apache/beam · error · FileNotFoundException

The resource to delete does not exist.

Error message

The resource to delete does not exist.

What it means

When deleting a non-directory resource, delete() verifies the blob exists via blobClient.exists() and throws FileNotFoundException with this message if it does not. Azure's blob.delete() is idempotent, but Beam's filesystem contract treats deleting a nonexistent resource as an error, so the check happens before the delete call.

Solutions

1. Match the paths first with FileSystems.match() and delete only resources that exist (make cleanup idempotent).
2. Wrap the delete in try-catch for FileNotFoundException and treat it as success when cleanup semantics allow.
3. Fix the blob key spelling/casing.
4. Avoid deleting the same source list twice (e.g. after an earlier rename already moved it).

Example fix

// before
FileSystems.delete(ImmutableList.of(FileSystems.matchNewResource("azfs://c/gone.txt", false))); // throws
// after
MatchResult m = FileSystems.match("azfs://c/gone.txt");
if (m.status() == MatchResult.Status.OK && !m.metadata().isEmpty()) {
  FileSystems.delete(m.metadata().stream().map(MatchResult.Metadata::resourceId).collect(ImmutableList.toImmutableList()));
}

MatchResult m = FileSystems.match(path);
if (m.status() == MatchResult.Status.OK) {
  FileSystems.delete(m.metadata().stream().map(MatchResult.Metadata::resourceId).collect(ImmutableList.toImmutableList()));
}

try {
  FileSystems.delete(ids);
} catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
  LOG.info("already deleted, ignoring: {}", e.getMessage());
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling FileSystems.delete() (directly or via rename()'s delete step) with an azfs blob path that no longer exists in the container.

Common situations: rename() failing at the delete stage after copy succeeded because another process removed the source; double-cleanup code deleting the same paths twice; lifecycle policies deleting blobs before your cleanup job runs; case-sensitive key mismatch.

Understand the failure class

Background: "File not found" and ENOENT errors: why libraries can't find a file that should exist — this error's family across 50 libraries.

Related errors

• The copy source does not exist.
• The requested file doesn't exist.
• delete does not delete containers.
• This filename is already in use.
• Basepath %r must be an Azure Blob Storage path.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/beam@12126d8942 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f6bb5a251bc2021e. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at sdks/java/io/azure/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/io/azure/blobstore/AzureBlobStoreFileSystem.java:422

    delete(srcResourceIds);
  }

  /** This method will delete a virtual folder or a blob, not a container. */
  @Override
  protected void delete(Collection<AzfsResourceId> resourceIds) throws IOException {
    for (AzfsResourceId resourceId : resourceIds) {
      if (resourceId.getBlob() == null) {
        throw new IOException("delete does not delete containers.");
      }

      BlobContainerClient container =
          client.get().getBlobContainerClient(resourceId.getContainer());

      // deleting a blob that is not a directory
      if (!resourceId.isDirectory()) {
        BlobClient blob = container.getBlobClient(resourceId.getBlob());
        if (!blob.exists()) {
          throw new FileNotFoundException("The resource to delete does not exist.");
        }
        blob.delete();
      }

      // deleting a directory (not a container)
      else {
        PagedIterable<BlobItem> blobsInDirectory =
            container.listBlobsByHierarchy(resourceId.getBlob());
        blobsInDirectory.forEach(
            blob -> {
              String blobName = blob.getName();
              container.getBlobClient(blobName).delete();
            });
      }
    }
  }

  @Override

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