Error: "no workflow definition in file" using standard installation and Hello World workflow

[wdma]

Summary

I had been successfully using the Argo Quickstart manifest and am now trying to install the secure manifest (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/master/manifests/namespace-install.yaml), but am getting
the error "no workflow definition in file" when trying to run the Hello World example (https://argoproj.github.io/argo-workflows/examples/#hello-world). This is the GitHub Fix that I think I may be running into(?) #1487

Diagnostics

describe the server pod:

Name:         argo-server-644995c544-nfkw4
Namespace:    argo
Priority:     0
Node:         artemis/192.241.129.100
Start Time:   Fri, 12 Mar 2021 16:33:10 +0000
Labels:       app=argo-server
              pod-template-hash=644995c544
Annotations:  cni.projectcalico.org/podIP: 192.168.27.17/32
              cni.projectcalico.org/podIPs: 192.168.27.17/32
Status:       Running
IP:           192.168.27.17
IPs:
  IP:           192.168.27.17
Controlled By:  ReplicaSet/argo-server-644995c544
Containers:
  argo-server:
    Container ID:  docker://22d8fbdd528b743ceaa5b498317de7b1ac1cac56516419e56f7319c1b1e7e112
    Image:         argoproj/argocli:latest
    Image ID:      docker-pullable://argoproj/argocli@sha256:c1fe2ebe6e452f57bb4d0121a7564531ddac9f65c5076998e62db614064961bb
    Port:          2746/TCP
    Host Port:     0/TCP
    Args:
      server
      --namespaced
    State:          Running
      Started:      Fri, 12 Mar 2021 16:33:12 +0000
    Ready:          True
    Restart Count:  0
    Readiness:      http-get https://:2746/ delay=10s timeout=1s period=20s #success=1 #failure=3
    Environment:    <none>
    Mounts:
      /tmp from tmp (rw)
      /var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount from argo-server-token-tv8f9 (ro)
Conditions:
  Type              Status
  Initialized       True
  Ready             True
  ContainersReady   True
  PodScheduled      True
Volumes:
  tmp:
    Type:       EmptyDir (a temporary directory that shares a pod's lifetime)
    Medium:
    SizeLimit:  <unset>
  argo-server-token-tv8f9:
    Type:        Secret (a volume populated by a Secret)
    SecretName:  argo-server-token-tv8f9
    Optional:    false
QoS Class:       BestEffort
Node-Selectors:  kubernetes.io/os=linux
Tolerations:     node.kubernetes.io/not-ready:NoExecute op=Exists for 300s
                 node.kubernetes.io/unreachable:NoExecute op=Exists for 300s
Events:          <none>

describe the workflow controller pod:

Name:         workflow-controller-75797fd868-vvb9h
Namespace:    argo
Priority:     0
Node:         ack2/143.110.149.114
Start Time:   Fri, 12 Mar 2021 16:33:10 +0000
Labels:       app=workflow-controller
              pod-template-hash=75797fd868
Annotations:  cni.projectcalico.org/podIP: 192.168.50.135/32
              cni.projectcalico.org/podIPs: 192.168.50.135/32
Status:       Running
IP:           192.168.50.135
IPs:
  IP:           192.168.50.135
Controlled By:  ReplicaSet/workflow-controller-75797fd868
Containers:
  workflow-controller:
    Container ID:  docker://6996811713d50d7bb6486a7dbb00bfe71f4bc48eed79c6dba90e5dc244703e4d
    Image:         argoproj/workflow-controller:latest
    Image ID:      docker-pullable://argoproj/workflow-controller@sha256:0964c31de02feb3da67371d3e55b3c7b19232ec813f5c5637fe0a4ce8bfd0eb1
    Port:          9090/TCP
    Host Port:     0/TCP
    Command:
      workflow-controller
    Args:
      --configmap
      workflow-controller-configmap
      --executor-image
      argoproj/argoexec:latest
      --namespaced
    State:          Running
      Started:      Fri, 12 Mar 2021 17:33:53 +0000
    Last State:     Terminated
      Reason:       Error
      Exit Code:    2
      Started:      Fri, 12 Mar 2021 16:33:14 +0000
      Finished:     Fri, 12 Mar 2021 17:33:48 +0000
    Ready:          True
    Restart Count:  1
    Liveness:       http-get http://:metrics/metrics delay=30s timeout=1s period=30s #success=1 #failure=3
    Environment:
      LEADER_ELECTION_IDENTITY:  workflow-controller-75797fd868-vvb9h (v1:metadata.name)
    Mounts:
      /var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount from argo-token-dhh2t (ro)
Conditions:
  Type              Status
  Initialized       True
  Ready             True
  ContainersReady   True
  PodScheduled      True
Volumes:
  argo-token-dhh2t:
    Type:        Secret (a volume populated by a Secret)
    SecretName:  argo-token-dhh2t
    Optional:    false
QoS Class:       BestEffort
Node-Selectors:  kubernetes.io/os=linux
Tolerations:     node.kubernetes.io/not-ready:NoExecute op=Exists for 300s
                 node.kubernetes.io/unreachable:NoExecute op=Exists for 300s
Events:
  Type    Reason   Age                 From     Message
  ----    ------   ----                ----     -------
  Normal  Created  48m (x2 over 109m)  kubelet  Created container workflow-controller
  Normal  Started  48m (x2 over 109m)  kubelet  Started container workflow-controller
  Normal  Pulled   48m                 kubelet  Successfully pulled image "argoproj/workflow-controller:latest" in 3.746340422s

What Kubernetes provider are you using?

