kubernetes/kops · error

error deleting TargetGroup %q: %v

Error message

error deleting TargetGroup %q: %v

What it means

DeleteTargetGroup wraps a failed ELBV2 DeleteTargetGroup API call with the target group ARN. As with the sibling deleters, dependency violations are returned unwrapped so the resource tracker can retry after dependents are removed.

Source

Thrown at pkg/resources/aws/aws.go:1504

	}
	return nil
}

func DeleteTargetGroup(cloud fi.Cloud, r *resources.Resource) error {
	ctx := context.TODO()
	c := cloud.(awsup.AWSCloud)
	id := r.ID

	klog.V(2).Infof("Deleting TargetGroup %q", id)
	request := &elbv2.DeleteTargetGroupInput{
		TargetGroupArn: aws.String(id),
	}
	_, err := c.ELBV2().DeleteTargetGroup(ctx, request)
	if err != nil {
		if IsDependencyViolation(err) {
			return err
		}
		return fmt.Errorf("error deleting TargetGroup %q: %v", id, err)
	}
	return nil
}

func DumpELB(op *resources.DumpOperation, r *resources.Resource) error {
	data := make(map[string]interface{})
	data["id"] = r.ID
	data["type"] = TypeLoadBalancer
	data["raw"] = r.Obj
	op.Dump.Resources = append(op.Dump.Resources, data)

	if lb, ok := r.Obj.(elbv2types.LoadBalancer); ok {
		op.Dump.LoadBalancers = append(op.Dump.LoadBalancers, &resources.LoadBalancer{
			Name:    fi.ValueOf(lb.LoadBalancerName),
			DNSName: fi.ValueOf(lb.DNSName),
		})

	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 4c8573c808)

Solutions

1. Ensure the ALB/NLB listeners referencing the target group are deleted first, then retry — order matters and the tracker retries dependency violations.
2. Retry the teardown after a short wait; ELB deletion is asynchronous.
3. Verify IAM permissions include elasticloadbalancing:DeleteTargetGroup.
4. Check with aws elbv2 describe-target-groups whether the TG still exists; if gone, continue.
5. Reduce API concurrency if throttling errors appear in the wrapped message.

// Ensure no listeners still reference the target group
lbs, _ := c.ELBV2().DescribeLoadBalancers(ctx, &elbv2.DescribeLoadBalancersInput{})
for _, lb := range lbs.LoadBalancers {
    ls, _ := c.ELBV2().DescribeListeners(ctx, &elbv2.DescribeListenersInput{LoadBalancerArn: lb.LoadBalancerArn})
    for _, l := range ls.Listeners {
        for _, tg := range l.DefaultActions { if *tg.TargetGroupArn == arn { /* delete listener first */ } }
    }
}

for attempt := 0; attempt < 5; attempt++ {
    err := DeleteTargetGroup(cloud, r)
    if err == nil || awsup.AWSErrorCode(err) == "TargetGroupInUse" && attempt < 4 {
        time.Sleep(time.Duration(1<<attempt) * time.Second); continue
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: DeleteTargetGroup fails because the target group is still referenced by a listener (TargetGroupInUse), is still associated with an ALB/NLB being deleted concurrently, IAM denies elasticloadbalancing:DeleteTargetGroup, or throttling occurs.

Common situations: Cluster teardown order where the ALB deletion hasn't completed before target group deletion; leftover listeners still pointing at the TG; API throttling across many resources.

Related errors

• error deleting ELB TargetGroup %q: %w
• error deleting V2 LoadBalancer %q: %v
• failed to detach target groups from autoscaling group: %v
• error deleting ELB LoadBalancer %q: %w
• error deleting load balancer listener with arn=%q: %w

AI-assisted analysis of kubernetes/kops@4c8573c808 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/542ed71a5b949594. Report an issue: GitHub.