Running in local mode does really strange things

[nielsbasjes]

How are you running Renovate?

Self-hosted Renovate

If you're self-hosting Renovate, tell us which platform (GitHub, GitLab, etc) and which version of Renovate.

Renovate 39.219.2 using local mode

Please tell us more about your question or problem

I have created a script (see below) to locally run Renovate using docker so I can get the pending updates for my repo.

I'm using a docker based route to avoid the need to install any special tools (like npm which I really never use).

The problem is that I know there are changes due yet running renovate in local mode does not output anything to be changed. I know it does dryrun=lookup but I still should get some console output about changes due.

When running it in a dryrun=full mode I get errors about not being able to create branches which is REALLY strange because I do not expect dryRun to create anything.

The script I created which mainly does things to set the permissions right and ensures mounting the dirtectory in the docker container works as expected:

#!/bin/bash
#
# Copyright (C) 2025 Niels Basjes
#
# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
# You may obtain a copy of the License at
#
# https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
#
# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
# distributed under the License is distributed on an AS IS BASIS,
# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
# limitations under the License.
#

SCRIPTDIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" >/dev/null && pwd )"

echo "PWD: ${SCRIPTDIR}"
cd "${SCRIPTDIR}" || ( echo "This should not be possible" ; exit 1 )

USER=$(id -un)

if [ "$(uname -s)" == "Linux" ]; then
  USER_NAME=${SUDO_USER:=${USER}}
  USER_ID=$(id -u "${USER_NAME}")
  GROUP_ID=$(id -g "${USER_NAME}")
else # boot2docker uid and gid
  USER_NAME=${USER}
  USER_ID=1000
  GROUP_ID=50
fi

cat - > ___UserSpecificDockerfile << UserSpecificDocker
FROM renovate/renovate
USER root

# If you are on a normal Ubuntu then you have uid 1000 ... which is already in use in the Ubuntu image
RUN groupadd --non-unique -g "${GROUP_ID}" "${USER_NAME}"
RUN useradd -g "${GROUP_ID}" -u "${USER_ID}" -k /root -m "${USER_NAME}"
RUN chown "${USER_NAME}" "/home/${USER_NAME}"
RUN echo "export HOME=/home/${USER_NAME}" >> "/home/${USER_NAME}/.bashrc"
RUN echo "export USER=${USER_NAME}" >> "/home/${USER_NAME}/.bashrc"
UserSpecificDocker

docker build -t "renovate-local-${USER_NAME}" -f ___UserSpecificDockerfile .

buildStatus=$?

if [ ${buildStatus} -ne 0 ];
then
    echo "Building the user specific docker image failed."
    exit ${buildStatus}
fi

rm -f ___UserSpecificDockerfile

echo ""
echo "Docker image build completed."
echo "=============================================================================================="
echo ""

# man docker-run
# When using SELinux, mounted directories may not be accessible
# to the container. The z mount option fixes this automatically.
V_OPTS=:z

docker run --rm=true -t -i                                      \
       -u "${USER_NAME}"                                        \
       -v "${HOME}/.m2:/home/${USER_NAME}/.m2${V_OPTS:-}"       \
       -v "${PWD}:/home/${USER_NAME}/toberenovated${V_OPTS:-}"  \
       -w "/home/${USER}/toberenovated"                         \
       "renovate-local-${USER_NAME}"                            \
       bash -c "renovate --platform=local"

exit 0

Logs (if relevant)

Output when running renovate --platform=local

 INFO: Repository started (repository=local)
       "renovateVersion": "39.219.2"
 INFO: Dependency extraction complete (repository=local)
       "stats": {
         "managers": {
           "maven": {"fileCount": 14, "depCount": 68},
           "maven-wrapper": {"fileCount": 1, "depCount": 2}
         },
         "total": {"fileCount": 15, "depCount": 70}
       }
 INFO: Repository finished (repository=local)
       "cloned": undefined,
       "durationMs": 3897
 INFO: Renovate was run at log level "info". Set LOG_LEVEL=debug in environment variables to see extended debug logs.

