hashicorp/nomad · error

unable to convert userid %s to integer

Error message

unable to convert userid %s to integer

What it means

getUserID converts the Unix user's Uid string (from user.User) to a UserID via strconv.ParseUint. This error means the uid string on the system could not be parsed as an unsigned 32-bit integer, so the validator cannot check whether the uid is denied. It is wrapped by HasValidIDs as 'validator: ...'.

Source

Thrown at drivers/shared/validators/validators_unix.go:17

// Copyright IBM Corp. 2015, 2026
// SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0

//go:build !windows

package validators

import (
	"fmt"
	"os/user"
	"strconv"
)

func getUserID(user *user.User) (UserID, error) {
	id, err := strconv.ParseUint(user.Uid, 10, 32)
	if err != nil {
		return 0, fmt.Errorf("unable to convert userid %s to integer", user.Uid)
	}

	return UserID(id), nil
}

func getGroupsID(user *user.User) ([]GroupID, error) {
	gidStrings, err := user.GroupIds()
	if err != nil {
		return []GroupID{}, fmt.Errorf("unable to lookup user's group membership: %w", err)
	}

	gids := make([]GroupID, len(gidStrings))

	for _, gidString := range gidStrings {
		u, err := strconv.ParseUint(gidString, 10, 32)
		if err != nil {
			return []GroupID{}, fmt.Errorf("unable to convert user's group %q to integer: %w", gidString, err)
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to 482b49bf1a)

Solutions

1. Inspect the user's entry in the NSS source (getent passwd <user>) and fix the malformed uid
2. Repair /etc/passwd or the directory service entry for the affected user
3. Check that /etc/nsswitch.conf points at the intended passwd sources
4. If a directory service returns uids above 4294967295, remap the user to a uid within uint32 range

Example fix

// before (bad passwd entry)
baduser:x:abc:1000::/home/baduser:/bin/bash
// after
baduser:x:15000:1000::/home/baduser:/bin/bash

u, err := user.Lookup(username)
if err != nil { return err }
if _, err := strconv.ParseUint(u.Uid, 10, 32); err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("uid %q for user %s is not a valid uint32", u.Uid, username)
}

func validUID(uid string) bool {
	_, err := strconv.ParseUint(uid, 10, 32)
	return err == nil
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Validator.HasValidIDs(userName) on a Unix system where users.Lookup succeeds but user.Uid is empty, non-numeric, or exceeds uint32 range (e.g. a malformed /etc/passwd entry or NSS source returning a bad uid string).

Common situations: Broken /etc/passwd or corrupted LDAP/SSSD/AD-backed NSS entries returning garbage uid fields; containers with unusual user databases; systems where uid values exceed 2^32-1.

Related errors

• error parsing uid: %w
• error parsing gid: %w
• failed to get current user: %w
• failed to identify user %v: %v
• unable to lookup user's group membership: %w

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/nomad@482b49bf1a (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1011b96871cd2e4c. Report an issue: GitHub.