kubernetes/kops · error

subnet %q has unknown type %q

Error message

subnet %q has unknown type %q

What it means

A subnet in the cluster spec carries a type that matches no known subnet type during AWS network building; an invalid spec subnet type value that slipped past earlier validation.

Source

Thrown at pkg/model/awsmodel/network.go:376

				// Private Subnet Route Table Associations
				//
				// Map the Private subnet to the Private route table
				c.AddTask(&awstasks.RouteTableAssociation{
					Name:       new("private-" + subnetSpec.Name + "." + b.ClusterName()),
					Lifecycle:  b.Lifecycle,
					RouteTable: b.LinkToPrivateRouteTableInZone(subnetSpec.Zone),
					Subnet:     subnet,
				})

				// TODO: validate even if shared?
				if infoByZone[subnetSpec.Zone] == nil {
					infoByZone[subnetSpec.Zone] = &zoneInfo{}
				}
				infoByZone[subnetSpec.Zone].NATSubnets = append(infoByZone[subnetSpec.Zone].NATSubnets, subnetSpec)
				infoByZone[subnetSpec.Zone].HavePrivateSubnet = true
			}
		default:
			return fmt.Errorf("subnet %q has unknown type %q", subnetSpec.Name, subnetSpec.Type)
		}
	}

	// Set up private route tables & egress

	// The instances in the private subnet can access the IPv6 Internet by
	// using an egress-only internet gateway.
	var eigw *awstasks.EgressOnlyInternetGateway
	if !allPrivateSubnetsUnmanaged && b.IsIPv6Only() {
		eigw = &awstasks.EgressOnlyInternetGateway{
			Name:      new(b.ClusterName()),
			Lifecycle: b.Lifecycle,
			VPC:       b.LinkToVPC(),
			Shared:    new(sharedVPC),
		}
		eigw.Tags = b.CloudTags(*eigw.Name, *eigw.Shared)
		c.AddTask(eigw)
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 4c8573c808)

Solutions

1. Correct the subnet type to a supported value (public/private/utility/dualstack)
2. Fix the subnets block via kops edit cluster
3. Re-run kops update

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at pkg/model/awsmodel/network.go:376 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/06d3f56527d09d06. Report an issue: GitHub.