[nielsbasjes]

When running renovate --platform=local --dry-run=full I see this:

 INFO: Repository started (repository=local)
       "renovateVersion": "39.219.2"
 INFO: Dependency extraction complete (repository=local)
       "stats": {
         "managers": {
           "maven": {"fileCount": 14, "depCount": 68},
           "maven-wrapper": {"fileCount": 1, "depCount": 2}
         },
         "total": {"fileCount": 15, "depCount": 70}
       }
 WARN: Error updating branch (repository=local, branch=renovate/logback-monorepo)
       "err": {
         "message": "Cannot sync git when platform=local",
         "stack": "Error: Cannot sync git when platform=local\n    at syncGit (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:397:11)\n    at getFile (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:965:9)\n    at getFileContent (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:35:32)\n    at getUpdatedPackageFiles (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:121:38)\n    at processBranch (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.ts:484:47)\n    at writeUpdates (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/write.ts:170:17)\n    at update (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/extract-update.ts:234:11)\n    at Object.renovateRepository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/index.ts:90:19)\n    at attributes.repository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:206:11)\n    at start (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:191:7)\n    at /usr/local/renovate/lib/renovate.ts:19:22"
       }
 WARN: Error updating branch (repository=local, branch=renovate/maven-plugin-api.version)
       "err": {
         "message": "Cannot sync git when platform=local",
         "stack": "Error: Cannot sync git when platform=local\n    at syncGit (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:397:11)\n    at getFile (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:965:9)\n    at getFileContent (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:35:32)\n    at getUpdatedPackageFiles (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:121:38)\n    at processBranch (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.ts:484:47)\n    at writeUpdates (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/write.ts:170:17)\n    at update (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/extract-update.ts:234:11)\n    at Object.renovateRepository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/index.ts:90:19)\n    at attributes.repository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:206:11)\n    at start (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:191:7)\n    at /usr/local/renovate/lib/renovate.ts:19:22"
       }
 WARN: Error updating branch (repository=local, branch=renovate/com.charleskorn.kaml-kaml-jvm-0.x)
       "err": {
         "message": "Cannot sync git when platform=local",
         "stack": "Error: Cannot sync git when platform=local\n    at syncGit (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:397:11)\n    at getFile (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:965:9)\n    at getFileContent (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:35:32)\n    at getUpdatedPackageFiles (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:121:38)\n    at processBranch (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.ts:484:47)\n    at writeUpdates (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/write.ts:170:17)\n    at update (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/extract-update.ts:234:11)\n    at Object.renovateRepository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/index.ts:90:19)\n    at attributes.repository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:206:11)\n    at start (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:191:7)\n    at /usr/local/renovate/lib/renovate.ts:19:22"
       }
 WARN: Error updating branch (repository=local, branch=renovate/jackson)
       "err": {
         "message": "Cannot sync git when platform=local",
         "stack": "Error: Cannot sync git when platform=local\n    at syncGit (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:397:11)\n    at getFile (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:965:9)\n    at getFileContent (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:35:32)\n    at getUpdatedPackageFiles (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:121:38)\n    at processBranch (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.ts:484:47)\n    at writeUpdates (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/write.ts:170:17)\n    at update (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/extract-update.ts:234:11)\n    at Object.renovateRepository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/index.ts:90:19)\n    at attributes.repository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:206:11)\n    at start (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:191:7)\n    at /usr/local/renovate/lib/renovate.ts:19:22"
       }
 WARN: Error updating branch (repository=local, branch=renovate/commons)
       "err": {
         "message": "Cannot sync git when platform=local",
         "stack": "Error: Cannot sync git when platform=local\n    at syncGit (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:397:11)\n    at getFile (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:965:9)\n    at getFileContent (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:35:32)\n    at getUpdatedPackageFiles (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:121:38)\n    at processBranch (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.ts:484:47)\n    at writeUpdates (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/write.ts:170:17)\n    at update (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/extract-update.ts:234:11)\n    at Object.renovateRepository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/index.ts:90:19)\n    at attributes.repository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:206:11)\n    at start (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:191:7)\n    at /usr/local/renovate/lib/renovate.ts:19:22"
       }
 WARN: Error updating branch (repository=local, branch=renovate/logging)
       "err": {
         "message": "Cannot sync git when platform=local",
         "stack": "Error: Cannot sync git when platform=local\n    at syncGit (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:397:11)\n    at getFile (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:965:9)\n    at getFileContent (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:35:32)\n    at getUpdatedPackageFiles (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:121:38)\n    at processBranch (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.ts:484:47)\n    at writeUpdates (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/write.ts:170:17)\n    at update (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/extract-update.ts:234:11)\n    at Object.renovateRepository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/index.ts:90:19)\n    at attributes.repository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:206:11)\n    at start (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:191:7)\n    at /usr/local/renovate/lib/renovate.ts:19:22"
