hashicorp/packer · error

something went wrong retrieving the version for bucket

Error message

something went wrong retrieving the version for bucket %s

What it means

GetVersion fetches a specific version (by fingerprint) of a bucket from HCP Packer; when the API call succeeds but resp.Payload.Version is nil, it throws this error. It is called from initializeVersion when builders/datasources resolve a bucket version, meaning the requested version was not returned by the service.

Solutions

1. Verify the bucket name and version fingerprint in the HCP Packer registry.
2. Check whether the version was soft-deleted/garbage collected and restore or revoke it properly.
3. Ensure the version's builds completed and were published before referencing it.
4. Re-run the source build to publish a fresh version/fingerprint.

Example fix

// before
version, err := client.GetVersion(ctx, "my-bucket", staleFingerprint) // purged version
// after
// re-run the builder to publish a new version, then use its fingerprint
version, err := client.GetVersion(ctx, "my-bucket", newFingerprint)

// verify the version is published and not revoked before use
if !versionIsPublished(registry, bucketName, fingerprint) {
    return fmt.Errorf("version %s not published for bucket %s", fingerprint, bucketName)
}

version, err := client.GetVersion(ctx, bucketName, fingerprint)
if err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "something went wrong retrieving the version") {
        return fmt.Errorf("version %q missing in bucket %q (purged or unpublished)", fingerprint, bucketName)
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: PackerServiceGetVersion succeeds but resp.Payload.Version == nil — the fingerprint/version does not exist or is not visible for bucketName.

Common situations: Referencing a version fingerprint that was soft-deleted by HCP Packer's 90-day incomplete-version GC; wrong bucket name; version not yet published (build still running); revoked version restored incorrectly.

Related errors

• No active HCP Packer registry was found for the organization
• something went wrong retrieving the build
• something went wrong retrieving the iteration for bucket
• there is no channel with the name
• there is no channel with the name

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/packer@eb36e3c3e4 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cb43e26ff215c273. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at internal/hcp/api/service_version.go:60

func (c *Client) GetVersion(
	ctx context.Context, bucketName string, fingerprint string,
) (*hcpPackerModels.HashicorpCloudPacker20230101Version, error) {
	params := hcpPackerAPI.NewPackerServiceGetVersionParams()
	params.LocationOrganizationID = c.OrganizationID
	params.LocationProjectID = c.ProjectID
	params.BucketName = bucketName
	params.Fingerprint = fingerprint

	resp, err := c.Packer.PackerServiceGetVersion(params, nil)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	if resp.Payload.Version != nil {
		return resp.Payload.Version, nil
	}

	return nil, fmt.Errorf(
		"something went wrong retrieving the version for bucket %s", bucketName,
	)
}

View on GitHub (pinned to eb36e3c3e4)