OrchardCMS/OrchardCore · error · FileStoreException

Cannot create directory because the path

Error message

Cannot create directory because the path '{path}' already exists and is a file.

What it means

BlobFileStore.TryCreateDirectoryAsync (flat-namespace path) checks whether a blob already exists at the requested path; because blob 'directories' are only implied by prefixes, a real blob at that exact path means the directory cannot be created. The store throws FileStoreException with this message naming the conflicting path.

Solutions

1. Choose a different directory name, or delete the conflicting blob first (TryDeleteFileAsync at that path).
2. Treat it like a file-exists condition in app logic: check GetFileInfoAsync(path) before creating a directory.
3. Adopt naming conventions that keep file keys and directory prefixes disjoint (e.g. always give files extensions).
4. If the collision was a mistake, re-upload the blob under a proper file path and retry the directory creation.

Example fix

// before
if (await fileStore.GetFileInfoAsync(path) != null)
{
    throw new InvalidOperationException("Path in use");
}
await fileStore.TryCreateDirectoryAsync(path);
// after
if (await fileStore.GetFileInfoAsync(path) != null)
{
    path = path + "-folder"; // avoid blob-file collision
}
await fileStore.TryCreateDirectoryAsync(path);

var existingFile = await fileStore.GetFileInfoAsync(path);
if (existingFile != null)
{
    // a blob exists at this exact key — pick another name or delete it first
    return false;
}

try
{
    var created = await fileStore.TryCreateDirectoryAsync(path);
}
catch (FileStoreException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("already exists and is a file"))
{
    // path collides with an existing blob: rename or delete the blob
    await fileStore.TryDeleteFileAsync(path);
    await fileStore.TryCreateDirectoryAsync(path);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling TryCreateDirectoryAsync(path) on a flat (non-HNS) account where a blob was previously uploaded with exactly that key — e.g. a file named 'docs' exists and code then tries TryCreateDirectoryAsync("docs").

Common situations: Uploading files without extensions that later collide with intended directory names; older uploads that used the path as a file key; migrations from other stores where keys were used both as files and folders; user-driven naming where a folder shares a name with an uploaded file.

Understand the failure class

Background: "already exists" / EEXIST / FileAlreadyExistsException: what the 'file already exists' error means and how to fix it — this error's family across 37 libraries.

Related errors

• Cannot get file info with path
• Cannot get directory info with path
• Cannot get directory content with path
• Cannot create directory
• Cannot delete file ' '.

AI-assisted analysis of OrchardCMS/OrchardCore@4306c0717f (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/56779515cc84e263. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/OrchardCore/OrchardCore.FileStorage.AzureBlob/BlobFileStore.cs:442

            {
                return await TryCreateDataLakeDirectoryAsync(path);
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                throw new FileStoreException($"Cannot create directory '{path}'.", ex);
            }
        }

        // Since directories are only created implicitly when creating blobs, we
        // simply pretend like we created the directory, unless there is already
        // a blob with the same path.
        try
        {
            var blobFile = GetBlobReference(path);

            if (await blobFile.ExistsAsync())
            {
                throw new FileStoreException($"Cannot create directory because the path '{path}' already exists and is a file.");
            }

            var blobDirectory = await GetBlobDirectoryReference(path);
            if (blobDirectory == null)
            {
                await CreateDirectoryAsync(path);
            }

            return true;
        }
        catch (FileStoreException)
        {
            throw;
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            throw new FileStoreException($"Cannot create directory '{path}'.", ex);
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to 4306c0717f)