hrobot defined as provider-id is not honored

[spastorclovr]

TL;DR

No matter what I put in provider-id, HCCM complains that the hostname differs from the server name in the console.

Expected behavior

I woud expect HCCM would use the value in hrobot to find the corresponding server's metadata, but use the name defined as hostame to register the node.

Observed behavior

HCCM logs give me

Node name \\\"newname-1\\\" differs from Robot name \\\"robotoname\\\"\"}

The name is actually the one corresponding to hostname but it remains tainted.

Minimal working example

• setup the provider-id to : hrobot:// as kubelet's arg.

is the numer if found in the robot console for example "Dell PowerEdge™ R660 DX153 #XXXXXXX" -

• check the providerID is available in node's spec

spec:
  podCIDR: 10.0.176.0/22
  podCIDRs:
  - 10.0.176.0/22
  providerID: hrobot://XXXXXXX

Log output

Additional information

I have tried with hcloud://bm- same thing ..

Version : 1.24.0

[lukasmetzner]

The name is actually the one corresponding to hostname but it remains tainted.

If you plan on using the same name for your Robot Server and its hostname, why do you set the providerID via kubelet? HCCM is doing that for you, by using the Robot API.

Node name \"newname-1\" differs from Robot name \"robotoname\""}

Do you really see this in the logs of HCCM, or as a Kubernetes Event attached to the deployment? Could you please give me a full output of the logs you see so I can investigate this further?

I woud expect HCCM would use the value in hrobot to find the corresponding server's metadata, but use the name defined as hostame to register the node.

In lookupServer we first check for an existing provider ID and fetch the server via its ID:

hcloud-cloud-controller-manager/hcloud/instances.go

Lines 76 to 79 in 0dc8d6a

	func (i *instances) lookupServer(
	ctx context.Context,
	node *corev1.Node,
	) (genericServer, error) {

[spastorclovr]

Sorry for the unclear statement

The name is actually the one corresponding to hostname but it remains tainted.

I meant -> the name I can see when doing a kubectl get nodes is actually the one corresponding the hostname of the server. But it remains tainted.

[Update] -> re-testing with the latest version of HCCM, the node is not kept but being removed. See logs below.
This is the full log 👇

 I0219 07:54:28.911394       1 node_controller.go:429] Initializing node ppz-production-metal-redis-2 with cloud provider                                                                                                                    │
│ I0219 07:54:28.913138       1 node_controller.go:233] error syncing 'ppz-production-metal-redis-2': failed to get instance metadata for node ppz-production-metal-redis-2: hcloud/instancesv2.InstanceMetadata: failed to get instance meta │
│ data: no matching server found for node 'ppz-production-metal-redis-2': server not found, requeuing                                                                                                                                         │
│ E0219 07:54:28.913355       1 node_controller.go:244] "Unhandled Error" err="error syncing 'ppz-production-metal-redis-2': failed to get instance metadata for node ppz-production-metal-redis-2: hcloud/instancesv2.InstanceMetadata: fail │
│ ed to get instance metadata: no matching server found for node 'ppz-production-metal-redis-2': server not found, requeuing" logger="UnhandledError"                                                                                         │
│ I0219 07:54:28.983389       1 event.go:389] "Event occurred" object="platform-system/traefik-traefik" fieldPath="" kind="Service" apiVersion="v1" type="Normal" reason="UpdatedLoadBalancer" message="Updated load balancer with new hosts" │
│ I0219 07:54:29.485450       1 node_controller.go:429] Initializing node ppz-production-metal-redis-2 with cloud provider                                                                                                                    │
│ I0219 07:54:29.485681       1 node_controller.go:233] error syncing 'ppz-production-metal-redis-2': failed to get instance metadata for node ppz-production-metal-redis-2: hcloud/instancesv2.InstanceMetadata: failed to get instance meta │
│ data: no matching server found for node 'ppz-production-metal-redis-2': server not found, requeuing                                                                                                                                         │
│ E0219 07:54:29.485719       1 node_controller.go:244] "Unhandled Error" err="error syncing 'ppz-production-metal-redis-2': failed to get instance metadata for node ppz-production-metal-redis-2: hcloud/instancesv2.InstanceMetadata: fail │
│ ed to get instance metadata: no matching server found for node 'ppz-production-metal-redis-2': server not found, requeuing" logger="UnhandledError"                                                                                         │
│ I0219 07:54:31.673503       1 event.go:389] "Event occurred" object="ppz-production-metal-redis-2" fieldPath="" kind="Node" apiVersion="v1" type="Normal" reason="DeletingNode" message="Deleting node ppz-production-metal-redis-2 because │
│  it does not exist in the cloud provider"

pz-production-metal-redis-2 -> is the actual hostname of the server which is different from the name we can see in the server list of the robot console.

