hashicorp/nomad · error

job_max_priority cannot be %d. Must be between %d and %d

Error message

job_max_priority cannot be %d. Must be between %d and %d

What it means

Nomad jobs carry priorities in [JobDefaultMaxPriority? — specifically between structs.JobDefaultMaxPriority (1) and structs.JobMaxPriority (2048)]. convertServerConfig validates server.job_max_priority against this inclusive range, rejecting 0 and out-of-range values.

Source

Thrown at command/agent/agent.go:364

		if agentConfig.Autopilot.MinQuorum != 0 {
			conf.AutopilotConfig.MinQuorum = uint(agentConfig.Autopilot.MinQuorum)
		}
		if agentConfig.Autopilot.EnableRedundancyZones != nil {
			conf.AutopilotConfig.EnableRedundancyZones = *agentConfig.Autopilot.EnableRedundancyZones
		}
		if agentConfig.Autopilot.DisableUpgradeMigration != nil {
			conf.AutopilotConfig.DisableUpgradeMigration = *agentConfig.Autopilot.DisableUpgradeMigration
		}
		if agentConfig.Autopilot.EnableCustomUpgrades != nil {
			conf.AutopilotConfig.EnableCustomUpgrades = *agentConfig.Autopilot.EnableCustomUpgrades
		}
	}

	jobMaxPriority := structs.JobDefaultMaxPriority
	if agentConfig.Server.JobMaxPriority != nil && *agentConfig.Server.JobMaxPriority != 0 {
		jobMaxPriority = *agentConfig.Server.JobMaxPriority
		if jobMaxPriority < structs.JobDefaultMaxPriority || jobMaxPriority > structs.JobMaxPriority {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("job_max_priority cannot be %d. Must be between %d and %d", *agentConfig.Server.JobMaxPriority, structs.JobDefaultMaxPriority, structs.JobMaxPriority)
		}
	}
	jobDefaultPriority := structs.JobDefaultPriority
	if agentConfig.Server.JobDefaultPriority != nil && *agentConfig.Server.JobDefaultPriority != 0 {
		jobDefaultPriority = *agentConfig.Server.JobDefaultPriority
		if jobDefaultPriority < structs.JobDefaultPriority || jobDefaultPriority >= jobMaxPriority {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("job_default_priority cannot be %d. Must be between %d and %d", *agentConfig.Server.JobDefaultPriority, structs.JobDefaultPriority, jobMaxPriority)
		}
	}
	conf.JobMaxPriority = jobMaxPriority
	conf.JobDefaultPriority = jobDefaultPriority

	jobMaxCount := structs.JobDefaultMaxCount
	if agentConfig.Server.JobMaxCount != nil {
		jobMaxCount = *agentConfig.Server.JobMaxCount
		if jobMaxCount < 0 {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("job_max_count (%d) cannot be negative", jobMaxCount)
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to 482b49bf1a)

Solutions

1. Set job_max_priority within [1, 2048] (structs.JobDefaultMaxPriority..structs.JobMaxPriority).
2. Remove the stanza to keep the default max of 100.
3. If 0 was intended as 'default', simply omit the option (0 is treated as unset).

Example fix

// before
server {
  job_max_priority = 5000
}
// after
server {
  job_max_priority = 2048
}

// Go: pre-validate with structs constants
if p := cfg.Server.JobMaxPriority; p != nil && *p != 0 &&
   (*p < structs.JobDefaultMaxPriority || *p > structs.JobMaxPriority) {
    return fmt.Errorf("job_max_priority %d outside [%d,%d]", *p, structs.JobDefaultMaxPriority, structs.JobMaxPriority)
}

conf, err := convertServerConfig(agentCfg)
if err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "job_max_priority cannot be") {
        return fmt.Errorf("job_max_priority must be within the allowed priority range: %w", err)
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Setting server { job_max_priority = N } where N != 0 and (N < structs.JobDefaultMaxPriority or N > structs.JobMaxPriority) during agent start or reload.

Common situations: Clusters needing higher-than-default max priority (default 100) setting the cap too high above 2048; typos or unit confusion (e.g. 20000); templating bugs passing 0 to mean 'unlimited'.

Related errors

• job_default_priority cannot be %d. Must be between %d and %d
• wait config is nil or empty
• missing datacenter for client registration
• default_identity_ttl must be greater than 0
• max_identity_ttl must be greater than 0

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/nomad@482b49bf1a (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/08d1576a08f174f7. Report an issue: GitHub.