puppetlabs/puppet · error · Puppet::Error

launchctl list failed to return any data.

Error message

launchctl list failed to return any data.

What it means

The launchd provider's job_list class method runs launchctl list and immediately raises if the command produced nil output (execute returned nothing at all, distinct from an empty-but-successful string). A separate rescue converts Puppet::ExecutionFailure into 'Unable to determine status'. The nil check exists because the code then calls output.split, which would otherwise raise NoMethodError.

Solutions

1. Run launchctl list as the same user puppet uses and confirm it prints lines
2. Stop forcing provider => 'launchd' on non-macOS nodes; let the provider confine to darwin pick it
3. Check which launchctl resolves: which -a launchctl, and remove wrappers that eat stdout
4. Repair the OS binary / reimage broken hosts rather than suppressing the error

out=$(launchctl list 2>&1)
if [ -z "$out" ]; then echo "launchctl returned no data — repair OS or stop forcing launchd provider"; fi

When it happens

Trigger: Calling self.job_list (status/prefetch paths of the launchd provider) in an environment where the launchctl binary resolves but returns nothing — a broken/shadowed launchctl, an execution wrapper swallowing output, or a non-macOS sandbox where the provider was forced via provider => 'launchd'.

Common situations: Running puppet inside CI containers or over a non-macOS test host with the provider forced for spec runs; macOS images where launchctl is damaged or SIP/permissions block it; wrapper scripts in PATH intercepting system binaries.

Related errors

• Unable to find launchd plist for job: #
• Unable to parse launchd plist at path: #
• Unable to read overrides plist, too many attempts
• Could not read password hash file at #
• Invalid # given for user #

AI-assisted analysis of puppetlabs/puppet@e227c27540 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fca65c124ef53ca6. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at lib/puppet/provider/service/launchd.rb:190

        if by_label.has_key? label
          { label => by_label[label] }
        else
          raise Puppet::Error, "Unable to find launchd plist for job: #{label}"
        end
      end
    else
      # caller wants the whole map
      by_label
    end
  end

  # This status method lists out all currently running services.
  # This hash is returned at the end of the method.
  def self.job_list
    @job_list = Hash.new
    begin
      output = launchctl :list
      raise Puppet::Error, "launchctl list failed to return any data." if output.nil?

      output.split("\n").each do |line|
        @job_list[line.split(/\s/).last] = :running
      end
    rescue Puppet::ExecutionFailure => e
      raise Puppet::Error.new("Unable to determine status of #{resource[:name]}", e)
    end
    @job_list
  end

  # Read a plist, whether its format is XML or in Apple's "binary1"
  # format.
  def self.read_plist(path)
    Puppet::Util::Plist.read_plist_file(path)
  end

  # Read overrides plist, retrying if necessary
  def self.read_overrides

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