"helm plugin install https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff" fails - download url incorrect

[scottgrover]

Tl;dr:

this plugin install fails when trying to build a docker container. I believe this is caused by an uninitialized download url variable in the build.sh script.

Info:

While building a docker container today, I was trying to install helm-diff. Below is the step that it fails on during my Docker build.

As defined in the docker file:
RUN helm plugin install https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff

Docker output:

 ---> Running in d5955ed2182d
Downloading 
curl: (3) URL using bad/illegal format or missing URL
Failed to install helm-diff
        For support, go to https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff.
Error: plugin install hook for "diff" exited with error
The command '/bin/sh -c helm plugin install https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff' returned a non-zero code: 1

If I understand correctly, "Downloading" should have a URL following it. I believe that the $DOWNLOAD_URL variable is not initialized on line 77, but do not know the cause yet.

[Chili-Man]

Hmm, yeah we just ran into a similar issue as well:

  helm plugin install https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff --version v3.1.3
  shell: /usr/bin/bash -e {0}
Downloading https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff/releases/download/v3.1.3/helm-diff-linux.tgz
  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                 Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed

  0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:--     0
100   625  100   625    0     0  39062      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 39062

  0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:--  0:00:01 --:--:--     0
  0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:--  0:00:01 --:--:--     0
  0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:--  0:00:02 --:--:--     0
  0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:--  0:00:03 --:--:--     0
  0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:--  0:00:04 --:--:--     0
  0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:--  0:00:05 --:--:--     0
  0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:--  0:00:06 --:--:--     0
  0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:--  0:00:07 --:--:--     0
  0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:--  0:00:08 --:--:--     0
  0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:--  0:00:09 --:--:--     0
100     9    0     9    0     0      0      0 --:--:--  0:00:09 --:--:--     2
tar: This does not look like a tar archive

gzip: stdin: not in gzip format
tar: Child returned status 1
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
Error: plugin install hook for "diff" exited with error
Failed to install helm-diff
	For support, go to https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff.
Error: Process completed with exit code 1.

[mumoshu]

@scottgrover Hey! Thanks for reporting. First of all, would you mind sharing your Dockerfile or the base image you're using for reproduction?

Also, what's the output from uname -m (https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff/blob/master/install-binary.sh#L29) and uname | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:](https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff/blob/master/install-binary.sh#L44)? Are you sure that git command is installed in the Dockerfile before running the failing helm-plugin-install command? I think those are major contributors to the problem.

[mumoshu]

@Chili-Man Hey! What output does running curl -L https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff/releases/download/v3.1.3/helm-diff-linux.tgz within your Dockerfile provides you?

The URL does seem correct as I've successfully verified curl -LO https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff/releases/download/v3.1.3/helm-diff-linux.tgz to work locally.

[Chili-Man]

hey @mumoshu , so looks like that issue has since subsided. Looked like it was only a networking issue for a few days where that repeatedly occurred in our CI builds. I haven't seen it occur since then for over a month now.

[xcompass]

I got same error on OSX 10.15.7

▶ helm plugin install --debug https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff
[debug] vcs_installer.go:162: updating https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff
[debug] vcs_installer.go:91: copying /Users/compass/Library/Caches/helm/plugins/https-github.202132.xyz-databus23-helm-diff to /Users/compass/Library/helm/plugins/helm-diff
plugin_install.go:82: [debug] loading plugin from /Users/compass/Library/helm/plugins/helm-diff
plugin.go:60: [debug] running install hook: /bin/sh -c $HELM_PLUGIN_DIR/install-binary.sh
Downloading
curl: (3) URL using bad/illegal format or missing URL
Failed to install helm-diff
        For support, go to https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff.
Error: plugin install hook for "diff" exited with error
helm.go:81: [debug] plugin install hook for "diff" exited with error
main.runHook
        /private/tmp/helm-20210204-99981-1f8vc0y/cmd/helm/plugin.go:67
main.(*pluginInstallOptions).run
        /private/tmp/helm-20210204-99981-1f8vc0y/cmd/helm/plugin_install.go:88
main.newPluginInstallCmd.func3
        /private/tmp/helm-20210204-99981-1f8vc0y/cmd/helm/plugin_install.go:59
github.com/spf13/cobra.(*Command).execute
        /Users/brew/Library/Caches/Homebrew/go_mod_cache/pkg/mod/github.com/spf13/cobra@v1.1.1/command.go:850
github.com/spf13/cobra.(*Command).ExecuteC
        /Users/brew/Library/Caches/Homebrew/go_mod_cache/pkg/mod/github.com/spf13/cobra@v1.1.1/command.go:958
github.com/spf13/cobra.(*Command).Execute
        /Users/brew/Library/Caches/Homebrew/go_mod_cache/pkg/mod/github.com/spf13/cobra@v1.1.1/command.go:895
main.main
        /private/tmp/helm-20210204-99981-1f8vc0y/cmd/helm/helm.go:80
runtime.main
        /usr/local/Cellar/go/1.15.7_1/libexec/src/runtime/proc.go:204
runtime.goexit
        /usr/local/Cellar/go/1.15.7_1/libexec/src/runtime/asm_amd64.s:1374

