kubernetes/kops · error

failed to create pool: %v

Error message

failed to create pool: %v

What it means

Wrapped failure from v2pools.Create in createPool's writeBackoff loop: Octavia rejected pool creation (or returned unextractable data). The retry loop keeps the last attempt's error, which is embedded via %v.

Source

Thrown at upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/openstack/loadbalancer.go:443

		}
		return association, err
	}
	return association, nil
}

func (c *openstackCloud) CreatePool(opts v2pools.CreateOpts) (pool *v2pools.Pool, err error) {
	return createPool(c, opts)
}

func createPool(c OpenstackCloud, opts v2pools.CreateOpts) (pool *v2pools.Pool, err error) {
	if c.LoadBalancerClient() == nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("loadbalancer support not available in this deployment")
	}

	done, err := vfs.RetryWithBackoff(writeBackoff, func() (bool, error) {
		pool, err = v2pools.Create(context.TODO(), c.LoadBalancerClient(), opts).Extract()
		if err != nil {
			return false, fmt.Errorf("failed to create pool: %v", err)
		}
		return true, nil
	})
	if !done {
		if err == nil {
			err = wait.ErrWaitTimeout
		}
		return pool, err
	}
	return pool, nil
}

func (c *openstackCloud) ListPoolMembers(poolID string, opts v2pools.ListMembersOpts) (memberList []v2pools.Member, err error) {
	return listPoolMembers(c, poolID, opts)
}

func listPoolMembers(c OpenstackCloud, poolID string, opts v2pools.ListMembersOpts) (memberList []v2pools.Member, err error) {
	if c.LoadBalancerClient() == nil {

View on GitHub (pinned to 4c8573c808)

Solutions

1. Inspect the wrapped %v error for HTTP status: 409 means parent object pending — retry after provisioning settles (the loop already retries; ensure backoff is long enough).
2. Validate CreateOpts against your Octavia version (allowed lb_algorithm values ROUND_ROBIN/LEAST_CONNECTIONS/SOURCE_IP; supported protocols).
3. Check quotas for pools (`openstack quota show`) and the listener_id/loadbalancer_id values passed in opts.
4. Confirm the Octavia provider (e.g. amphorae) can actually provision; image/amp failures surface as creation errors.

Example fix

// before
opts := v2pools.CreateOpts{ListenerID: listenerID, Protocol: "HTTP", LBMethod: "round_robin"} // invalid enum casing
// after
opts := v2pools.CreateOpts{ListenerID: listenerID, Protocol: "HTTP", LBMethod: v2pools.LBMethodRoundRobin}

for _, allowed := range []string{"ROUND_ROBIN", "LEAST_CONNECTIONS", "SOURCE_IP"} {
	if opts.LBMethod == allowed {
		goto ok
	}
}
return fmt.Errorf("invalid lb_algorithm %q", opts.LBMethod)

pool, err := cloud.CreatePool(opts)
if err != nil {
	if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "409") || strings.Contains(err.Error(), "Conflict") {
		return retryAfterLBSettles(opts) // parent LB/listener pending
	}
	if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "quota") {
		return ErrQuotaExceeded
	}
	return fmt.Errorf("create pool failed: %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: CreatePool called with invalid CreateOpts (unknown listener_id, unsupported LB algorithm/protocol, wrong provider), 409 while the parent LB/listener is in PENDING state, quota exceeded, or 404 listener/loadbalancer vanished.

Common situations: Invalid lb algorithms or protocols in the cluster spec for the deployed Octavia version; rapid creation racing Octavia provisioning (PENDING states); quota limits on pools/listeners in shared projects.

Related errors

• Error getting load balancer stats %v
• failed to build load balancer client: %w
• cluster configured to use octavia, but router was not config
• error building lb client: %w
• loadbalancer API versions not found

AI-assisted analysis of kubernetes/kops@4c8573c808 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7a5d26b9c40bf383. Report an issue: GitHub.