JetBrains/intellij-community · error · ExecutionException

build.manager.launch.build.process.failed.to.copy.external.project.configuration

build.manager.launch.build.process.failed.to.copy.external.project.configuration

Error message

Failed to copy external project configuration

What it means

Error "Failed to copy external project configuration" thrown in JetBrains/intellij-community.

Source

Thrown at java/compiler/impl/src/com/intellij/compiler/server/BuildManager.java:1539

    if (requestProjectPreload) {
      cmdLine.addPathParameter("-Dpreload.project.path=", FileUtil.toCanonicalPath(getProjectPath(project)));
      cmdLine.addPathParameter("-Dpreload.config.path=", FileUtil.toCanonicalPath(PathManager.getOptionsPath()));
    }

    if (ProjectUtilCore.isExternalStorageEnabled(project)) {
      var externalProjectConfig = ProjectUtil.getExternalConfigurationDir(project);
      if (!localProject) {
        try {
          cmdLine.addPathParameter(
            "-D" + GlobalOptions.EXTERNAL_PROJECT_CONFIG + '=',
            cmdLine.syncProjectSpecificPathWithTarget(project, externalProjectConfig)
          );
        }
        catch (NoSuchFileException ignored) {
          // No external project cache -- no copy of external project cache.
        }
        catch (FileSystemException err) {
          throw new ExecutionException(
            JavaCompilerBundle.message("build.manager.launch.build.process.failed.to.copy.external.project.configuration"), err);
        }
      }
      else {
        var pathToExternalStorage = externalProjectConfig.toString();
        cmdLine.addPathParameter("-D" + GlobalOptions.EXTERNAL_PROJECT_CONFIG + '=', pathToExternalStorage);
      }
    }

    cmdLine.addParameter("-D" + GlobalOptions.COMPILE_PARALLEL_OPTION + '=' + projectConfig.isParallelCompilationEnabled());
    if (projectConfig.isParallelCompilationEnabled()) {
      if (!Registry.is("compiler.automake.allow.parallel", true)) {
        cmdLine.addParameter("-D" + GlobalOptions.ALLOW_PARALLEL_AUTOMAKE_OPTION + "=false");
      }
    }
    cmdLine.addParameter("-D" + GlobalOptions.REBUILD_ON_DEPENDENCY_CHANGE_OPTION + '=' + config.REBUILD_ON_DEPENDENCY_CHANGE);
    cmdLine.addParameter("-Didea.IntToIntBtree.page.size=32768");

View on GitHub (pinned to be881553f2)

Solutions

1. Check that the external system (Maven/Gradle) project configuration directory is readable and the build working directory is writable.
2. Re-sync the external project and retry the build; check the IDE log for the underlying I/O exception.

Example fix

Gradle tool window -> Reload All Gradle Projects, then Build | Build Project again.

When it happens

Trigger: BuildManager fails to copy the external project's configuration files into the build system working directory.

Common situations: File permission problems, antivirus locks, or a corrupted external system config directory under the project system directory.

AI-assisted analysis of JetBrains/intellij-community@be881553f2 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/18937fe63b85958f. Report an issue: GitHub.