THis is what is being passed to kubelet provider-id: hrobot://<ROBOTID> <ROBOTID> being the numbers found in the robot console for the corresponding server -> Is it the ID I should use?

Increasing the logs (and changing the name to be able to trigger an init)

I0219 08:12:50.677143       1 node_controller.go:429] Initializing node ppz-production-metal-redis-8 with cloud provider                                                                                                                    │
│ I0219 08:12:50.677649       1 node_controller.go:233] error syncing 'ppz-production-metal-redis-8': failed to get instance metadata for node ppz-production-metal-redis-8: hcloud/instancesv2.InstanceMetadata: failed to get instance meta │
│ data: no matching server found for node 'ppz-production-metal-redis-8': server not found, requeuing                                                                                                                                         │
│ E0219 08:12:50.677685       1 node_controller.go:244] "Unhandled Error" err="error syncing 'ppz-production-metal-redis-8': failed to get instance metadata for node ppz-production-metal-redis-8: hcloud/instancesv2.InstanceMetadata: fail │
│ ed to get instance metadata: no matching server found for node 'ppz-production-metal-redis-8': server not found, requeuing" logger="UnhandledError"                                                                                         │
│ I0219 08:12:50.680923       1 event_expansion.go:147] "Request Body" body="{\"count\":9,\"lastTimestamp\":\"2026-02-19T08:12:50Z\",\"message\":\"Might be deleted by node-lifecycle-manager due to name mismatch; Node name \\\"ppz-product │
│ ion-metal-redis-8\\\" differs from Robot name \\\"redis2\\\"\"}"                                                                                                                                                                            │
│ I0219 08:12:50.681058       1 round_trippers.go:527] "Request" verb="PATCH" url="https://10.0.16.1:443/api/v1/namespaces/default/events/ppz-production-metal-redis-8.189597a67fd9147f" headers=<                                            │
│     Accept: application/vnd.kubernetes.protobuf, */*                                                                                                                                                                                        │
│     Authorization: Bearer <masked>                                                                                                                                                                                                          │
│     Content-Type: application/strategic-merge-patch+json                                                                                                                                                                                    │
│     User-Agent: hcloud-cloud-controller-manager/v0.0.0 (linux/amd64) kubernetes/$Format/hccm-event-broadcaster                                                                                                                              │
│  >                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          │
│ I0219 08:12:50.698125       1 round_trippers.go:632] "Response" status="200 OK" headers=<                                                                                                                                                   │
│     Audit-Id: 3d28d5b8-780a-45a7-97f6-94ae3bfca3bb                                                                                                                                                                                          │
│     Cache-Control: no-cache, private                                                                                                                                                                                                        │
│     Content-Length: 760                                                                                                                                                                                                                     │
│     Content-Type: application/vnd.kubernetes.protobuf                                                                                                                                                                                       │
│     Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2026 08:12:50 GMT                                                                                                                                                                                                     │
│     X-Kubernetes-Pf-Flowschema-Uid: fcee52b7-3ba0-4164-bdd4-8510ace62d14                                                                                                                                                                    │
│     X-Kubernetes-Pf-Prioritylevel-Uid: fb6db287-84ce-414b-aa7a-1e0eabc3e4fd                                                                                                                                                                 │
│  > milliseconds=16                                                                                                                                                                                                                          │
│ I0219 08:12:50.698712       1 event_expansion.go:147] "Response Body" body=<                                                                                                                                                                │
│     00000000  6b 38 73 00 0a 0b 0a 02  76 31 12 05 45 76 65 6e  |k8s.....v1..Even|                                                                                                                                                          │
│     00000010  74 12 e0 05 0a f3 02 0a  2d 70 70 7a 2d 70 72 6f  |t.......-ppz-pro|                                                                                                                                                          │
│     00000020  64 75 63 74 69 6f 6e 2d  6d 65 74 61 6c 2d 72 65  |duction-metal-re|                                                                                                                                                          │
│     00000030  64 69 73 2d 38 2e 31 38  39 35 39 37 61 36 37 66  |dis-8.189597a67f|                                                                                                                                                          │
│     00000040  64 39 31 34 37 66 12 00  1a 07 64 65 66 61 75 6c  |d9147f....defaul|                                                                                                                                                          │
│     00000050  74 22 00 2a 24 62 66 30  66 36 66 66 64 2d 30 34  |t".*$bf0f6ffd-04|                                                                                                                                                          │
│     00000060  33 66 2d 34 62 64 36 2d  38 32 35 66 2d 33 36 64  |3f-4bd6-825f-36d|                                                                                                                                                          │
│     00000070  34 66 64 65 62 38 30 37  36 32 06 35 39 36 30 31  |4fdeb80762.59601|                                                                                                                                                          │
│     00000080  37 38 00 42 08 08 81 8c  db cc 06 10 00 8a 01 f9  |78.B............|                                                                                                                                                          │
│     00000090  01 0a 1f 68 63 6c 6f 75  64 2d 63 6c 6f 75 64 2d  |...hcloud-cloud-|                                                                                                                                                          │
│     000000a0  63 6f 6e 74 72 6f 6c 6c  65 72 2d 6d 61 6e 61 67  |controller-manag|                                                                                                                                                          │
│     000000b0  65 72 12 06 55 70 64 61  74 65 1a 02 76 31 22 08  |er..Update..v1".|                                                                                                                                                          │
│     000000c0  08 82 8c db cc 06 10 00  32 08 46 69 65 6c 64 73  |........2.Field [truncated 2760 chars]                                                                                                                                     │
│  >                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          │
│ I0219 08:12:51.958120       1 node_controller.go:429] Initializing node ppz-production-metal-redis-8 with cloud provider                                                                                                                    │
│ I0219 08:12:51.960030       1 node_controller.go:233] error syncing 'ppz-production-metal-redis-8': failed to get instance metadata for node ppz-production-metal-redis-8: hcloud/instancesv2.InstanceMetadata: failed to get instance meta │
│ data: no matching server found for node 'ppz-production-metal-redis-8': server not found, requeuing                                                                                                                                         │
│ E0219 08:12:51.960995       1 node_controller.go:244] "Unhandled Error" err="error syncing 'ppz-production-metal-redis-8': failed to get instance metadata for node ppz-production-metal-redis-8: hcloud/instancesv2.InstanceMetadata: fail │
│ ed to get instance metadata: no matching server found for node 'ppz-production-metal-redis-8': server not found, requeuing" logger="UnhandledError"                                                                                         │
│ I0219 08:12:51.960534       1 event_expansion.go:147] "Request Body" body="{\"count\":10,\"lastTimestamp\":\"2026-02-19T08:12:51Z\",\"message\":\"Might be deleted by node-lifecycle-manager due to name mismatch; Node name \\\"ppz-produc │
│ tion-metal-redis-8\\\" differs from Robot name \\\"redis2\\\"\"}"                                                                                                                                                                           │
│ I0219 08:12:51.961110       1 round_trippers.go:527] "Request" verb="PATCH" url="https://10.0.16.1:443/api/v1/namespaces/default/events/ppz-production-metal-redis-8.189597a67fd9147f" headers=<

