kubernetes/kops · error

cannot get InstanceGroups for %q: %v

Error message

cannot get InstanceGroups for %q: %v

What it means

Wraps a failure of the InstanceGroups List API call in RunValidateCluster: the cluster was found, but its instance groups could not be listed from the state store. Validation needs the instance groups to enumerate expected nodes.

Source

Thrown at cmd/kops/validate_cluster.go:148

func RunValidateCluster(ctx context.Context, f *util.Factory, out io.Writer, options *ValidateClusterOptions) (*validation.ValidationCluster, error) {
	clientSet, err := f.KopsClient()
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	cluster, err := GetCluster(ctx, f, options.ClusterName)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	cloud, err := cloudup.BuildCloud(cluster)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	list, err := clientSet.InstanceGroupsFor(cluster).List(ctx, metav1.ListOptions{})
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot get InstanceGroups for %q: %v", cluster.ObjectMeta.Name, err)
	}

	if options.output == OutputTable {
		fmt.Fprintf(out, "Validating cluster %v\n\n", cluster.ObjectMeta.Name)
	}

	var instanceGroups []kopsapi.InstanceGroup
	for _, ig := range list.Items {
		instanceGroups = append(instanceGroups, ig)
		klog.V(2).Infof("instance group: %#v\n\n", ig.Spec)
	}

	if len(instanceGroups) == 0 {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no InstanceGroup objects found")
	}

	restConfig, err := f.RESTConfig(ctx, cluster, options.CreateKubecfgOptions)
	if err != nil {

View on GitHub (pinned to 4c8573c808)

Solutions

1. Check state store access and permissions
2. Verify the cluster name
3. Run kops get instancegroups to reproduce

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cmd/kops/validate_cluster.go:148 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of kubernetes/kops@4c8573c808 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c915be75605c354f. Report an issue: GitHub.