failed to get current working directory for Packer SBOM: %s

Error message

failed to get current working directory for Packer SBOM: %s

What it means

The internal SBOM provisioner delegates to the hcp-sbom provisioner and first needs a temp file created in the current working directory. If os.Getwd() fails (e.g. the working directory was deleted or is unreadable), Provision returns this wrapped error.

Source

Thrown at packer/provisioner.go:358

	// Try to delegate to inner provisioner if it implements FlatConfig
	if fc, ok := p.Provisioner.(interface{ FlatConfig() interface{} }); ok {
		return fc.FlatConfig()
	}
	return nil
}

func (p *SBOMInternalProvisioner) Prepare(raws ...interface{}) error {
	return p.Provisioner.Prepare(raws...)
}

func (p *SBOMInternalProvisioner) Provision(
	ctx context.Context, ui packersdk.Ui, comm packersdk.Communicator,
	generatedData map[string]interface{},
) error {
	// Original implementation - all logic now in hcp-sbom provisioner
	cwd, err := os.Getwd()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get current working directory for Packer SBOM: %s", err)
	}

	tmpFile, err := os.CreateTemp(cwd, "packer-sbom-*.json")
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create internal temporary file for Packer SBOM: %s", err)
	}

	tmpFileName := tmpFile.Name()
	if err = tmpFile.Close(); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to close temporary file for Packer SBOM %s: %s", tmpFileName, err)
	}

	defer func(name string) {
		fileRemoveErr := os.Remove(name)
		if fileRemoveErr != nil {
			log.Printf("Error removing SBOM temporary file %s: %s", name, fileRemoveErr)
		}
	}(tmpFile.Name())

View on GitHub (pinned to eb36e3c3e4)

Solutions

Re-run Packer from an existing, writable directory.
Fix the preceding pipeline step that removed or recreated the working directory.
Ensure the container/CI job's working directory exists and is readable before invoking packer.

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if _, err := os.Getwd(); err != nil {
  return fmt.Errorf("cannot run SBOM provisioner: working directory unavailable: %w", err)
}

Try / catch

if err := p.Provision(ctx, ui, comm, data); err != nil {
  if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "current working directory for Packer SBOM") {
    // restart packer from an existing directory
  }
}

Prevention

Launch packer from a directory that earlier pipeline steps don't delete or recreate.
Ensure container WORKDIR exists for the process lifetime.
Avoid cd into ephemeral temp dirs cleaned mid-run.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Provision on the built-in SBOM provisioner (packer/provisioner.go:Provision) when os.Getwd() returns an error — typically because the process's current working directory no longer exists or lacks permissions.

Common situations: Running Packer from a directory deleted/recreated by a prior build step; running in a container whose WORKDIR was removed; a CI job that cd's into a temp dir which is cleaned mid-run.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/packer@eb36e3c3e4 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2ed4a4ad50462a9d. Report an issue: GitHub.