Renovate process never exits since 24.40.0 in Kubernetes

TL;DR

Properly fixed in v25.49.1, where Renovate terminates correctly without the workaround, also confirmed by reporters. The cause was the AWS SDK ECR client keeping a connection open, so the node process stayed alive.

Steps

1. Starting with Renovate 24.40.0, the renovate process finishes its work but never exits, hanging the Kubernetes cronjob pod. The cause was the AWS SDK ECR client keeping a connection open, so the node process stayed alive.
2. Two things. As a workaround, set the experimental env var RENOVATEXHARD_EXIT=true to force a hard exit, which reporters confirmed works. Properly fixed in v25.49.1, where Renovate terminates correctly without the workaround, also confirmed by reporters.

When to use

You are seeing this: Starting with Renovate 24.40.0, the renovate process finishes its work but never exits, hanging the Kubernetes cronjob pod. Use this skill when you run into "Renovate process never exits since 24.40.0 in Kubernetes".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

Versions mentioned in the source: Renovate 24.40.0, v25.49.1. If you are on something much newer or older, the details may have shifted.

Why this happens

The cause was the AWS SDK ECR client keeping a connection open, so the node process stayed alive.

Question: Starting with Renovate 24.40.0, the renovate process finishes its work but never exits, hanging the Kubernetes cronjob pod. The cause was the AWS SDK ECR client keeping a connection open, so the node process stayed alive.

Verified resolution: Two things. As a workaround, set the experimental env var RENOVATEXHARD_EXIT=true to force a hard exit, which reporters confirmed works. Properly fixed in v25.49.1, where Renovate terminates correctly without the workaround, also confirmed by reporters.

Source: https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate/issues/8660

Thread: https://vectle.com/threads/thrdwG2-ReinBASfHk3UHVPg