puppetlabs/puppet · error · ArgumentError

Unknown line format %{resource_name}: %{parse_line}

Error message

Unknown line format %{resource_name}: %{parse_line}

What it means

Raised by `parse_line` (lib/puppet/provider/package/pkg.rb:115) when a line of `pkg list -Hv` output matches neither of the two accepted shapes: the modern `pkg://publisher/name@version` + 3-char IFO flags, nor the legacy `pkg://publisher/name@version STATE` + 5-char UFOXI flags. The provider refuses to guess and raises ArgumentError echoing the unparsable line.

Source

Thrown at lib/puppet/provider/package/pkg.rb:115

    end
  end

  # Here is (hopefully) the only place we will have to deal with multiple
  # formats of output for different pkg versions.
  def self.parse_line(line)
    (case line.chomp
     # FMRI                                                                         IFO
     # pkg://omnios/SUNWcs@0.5.11,5.11-0.151008:20131204T022241Z                    ---
     when %r{^pkg://([^/]+)/([^@]+)@(\S+) +(...)$}
       { :publisher => Regexp.last_match(1), :name => Regexp.last_match(2), :ensure => Regexp.last_match(3) }.merge ifo_flag(Regexp.last_match(4))

     # FMRI                                                             STATE      UFOXI
     # pkg://solaris/SUNWcs@0.5.11,5.11-0.151.0.1:20101105T001108Z      installed  u----
     when %r{^pkg://([^/]+)/([^@]+)@(\S+) +(\S+) +(.....)$}
       { :publisher => Regexp.last_match(1), :name => Regexp.last_match(2), :ensure => Regexp.last_match(3) }.merge pkg_state(Regexp.last_match(4)).merge(ufoxi_flag(Regexp.last_match(5)))

     else
       raise ArgumentError, _('Unknown line format %{resource_name}: %{parse_line}') % { resource_name: name, parse_line: line }
     end).merge({ :provider => name })
  end

  def hold
    pkg(:freeze, @resource[:name])
  end

  def unhold
    r = exec_cmd(command(:pkg), 'unfreeze', @resource[:name])
    raise Puppet::Error, _("Unable to unfreeze %{package}") % { package: r[:out] } unless [0, 4].include? r[:exit]
  end

  def insync?(is)
    # this is called after the generic version matching logic (insync? for the
    # type), so we only get here if should != is, and 'should' is a version
    # number. 'is' might not be, though.
    should = @resource[:ensure]
    # NB: it is apparently possible for repository administrators to publish

View on GitHub (pinned to e227c27540)

Solutions

  1. Capture the exact line: run `pkg list -Hv <package>` and compare it to the two regexes in pkg.rb.
  2. Upgrade puppet-agent to a release supporting your pkg output format.
  3. Make sure nothing wraps or annotates pkg stdout (aliases, sudo banners, locale settings).
  4. Patch the regex in `parse_line` to accept the extra columns, and file the upstream issue with the offending line.

Example fix

# before (pkg.rb parse_line)
when %r{^pkg://([^/]+)/([^@]+)@(\S+) +(...)$}
  { :publisher => Regexp.last_match(1), :name => Regexp.last_match(2), :ensure => Regexp.last_match(3) }.merge ifo_flag(Regexp.last_match(4))

# after - tolerate trailing columns after the IFO flags
when %r{^pkg://([^/]+)/([^@]+)@(\S+) +(...)(?:\s.*)?$}
  { :publisher => Regexp.last_match(1), :name => Regexp.last_match(2), :ensure => Regexp.last_match(3) }.merge ifo_flag(Regexp.last_match(4))
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

# Verify every installed line matches one of the two accepted shapes before the agent runs
pkg list -Hv | grep -Ev '^pkg://[^/]+/[^@]+@\S+ +\S+$' && echo "lines pkg.rb cannot parse found" || echo OK

Try / catch

begin
  provider.query
rescue ArgumentError => e
  raise unless e.message =~ /Unknown line format/
  Puppet.warning("skipping #{resource[:name]}: unsupported pkg output")
end

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Any package query/prefetch on a host whose `pkg` prints a reformatted list line: extra columns (e.g. Solaris 11.4 SRUs), a package name breaking the `\S+`/`([^@]+)` expectations, wrapped or truncated output, or pre-line noise from wrappers.

Common situations: Newer Solaris 11.4 / OmniOS releases changing `pkg list -v` column layout; pkg output run through a shell wrapper or locale that alters spacing; a puppet-agent older than the host's pkg.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of puppetlabs/puppet@e227c27540 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fedadc2559728a2b. Report an issue: GitHub.