kubernetes/kops · error

cluster cannot span multiple regions (found zone %q, but reg

Error message

cluster cannot span multiple regions (found zone %q, but region is %q)

What it means

FindRegion ensures all cluster subnets lie within a single Hetzner region (kOps Hetzner clusters cannot span regions). If a subnet's zone maps to a different region than previously seen, it aborts with this error naming the offending zone and the already-established region.

Source

Thrown at upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/hetzner/utils.go:43

// FindRegion determines the region from the zones specified in the cluster
func FindRegion(cluster *kops.Cluster) (string, error) {
	var region string

	for _, subnet := range cluster.Spec.Networking.Subnets {
		var zoneRegion string
		switch subnet.Zone {
		case "fsn1", "nbg1", "hel1":
			zoneRegion = "eu-central"
		case "ash":
			zoneRegion = "us-east"
		case "hil":
			zoneRegion = "us-west"
		default:
			return "", fmt.Errorf("unknown zone %q for hetzner cloud, known zones are fsn1, nbg1, hel1, ash, hil", subnet.Zone)
		}

		if region != "" && zoneRegion != region {
			return "", fmt.Errorf("cluster cannot span multiple regions (found zone %q, but region is %q)", subnet.Zone, region)
		}

		region = zoneRegion
	}

	return region, nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 4c8573c808)

Solutions

1. Make all subnets use zones in the same region (fsn1/nbg1 are both eu-central; ash/hil are both us-east... check: ash=us-east, hil=us-west so pick one).
2. Remove or re-zone the offending subnet via `kops edit cluster`, then `kops update cluster`.
3. If multi-region is truly required, create separate clusters per region.

Example fix

// before
zones: [fsn1, ash]
// after
zones: [fsn1, nbg1]

zoneRegion := map[string]string{"fsn1":"eu-central","nbg1":"eu-central","hel1":"eu-central","ash":"us-east","hil":"us-west"}
regions := map[string]bool{}
for _, s := range subnets { regions[zoneRegion[s.Zone]] = true }
if len(regions) > 1 { return fmt.Errorf("subnets span multiple regions: %v", regions) }

When it happens

Trigger: Cluster defines subnets in zones from multiple regions, e.g. fsn1 (eu-central) plus ash (us-east), or hel1 with nbg1.

Common situations: Adding a subnet in a new geographic zone for HA without realizing cross-region isn't supported; copy-pasting a multi-region cluster spec from AWS/GCP.

Related errors

• unknown zone %q for hetzner cloud, known zones are fsn1, nbg
• failed to get private networks from hetzner cloud metadata:
• failed to convert private networks to object: %w
• could not find public subnet in zone: %q
• found multiple public subnets in zone: %q

AI-assisted analysis of kubernetes/kops@4c8573c808 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e7ac7f2ace363fcb. Report an issue: GitHub.