hashicorp/nomad · error

Reschedule Policy with Attempts = %v, Interval = %v, and Unl

Error message

Reschedule Policy with Attempts = %v, Interval = %v, and Unlimited = %v is ambiguous

What it means

ReschedulePolicy.Validate() rejects a policy that both limits reschedules (Attempts > 0) and sets Unlimited = true. Unlimited means 'keep rescheduling forever', which contradicts a finite attempt count, so the combination is ambiguous and disallowed.

Source

Thrown at nomad/structs/structs.go:6658

	return enabled
}

// 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
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 482b49bf1a)

Solutions

1. Remove unlimited = true if you want a limited policy.
2. Set attempts = 0 (and drop interval) if you truly want unlimited rescheduling.
3. Choose one style: {attempts>0, interval>0, unlimited=false} or {attempts=0, unlimited=true}.

Example fix

// before
reschedule {
  attempts  = 5
  interval  = "1h"
  unlimited = true
}
// after
reschedule {
  attempts  = 5
  interval  = "1h"
  unlimited = false
}

if rsl != nil && rsl.Attempts > 0 && rsl.Unlimited {
    return fmt.Errorf("reschedule policy cannot set both attempts>0 and unlimited=true")
}

func rescheduleModeConsistent(r *structs.ReschedulePolicy) bool {
    return !(r.Attempts > 0 && r.Unlimited)
}

When it happens

Trigger: A reschedule block with attempts > 0 and unlimited = true together, or programmatic policy construction where attempts defaults above 0 while unlimited is set true.

Common situations: Users adding unlimited = true to 'be safe' without zeroing attempts; templates that always emit unlimited; merging default policies (attempts>0) with user overrides (unlimited=true).

Related errors

• Reschedule policy has unlimited attempts enabled and a low d
• Interval must be a non zero value if Attempts > 0
• Delay cannot be less than %v (got %v)
• Invalid delay function %q, must be one of %q
• Max Delay cannot be less than %v (got %v)

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/nomad@482b49bf1a (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/88b74e7c03b3b58b. Report an issue: GitHub.