Argo CD error="server.secretkey is missing"

Question

Argocd failed to load after restart. In the argocd server logs I see that server.secretkey is missing but I didn't see where it is declared and I think it should be generated by argo server

the server logs:

time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=info msg="Starting configmap/secret informers" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=info msg="Configmap/secret informer synced" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=info msg="Initialized server signature" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=info msg="Initialized admin password" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=warning msg="Unable to parse updated settings: server.secretkey is missing" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=info msg="Starting configmap/secret informers" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=info msg="configmap informer cancelled" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=warning msg="Unable to parse updated settings: server.secretkey is missing" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=info msg="secrets informer cancelled" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=info msg="Configmap/secret informer synced" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=info msg="Starting configmap/secret informers" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=info msg="configmap informer cancelled" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=info msg="Configmap/secret informer synced" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=info msg="secrets informer cancelled" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=info msg="Creating client app (argo-cd)" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=info msg="argocd v2.1.2+7af9dfb serving on port 8080 (url: https://argo.jgjhg.hgg.tech, tls: false, namespace: argocd, sso: true)" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=info msg="0xc000d7f380 subscribed to settings updates" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=info msg="Starting rbac config informer" time="2023-01-08T06:48:55Z" level=info msg="RBAC ConfigMap 'argocd-rbac-cm' added" time="2023-01-08T06:49:22Z" level=warning msg="Unable to parse updated settings: server.secretkey is missing"
**time="2023-01-08T06:50:37Z" level=warning msg="Unable to parse updated settings: server.secretkey is missing"
**time="2023-01-08T06:51:22Z" level=warning msg="Unable to parse updated settings: server.secretkey is missing" time="2023-01-08T06:51:49Z" level=warning msg="Unable to parse updated settings: server.secretkey is missing" time="2023-01-08T06:52:22Z" level=warning msg="Unable to parse updated settings: server.secretkey is missing" time="2023-01-08T06:58:55Z" level=info msg="Alloc=14201 TotalAlloc=64664 Sys=74065 NumGC=13 Goroutines=139" time="2023-01-08T07:03:36Z" level=info msg="received unary call /version.VersionService/Version" grpc.method=Version grpc.request.claims=null grpc.request.content= grpc.service=version.VersionService grpc.start_time="2023-01-08T07:03:36Z" span.kind=server system=grpc time="2023-01-08T07:03:36Z" level=error msg="finished unary call with code Unknown" **error="server.secretkey is missing" grpc.code=Unknown grpc.method=Version **grpc.service=version.VersionService grpc.start_time="2023-01-08T07:03:36Z" grpc.time_ms=20.524 span.kind=server system=grpc 

I am using argo helm 3.21.0

argo should restart and run without problems

Answer 1

I fixed it by simply restarting the argocd server.

Here's what I did to fix it:

kubectl rollout restart deploy/argocd-server

Answer 2

The argocd-secret is created only during the initial installation. Within the Helm chart you see that the condition to create it is defined at the top {{- if .Values.configs.secret.createSecret }}. However I presume that this secret got deleted somehow, and there's no ArgoCD component that "manages" this secret. You could recreate the secret, with other values such as admin user credentials.

However re-generating the secret can be also achieved by re-applying your Helm Chart which will only install the missing/changed components: helm upgrade RELEASE-NAME argo/argo-cd. Once the Secret exists, you'll need to restart/delete the ArgoCD-Server pod, which will inject the values such as (those will be populated only after the said argocd-sever restart!):

data:
  admin.password: JDJhJDEwJHl4cmhWRE5zRGQuOVdSMVRKNkE2VWVlM24uaXhmRmROblVZVkhQTzdqYVA3LmdmcWdEc2JT
  admin.passwordMtime: MjAyMy0wMS0wOVQwODoyMDo0OFo=
  server.secretkey: R1hzK0hDSk1oTVdqT3grK0J6SVJmdzhMUXpqNzUwN0ZSUmVQeXZDdXRBYz0=
  tls.crt: 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
  tls.key: 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