<p>ConfigMap exists in the right namespace, but getting this error that it couldn't construct reference to configmap, and did not get a confirmation that leaderelection has been successfully required. Any advice would be appreciated</p>
<p><strong>error log snippet</strong></p>
<pre><code>...
2021-08-04T18:14:35.659Z        INFO    setup   starting manager
2021-08-04T18:14:35.659Z        INFO    controller-runtime.manager      starting metrics server {&quot;path&quot;: &quot;/metrics&quot;}
E0804 18:14:35.701075       1 event.go:247] Could not construct reference to: '&amp;v1.ConfigMap{TypeMeta:v1.TypeMeta{Kind:&quot;&quot;, APIVersion:&quot;&quot;}, ObjectMeta:v1.ObjectMeta{Name:&quot;controller-leader-election-helper&quot;, GenerateName:&quot;&quot;, Namespace:&quot;kubestone-system&quot;, SelfLink:&quot;&quot;, UID:&quot;e28283ca-45ad-4095-9077-d55c8c0a40be&quot;, ResourceVersion:&quot;10947&quot;, Generation:0, CreationTimestamp:v1.Time{Time:time.Time{wall:0x0, ext:63763697675, loc:(*time.Location)(0x21639e0)}}, DeletionTimestamp:(*v1.Time)(nil), DeletionGracePeriodSeconds:(*int64)(nil), Labels:map[string]string(nil), Annotations:map[string]string{&quot;control-plane.alpha.kubernetes.io/leader&quot;:&quot;{\&quot;holderIdentity\&quot;:\&quot;kubestone-controller-manager-f467b7c47-8n8nz_d30009f2-f54f-11eb-9895-d6c135c24951\&quot;,\&quot;leaseDurationSeconds\&quot;:15,\&quot;acquireTime\&quot;:\&quot;2021-08-04T18:14:35Z\&quot;,\&quot;renewTime\&quot;:\&quot;2021-08-04T18:14:35Z\&quot;,\&quot;leaderTransitions\&quot;:0}&quot;}, OwnerReferences:[]v1.OwnerReference(nil), Initializers:(*v1.Initializers)(nil), Finalizers:[]string(nil), ClusterName:&quot;&quot;, ManagedFields:[]v1.ManagedFieldsEntry{v1.ManagedFieldsEntry{Manager:&quot;manager&quot;, Operation:&quot;Update&quot;, APIVersion:&quot;v1&quot;, Time:(*v1.Time)(0xc0002739e0), Fields:(*v1.Fields)(nil)}}}, Data:map[string]string(nil), BinaryData:map[string][]uint8(nil)}' due to: 'selfLink was empty, can't make reference'. Will not report event: 'Normal' 'LeaderElection' 'kubestone-controller-manager-f467b7c47-8n8nz_d30009f2-f54f-11eb-9895-d6c135c24951 became leader'
2021-08-04T18:14:37.760Z        INFO    controller-runtime.controller   Starting Controller     {&quot;controller&quot;: &quot;sysbench&quot;}
...
</code></pre>

<p>Looks like the error is telling you:</p>
<pre><code>...
SelfLink: &quot;&quot;,
...
</code></pre>
<p><code>... due to: 'selfLink was empty, can't make reference' ...</code></p>
<p>Thread here suggests some solutions <a href="https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/nfs-subdir-external-provisioner/issues/25#issuecomment-742616668" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/nfs-subdir-external-provisioner/issues/25#issuecomment-742616668</a></p>
<p>You may need to update your Kubernetes client but hard to say without more info</p>
