kubernetes/kops · error

--name is required

Error message

--name is required

What it means

The `kops get secrets` command validates that a cluster name is available before running. kOps stores secrets per-cluster, so without a cluster name it cannot know which secret store to query. The name comes from the --name flag, the --name flag on the command, or the KOPS_CLUSTER_NAME environment variable; if none is set, Args returns this error before RunE executes.

Source

Thrown at cmd/kops/get_secrets.go:65

	Type        string
	SecretNames []string
}

func NewCmdGetSecrets(f *util.Factory, out io.Writer, getOptions *GetOptions) *cobra.Command {
	options := GetSecretsOptions{
		GetOptions: getOptions,
	}
	cmd := &cobra.Command{
		Use:     "secrets [SECRET_NAME]...",
		Aliases: []string{"secret"},
		Short:   getSecretShort,
		Example: getSecretExample,
		Args: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
			options.SecretNames = args
			options.ClusterName = rootCommand.ClusterName(true)

			if options.ClusterName == "" {
				return fmt.Errorf("--name is required")
			}

			return nil
		},
		ValidArgsFunction: completeSecretNames(f),
		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
			return RunGetSecrets(cmd.Context(), f, out, &options)
		},
	}

	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&options.Type, "type", "", "", "Filter by secret type")
	cmd.Flags().MarkHidden("type")
	return cmd
}

func listSecrets(secretStore fi.SecretStore, names []string) ([]string, error) {
	items, err := secretStore.ListSecrets()
	if err != nil {

View on GitHub (pinned to 4c8573c808)

Solutions

1. Pass --name <clustername> to the kops get secrets command
2. Export KOPS_CLUSTER_NAME=<clustername> in the environment or CI pipeline
3. cd into a directory whose kubectl context maps to the target cluster so kops can infer the name
4. Run `kops get clusters` first to list valid cluster names

Example fix

// before
kops get secrets

// after
kops get secrets --name mycluster.example.com

clusterName := rootCommand.ClusterName(true)
if clusterName == "" {
	return fmt.Errorf("--name is required")
}
// or in shell:
// [ -n "$KOPS_CLUSTER_NAME" ] || KOPS_CLUSTER_NAME=mycluster.example.com

When it happens

Trigger: Running `kops get secrets` with no --name flag, no KOPS_CLUSTER_NAME env var, and no cluster configured in the current kops state; also running from a directory where kops cannot infer the cluster from a kubectl context.

Common situations: Scripting kops in CI without KOPS_CLUSTER_NAME set; running against a fresh state store with no default cluster; users who normally rely on kubectl context inference but run from an unrelated directory.

Understand the failure class

Background: "--flag is required" and "must specify" CLI errors: how missing-required-flag validation works and how to fix it — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• --name is required
• must specify %q label with cluster name to create instanceGr
• error querying cluster %q: %v
• cluster %q not found
• instanceGroup %q already exists

AI-assisted analysis of kubernetes/kops@4c8573c808 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a746ca2858c2ad27. Report an issue: GitHub.