kubernetes/kops · error

error building context: %v

Error message

error building context: %v

What it means

Run constructs the fi.CloudupContext that ties together target, cluster, cloud, key/secret stores, configBase, and the task map. If fi.NewCloudupContext fails, the apply is aborted with this wrapped error — typically because one of those inputs is invalid (e.g. keystore/secretstore setup or configBase access problems).

Source

Thrown at upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/apply_cluster.go:849

		// Avoid making changes on a dry-run
		shouldPrecreateDNS = false

	default:
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unsupported target type %q", c.TargetName)
	}
	c.Target = target

	if target.DefaultCheckExisting() {
		c.TaskMap, err = l.FindDeletions(cloud, c.LifecycleOverrides)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error finding deletions: %w", err)
		}
	}

	context, err := fi.NewCloudupContext(ctx, deletionProcessingMode, target, cluster, cloud, keyStore, secretStore, configBase, c.TaskMap)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error building context: %v", err)
	}

	var options fi.RunTasksOptions
	if c.RunTasksOptions != nil {
		options = *c.RunTasksOptions
	} else {
		options.InitDefaults()
	}

	err = context.RunTasks(options)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error running tasks: %v", err)
	}

	if !cluster.PublishesDNSRecords() {
		shouldPrecreateDNS = false
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 4c8573c808)

Solutions

1. Inspect the wrapped message (%v) for the underlying cause and fix it
2. Verify the state store: --state flag / KOPS_STATE_STORE env and that the bucket/container exists and is accessible
3. Run `kops get cluster` to confirm kops can read cluster state from configBase
4. Check key store / secret store integrity (keys and certs readable)
5. If calling ApplyClusterCmd in Go, ensure all parameters to fi.NewCloudupContext are non-nil and correctly initialized

Example fix

// before
export KOPS_STATE_STORE=s3://nonexistent-bucket
kops update cluster mycluster.example.com
// after
export KOPS_STATE_STORE=s3://my-real-kops-state-bucket
kops update cluster mycluster.example.com

if os.Getenv("KOPS_STATE_STORE") == "" && stateStore == "" {
	return fmt.Errorf("KOPS_STATE_STORE must be set and reachable")
}
// verify readability before apply:
if _, err := clientset.GetCluster(ctx, clusterName); err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("cannot read cluster state: %w", err)
}

if err := cmd.Run(ctx); err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "error building context") {
	// check state-store access, key/secret store init, configBase path
}

When it happens

Trigger: fi.NewCloudupContext returns an error during `kops update cluster` / apply — most often when the key store or secret store cannot be initialized or configBase (state store path) is unreachable.

Common situations: Broken or missing state-store (S3/GCS/Azure blob) configuration or credentials; cluster state deleted or moved so configBase paths are wrong; key store corruption (bad keys/certs); custom Go callers passing nil stores to ApplyClusterCmd.

Related errors

• failed to apply objects: %w
• not all objects were applied
• updating %q: %w
• reading file %v: %w
• error loading NodeupConfig %q: %v

AI-assisted analysis of kubernetes/kops@4c8573c808 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2ff7932e5c453913. Report an issue: GitHub.