puppetlabs/puppet · error · TypeError

Type %{type} is not supported.

Error message

Type %{type} is not supported.

What it means

Raised in the else arm of Registry.read's decoding case (lib/puppet/util/windows/registry.rb:257): the value's registry type exists but Puppet has no reader for it. Supported types are REG_SZ, REG_EXPAND_SZ, REG_MULTI_SZ, REG_BINARY, REG_DWORD, REG_DWORD_BIG_ENDIAN and REG_QWORD; anything else — REG_NONE, REG_RESOURCE_LIST, REG_FULL_RESOURCE_DESCRIPTOR, REG_RESOURCE_REQUIREMENTS_LIST, REG_LINK — raises TypeError.

Source

Thrown at lib/puppet/util/windows/registry.rb:257

        # buffer is raw bytes, *not* chars - less a NULL terminator
        string_length = (byte_length / WCHAR_SIZE) - 1 if byte_length > 0

        begin
          result = case type
                   when Win32::Registry::REG_SZ, Win32::Registry::REG_EXPAND_SZ
                     [type, data_ptr.read_wide_string(string_length, Encoding::UTF_8, true)]
                   when Win32::Registry::REG_MULTI_SZ
                     [type, data_ptr.read_wide_string(string_length).split(/\0/)]
                   when Win32::Registry::REG_BINARY
                     [type, data_ptr.read_bytes(byte_length)]
                   when Win32::Registry::REG_DWORD
                     [type, data_ptr.read_dword]
                   when Win32::Registry::REG_DWORD_BIG_ENDIAN
                     [type, data_ptr.order(:big).read_dword]
                   when Win32::Registry::REG_QWORD
                     [type, data_ptr.read_qword]
                   else
                     raise TypeError, _("Type %{type} is not supported.") % { type: type }
                   end
        rescue IndexError => ex
          raise if ex.message !~ /^Memory access .* is out of bounds$/i

          parent_key_name = key.parent ? "#{key.parent.keyname}\\" : ""
          Puppet.warning _("A value in the registry key %{parent_key_name}%{key} is corrupt or invalid") % { parent_key_name: parent_key_name, key: key.keyname }
        end
      end

      result
    end

    def query_value_ex(key, name_ptr, &block)
      FFI::MemoryPointer.new(:dword) do |type_ptr|
        FFI::MemoryPointer.new(:dword) do |length_ptr|
          result = RegQueryValueExW(key.hkey, name_ptr,
                                    FFI::Pointer::NULL, type_ptr,
                                    FFI::Pointer::NULL, length_ptr)

View on GitHub (pinned to e227c27540)

Solutions

1. Filter values by type before reading — probe the type via query_value_ex / RegQueryValueExW and skip the unsupported set.
2. Catch TypeError specifically during enumeration and warn-and-skip.
3. If the raw bytes are genuinely needed, read them through query_value_ex instead of read.
4. Rewrite values you own into a supported type (reg.exe add /t REG_BINARY /f).

Example fix

# before — read every value, dies on REG_RESOURCE_LIST
type, data = read(key, name)

# after — skip values Puppet cannot decode
begin
  type, data = read(key, name)
rescue TypeError
  Puppet.debug "skipping unreadable value #{name}"
  nil
end

SUPPORTED = [Win32::Registry::REG_SZ, Win32::Registry::REG_EXPAND_SZ, Win32::Registry::REG_MULTI_SZ,
             Win32::Registry::REG_BINARY, Win32::Registry::REG_DWORD, Win32::Registry::REG_DWORD_BIG_ENDIAN,
             Win32::Registry::REG_QWORD]
type = nil
Registry.query_value_ex(key, name) { |t, _ptr, _len| type = t }
readable = SUPPORTED.include?(type)

begin
  type, data = read(key, name)
rescue TypeError => e
  Puppet.debug "#{e.message} — skipping #{name}"
  next
end

When it happens

Trigger: Enumerating a key and reading every value when it contains hardware/resource descriptions (REG_RESOURCE_LIST under HKLM\HARDWARE\RESOURCEMAP); values explicitly created as REG_NONE by installers or drivers; REG_LINK values in schema hives.

Common situations: Generic registry-walk code (inventory, drift detection) that assumes every value decodes; drivers storing opaque blobs; tools writing REG_NONE markers.

Related errors

• Type mismatch (expect %{rtype} but %{type} present)
• hash keyword arguments expected
• Invalid registry key '%{name}'
• RegisterEventSourceW failed to open Windows eventlog
• ReportEventW failed to report event to Windows eventlog

AI-assisted analysis of puppetlabs/puppet@e227c27540 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/03274f010f056897. Report an issue: GitHub.