puppetlabs/puppet · error · Puppet::Util::IniConfig::IniParseError

Can't parse line '%{line}'

Error message

Can't parse line '%{line}'

What it means

Puppet::Util::IniConfig::IniFile#parse raises IniParseError (with the file and 1-based line number attached) when a line is none of: blank, a comment (#, ;, or rem prefix), a [section] header, a continuation line inside a section, or a 'key = value' property whose key is a non-empty token with no whitespace or '='. The message embeds the offending line (chomped) so the file can be fixed directly.

Source

Thrown at lib/puppet/util/inifile.rb:193

          section.mark_clean if section

          section_name = match[1]

          section = add_section(section_name)
          optname = nil
        elsif (match = l.match(INI_PROPERTY))
          # the regex strips leading white space from the value, and here we strip the trailing white space as well
          key = match[1]
          val = match[2].rstrip

          if section.nil?
            raise IniParseError, _("Property with key %{key} outside of a section") % { key: key.inspect }
          end

          section[key] = val
          optname = key
        else
          raise IniParseError.new(_("Can't parse line '%{line}'") % { line: l.chomp }, @file, line_num)
        end
      end
      section.mark_clean unless section.nil?
    end

    # @return [Array<Puppet::Util::IniConfig::Section>] All sections defined in
    #   this file.
    def sections
      @contents.select { |entry| entry.is_a? Section }
    end

    # @return [Puppet::Util::IniConfig::Section, nil] The section with the
    #   given name if it exists, else nil.
    def get_section(name)
      @contents.find { |entry| entry.is_a? Section and entry.name == name }
    end

    def format

View on GitHub (pinned to e227c27540)

Solutions

1. Open the file at the reported line number and reformat the entry as 'key = value' with a space-free key, or delete the stray text
2. Convert 'key: value' entries to 'key = value'
3. Rename keys containing spaces to single-token keys (my_key), since the property regex forbids whitespace in keys
4. If the line is documentation, prefix it with # or ; so it matches the comment pattern

Example fix

# before
[main]
my server = puppet.example.com   # key with space -> IniParseError

# after
[main]
server = puppet.example.com

INI_OK = [/^\s*$/, /^[#;]/, /^\s*rem\s/i, /^\[[^\]]+\]$/, /^\s*[^\s=]+\s*=\s*.*$/]
def inifile_line_valid?(line)
 INI_OK.any? { |re| line.match(re) }
end
bad = File.foreach(path).each_with_index.reject { |l, i| inifile_line_valid?(l) }
# report bad lines before IniFile#read

begin
  ini.read
rescue Puppet::Util::IniConfig::IniParseError => e
  # message embeds the offending line; file/line may be attached
  raise "invalid config #{path}: #{e.message}"
end

When it happens

Trigger: Feeding IniFile#read/#parse a file containing a key with spaces ('my key = v'), a bare word with no '=' ('server'), an empty key ('= value'), or any stray text matching none of the INI_COMMENT/INI_CONTINUATION/INI_SECTION_NAME/INI_PROPERTY patterns.

Common situations: Hand-edited INI files (device.conf and other files managed through Puppet::Util::IniConfig) with stray text; files written by tools using 'key: value' YAML/JSON-style syntax; keys containing spaces; copy-paste artifacts like rulers or arrows.

Related errors

• Section %{name} is already defined, cannot redefine
• puppet.tasks/missing-implementation
• puppet.tasks/no-implementation
• PathPatterns cannot be created with a zero byte.
• Request to Puppet Forge failed. Detail: %{detail}.

AI-assisted analysis of puppetlabs/puppet@e227c27540 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c39fe2bd1ea6770c. Report an issue: GitHub.