hashicorp/nomad · error · RegisterEnforceIndexErrPrefix

%s %d: job does not exist

Error message

%s %d: job does not exist

What it means

Job.EnforceIndex compare-and-set check: when the job does NOT exist in state but the caller requested a non-zero index, registration fails because a non-zero index asserts 'job exists with this modify index'. Prefixed with RegisterEnforceIndexErrPrefix.

Source

Thrown at nomad/structs/job.go:317

				break // to next TaskGroup
			}
		}
	}
	return result
}

// EnforceIndex checks the `EnforceIndex` logic: if the job exists (not `nil`)
// it must match the `index` argument and if `index == 0` the job must be `nil`.
func (j *Job) EnforceIndex(index uint64) error {
	if j != nil {
		if index == 0 {
			return fmt.Errorf("%s 0: job already exists", RegisterEnforceIndexErrPrefix)
		} else if index != j.JobModifyIndex {
			return fmt.Errorf("%s %d: job exists with conflicting job modify index: %d",
				RegisterEnforceIndexErrPrefix, index, j.JobModifyIndex)
		}
	} else if index != 0 {
		return fmt.Errorf("%s %d: job does not exist", RegisterEnforceIndexErrPrefix, index)
	}
	return nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 482b49bf1a)

Solutions

1. Register once with EnforceIndex=0 (create-only) or EnforceIndex disabled to create the job
2. Verify the namespace and job ID match the intended existing job
3. Make deployment scripts handle both create and update cases

Example fix

// before
EnforceIndex: true, JobModifyIndex: 7 // update-only, job absent
// after
EnforceIndex: true, JobModifyIndex: 0 // create-only path

_, _, err := client.Jobs().Info(jobID)
jobExists := err == nil
if !jobExists && opts.JobModifyIndex > 0 {
  return errors.New("job does not exist; cannot EnforceIndex with nonzero value")
}

_, _, err := client.Jobs().Register(job, &api.RegisterOptions{EnforceIndex: true, JobModifyIndex: idx})
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "job does not exist") {
  // register with JobModifyIndex 0 to create
}

When it happens

Trigger: Job register with EnforceIndex=true and EnforceIndex > 0 for a job ID/namespace that has never been created (or was purged).

Common situations: Update-only deploy script run before the job was ever created; job purged or GC'd between read and write; wrong namespace in the register request.

Related errors

• %s 0: job already exists
• %s %d: job exists with conflicting job modify index: %d
• error parsing: root should be an object
• missing policy name
• cannot specify Accessor ID

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/nomad@482b49bf1a (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/eb75c06151257c03. Report an issue: GitHub.