       }
 WARN: Error updating branch (repository=local, branch=renovate/maven-plugin-plugin.version)
       "err": {
         "message": "Cannot sync git when platform=local",
         "stack": "Error: Cannot sync git when platform=local\n    at syncGit (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:397:11)\n    at getFile (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:965:9)\n    at getFileContent (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:35:32)\n    at getUpdatedPackageFiles (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:121:38)\n    at processBranch (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.ts:484:47)\n    at writeUpdates (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/write.ts:170:17)\n    at update (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/extract-update.ts:234:11)\n    at Object.renovateRepository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/index.ts:90:19)\n    at attributes.repository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:206:11)\n    at start (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:191:7)\n    at /usr/local/renovate/lib/renovate.ts:19:22"
       }
 WARN: Error updating branch (repository=local, branch=renovate/plc4j.version)
       "err": {
         "message": "Cannot sync git when platform=local",
         "stack": "Error: Cannot sync git when platform=local\n    at syncGit (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:397:11)\n    at getFile (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:965:9)\n    at getFileContent (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:35:32)\n    at getUpdatedPackageFiles (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:121:38)\n    at processBranch (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.ts:484:47)\n    at writeUpdates (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/write.ts:170:17)\n    at update (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/extract-update.ts:234:11)\n    at Object.renovateRepository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/index.ts:90:19)\n    at attributes.repository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:206:11)\n    at start (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:191:7)\n    at /usr/local/renovate/lib/renovate.ts:19:22"
       }
 WARN: Error updating branch (repository=local, branch=renovate/testing)
       "err": {
         "message": "Cannot sync git when platform=local",
         "stack": "Error: Cannot sync git when platform=local\n    at syncGit (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:397:11)\n    at getFile (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:965:9)\n    at getFileContent (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:35:32)\n    at getUpdatedPackageFiles (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:121:38)\n    at processBranch (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.ts:484:47)\n    at writeUpdates (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/write.ts:170:17)\n    at update (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/extract-update.ts:234:11)\n    at Object.renovateRepository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/index.ts:90:19)\n    at attributes.repository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:206:11)\n    at start (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:191:7)\n    at /usr/local/renovate/lib/renovate.ts:19:22"
       }
 WARN: Error updating branch (repository=local, branch=renovate/org.yaml-snakeyaml-2.x)
       "err": {
         "message": "Cannot sync git when platform=local",
         "stack": "Error: Cannot sync git when platform=local\n    at syncGit (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:397:11)\n    at getFile (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:965:9)\n    at getFileContent (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:35:32)\n    at getUpdatedPackageFiles (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:121:38)\n    at processBranch (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.ts:484:47)\n    at writeUpdates (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/write.ts:170:17)\n    at update (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/extract-update.ts:234:11)\n    at Object.renovateRepository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/index.ts:90:19)\n    at attributes.repository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:206:11)\n    at start (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:191:7)\n    at /usr/local/renovate/lib/renovate.ts:19:22"
       }
 WARN: Error updating branch (repository=local, branch=renovate/maven_build_plugins)
       "err": {
         "message": "Cannot sync git when platform=local",
         "stack": "Error: Cannot sync git when platform=local\n    at syncGit (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:397:11)\n    at getFile (/usr/local/renovate/lib/util/git/index.ts:965:9)\n    at getFileContent (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:35:32)\n    at getUpdatedPackageFiles (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/get-updated.ts:121:38)\n    at processBranch (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.ts:484:47)\n    at writeUpdates (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/write.ts:170:17)\n    at update (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/process/extract-update.ts:234:11)\n    at Object.renovateRepository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/repository/index.ts:90:19)\n    at attributes.repository (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:206:11)\n    at start (/usr/local/renovate/lib/workers/global/index.ts:191:7)\n    at /usr/local/renovate/lib/renovate.ts:19:22"
       }
 WARN: Package lookup failures (repository=local)
       "warnings": [
         "Failed to look up maven package xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
       ],
       "files": [
         "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/pom.xml",
       ]
 INFO: DRY-RUN: Would ensure Dependency Dashboard (repository=local)
       "title": "Dependency Dashboard"
 INFO: DRY-RUN: Would save repository cache. (repository=local)
 INFO: Repository finished (repository=local)
       "cloned": undefined,
       "durationMs": 3805
 INFO: Renovate was run at log level "info". Set LOG_LEVEL=debug in environment variables to see extended debug logs.

