ipfs/kubo · error

opening repo (%v)

Error message

opening repo (%v)

What it means

doRotate opens the IPFS repository (fsrepo.Open) to read the config and access the keystore. If the repo cannot be opened — because it is already locked by a running daemon, does not exist, or is on an incompatible version — the error is wrapped as "opening repo (%v)". The underlying fsrepo error is preserved in the message.

Source

Thrown at core/commands/keystore.go:775

		cctx := env.(*oldcmds.Context)
		nBitsForKeypair, nBitsGiven := req.Options[keyStoreSizeOptionName].(int)
		algorithm, _ := req.Options[keyStoreTypeOptionName].(string)
		oldKey, ok := req.Options[oldKeyOptionName].(string)
		if !ok {
			return fmt.Errorf("keystore name for backing up old key must be provided")
		}
		if oldKey == "self" {
			return fmt.Errorf("keystore name for back up cannot be named 'self'")
		}
		return doRotate(os.Stdout, cctx.ConfigRoot, oldKey, algorithm, nBitsForKeypair, nBitsGiven)
	},
}

func doRotate(out io.Writer, repoRoot string, oldKey string, algorithm string, nBitsForKeypair int, nBitsGiven bool) error {
	// Open repo
	repo, err := fsrepo.Open(repoRoot)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("opening repo (%v)", err)
	}
	defer repo.Close()

	// Read config file from repo
	cfg, err := repo.Config()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("reading config from repo (%v)", err)
	}

	// Generate new identity
	var identity config.Identity
	if nBitsGiven {
		identity, err = config.CreateIdentity(out, []options.KeyGenerateOption{
			options.Key.Size(nBitsForKeypair),
			options.Key.Type(algorithm),
		})
	} else {
		identity, err = config.CreateIdentity(out, []options.KeyGenerateOption{

View on GitHub (pinned to 329838acdf)

Solutions

1. Stop the daemon first: `ipfs shutdown` or kill the process, then retry rotate
2. Verify IPFS_PATH points at the initialized repo (`ipfs repo version`, `ls $IPFS_PATH`)
3. If a migration is required, run `ipfs repo migrate` (or the matching binary version) before rotating
4. Remove a stale $IPFS_PATH/repo.lock only if no daemon is running

Example fix

// before
ipfs key rotate --old-key=old  # daemon running -> lock error
// after
ipfs shutdown
ipfs key rotate --old-key=old

// before rotating
test -f "$IPFS_PATH/config" || { echo "no repo at $IPFS_PATH"; exit 1; }
pgrep -f 'ipfs daemon' && { echo 'stop daemon first'; exit 1; }

if err := doRotate(out, repoRoot, oldKey, alg, bits, given); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "opening repo") {
        // check daemon lock, IPFS_PATH, repo version
        var inner = errors.Unwrap(err)
        log.Printf("fsrepo open failed: %v", inner)
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `ipfs key rotate` while the daemon is running (repo lock held); IPFS_PATH points to a directory that was never initialized; repo needs a migration (version downgrade/upgrade); corrupted repo lock file.

Common situations: Forgetting to `ipfs daemon stop` before rotating; wrong IPFS_PATH environment variable; rotating after an upgrade that left the repo at a newer version than the binary supports.

Related errors

• opening repo (is the daemon running?): %w
• failed to open repo: %w
• failed to get config value: %q
• reading config from repo (%v)
• supernode routing was never fully implemented and has been r

AI-assisted analysis of ipfs/kubo@329838acdf (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e00479ccbd66cbee. Report an issue: GitHub.