kubernetes/kops · error

upgrade is not for use with imported clusters.)

Error message

upgrade is not for use with imported clusters.)

What it means

Guard in RunUpgradeCluster: the cluster carries the kops.k8s.io/management=imported annotation, meaning it was imported rather than created by kOps. `kops upgrade` only manages kOps-created clusters and refuses to modify imported configuration. (Note the stray ')' in the message.)

Source

Thrown at cmd/kops/upgrade_cluster.go:117

func RunUpgradeCluster(ctx context.Context, f *util.Factory, out io.Writer, options *UpgradeClusterOptions) error {
	cluster, err := GetCluster(ctx, f, options.ClusterName)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	clientset, err := f.KopsClient()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	instanceGroups, err := commands.ReadAllInstanceGroups(ctx, clientset, cluster)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	if cluster.ObjectMeta.Annotations[kopsapi.AnnotationNameManagement] == kopsapi.AnnotationValueManagementImported {
		return fmt.Errorf("upgrade is not for use with imported clusters.)")
	}

	channelLocation := options.Channel
	if channelLocation == "" {
		channelLocation = cluster.Spec.Channel
	}
	if channelLocation == "" {
		channelLocation = kopsapi.DefaultChannel
	}

	var actions []*upgradeAction
	if channelLocation != cluster.Spec.Channel {
		actions = append(actions, &upgradeAction{
			Item:     "Cluster",
			Property: "Channel",
			Old:      cluster.Spec.Channel,
			New:      channelLocation,
			apply: func() {

View on GitHub (pinned to 4c8573c808)

Solutions

1. Manage upgrades of imported clusters with the upstream tooling
2. Remove the imported annotation only if the cluster is actually kOps-managed
3. Use kops edit cluster for manual spec changes instead

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cmd/kops/upgrade_cluster.go:117 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/a72d14dbb4de39c5. Report an issue: GitHub.