puppetlabs/puppet · error · Puppet::Error

One or more file(s) specified did not exist: %{missing_files

Error message

One or more file(s) specified did not exist:
%{missing_files_list}

What it means

Raised by the `validate` action of the `puppet epp` face when one or more of the requested templates resolved to no file: `effective_template` returns nil for paths that neither exist on disk nor resolve to a `<module>/template.epp` form in the given environment. Remaining templates are still validated first; afterwards the missing paths are listed (indented, one per line) and the action fails. The two-branch structure means this error is raised only when missing_files is non-empty; validation failures alone raise a different error.

Source

Thrown at lib/puppet/face/epp.rb:97

          # directory should not be treated as a failed validation.
          Puppet.notice _("No template specified. No action taken")
        end
      end

      missing_files = []
      files.each do |file|
        break if !status && !options[:continue_on_error]

        template_file = effective_template(file, compiler.environment)
        if template_file
          tmp = validate_template(template_file)
          status &&= tmp
        else
          missing_files << file
        end
      end
      if !missing_files.empty?
        raise Puppet::Error, _("One or more file(s) specified did not exist:\n%{missing_files_list}") %
                             { missing_files_list: missing_files.map { |f| "   #{f}" }.join("\n") }
      else
        # Exit with 1 if there were errors
        raise Puppet::Error, _("Errors while validating epp") unless status
      end
    end
  end

  action(:dump) do
    summary _("Outputs a dump of the internal template parse tree for debugging")
    arguments "[--format <old|pn|json>] [--pretty] { -e <source> | [<templates> ...] } "
    returns _("A dump of the resulting AST model unless there are syntax or validation errors.")
    description <<-'EOT'
      The dump action parses and validates the EPP syntax and dumps the resulting AST model
      in a human readable (but not necessarily an easy to understand) format.

      The output format can be controlled using the --format <old|pn|json> where:
      * 'old' is the default, but now deprecated format which is not API.

View on GitHub (pinned to e227c27540)

Solutions

1. Check every path in the list with ls, or switch to the module form `puppet epp validate module/template.epp`
2. Run from the module directory or pass absolute paths
3. Verify the module exists in the environment being used (`puppet module list`)
4. Quote globs in scripts so shell expansion doesn't silently drop entries

Example fix

# before
puppet epp validate app/temple.epp        # typo
# after
puppet epp validate app/template.epp
# or module form
puppet epp validate mymod/template.epp

missing = templates.reject { |t| File.exist?(t) || t.include?('/') && Puppet.lookup(:current_environment).module(t.split('/').first) }
abort "templates not found: #{missing.join(', ')}" unless missing.empty?

When it happens

Trigger: `puppet epp validate missing.epp`, or a file list where one path is wrong; `puppet epp validate mymod/nope.epp` where the module form does not resolve; relative paths evaluated from the wrong cwd.

Common situations: Typos or stale module names; scripts iterating a glob that includes deleted files; the module not being installed in the environment used (`--environment` mismatch); case-sensitivity after moving configs from macOS/Windows to Linux.

Related errors

• Errors while validating epp
• error while rendering epp
• --- #{filename}
• --- #{epp_template_name}
• No input to parse given on command line or stdin

AI-assisted analysis of puppetlabs/puppet@e227c27540 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4ed6f9d9357f2b28. Report an issue: GitHub.