", err)
	}
	pluginPkgs, err := getPluginPackages(nonstandard)
	if err != nil {
		return caddy.ExitCodeFailedStartup, err
	}

	return upgradeBuild(pluginPkgs, fl)
}

func splitModule(arg string) (module, version string, err error) {
	const versionSplit = "@"

	// accommodate module paths that have @ in them, but we can only tolerate that if there's also
	// a version, otherwise we don't know if it's a version separator or part of the file path
	lastVersionSplit := strings.LastIndex(arg, versionSplit)
	if lastVersionSplit < 0 {
		module = arg
	} else {

View on GitHub (pinned to 50e54ee279)

Solutions

1. Check the nested error: 'no build info' means the binary cannot self-describe its plugins
2. Reinstall an official binary: `curl -sSL https://caddyserver.com/api/download?os=linux&arch=amd64 -o caddy` or use the official package
3. Prefer xcaddy for custom builds: `xcaddy build` produces a binary with full build info and supports `--with` plugins
4. If you maintain a custom build, ensure it is built as a Go module (`go build` inside a module, no -ldflags stripping of buildinfo)

Example fix

# before
caddy upgrade   # fails: unable to enumerate installed plugins

# after
xcaddy build --with github.com/caddy-dns/cloudflare

# a binary that supports upgrade must carry build info
if ! strings "$(command -v caddy)" | grep -q '^go1\.'; then echo 'binary lacks Go build info; use xcaddy or official download'; fi
# stronger check: does it list versions?
caddy list-modules --versions >/dev/null || echo 'module introspection broken'

When it happens

Trigger: Running `caddy upgrade` on a binary built from a GOPATH-style build, cross-compiled in a way that strips build info, produced by some packagers (Homebrew/binary distributions rebuilt), or stripped with tools that remove the buildinfo section. A corrupted binary has the same effect.

Common situations: A Caddy binary installed by a distro package or built ad-hoc with `go build` from a vendored snapshot lacking module info; binaries copied out of scratch containers where buildinfo was stripped.

Related errors

• package is already added
• package is not added
• retrieving current executable permission bits: %v
• resolving current executable symlink: %v
• download failed: %v

AI-assisted analysis of caddyserver/caddy@50e54ee279 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d0849235b60267f2. Report an issue: GitHub.