kubernetes/kops · error

waiting for VMSS create/update: %w

Error message

waiting for VMSS create/update: %w

What it means

Wrapped when the long-running VMSS create/update fails during future.PollUntilDone — BeginCreateOrUpdate succeeded but the operation later entered a Failed/Cancelled state or the context ended. Azure-side provisioning problems (capacity, image, extensions) surface here rather than at Begin time.

Source

Thrown at upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/azure/vmscaleset.go:51

	List(ctx context.Context, resourceGroupName string) ([]*compute.VirtualMachineScaleSet, error)
	Get(ctx context.Context, resourceGroupName string, vmssName string) (*compute.VirtualMachineScaleSet, error)
	Delete(ctx context.Context, resourceGroupName, vmssName string) error
}

type vmScaleSetsClientImpl struct {
	c *compute.VirtualMachineScaleSetsClient
}

var _ VMScaleSetsClient = (*vmScaleSetsClientImpl)(nil)

func (c *vmScaleSetsClientImpl) CreateOrUpdate(ctx context.Context, resourceGroupName, vmScaleSetName string, parameters compute.VirtualMachineScaleSet) (*compute.VirtualMachineScaleSet, error) {
	future, err := c.c.BeginCreateOrUpdate(ctx, resourceGroupName, vmScaleSetName, parameters, nil)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("creating/updating VMSS: %w", err)
	}
	resp, err := future.PollUntilDone(ctx, nil)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("waiting for VMSS create/update: %w", err)
	}
	return &resp.VirtualMachineScaleSet, nil
}

func (c *vmScaleSetsClientImpl) List(ctx context.Context, resourceGroupName string) ([]*compute.VirtualMachineScaleSet, error) {
	if resourceGroupName == "" {
		return nil, nil
	}

	var l []*compute.VirtualMachineScaleSet
	pager := c.c.NewListPager(resourceGroupName, nil)
	for pager.More() {
		resp, err := pager.NextPage(ctx)
		if err != nil {
			var respErr *azcore.ResponseError
			if errors.As(err, &respErr) && respErr.ErrorCode == "ResourceGroupNotFound" {
				return nil, nil
			}

View on GitHub (pinned to 4c8573c808)

Solutions

1. Check the VMSS provisioning state and the Azure Activity Log for the failed operation's error detail
2. Retry the kops command — long-running operations can be safely re-issued
3. If quota/capacity-related, choose a different vmSize/region or request a quota increase
4. Avoid cancelling kops mid-roll; increase timeouts for large scale sets

// Go: verify VM size quota/capacity in the target region before the long-running operation
sku, err := skuClient.List(ctx, rg, "location eq 'eastus'", nil)
if err == nil {
    for _, s := range sku.Value {
        if *s.Name == vmSize && len(s.Restrictions) > 0 {
            return fmt.Errorf("vmSize %s restricted in region", vmSize)
        }
    }
}

vmss, err := vmssClient.CreateOrUpdate(ctx, rg, name, parameters)
if err != nil {
    if ctx.Err() != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("VMSS update interrupted; re-run kops to resume rolling update")
    }
    return fmt.Errorf("VMSS provisioning failed (quota/capacity/image?) — see Activity Log: %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: CreateOrUpdate's future.PollUntilDone(ctx, nil) returns an error: VMSS provisioning failed (capacity constraints, quota exceeded, invalid image rollout), the context was cancelled/timed out, or ARM throttling exhausted retries.

Common situations: Regional capacity restrictions for the chosen VM size; subscription vCPU quota exhausted; rolling-update of an existing VMSS interrupted by Ctrl-C; image download failures during provisioning.

Related errors

• creating/updating VMSS: %w
• listing VMSSs: %w
• waiting for virtual network create/update completion: %w
• waiting for virtual network deletion completion: %w
• waiting for VMSS deletion completion: %w

AI-assisted analysis of kubernetes/kops@4c8573c808 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/78b5cf483abf8cc6. Report an issue: GitHub.