kubernetes/kops · error

checking user-data differences in server %s (%s): %w

Error message

checking user-data differences in server %s (%s): %w

What it means

In the instance task's Find phase, checkUserDataDifferences failed: reading the server's current 'cloud-init' user-data (or comparing it with the expected resource) errored, so drift for user-data cannot be determined for that server. The server name/ID identify the machine whose user-data could not be fetched.

Source

Thrown at upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/scalewaytasks/instance.go:118

		if server.CommercialType != *s.CommercialType {
			needsUpdate = append(needsUpdate, server.ID)
			continue
		}

		// Check image differences
		diff, err := checkImageDifferences(c, cloud, server, fi.ValueOf(s.Image))
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("checking image differences in server %s (%s): %w", server.Name, server.ID, err)
		}
		if diff {
			needsUpdate = append(needsUpdate, server.ID)
			continue
		}

		// Check user-data differences
		diff, err = checkUserDataDifferences(c, cloud, server, s.UserData)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("checking user-data differences in server %s (%s): %w", server.Name, server.ID, err)
		}
		if diff {
			needsUpdate = append(needsUpdate, server.ID)
		}
	}

	server := servers[0]
	igName := scaleway.InstanceGroupNameFromTags(server.Tags)
	role := scaleway.InstanceRoleFromTags(server.Tags)

	imageLabel, err := imageLabelFromID(c, cloud, server.Image.ID)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	return &Instance{
		Name:           new(igName),
		Lifecycle:      s.Lifecycle,

View on GitHub (pinned to 4c8573c808)

Solutions

1. Inspect the wrapped error for the GetServerUserData failure
2. Verify the server is in a state that exposes user-data
3. Retry the diff/apply run

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/scalewaytasks/instance.go:118 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/5c3e0ae130ac0b60. Report an issue: GitHub.