kubernetes/kops · error

error parsing yaml: %v

Error message

error parsing yaml: %v

What it means

LoadObjectsFrom splits a manifest file into YAML documents and unmarshals each section into a generic map. When a section is not valid YAML (or is not a mapping), it logs the offending section via klog and returns this error, aborting the load.

Source

Thrown at pkg/kubemanifest/manifest.go:81

type ObjectList []*Object

// LoadObjectsFrom parses multiple objects from a yaml file
func LoadObjectsFrom(contents []byte) (ObjectList, error) {
	var objects []*Object

	sections := text.SplitContentToSections(contents)

	for _, section := range sections {
		// We need this so we don't error on a section that is empty / commented out
		if !hasYAMLContent(section) {
			continue
		}

		data := make(map[string]interface{})
		err := yaml.Unmarshal(section, &data)
		if err != nil {
			klog.Infof("invalid YAML section: %s", string(section))
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error parsing yaml: %v", err)
		}

		obj := &Object{
			// bytes: section,
			data: data,
		}
		objects = append(objects, obj)
	}

	return objects, nil
}

// hasYAMLContent determines if the byte slice has any content,
// because yaml parsing gives an error if called with no content.
// TODO: How does apimachinery avoid this problem?
func hasYAMLContent(yamlData []byte) bool {
	for _, line := range bytes.Split(yamlData, []byte("\n")) {
		l := bytes.TrimSpace(line)

View on GitHub (pinned to 4c8573c808)

Solutions

1. Fix the YAML syntax in the flagged section (the invalid section is printed just above the error in klog output)
2. Run `yamllint` or `kubectl apply --dry-run=client -f file.yaml` to pinpoint the line
3. Replace tabs with spaces and fix indentation/duplicate keys
4. Re-download/restore the manifest file if it was truncated or corrupted

Example fix

// before (manifest.yaml)
addons:
	- name: foo  # tab indentation -> parse error
// after
addons:
  - name: foo

func validateYAMLFile(path string) error {
	data, err := os.ReadFile(path)
	if err != nil { return err }
	for i, section := range bytes.Split(data, []byte("\n---")) {
		var m map[string]interface{}
		if err := yaml.Unmarshal(section, &m); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("document %d invalid: %w", i, err)
		}
	}
	return nil
}

objs, err := kubemanifest.LoadObjectsFrom(data)
if err != nil {
	if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "error parsing yaml") {
		return fmt.Errorf("manifest file is not valid YAML; run yamllint on it: %w", err)
	}
	return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling any of LoadObjectsFrom's callers (ParseAddons, Apply, Prune, List, RemapManifest, ParseClusterAddon) with a file containing malformed YAML syntax, tabs for indentation, or a document that unmarshals to a non-map value.

Common situations: Hand-edited addon manifests with indentation mistakes; tabs instead of spaces; duplicate keys; truncated files from failed downloads; passing a non-manifest file to the command.

Related errors

• error parsing addons or manifest: %v
• failed to parse objects: %w
• failed to parse objects: %w
• parsing yaml: %w
• error parsing addon %q: %v

AI-assisted analysis of kubernetes/kops@4c8573c808 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7098b6f788d3a48a. Report an issue: GitHub.