[lukasmetzner]

@spastorclovr I think I identified the issue.

We are stating the following in the docs:

This means that by default, your Hostname needs to be the name of the server in Robot. If this does not match, we can not properly match the two entities. Once we have made this connection, we save the Robot Server Number to the field spec.providerId on the Node, and use this identifier for any further processing.
If you absolutely need to use different names in Robot & Hostname, you can also configure the Provider ID yourself. This can be done on the kubelet through the flag --provider-id. You need to follow the format hrobot://$SERVER_NUMBER when setting this. If this format is not followed exactly we can not process this node.

But in the code we actually return nil after emitting the warning event:

hcloud-cloud-controller-manager/hcloud/instances_util.go

Lines 114 to 125 in 62d4be1

	// check whether name matches - otherwise this server does not belong to the respective node anymore
	if server.Name != node.Name {
	i.recorder.Eventf(
	node,
	corev1.EventTypeWarning,
	"PossibleNodeDeletion",
	"Might be deleted by node-lifecycle-manager due to name mismatch; Node name %q differs from Robot name %q",
	node.ObjectMeta.Name,
	server.Name,
	)
	return nil, nil
	}

I take a look at this. For now, I suggest you change the name in the Robot API to match your Node name.

[spastorclovr]

Thx for checking into this. Yes I ended up changing the name in the console.

[lukasmetzner]

@spastorclovr Yes, as far as we have discovered in #1170, this feature was never supported and can't be supported right now.

We have to update the docs.