kubernetes/kops · error

getting instance %s/%s/%s: %w

Error message

getting instance %s/%s/%s: %w

What it means

The GCE IPAM reconciler's call to the GCE compute API to fetch the instance (identified from the node's providerID) failed. Inputs were validated; this wraps a GCE API error such as the instance being deleted, permissions, or transient API failure.

Source

Thrown at cmd/kops-controller/controllers/gceipam.go:118

		// e.g. providerID: gce://example-project-id/us-west2-a/instance-id
		providerURL, err := url.Parse(node.Spec.ProviderID)
		if err != nil {
			return ctrl.Result{}, fmt.Errorf("parsing providerID %q: %w", node.Spec.ProviderID, err)
		}
		tokens := strings.Split(strings.Trim(providerURL.Path, "/"), "/")
		if len(tokens) != 2 {
			return ctrl.Result{}, fmt.Errorf("unexpected format for providerID %q", node.Spec.ProviderID)
		}
		project := providerURL.Host
		zone := tokens[0]
		instanceID := tokens[1]
		if project == "" || zone == "" || instanceID == "" {
			return ctrl.Result{}, fmt.Errorf("unexpected format for providerID %q", node.Spec.ProviderID)
		}

		instance, err := r.gceClient.Instances.Get(project, zone, instanceID).Context(ctx).Do()
		if err != nil {
			return ctrl.Result{}, fmt.Errorf("getting instance %s/%s/%s: %w", project, zone, instanceID, err)
		}

		var ipv6Addresses []string
		for _, nic := range instance.NetworkInterfaces {
			for _, ipv6AccessConfig := range nic.Ipv6AccessConfigs {
				if ipv6AccessConfig.ExternalIpv6 != "" {
					ipv6Address := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%d", ipv6AccessConfig.ExternalIpv6, ipv6AccessConfig.ExternalIpv6PrefixLength)
					ipv6Addresses = append(ipv6Addresses, ipv6Address)
				}
			}
		}

		if len(ipv6Addresses) == 0 {
			return ctrl.Result{}, fmt.Errorf("no ipv6 address found on interface %q", instance.NetworkInterfaces[0].Name)
		}
		if len(ipv6Addresses) != 1 {
			return ctrl.Result{}, fmt.Errorf("multiple ipv6 addresses found on interface %q: %v", instance.NetworkInterfaces[0].Name, ipv6Addresses)
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to 4c8573c808)

Solutions

1. Inspect the wrapped GCE API error for the exact cause
2. Verify the instance still exists in the project/zone
3. Check the service account's compute.instance.get permissions

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cmd/kops-controller/controllers/gceipam.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/e4bc99af73ea0224. Report an issue: GitHub.