hashicorp/terraform · error

configuration file did not contain profile: %s

Error message

configuration file did not contain profile: %s

What it means

Returned by checkProfile in the oci backend after it reads the OCI config file and scans every line for an INI section header [PROFILE] matching the requested profile name, finding none. It is a configuration-validation error raised before any cloud API call is attempted.

Source

Thrown at internal/backend/remote-state/oci/util.go:68

		return ""
	}
	return home
}
func checkProfile(profile string, path string) (err error) {
	var profileRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`^\[(.*)\]`)
	data, err := os.ReadFile(path)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	content := string(data)
	splitContent := strings.Split(content, "\n")
	for _, line := range splitContent {
		if match := profileRegex.FindStringSubmatch(line); match != nil && len(match) > 1 && match[1] == profile {
			return nil
		}
	}

	return fmt.Errorf("configuration file did not contain profile: %s", profile)
}

// cleans and expands the path if it contains a tilde , returns the expanded path or the input path as is if not expansion
// was performed
func expandPath(filepath string) string {
	if strings.HasPrefix(filepath, fmt.Sprintf("~%c", os.PathSeparator)) {
		filepath = path.Join(getHomeFolder(), filepath[2:])
	}
	return path.Clean(filepath)
}

func getBackendAttrWithDefault(obj cty.Value, attrName, def string) (cty.Value, bool) {
	value := backendbase.GetAttrDefault(obj, attrName, cty.StringVal(getEnvSettingWithDefault(attrName, def)))
	return value, value.IsKnown() && !value.IsNull()
}

func getBackendAttr(obj cty.Value, attrName string) (cty.Value, bool) {
	return getBackendAttrWithDefault(obj, attrName, "")

View on GitHub (pinned to c9def3e214)

Solutions

1. Open the OCI config file and confirm a section header exactly matches the requested profile name, including brackets, e.g. [myprofile].
2. Check OCI_CONFIG_FILE / OCI_HOME_OVERRIDE env vars point at the file you expect; echo $HOME to confirm which ~/.oci/config is read.
3. Correct the profile attribute in the terraform backend 'oci' block to match an existing section.
4. Regenerate the config with `oci setup config` if the section was lost.

Example fix

// before: terraform backend block
profile = "prod"
# but ~/.oci/config only has [DEFAULT] and [nonprod]

# after: align names
profile = "nonprod"
# or add to ~/.oci/config:
# [prod]
# user=ocid1.user...
# tenancy=ocid1.tenancy...
# key_file=~/.oci/prod.pem
# region=us-phoenix-1

// Replicate checkProfile's scan before configuring the backend.
func profileExists(configPath, profile string) error {
    re := regexp.MustCompile(`^\[(.*)\]`)
    data, err := os.ReadFile(configPath)
    if err != nil { return err }
    for _, line := range strings.Split(string(data), "\n") {
        if m := re.FindStringSubmatch(line); m != nil && len(m) > 1 && strings.TrimSpace(m[1]) == profile {
            return nil
        }
    }
    return fmt.Errorf("profile %q not found in %s", profile, configPath)
}

if err := checkProfile(profile, ociConfigPath); err != nil {
    log.Fatalf("OCI backend misconfigured: %v. Run `oci setup config`.", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: The oci backend is configured with an auth profile name that does not exist as a [section] in the OCI config file (~/.oci/config by default, or the file pointed to by OCI_CONFIG_FILE / the backend config). Also triggered when the profile name has a typo, trailing whitespace, or the config file is the wrong one (e.g. HOME override).

Common situations: User sets profile = "prod" but the config file only contains [DEFAULT] and [dev]; CI runs with a different HOME so ~/.oci/config is empty; profile name copied with a leading space; switching between OCI_CONFIG_FILE locations without updating the backend block.

Related errors

• must not be null
• must not be a whole number
• attribute %q is required
• sasToken cannot be empty
• subscription id not specified

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/terraform@c9def3e214 (2026-08-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e444e882bc329dc8. Report an issue: GitHub.