ObolNetwork / ObolNetwork/obol-stack
Bootstrap fails silently when disk space is low
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@Padraic-O-Mhuiris is already working on this.
Since Nov 14, 2025.
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- Go
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Description
Description
The bootstrap process times out with a generic "pods did not become ready" error when the host system has low disk space (>85% full). Kubernetes detects disk pressure and taints the node, preventing all pods from scheduling.
Current Behavior
When running obol bootstrap or obolup.sh on a system with low disk space:
- Cluster creates successfully
- Infrastructure deployment appears to complete
- Bootstrap waits for pods to become ready
- Times out after 5-10 minutes with:
cluster readiness check failed: pods did not become ready within timeout - All application pods stuck in
Pendingstate with no clear indication of the root cause
Expected Behavior
The bootstrap process should detect disk pressure and provide a clear, actionable error message such as:
- "Insufficient disk space detected. Please free up disk space and try again."
- "Kubernetes node has disk pressure. X GB of free space required."
Steps to Reproduce
- Fill disk to >85% capacity
- Run
./obolup.shorobol bootstrap - Observe timeout error without clear indication of disk issue
Environment
- macOS with Docker Desktop
- Disk usage: 92% (72GB free out of 926GB)
Additional Context
The issue is not immediately visible because:
- Docker prune can free up 80GB+ of space
kubectl describe nodeshowsDiskPressure: Truebut bootstrap doesn't check this- Pod events show taint-related scheduling failures but aren't surfaced to user
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Assessment
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