[nsheaps]

Related: #36764

Discovered using LOG_LEVEL=debug ..., I ran into this, and it was caused by having open renovate branches.

When I ran it, my default config doesn't mention rebasing, which makes "rebaseWhen": "conflicted". That results in these log lines in debug:

DEBUG: Converting rebaseWhen=auto to rebaseWhen=conflicted because no rule for behind-base-branch applies (repository=local, branch=renovate/actions-checkout-6.x
)
DEBUG: Branch already exists (repository=local, branch=renovate/actions-checkout-6.x)
DEBUG: Skipping behind base branch check due to rebaseWhen=conflicted (repository=local, branch=renovate/actions-checkout-6.x)
DEBUG: Branch does not need rebasing (repository=local, branch=renovate/actions-checkout-6.x)
DEBUG: Using reuseExistingBranch: true (repository=local, branch=renovate/actions-checkout-6.x)
DEBUG: manager.getUpdatedPackageFiles() reuseExistingBranch=true (repository=local, branch=renovate/actions-checkout-6.x)
 WARN: Error updating branch (repository=local, branch=renovate/actions-checkout-6.x)
       "err": {
         "message": "Cannot sync git when platform=local",
         "stack": "Error: Cannot sync git when platform=local\n 
...

In an attempt to silence these messages on a whim I set --rebaseWhen="never" in the cli options passed for running the dry run.

Doing so silenced the errors, however I still believe this is a bug where --dryRun=full ends up trying to make changes (and the error prevents it, but it shouldn't be trying in the first place)

[nielsbasjes]

@jamietanna Seems you are very actively working on Renovate now. Would love to get your feedback/insights on this question.

Basically I want to

• run renovate against my local repo for testing my renovate config (regexes are hard)
• use a docker setup so I do not need to install any dependencies
• get enough output (either as local branches, patch files or in the console), to ensure everything is going right and the desired changes are created correctly via the config I wrote.

I checked today my above attempt and I still get the above mentioned effect with the current version.

[jamietanna]

Might be worth giving #40970 a read if you've not seen it to see where we know we have gaps and may make improvements

[github-actions[bot]]

Hi there,

This is intended as a polite, automated request that users avoid @ mentioning repository maintainers like @viceice. Doing so causes annoying mobile notifications and makes it harder to maintain this repository.

We know it might be common elsewhere but we participate in hundreds of discussions a week and would need to turn off GitHub mobile notifications if we were mentioned in every one.

As a general rule, we will read and respond to all discussions in this repository, so there is no need to mention us.

Thanks, the Renovate team

[jamietanna]

Please avoid tagging maintainers - I'm currently triaging ~150 PRs/Discussions at the moment