kubernetes/kops · error

unhandled sha length for %q

Error message

unhandled sha length for %q

What it means

fileExtensionForSHA maps a hex hash string to its checksum-file extension: 40 hex chars -> .sha1, 64 -> .sha256. Any other length (short, truncated, or non-standard hash) returns this error, aborting the CopyFile task.

Source

Thrown at pkg/assets/assetcopy/copyfile.go:54

type CopyFile struct {
	Name       string
	SourceFile string
	TargetFile string
	SHA        string
	VFSContext *vfs.VFSContext
	Cluster    *kops.Cluster
}

// fileExtensionForSHA returns the expected extension for the given hash
// If the hash length is not recognized, it returns an error.
func fileExtensionForSHA(sha string) (string, error) {
	switch len(sha) {
	case 40:
		return ".sha1", nil
	case 64:
		return ".sha256", nil
	default:
		return "", fmt.Errorf("unhandled sha length for %q", sha)
	}
}

func (e *CopyFile) Run() error {
	ctx := context.TODO()

	expectedSHA := strings.TrimSpace(e.SHA)

	shaExtension, err := fileExtensionForSHA(expectedSHA)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	targetSHAFile := e.TargetFile + shaExtension

	targetSHABytes, err := e.VFSContext.ReadFile(targetSHAFile)
	if err != nil {
		if os.IsNotExist(err) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 4c8573c808)

Solutions

1. Inspect the sha in the error message and count its length to identify the wrong algorithm.
2. Regenerate or fix the checksum source so it is sha1 (40 hex) or sha256 (64 hex).
3. If the sha comes from a file repository .sha file, correct that file's contents.
4. Re-run `kops get assets --copy` after the sha is corrected.

Example fix

// before (bad sha in repo)
5d41402abc4b2a76b9719d911017c592  file.tar.gz   # md5, 32 chars
// after
2aae6c35c94fcfb415dbe95f408b9ce91ee846ed  file.tar.gz   # sha1, 40 chars

sha := strings.TrimSpace(fileAsset.SHAValue.Hex())
if len(sha) != 40 && len(sha) != 64 {
    return fmt.Errorf("asset sha must be sha1 (40) or sha256 (64) hex chars, got %d: %q", len(sha), sha)
}

When it happens

Trigger: A FileAsset whose SHAValue, when hex-encoded, is neither 40 nor 64 characters — e.g. SHAValue parsed from a corrupt or wrong-algorithm .sha file (md5=32 chars), an empty sha, or a truncated entry in the asset list.

Common situations: A custom file repository publishes checksum files generated with md5 or crc32; a manually edited assets spec contains a cut-off hash; a mirror serves a wrong .sha1 file that kops parses as the expected sha.

Related errors

• unable to parse sha: %q, %v
• unable to hash file %q downloaded: %v
• %s: %v
• not all assets copied successfully
• unable to transfer %q to %q: %v

AI-assisted analysis of kubernetes/kops@4c8573c808 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8d31c3c42e9005b4. Report an issue: GitHub.