I am using a tested baremetal installation of Kubernetes with Calico. Here are the pods:

NAMESPACE     NAME                                   READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE    IP                NODE      NOMINATED NODE   READINESS GATES
argo          argo-server-644995c544-nfkw4           1/1     Running   0          112m   192.168.27.17     artemis   <none>           <none>
argo          workflow-controller-75797fd868-vvb9h   1/1     Running   1          112m   192.168.50.135    ack2      <none>           <none>
kube-system   calico-node-8fpq8                      1/1     Running   0          46h    143.198.57.235    ack1      <none>           <none>
kube-system   calico-node-gq25c                      1/1     Running   0          46h    143.110.149.114   ack2      <none>           <none>
kube-system   calico-node-ttmd6                      1/1     Running   0          46h    192.241.129.100   artemis   <none>           <none>
kube-system   calico-typha-ffff99464-gtb9s           1/1     Running   0          46h    143.198.57.235    ack1      <none>           <none>
kube-system   calico-typha-ffff99464-n5gft           1/1     Running   0          46h    143.110.149.114   ack2      <none>           <none>
kube-system   calico-typha-ffff99464-tghpd           1/1     Running   0          46h    192.241.129.100   artemis   <none>           <none>
kube-system   coredns-74ff55c5b-4qdrx                1/1     Running   2          46h    192.168.27.1      artemis   <none>           <none>
kube-system   coredns-74ff55c5b-c54c5                1/1     Running   2          46h    192.168.27.0      artemis   <none>           <none>
kube-system   etcd-artemis                           1/1     Running   0          46h    192.241.129.100   artemis   <none>           <none>
kube-system   kube-apiserver-artemis                 1/1     Running   0          46h    192.241.129.100   artemis   <none>           <none>
kube-system   kube-controller-manager-artemis        1/1     Running   2          46h    192.241.129.100   artemis   <none>           <none>
kube-system   kube-proxy-94lxq                       1/1     Running   0          46h    143.110.149.114   ack2      <none>           <none>
kube-system   kube-proxy-jl4xk                       1/1     Running   0          46h    143.198.57.235    ack1      <none>           <none>
kube-system   kube-proxy-pz8tw                       1/1     Running   0          46h    192.241.129.100   artemis   <none>           <none>
kube-system   kube-scheduler-artemis                 1/1     Running   1          46h    192.241.129.100   artemis   <none>           <none>

Here are the nodes:

![image](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/8416524/110982694-d7631680-8336-11eb-94e0-860814f339ef.png)

What version of Argo Workflows are you running?

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/master/manifests/namespace-install.yaml

Paste a workflow that reproduces the bug, including status:

https://argoproj.github.io/argo-workflows/examples/#hello-world

Paste the logs from the workflow controller:
kubectl logs -n argo $(kubectl get pods -l app=workflow-controller -n argo -o name) | grep ${workflow}

Message from the maintainers:

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[wdma]

The node status did not paste correctly. Here it is again.

Calico process is running.

IPv4 BGP status
+-----------------+-------------------+-------+------------+-------------+
| PEER ADDRESS | PEER TYPE | STATE | SINCE | INFO |
+-----------------+-------------------+-------+------------+-------------+
| 143.198.57.235 | node-to-node mesh | up | 2021-03-10 | Established |
| 143.110.149.114 | node-to-node mesh | up | 2021-03-10 | Established |
+-----------------+-------------------+-------+------------+-------------+

IPv6 BGP status
No IPv6 peers found.

[terrytangyuan]

How did you submit? argo submit examples/hello-world.yaml -n argo --serviceaccount argo worked fine to me.

[wdma]

The command I used is

argo submit -n argo --watch whalesay.yaml --serviceaccount argo

The error I am getting is:

FATA[2021-03-15T16:00:44.392Z] unknown (get workflows.argoproj.io)

Note, this is a slightly different error than originally reported. In the first case, I was using the namespace install manifest, in the second, I was using the standard install manifest.

the result of

 kubectl logs -n argo  whalesay-pb57m-2963895809

is

error: a container name must be specified for pod whalesay-pb57m-2963895809, choose one of: [wait main]

UPDATE: I am able to make my workflow run by using the kubectl administrator account. Question: Is there a way to use a restricted RBAC or is that the function of the serviceaccount? Perhaps this is a good addition to the docs?

Since my workflows are working again, I am closing this thread. Thank you!

[alexec]

This is the role you are looking for:

https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/blob/master/manifests/quick-start/base/workflow-role.yaml