GoogleContainerTools/jib · error · IOException

Failed to create, open, or parse global Jib config file; see

Error message

Failed to create, open, or parse global Jib config file; see https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/jib/blob/master/docs/faq.md#where-is-the-global-jib-configuration-file-and-how-i-can-configure-it to fix or you may need to delete ${configFile}

What it means

Jib throws an IOException with this message when it cannot create, open, or parse the global Jib configuration file (~/.jib/jib-config.json), wrapping the original exception. The appended FAQ link explains where the file lives and that deleting it usually resolves the problem.

Source

Thrown at jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/globalconfig/GlobalConfig.java:77

      try (OutputStream outputStream = Files.newOutputStream(tempConfigFile)) {
        JsonTemplateMapper.writeTo(configJson, outputStream);
        Files.move(tempConfigFile, configFile);
        return from(configJson);

      } catch (FileAlreadyExistsException ex) {
        // Perhaps created concurrently. Read again.
        return readConfig(configDir);
      }

    } catch (InvalidGlobalConfigException ex) {
      throw new InvalidGlobalConfigException(
          ex.getMessage()
              + "; see https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/jib/blob/master/docs/faq.md#where-is-the-global-jib-configuration-file-and-how-i-can-configure-it "
              + "to fix or you may need to delete "
              + configFile);

    } catch (IOException ex) {
      throw new IOException(
          "Failed to create, open, or parse global Jib config file; see "
              + "https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/jib/blob/master/docs/faq.md#where-is-the-global-jib-configuration-file-and-how-i-can-configure-it "
              + "to fix or you may need to delete "
              + configFile,
          ex);
    }
  }

  private static GlobalConfig from(GlobalConfigTemplate configJson)
      throws InvalidGlobalConfigException {
    ImmutableListMultimap.Builder<String, String> registryMirrors = ImmutableListMultimap.builder();
    for (RegistryMirrorsTemplate mirrorConfig : configJson.getRegistryMirrors()) {
      // validation
      if (Strings.isNullOrEmpty(mirrorConfig.getRegistry())) {
        throw new InvalidGlobalConfigException("'registryMirrors.registry' property is missing");
      }
      if (mirrorConfig.getMirrors().isEmpty()) {
        throw new InvalidGlobalConfigException("'registryMirrors.mirrors' property is missing");

View on GitHub (pinned to fb949e2676)

Solutions

1. Delete the global config file shown in the message so Jib regenerates defaults
2. Check permissions on ~/.jib and the config file (must be readable/writable by the build user)
3. If ~/.jib is a directory-where-file or file-where-directory, fix its type
4. Repair the JSON content per the linked FAQ

Example fix

// before (shell)
ls -l ~/.jib/jib-config.json   # unreadable, owned by root
// after
sudo chown $(whoami) ~/.jib/jib-config.json
# or simply remove it to regenerate:
rm ~/.jib/jib-config.json

// Pre-check readability before invoking Jib
java.nio.file.Path cfg = java.nio.file.Path.of(System.getProperty("user.home"), ".jib", "jib-config.json");
if (java.nio.file.Files.exists(cfg) && !java.nio.file.Files.isReadable(cfg)) {
  throw new IllegalStateException("Global Jib config not readable: " + cfg);
}

try {
  GlobalConfig.readConfig(configDir);
} catch (IOException e) {
  logger.warn("Deleting unreadable/corrupt global Jib config: {}", e.getMessage());
  Files.deleteIfExists(configDir.resolve("jib-config.json"));
  GlobalConfig.readConfig(configDir);
}

When it happens

Trigger: The catch (IOException ex) branch of GlobalConfig.readConfig: filesystem errors creating/reading the file (bad permissions, disk issues), or parsing errors from reading the JSON template.

Common situations: Read-only or permission-restricted home directory; ~/.jib exists as a file instead of a directory; corrupted config file that fails JSON parsing; disk full or NFS/permission issues in CI containers.

Understand the failure class

Background: "failed to read file", EACCES, ENOENT and "could not read <path>" errors: when a program can't read a file from disk — this error's family across 49 libraries.

Related errors

• Could not read file: ${file}
• Obtaining project build output files failed
• <exception message (IOException | CacheDirectoryCreationExce
• <exception message (IOException | CacheDirectoryCreationExce
• ${message}; see https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/jib/

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/jib@fb949e2676 (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ba08137a070129f1. Report an issue: GitHub.