What causes "error deleting Akamai (Linode) volume %s(%s): %w" in kubernetes/kops?

Ensure the volume is detached (instances deleted/unmounted) before deleting

error deleting Akamai (Linode) volume %s(%s): %w

Error message

error deleting Akamai (Linode) volume %s(%s): %w

What it means

deleteVolume deletes a Linode block storage volume. Failures other than not-found (treated as success) are wrapped with the volume name and ID. It means the Linode API refused or failed the volume deletion.

Source

Thrown at pkg/resources/linode/resources.go:359

		return fmt.Errorf("error deleting Akamai (Linode) instance %s(%s): %w", tracker.Name, tracker.ID, err)
	}

	return nil
}

// deleteVolume deletes an Akamai (Linode) block storage volume.
func deleteVolume(cloud fi.Cloud, tracker *resources.Resource) error {
	c := cloud.(cloudlinode.LinodeCloud)
	volumeID, err := parseTrackerIntID(tracker)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	if err := c.Client().DeleteVolume(context.Background(), volumeID); err != nil {
		if linodego.IsNotFound(err) {
			return nil
		}
		return fmt.Errorf("error deleting Akamai (Linode) volume %s(%s): %w", tracker.Name, tracker.ID, err)
	}

	return nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 4c8573c808)

Solutions

Ensure the volume is detached (instances deleted/unmounted) before deleting
Retry the delete — it is idempotent
Use an API token with write access
Check the wrapped error status for 'volume is attached' style messages
Delete the volume manually from Linode Cloud Manager as a last resort, then re-run kops delete

Defensive patterns

Strategy: retry

Validate before calling

vol, err := c.Client().GetVolume(ctx, volumeID)
// if err == nil && vol.LinodeID != nil -> volume attached; detach before delete

Type guard

func isVolumeAttached(vol *linodego.Volume) bool { return vol != nil && vol.LinodeID != nil }

Try / catch

if err := c.Client().DeleteVolume(ctx, volumeID); err != nil {
	if linodego.IsNotFound(err) { return nil }
	if isAttachedMsg(err) { /* detach volume, then retry */ }
	return fmt.Errorf("error deleting Akamai (Linode) volume %s(%s): %w", tracker.Name, tracker.ID, err)
}

Prevention

Ensure instances holding PVs are deleted or volumes detached first
Check volume attachment state before deletion
Use write-scoped API tokens
Retry kops delete after transient storage API errors

When it happens

Trigger: c.Client().DeleteVolume(ctx, volumeID) fails: volume still attached to a running Linode, token lacks write scopes, network error, or rate limit.

Common situations: PV-backed volumes still attached to nodes at delete time; read-only API token; rate limiting during large cluster teardown; region-wide storage API issues.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of kubernetes/kops@4c8573c808 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/efeb3e510f5c57cb. Report an issue: GitHub.