puppetlabs/puppet · error · Puppet::Error

Could not find package %{wanted}

Error message

Could not find package %{wanted}

What it means

After executing the yum install/update command, the provider scans combined output for the literal 'No package <wanted> available.' line - yum on el4/5 exits 0 in this case so output must be checked - and raises Puppet::Error. 'wanted' is the actual argument passed to yum (name, or name-version with arch reordered), so both typos and unavailable versions surface here.

Source

Thrown at lib/puppet/provider/package/yum.rb:317

          operation = update_command
        elsif rpm_compare_evr(should, current_package[:ensure]) < 0
          debug "Downgrading package #{@resource[:name]} from version #{current_package[:ensure]} to #{should}"
          operation = :downgrade
        elsif rpm_compare_evr(should, current_package[:ensure]) > 0
          debug "Upgrading package #{@resource[:name]} from version #{current_package[:ensure]} to #{should}"
          operation = update_command
        end
      end
    end

    # Yum on el-4 and el-5 returns exit status 0 when trying to install a package it doesn't recognize;
    # ensure we capture output to check for errors.
    no_debug = Puppet.runtime[:facter].value('os.release.major').to_i > 5 ? ["-d", "0"] : []
    command = [command(:cmd)] + no_debug + ["-e", error_level, "-y", install_options, operation, wanted].compact
    output = execute(command)

    if output.to_s =~ /^No package #{wanted} available\.$/
      raise Puppet::Error, _("Could not find package %{wanted}") % { wanted: wanted }
    end

    # If a version was specified, query again to see if it is a matching version
    if should
      is = query
      raise Puppet::Error, _("Could not find package %{name}") % { name: name } unless is

      version = is[:ensure]
      # FIXME: Should we raise an exception even if should == :latest
      # and yum updated us to a version other than @param_hash[:ensure] ?
      raise Puppet::Error, _("Failed to update to version %{should}, got version %{version} instead") % { should: should, version: version } unless
        insync?(version)
    end
  end

  # What's the latest package version available?
  def latest
    upd = self.class.latest_package_version(@resource[:name], disablerepo, enablerepo, disableexcludes)

View on GitHub (pinned to e227c27540)

Solutions

1. Verify availability exactly: 'yum --showduplicates list <name>' and compare the NEVRA shown
2. Fix the resource to a name/version from that listing; include the epoch when yum prints one ('1:2.0-1.el7')
3. Check install_options, enablerepo/disablerepo and /etc/yum.repos.d - the repo carrying the package may be disabled
4. Refresh metadata: 'yum clean expire-cache && yum makecache', then re-run the agent

Example fix

// before - pin not present in the enabled repo set
package { 'docker-ce':
  ensure => '18.03.0.ce-1.el7.centos',
}
// after - version listed by 'yum --showduplicates list docker-ce' with its repo enabled
package { 'docker-ce':
  ensure          => '18.03.1.ce-1.el7.centos',
  install_options => [{ '--enablerepo' => 'docker-ce-stable' }],
}

# Ruby: pre-check that yum can resolve the exact want string
def yum_package_available?(wanted)
  out = Puppet::Util::Execution.execute(['yum', '-q', 'list', wanted], failonfail: false, combine: false).to_s
  out !~ /No matching Packages to list|Error: No package|No package #{Regexp.escape(wanted)} available/
end

begin
  provider.install
rescue Puppet::Error => e
  raise unless e.message =~ /Could not find package/
  Puppet.err("run `yum --showduplicates list #{resource[:name]}` and pin to a listed version/repo")
  raise
end

When it happens

Trigger: ensure => installed or ensure => '<version>' without source on yum where the package or pinned name-version does not exist in enabled repos - typo'd names, versions absent from base/updates, repos excluded via disablerepo or install_options, or the el4/5 exit-0 quirk.

Common situations: Pins generated for a different repo snapshot (e.g. EPEL vs base version-release strings); '--enablerepo' naming an undefined repo; arch-suffixed names; stale yum metadata.

Related errors

• Could not find package %{name}
• Failed to update to version %{should}, got version %{version
• Could not find package %{name}
• The yum provider can only be used as root
• Could not find package %{name}

AI-assisted analysis of puppetlabs/puppet@e227c27540 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/23db8e2fb2caa4ca. Report an issue: GitHub.