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Task
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Resolution: Unresolved
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Undefined
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Quality / Stability / Reliability
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Improve node scanning error messages and adjust severity level if condition is expected
Description
While smoke-testing ACS 4.7.6-rc.1 on OCP 4.19, multiple log entries appear regarding unsupported node scanning.
Example log excerpts:
{"Event":"error analyzing node \"misha-47-central-smhxs-worker-b-trhth\": Node scanning is unsupported for this node","Level":"error","Location":"service.go:49"} {"Event":"Unable to start node scanning for this namespace","Level":"warning","Location":"detection.go:49","detected namespace":"rhel:9"} {"Event":"Error scanning node /host inventory: Node scanning is unsupported for this node","Level":"error","Location":"inventorizer.go:58"}
Issues Identified
- Lack of actionable context
- The message "Node scanning is unsupported for this node" does not explain why scanning is unsupported.
- Users cannot tell if the problem is due to:
- Misconfiguration
- An OCP cluster issue
- An ACS limitation
- No guidance is provided on whether a corrective action exists.
- Potential misclassification of log severity
- If unsupported node scanning is an expected, recoverable condition, error level is misleading.
- According to logging best practices, error should indicate that the system encountered a problem that prevents normal operation.
- If scanning is simply not available for a given node but the system continues to function, warning or info would be more appropriate.
Expected Outcome
- Add meaningful, user-facing explanation when node scanning is unsupported, including:
- The reason (e.g., OS version not supported, required agent not present, etc.)
- Possible user actions (if any)
- Adjust log level from error to warning or info if the condition is expected and recoverable.
- Ensure this applies to all relevant log points in:
- service.go
- inventorizer.go
- detection.go
References
- Related PR modifying logs: stackrox/stackrox#5469
- Commit introducing current message: 51d64f3
- https://redhat-internal.slack.com/archives/C08CM7QDETH/p1754904045357419