# Wave error when using SHA256 as tag does not support the containerConfig

**URL:** <https://community.seqera.io/t/wave-error-when-using-sha256-as-tag-does-not-support-the-containerconfig/706>\
**Category:** Ask for help\
**Created:** [April 29, 2024, 8:29am UTC](https://community.seqera.io/t/wave-error-when-using-sha256-as-tag-does-not-support-the-containerconfig/706 "2024-04-29T08:29:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![evanfloden](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.seqera.io/evanfloden/32/85_2.png) [@evanfloden](https://community.seqera.io/u/evanfloden)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 8:29am UTC](https://community.seqera.io/t/wave-error-when-using-sha256-as-tag-does-not-support-the-containerconfig/706/1 "2024-04-29T08:29:55Z")

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Running a Nextflow pipeline where one of the processes is defined using a SHA256 container.

Error message:

`Wave invalid response: [400] {"message":"Container requests made using a SHA256 as tag does not support the 'containerConfig' attribute"`

Container is defined in the process:

```auto
container python@sha256:a2d01031695ff170831430810ee30dd06d8413b08f72ad978b43fd10daa6b86e

```

Running on Seqera with AWS Batch using Forge + Wave.

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**Author:** ![ewels](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.seqera.io/ewels/32/1_2.png) [@ewels](https://community.seqera.io/u/ewels)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 8:42am UTC](https://community.seqera.io/t/wave-error-when-using-sha256-as-tag-does-not-support-the-containerconfig/706/2 "2024-04-29T08:42:20Z")

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This is expected - we’re halfway through adding docs describing this here:

> <https://github.com/seqeralabs/wave/pull/448>
>
> \- https://github.com/seqeralabs/nf-tower-docs/issues/624
> 
> So this is an early …draft that seeks to clarify this use case.

Copied below for convenience:

* * *

> [@](#):
>
> ## Reproducible builds with SHA256 container image references
> 
> Referring to the SHA256 hash of a container imagine is a common best practice in pipeline development. For example, the SHA256 hash for a container might be similar to `sha256:3235...ce8f`. If you use the Wave service to augment your containers, such as to add Fusion to a container, the original SHA256 hash of the image is no longer correct.
> 
> To accommodate the new layers added to a container image augmented with Wave, you can use the freeze feature of Wave. In your pipeline configuration, ensure that you specify the following settings:
> 
> ```groovy
> wave.enabled = true
> wave.freeze = true
> wave.strategy = ['dockerfile']
> wave.build.repository = 'docker.io/<user>/<repository>'
> 
> ```
> 
> You can run `nextflow inspect` to find the SHA256 hash of the Wave augmented container.
> 
> In your pipeline, you can use the SHA256 of the Wave augmented container, available in the target repository that you specify with the `wave.build.repository` parameter. For example:
> 
> ```groovy
> docker.enabled = true
> process.container = 'docker.io/<user>/my-bio-container@sha256:3235....ce8f'
> 
> ```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ewels](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.seqera.io/ewels/32/1_2.png) [@ewels](https://community.seqera.io/u/ewels)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 8:57am UTC](https://community.seqera.io/t/wave-error-when-using-sha256-as-tag-does-not-support-the-containerconfig/706/3 "2024-04-29T08:57:22Z")

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I created an issue specifically about improving the error message that’s returned:

> <https://github.com/seqeralabs/wave/issues/477>
>
> As documented in https://github.com/seqeralabs/wave/pull/448, Wave cannot suppor…t SHA256 tags when augmenting an image, because the image itself is changing.
> 
> When someone attempts to do this, the following error is returned:
> 
> \`\`\`
> Container requests made using a SHA256 as tag does not support the 'containerConfig' attribute
> \`\`\`
> (I'm not sure where this error message is coming from, as I can't find it in the source code of the Wave or Nextflow repos).
> 
> This error mode is likely going to be quite common as people take existing pipelines with fixed SHA256 tags and enable Wave. It would be great if we could improve the error message to (a) make it easier to understand and (b) explain how to fix the issue - point to the docs.
> 
> Basically, no-one getting this error is going to be trying to use the 'containerConfig' attribute intentionally (I don't know even what that is). So we should instead throw an error message about SHA256 tags and Wave augmentation.