NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · error · IOException

{}: is not a directory

Error message

{}: is not a directory

What it means

Thrown as IOException by checkDirectory() when the path exists but is not a directory (e.g. it is a regular file). BSim expects a folder containing XML signature/update files, so a file path is invalid. The message interpolates the offending path.

Source

Thrown at Ghidra/Features/BSim/src/main/java/ghidra/features/bsim/query/ingest/BSimLaunchable.java:669

			if (commitOption) {
				// Generate and commit updates to BSim database
				bsim.updateRepoSignatures(ghidraURL, xmlDirectory, overwriteOption, monitor);
			}
			else {
				// Generate update XML files only
				bsim.generateUpdatesFromServer(ghidraURL, xmlDirectory, overwriteOption,
					configOption, monitor);
			}
		}
	}

	private File checkDirectory(String dirPath) throws IOException {
		File dir = new File(dirPath);
		if (!dir.exists()) {
			throw new IOException("Commit directory does not exist: " + dirPath);
		}
		if (!dir.isDirectory()) {
			throw new IOException(dirPath + ": is not a directory");
		}
		return dir.getCanonicalFile();
	}

	private void doCommitSigs(List<String> params, TaskMonitor monitor)
			throws IOException, SAXException, LSHException, CancelledException {
		if (params.size() < 1) {
			throw new IllegalArgumentException("Missing directory containing signature files");
		}

		String xmlDirectory = params.get(0);

		File dir = checkDirectory(xmlDirectory);

		boolean hasOverride = optionValueMap.containsKey(OVERRIDE_OPTION);
		String md5Filter = optionValueMap.get(MD5_OPTION);

		try (BulkSignatures bsim = getBulkSignatures()) {

View on GitHub (pinned to d5f144c24d)

Solutions

  1. Point at the directory that contains the XML files, not at an individual file.
  2. Run 'ls -ld <path>' to confirm it is a directory.
  3. If the path is a symlink, resolve it and verify the target is a directory.

Example fix

# before
bsim commitsigs postgresql://myhost/BsimDB /tmp/xmlout/sigs.xml
# after
bsim commitsigs postgresql://myhost/BsimDB /tmp/xmlout
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

File dir = new File(dirPath);
if (dir.exists() && !dir.isDirectory()) {
    throw new IOException(dirPath + " is a file, not a directory; pass the containing folder");
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Running commitsigs or commitupdates where new File(dirPath).isDirectory() returns false (line 668) but the path exists — typically a file, symlink to a file, or a special device.

Common situations: Passing an XML filename instead of the containing directory; a symlink pointing at a file; the directory was replaced by a file of the same name.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra@d5f144c24d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f5a4b09b60c1f662. Report an issue: GitHub.