aeron-io/aeron · error · ArchiveException

response channel from archive is not connected, channel=

Error message

response channel from archive is not connected, channel=<channel>, streamId=<streamId>, imageCount=<imageCount>

What it means

ArchiveException thrown by checkForDisconnect when the control response Subscription has no connected images, i.e. the archive is no longer sending responses on the configured channel/stream. The client marks its state DISCONNECTED and fails fast rather than waiting for the message timeout.

Solutions

  1. Reconnect by creating a new AeronArchive session (AeronArchive.connect(ctx)) after confirming the archive is running.
  2. Verify controlResponseChannel/controlResponseStreamId in the client context match the archive's response configuration.
  3. Check network/firewall settings between client and archive for idle connection drops; add keep-alives or reconnect logic.
  4. Monitor archive health and implement automatic session re-establishment on this exception.

Example fix

// before
archive.listRecording(recordingId); // throws if archive went away
// after
try {
    archive.listRecording(recordingId);
} catch (ArchiveException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().contains("not connected")) {
        archive = AeronArchive.connect(ctx);
    }
}
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

if (!archive.controlResponsePoller().subscription().isConnected()) {
    archive = AeronArchive.connect(ctx); // pre-flight reconnect
}

Try / catch

try {
    archive.listRecordingsForUri(0, 10, channelFragment, 100);
} catch (ArchiveException e) {
    archive = AeronArchive.connect(ctx); // session dropped
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Any pollForResponse-driven call after the archive has stopped, the response publication closed, or the network dropped so subscription.isConnected() returns false (imageCount=0).

Common situations: Archive process crash or restart; firewall idle-timeout dropping the response connection; archive moved to a different endpoint; control response channel misconfigured so it never connects in the first place.

Understand the failure class

Background: ECONNREFUSED and "connection refused" / "could not connect to server" errors: what they mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 44 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of aeron-io/aeron@6d60124e15 (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b29b548507dfdb3b. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at aeron-archive/src/main/java/io/aeron/archive/client/AeronArchive.java:2399

            if (fragments > 0)
            {
                continue;
            }

            final Subscription subscription = poller.subscription();
            checkForDisconnect(subscription);

            checkDeadline(deadlineNs, "awaiting response", correlationId);
            idleStrategy.idle(context.runInvokers());
        }
    }

    private void checkForDisconnect(final Subscription subscription)
    {
        if (!subscription.isConnected())
        {
            state(State.DISCONNECTED);
            throw new ArchiveException(
                "response channel from archive is not connected, " +
                "channel=" + subscription.channel() +
                ", streamId=" + subscription.streamId() +
                ", imageCount=" + subscription.imageCount());
        }
    }

    private long pollForResponse(final long correlationId)
    {
        final long deadlineNs = nanoClock.nanoTime() + messageTimeoutNs;
        final ControlResponsePoller poller = controlResponsePoller;

        while (true)
        {
            pollNextResponse(correlationId, deadlineNs, poller);

            if (poller.controlSessionId() != controlSessionId)
            {

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