NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · error · IllegalArgumentException

Remote file URL not supported: {}

Error message

Remote file URL not supported: {}

What it means

Thrown by the BSimServerInfo(URL) constructor when the protocol is file but the URL has a non-empty host component. BSim file databases are strictly local H2 files; a remote host in a file:// URL (e.g. file://server/share/db.mv.db) is unsupported. Throws IllegalArgumentException.

Source

Thrown at Ghidra/Features/BSim/src/main/java/ghidra/features/bsim/query/BSimServerInfo.java:188

			host = checkURLField(url.getHost(), "host");
			userinfo = getURLUserInfo(url);
			int p = url.getPort();
			port = p <= 0 ? DEFAULT_POSTGRES_PORT : p;
		}
		else if (protocol.equals("https") || protocol.equals("elastic")) {
			t = DBType.elastic;
			host = checkURLField(url.getHost(), "host");
			userinfo = getURLUserInfo(url);
			int p = url.getPort();
			port = p <= 0 ? DEFAULT_ELASTIC_PORT : p;
		}
		else if (protocol.startsWith("file")) {
			t = DBType.file;
			host = null;
			userinfo = null;
			port = -1;
			if (!"".equals(url.getHost())) {
				throw new IllegalArgumentException("Remote file URL not supported: " + url);
			}
		}
		else {
			throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unsupported BSim URL protocol: " + protocol);
		}
		dbType = t;

		if (dbType == DBType.postgres || dbType == DBType.elastic) {
			if (!path.startsWith("/")) {
				throw new IllegalArgumentException("Missing dbName in URL: " + url);
			}
			path = path.substring(1).strip();
		}
		path = urlDecode(checkURLField(path, "path"));
		if (dbType == DBType.file) {
			path = cleanupFilename(path);
		}
		else if (path.contains("/")) {

View on GitHub (pinned to d5f144c24d)

Solutions

1. Use a local file:// URL with an empty host, e.g. 'file:/opt/bsim/data.mv.db'.
2. If the database is remote, switch to a postgres or elastic protocol instead.
3. Mount the network share locally and reference the mount point as a local path.

Example fix

// before
new BSimServerInfo(new URL("file://nas/share/bsim.mv.db"));
// after (local path, empty host)
new BSimServerInfo(new URL("file:/mnt/nas/share/bsim.mv.db"));

URL u = ...;
if (u.getProtocol().startsWith("file") && !"".equals(u.getHost())) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("BSim file DBs must be local; URL has host: " + u.getHost());
}

When it happens

Trigger: Constructing BSimServerInfo from a URL like 'file://nas/share/bsim.mv.db' where url.getHost() is non-empty.

Common situations: Pointing a file:// URL at a network share or remote machine; misinterpreting a UNC path as a supported file DB location.

Related errors

• Bad character in H2 database path. Disallowed characters:
• Invalid absolute file path:
• host required
• Non-empty dbName required
• Invalid {} dbName: {}

AI-assisted analysis of NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra@d5f144c24d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fd69f883b22188a4. Report an issue: GitHub.