puppetlabs/puppet · error · Puppet::Error

Please provide a file or checksum to diff with

Error message

Please provide a file or checksum to diff with

What it means

Dipper#diff(checksum_a, checksum_b, file_a, file_b) compares two sides. When the first side is a bucket checksum (checksum_a given), the second side must be either checksum_b (another bucket sum) or file_b (a filesystem path). With neither supplied, Puppet::Error asks for a file or checksum to diff with.

Source

Thrown at lib/puppet/file_bucket/dipper.rb:85

    if checksum_a
      source_path = "#{@rest_path}#{@checksum_type}/#{checksum_a}"
      if checksum_b
        file_diff = Puppet::FileBucket::File.indirection.find(
          source_path,
          :bucket_path => @local_path,
          :diff_with => checksum_b
        )
      elsif file_b
        tmp_file = ::Tempfile.new('diff')
        begin
          restore(tmp_file.path, checksum_a)
          file_diff = Puppet::Util::Diff.diff(tmp_file.path, file_b)
        ensure
          tmp_file.close
          tmp_file.unlink
        end
      else
        raise Puppet::Error, _("Please provide a file or checksum to diff with")
      end
    elsif file_a
      if checksum_b
        tmp_file = ::Tempfile.new('diff')
        begin
          restore(tmp_file.path, checksum_b)
          file_diff = Puppet::Util::Diff.diff(file_a, tmp_file.path)
        ensure
          tmp_file.close
          tmp_file.unlink
        end
      elsif file_b
        file_diff = Puppet::Util::Diff.diff(file_a, file_b)
      end
    end
    raise Puppet::Error, _("Failed to diff files") unless file_diff

    file_diff.to_s

View on GitHub (pinned to e227c27540)

Solutions

1. Supply a second checksum: `puppet filebucket diff <sum_a> <sum_b>` (Dipper#diff(a, b))
2. Or compare against a working file path as the fourth argument: Dipper#diff(sum_a, nil, nil, '/tmp/current')
3. Guard the call site: only invoke diff when checksum_b or file_b is non-nil

Example fix

# before
dipper.diff(sum_a, nil, nil, nil)
# after
dipper.diff(sum_a, nil, nil, '/etc/puppetlabs/puppet/puppet.conf')

def diffable?(checksum_b, file_b)
  !checksum_b.nil? || !file_b.nil? || File.exist?(file_b.to_s)
end
raise ArgumentError, 'second side required: checksum_b or file_b' unless diffable?(checksum_b, file_b)

When it happens

Trigger: Calling dipper.diff(sum_a, nil, nil, nil); CLI misuse such as `puppet filebucket diff <sum>` with no second operand; wrapper code that builds argument lists dynamically and leaves the right-hand side blank when the second input was not provided.

Common situations: Scripts that compare a backed-up file against a current file only when the current file exists, passing nil otherwise.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• Failed to diff files
• Diff is not supported on this platform
• Need exactly two arguments: filebucket diff <file_a> <file_b
• Could not back up %{file}: %{detail}
• File not found

AI-assisted analysis of puppetlabs/puppet@e227c27540 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2380d419f913d2af. Report an issue: GitHub.