[bradym]

I ran into this issue today:

$ helm plugin install https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff
awk: cmd. line:1: warning: regexp escape sequence `\"' is not a known regexp operator
Downloading 
curl: (3) URL using bad/illegal format or missing URL

Failed to install helm-diff
	For support, go to https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff.
Error: plugin install hook for "diff" exited with error

Looking through install-binary.sh, the problem seems to be coming from the getDownloadUrl function, more specifically:

DOWNLOAD_URL=$(curl -s $url | grep $OS | awk '/\"browser_download_url\":/{gsub( /[,\"]/,"", $2); print $2}')

That awk command is what's failing, but it's weirdly inconsistent. It works fine on my local machine but inside a VM it's failing. Even more confusing is both the VM and my local are the running the same version of awk and Ubuntu.

$ lsb_release -d
Description:	Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS

$ awk --version
GNU Awk 5.0.1, API: 2.0 (GNU MPFR 4.0.2, GNU MP 6.2.0)

I installed GNU Awk 4.2.1 in the VM and it fixed the issue.

I don't have a fix but thought I'd share what I learned looking into it. For now I'm just going to specify the version as that works fine since it doesn't need to use that awk command at all.

[stale]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[MarijaPopova]

i had the same issue, and i resolved it by downgrading helm-diff to 3.1.2. (Mac OS)

[arischow]

For the record, as of Nov 2021, when I used helm --debug plugin install https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff to install the plugin it failed:

❯ helm --debug plugin install https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff
[debug] vcs_installer.go:162: updating https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff
[debug] vcs_installer.go:91: copying /Users/ArisChow/Library/Caches/helm/plugins/https-github.202132.xyz-databus23-helm-diff to /Users/ArisChow/Library/helm/plugins/helm-diff
plugin_install.go:82: [debug] loading plugin from /Users/ArisChow/Library/helm/plugins/helm-diff
plugin.go:60: [debug] running install hook: /bin/sh -c $HELM_PLUGIN_DIR/install-binary.sh
Downloading
curl: (3) URL using bad/illegal format or missing URL
Failed to install helm-diff
	For support, go to https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff.
Error: plugin install hook for "diff" exited with error
helm.go:88: [debug] plugin install hook for "diff" exited with error
main.runHook
	helm.sh/helm/v3/cmd/helm/plugin.go:67
main.(*pluginInstallOptions).run
	helm.sh/helm/v3/cmd/helm/plugin_install.go:88
main.newPluginInstallCmd.func3
	helm.sh/helm/v3/cmd/helm/plugin_install.go:59
github.com/spf13/cobra.(*Command).execute
	github.com/spf13/cobra@v1.2.1/command.go:856
github.com/spf13/cobra.(*Command).ExecuteC
	github.com/spf13/cobra@v1.2.1/command.go:974
github.com/spf13/cobra.(*Command).Execute
	github.com/spf13/cobra@v1.2.1/command.go:902
main.main
	helm.sh/helm/v3/cmd/helm/helm.go:87
runtime.main
	runtime/proc.go:255
runtime.goexit
	runtime/asm_amd64.s:1581

I successfully installed the latest version (3.1.3) by running commands below:

