hashicorp/nomad · error

failed to setup stderr log tailing: %v

Error message

failed to setup stderr log tailing: %v

What it means

Returned by tailMultipleFiles when the stderr Logs streaming setup call reports an error on its error channel before any frames arrive. Both stdout and stderr are streamed; this one covers the stderr leg.

Source

Thrown at command/alloc_logs.go:383

	stdoutFrames, stdoutErrCh := client.AllocFS().Logs(
		alloc, true, l.task, api.FSLogNameStdout, api.OriginEnd, 0, cancel, nil)

	// Setting up the logs stream can fail, therefore we need to check the
	// error channel before continuing further.
	select {
	case err := <-stdoutErrCh:
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to setup stdout log tailing: %v", err)
	default:
	}

	stderrFrames, stderrErrCh := client.AllocFS().Logs(
		alloc, true, l.task, api.FSLogNameStderr, api.OriginEnd, 0, cancel, nil)

	// Setting up the logs stream can fail, therefore we need to check the
	// error channel before continuing further.
	select {
	case err := <-stderrErrCh:
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to setup stderr log tailing: %v", err)
	default:
	}

	// Trap user signals, so we know when to exit and cancel the log streams
	// running in the background.
	signalCh := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
	signal.Notify(signalCh, os.Interrupt, syscall.SIGTERM)

	// Generate our logging UI that doesn't add any additional formatting to
	// output strings.
	logUI, err := ui.NewLogUI(l.Ui)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	// Enter the main loop where we listen for log frames, errors, and a cancel
	// signal. Any error at this point will result in the stream being ended,
	// therefore should result in this command exiting. Otherwise, we would

View on GitHub (pinned to 482b49bf1a)

Solutions

1. Confirm the task exists and produced stderr logs
2. Check client health/connectivity
3. Retry the logs command

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at command/alloc_logs.go:383 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/nomad@482b49bf1a (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d8fabee771e13e29. Report an issue: GitHub.