kubernetes/kops · error

failed to marshal token data: %w

Error message

failed to marshal token data: %w

What it means

Marshaling the AuthTokenData struct (timestamp, audience, request hash, key ID, instance) to JSON failed. With fixed-type struct fields this cannot fail in practice; the wrap is defensive and an occurrence indicates internal inconsistency or memory pressure.

Source

Thrown at pkg/bootstrap/pkibootstrap/pkisigner.go:118

	return NewAuthenticator(hostname, key.Key)
}

func (a *pkiAuthenticator) CreateToken(body []byte) (string, error) {
	requestHash := sha256.Sum256(body)

	data := AuthTokenData{
		Timestamp:   time.Now().Unix(),
		Audience:    AudienceNodeAuthentication,
		RequestHash: requestHash[:],

		KeyID:    a.keyID,
		Instance: a.hostname,
	}

	payload, err := json.Marshal(&data)
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to marshal token data: %w", err)
	}

	signature, err := a.sign(payload)
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to sign token data: %w", err)
	}
	token := &AuthToken{
		Data:      payload,
		Signature: signature,
	}

	b, err := json.Marshal(token)
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to marshal token: %w", err)
	}
	return AuthenticationTokenPrefix + base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(b), nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 4c8573c808)

Solutions

1. Treat as non-retryable and report — this is an internal error, not a configuration problem
2. Check for memory pressure on the node
3. Report as a bug with the wrapped error if reproducible

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at pkg/bootstrap/pkibootstrap/pkisigner.go:118 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of kubernetes/kops@4c8573c808 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/16c5e9aba6efc6eb. Report an issue: GitHub.