# delete the fail-to-install plugin
❯ helm plugin uninstall diff
Uninstalled plugin: diff

# and specify the latest version for reinstalling it  
❯ helm --debug plugin install https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff --version 3.1.3
[debug] vcs_installer.go:162: updating https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff
[debug] vcs_installer.go:131: found refs: [v2.10.0+1 v2.11.0+1 v2.11.0+2 v2.11.0+3 v2.11.0+4 v2.11.0+5 v2.2.1+1 v2.2.1+2 v2.3.1+1 v2.4.0+1 v2.5.0+1 v2.7.0+1 v2.8.0+1 v2.8.2+1 v2.8.2+2 v2.9.0+1 v2.9.0+2 v2.9.0+3 v3.0.0-rc.1 v3.0.0-rc.2 v3.0.0-rc.3 v3.0.0-rc.4 v3.0.0-rc.5 v3.0.0-rc.6 v3.0.0-rc.7 v3.1.0 v3.1.1 v3.1.2 v3.1.3]
[debug] vcs_installer.go:142: setting to v3.1.3
[debug] vcs_installer.go:152: setting version to "3.1.3"
[debug] vcs_installer.go:91: copying /Users/ArisChow/Library/Caches/helm/plugins/https-github.202132.xyz-databus23-helm-diff to /Users/ArisChow/Library/helm/plugins/helm-diff
plugin_install.go:82: [debug] loading plugin from /Users/ArisChow/Library/helm/plugins/helm-diff
plugin.go:60: [debug] running install hook: /bin/sh -c $HELM_PLUGIN_DIR/install-binary.sh
Downloading https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff/releases/download/v3.1.3/helm-diff-macos.tgz
  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                 Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
100   625  100   625    0     0    928      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:--   934
100 14.7M  100 14.7M    0     0  3697k      0  0:00:04  0:00:04 --:--:-- 5807k
Preparing to install into /Users/ArisChow/Library/helm/plugins/helm-diff
helm-diff installed into /Users/ArisChow/Library/helm/plugins/helm-diff/helm-diff

The Helm Diff Plugin

* Shows a diff explaining what a helm upgrade would change:
    This fetches the currently deployed version of a release
  and compares it to a local chart plus values. This can be
  used visualize what changes a helm upgrade will perform.

* Shows a diff explaining what had changed between two revisions:
    This fetches previously deployed versions of a release
  and compares them. This can be used visualize what changes
  were made during revision change.

* Shows a diff explaining what a helm rollback would change:
    This fetches the currently deployed version of a release
  and compares it to adeployed versions of a release, that you
  want to rollback. This can be used visualize what changes a
  helm rollback will perform.

Usage:
  diff [flags]
  diff [command]

Available Commands:
  release     Shows diff between release's manifests
  revision    Shows diff between revision's manifests
  rollback    Show a diff explaining what a helm rollback could perform
  upgrade     Show a diff explaining what a helm upgrade would change.
  version     Show version of the helm diff plugin

Flags:
      --allow-unreleased             enables diffing of releases that are not yet deployed via Helm
  -C, --context int                  output NUM lines of context around changes (default -1)
      --detailed-exitcode            return a non-zero exit code when there are changes
      --devel                        use development versions, too. Equivalent to version '>0.0.0-0'. If --version is set, this is ignored.
      --disable-openapi-validation   disables rendered templates validation against the Kubernetes OpenAPI Schema
      --disable-validation           disables rendered templates validation against the Kubernetes cluster you are currently pointing to. This is the same validation performed on an install
      --dry-run                      disables cluster access and show diff as if it was install. Implies --install, --reset-values, and --disable-validation
  -h, --help                         help for diff
      --include-tests                enable the diffing of the helm test hooks
      --install                      enables diffing of releases that are not yet deployed via Helm (equivalent to --allow-unreleased, added to match "helm upgrade --install" command
      --kubeconfig string            This flag is ignored, to allow passing of this top level flag to helm
      --no-color                     remove colors from the output
      --no-hooks                     disable diffing of hooks
      --output string                Possible values: diff, simple, json, template. When set to "template", use the env var HELM_DIFF_TPL to specify the template. (default "diff")
      --post-renderer string         the path to an executable to be used for post rendering. If it exists in $PATH, the binary will be used, otherwise it will try to look for the executable at the given path
      --reset-values                 reset the values to the ones built into the chart and merge in any new values
      --reuse-values                 reuse the last release's values and merge in any new values. If '--reset-values' is specified, this is ignored
      --set stringArray              set values on the command line (can specify multiple or separate values with commas: key1=val1,key2=val2)
      --set-file stringArray         set values from respective files specified via the command line (can specify multiple or separate values with commas: key1=path1,key2=path2)
      --set-string stringArray       set STRING values on the command line (can specify multiple or separate values with commas: key1=val1,key2=val2)
      --show-secrets                 do not redact secret values in the output
      --suppress stringArray         allows suppression of the values listed in the diff output
  -q, --suppress-secrets             suppress secrets in the output
  -f, --values valueFiles            specify values in a YAML file (can specify multiple) (default [])
      --version string               specify the exact chart version to use. If this is not specified, the latest version is used

Additional help topics:
  diff

Use "diff [command] --help" for more information about a command.
Installed plugin: diff

Hope it helps.

[mumoshu]

Thanks everyone for reporting!

What I can see from all the reports is that installing from the latest seems to have been failing badly when you have some GitHub API issue. #285 fixed that so there's more likely a valid URL passed to curl which should prevent curl: (3) URL using bad/illegal format or missing URL errors.

Closing as resolved. Please create another issue you still see this problem! Don't forget to include os/arch info when you're doing so. Thanks.