hashicorp/vagrant · error · Vagrant::Errors::BoxNotFoundWithProvider

The box '%{name}' isn't installed for the provider '%{provid

Error message

The box '%{name}' isn't installed for the provider '%{provider}'.
Please double-check and try again. The installed providers for
the box are shown below:

%{providers}

What it means

Raised by `vagrant box update --box <name> --provider <p>` when the box exists but is not installed for the requested provider (`!box_info[provider]`). The message lists the providers the box actually is installed for, sorted, so the mismatch is immediately visible.

Source

Thrown at plugins/commands/box/command/update.rb:84

            box_info[box_provider] ||= Vagrant::Util::HashWithIndifferentAccess.new
            box_info[box_provider][box_version] ||= []
            box_info[box_provider][box_version].push(box_architecture.to_s).uniq!
          end

          if box_info.empty?
            raise Vagrant::Errors::BoxNotFound, name: name.to_s
          end

          if !provider
            if box_info.size > 1
              raise Vagrant::Errors::BoxUpdateMultiProvider,
                name: name.to_s,
                providers: box_info.keys.map(&:to_s).sort.join(", ")
            end

            provider = box_info.keys.first
          elsif !box_info[provider]
            raise Vagrant::Errors::BoxNotFoundWithProvider,
              name: name.to_s,
              provider: provider.to_s,
              providers: box_info.keys.map(&:to_s).sort.join(", ")
          end

          version = box_info[provider].keys.sort_by{ |v| Gem::Version.new(v) }.last
          architecture_list = box_info[provider][version]

          if !architecture
            if architecture_list.size > 1
              raise Vagrant::Errors::BoxUpdateMultiArchitecture,
                name: name.to_s,
                provider: provider.to_s,
                version: version.to_s,
                architectures: architecture_list.sort.join(", ")
            end

            architecture = architecture_list.first

View on GitHub (pinned to 35f3160f4a)

Solutions

1. Use one of the providers listed in the message
2. If you need the new provider, add the box for it: `vagrant box add <name> --provider <provider>`
3. Verify with `vagrant box list` which providers are installed

Example fix

# before
vagrant box update --box mybox --provider vmware_desktop
# error: not installed for provider; installed: virtualbox

# after
vagrant box update --box mybox --provider virtualbox
# or add the missing provider first
vagrant box add mybox --provider vmware_desktop

# bash: confirm the box is installed for the provider you pass
vagrant box list | awk -v b="$BOX" '$1==b {gsub(/[(),]/,"",$2); print $2}' | sort -u |
  grep -qx "$PROVIDER" || { echo "$BOX not installed for $PROVIDER"; exit 1; }
vagrant box update --box "$BOX" --provider "$PROVIDER"

When it happens

Trigger: `vagrant box update --box mybox --provider vmware_desktop` when mybox is only installed for virtualbox; typo in the provider flag.

Common situations: Switching host platforms and assuming the box is present for the new provider; scripts copying a provider flag from another project.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• The box '%{name}' does not exist. Please double check and tr
• You requested to update the box '%{name}'. This box has mult
• The box '%{name}' for the provider '%{provider}' isn't insta
• The box '%{name}' is not a versioned box. The box was added
• The box you attempted to add doesn't match the provider you

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/vagrant@35f3160f4a (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/61922e085063f38d. Report an issue: GitHub.