hashicorp/nomad · error

If Attempts >0, Unlimited cannot also be set to true

Error message

If Attempts >0, Unlimited cannot also be set to true

What it means

A reschedule policy that sets Unlimited=true together with Attempts>0 is contradictory: unlimited rescheduling means no attempt cap. ValidateReschedulePolicy in nomad/structs appends this error when r.Attempts > 0 and r.Unlimited are both set.

Source

Thrown at nomad/structs/structs.go:6660

// Validate uses different criteria to validate the reschedule policy
// Delay must be a minimum of 1 second
// Delay Ceiling is ignored if Delay Function is "constant"
// Number of possible attempts is validated, given the interval, delay and delay function
func (r *ReschedulePolicy) Validate() error {
	if !r.Enabled() {
		return nil
	}
	var mErr multierror.Error
	// Check for ambiguous/confusing settings
	if r.Attempts > 0 {
		if r.Interval <= 0 {
			_ = multierror.Append(&mErr, fmt.Errorf("Interval must be a non zero value if Attempts > 0"))
		}
		if r.Unlimited {
			_ = multierror.Append(&mErr, fmt.Errorf("Reschedule Policy with Attempts = %v, Interval = %v, "+
				"and Unlimited = %v is ambiguous", r.Attempts, r.Interval, r.Unlimited))
			_ = multierror.Append(&mErr, errors.New("If Attempts >0, Unlimited cannot also be set to true"))
		}
	}

	delayPreCheck := true
	// Delay should be bigger than the default
	if r.Delay.Nanoseconds() < ReschedulePolicyMinDelay.Nanoseconds() {
		_ = multierror.Append(&mErr, fmt.Errorf("Delay cannot be less than %v (got %v)", ReschedulePolicyMinDelay, r.Delay))
		delayPreCheck = false
	}

	// Must use a valid delay function
	if !isValidDelayFunction(r.DelayFunction) {
		_ = multierror.Append(&mErr, fmt.Errorf("Invalid delay function %q, must be one of %q", r.DelayFunction, RescheduleDelayFunctions))
		delayPreCheck = false
	}

	// Validate MaxDelay if not using linear delay progression
	if r.DelayFunction != "constant" {

View on GitHub (pinned to 482b49bf1a)

Solutions

1. Set unlimited = false (default) so attempts/interval take effect.
2. Or remove attempts and interval, leaving unlimited = true.
3. Use nomad job validate to check the spec before submission.

Example fix

// before
reschedule {
  attempts  = 5
  interval  = "30m"
  unlimited = true
}
// after
reschedule {
  attempts = 5
  interval = "30m"
}

if rp.Attempts > 0 && rp.Unlimited {
    return errors.New("reschedule policy: attempts>0 and unlimited=true are mutually exclusive")
}

func isUnambiguousReschedule(r *structs.ReschedulePolicy) bool { return !r.Unlimited || r.Attempts == 0 }

When it happens

Trigger: Submitting a job whose group reschedule policy has attempts > 0 and unlimited = true; constructing structs.ReschedulePolicy directly with both fields set.

Common situations: Merging config fragments where one sets unlimited=true and another sets attempts; copying a sample policy and toggling both knobs; upgrading specs written before the validation existed.

Related errors

• failed to parse config:
• only one of cgroups_v1_override and cgroups_v2_override may
• work_dir must be an absolute path
• require only one of PemKey or PemKeyFile
• missing PemCert, PemCertFile, or KeyID

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/nomad@482b49bf1a (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e6b7e542e861e8c8. Report an issue: GitHub.