Feature: ignore empty `servers.json` file

[Pyroluk]

Is this urgent?

No

Host OS

Debian 12 Bookworm

CPU arch

x86_64

VPN service provider

Cyberghost

What are you using to run the container

docker run

What is the version of Gluetun

Running version latest built on 2026-05-04T13:39:33.354Z (commit aab10f9) on Linux 6.1.0-45-amd64 (x86_64)

What's the problem 🤔

Hi,

I am running a container that gets automatically updated with new docker image releases daily, and is started/stopped several times a day.

Somehow, sometimes the servers.json, I mount into the container, gets deleted/emptied out, leaving a 0 byte servers.json in the folder.
Now starting Gluetun, it crashes with "ERROR reading servers from file: decoding servers: unexpected end of JSON input" in the logs.

It would be nice, if first the file is checked for emptiness, instead of trying to parse it. Or maybe override the file in case of any parsing error in general.

Cheers from Germany,
Lukas

Share your logs (at least 10 lines)

(I recreated the container and deleted the logs already, sorry)
(I recreated the container and deleted the logs already, sorry)
(I recreated the container and deleted the logs already, sorry)
(I recreated the container and deleted the logs already, sorry)
(I recreated the container and deleted the logs already, sorry)
(I recreated the container and deleted the logs already, sorry)
(I recreated the container and deleted the logs already, sorry)
(I recreated the container and deleted the logs already, sorry)
(I recreated the container and deleted the logs already, sorry)
(I recreated the container and deleted the logs already, sorry)
ERROR reading servers from file: decoding servers: unexpected end of JSON input

Share your configuration

[github-actions]

@qdm12 is more or less the only maintainer of this project and works on it in his free time.
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  revert to an older tagged container image

[qdm12]

Got it. Blocked by a large servers storage refactor in #3301

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[qdm12]

Doneee... not too too sure why you'd get an empty file, but oh well 🤷 It costs 3 lines of code, and I'm feeling generous 😄

[Pyroluk]

Maybe it was something along the lines of stopping the container while it was in the middle of updating the server file.
Not sure. Anyways, Thank you!