kubernetes/kops · error

error creating pod log dumper: %w

Error message

error creating pod log dumper: %w

What it means

RunToolboxDump (`kops toolbox dump`) collects cluster state and, when dumping a running cluster, creates a PodLogDumper to fetch pod logs via the cluster kubeconfig. This error wraps any failure from dump.NewPodLogDumper — typically an invalid or unreadable kubeconfig path, or failure to build a Kubernetes client from it. The dump command aborts because logs are considered part of the requested dump.

Source

Thrown at cmd/kops/toolbox_dump.go:288

			})
		}

		if err := dumper.DumpAllNodes(ctx, nodes, options.MaxNodes, cloudResources); err != nil {
			klog.Warningf("error dumping nodes: %v", err)
		}

		if kubeConfig != nil && options.K8sResources {
			dumper, err := dump.NewResourceDumper(kubeConfig, options.Output, options.Dir)
			if err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("error creating resource dumper: %w", err)
			}
			if err := dumper.DumpResources(ctx); err != nil {
				klog.Warningf("error dumping resources: %v", err)
			}

			logDumper, err := dump.NewPodLogDumper(kubeConfig, options.Dir)
			if err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("error creating pod log dumper: %w", err)
			}
			if err := logDumper.DumpLogs(ctx); err != nil {
				klog.Warningf("error dumping pod logs: %v", err)
			}
		}
	}

	if cloudResources != nil {
		switch options.Output {
		case OutputYaml:
			b, err := kops.ToRawYaml(cloudResources)
			if err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("error marshaling yaml: %v", err)
			}
			_, err = out.Write(b)
			if err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("error writing to stdout: %v", err)
			}

View on GitHub (pinned to 4c8573c808)

Solutions

1. Verify the kubeconfig exists and is valid: kubectl --kubeconfig <path> get nodes
2. Re-export the cluster admin kubeconfig (kops export kubecfg <cluster>) and retry
3. Confirm the cluster API server is reachable from your machine
4. Check the --dir target is writable/valid

Example fix

// before
logDumper, err := dump.NewPodLogDumper(kubeConfig, options.Dir)
if err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("error creating pod log dumper: %w", err)
}
// after — fail fast with a clear hint before dumping
if _, err := os.Stat(kubeConfig); err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("kubeconfig %q not found; run 'kops export kubecfg': %w", kubeConfig, err)
}
logDumper, err := dump.NewPodLogDumper(kubeConfig, options.Dir)
if err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("error creating pod log dumper: %w", err)
}

if _, err := os.Stat(kubeconfigPath); err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("kubeconfig %q unreadable: %w", kubeconfigPath, err)
}
if err := clientcmd.LoadFromFile(kubeconfigPath); err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("kubeconfig %q invalid: %w", kubeconfigPath, err)
}

if _, err := dump.NewPodLogDumper(kubeConfig, dir); err != nil {
	var pe *fs.PathError
	if errors.As(err, &pe) {
		// kubeconfig path problem: hint at 'kops export kubecfg'
	}
	return fmt.Errorf("error creating pod log dumper: %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `kops toolbox dump` against a cluster when the resolved kubeconfig (options.KubeConfig / --kubeconfig) is missing, malformed, points to an unreachable API server during client construction, or the dump directory option is invalid.

Common situations: KUBECONFIG env var points at a stale file; cluster was deleted so the admin kubeconfig no longer authenticates; user passed --kubeconfig with a typo; running outside the cluster context where the admin.conf exists.

Related errors

• cannot load kubecfg settings for %q: %w
• building kubernetes client for node labeler: %w
• building kube client: %w
• building dynamic client: %w
• getting rest config: %w

AI-assisted analysis of kubernetes/kops@4c8573c808 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c38cdce69c0ed21d. Report an issue: GitHub.