apache/cassandra · error · RuntimeException

Aborted garbage collection for at least one table in…

Error message

Aborted garbage collection for at least one table in keyspace ${keyspaceName}, check server logs for more information.

What it means

The public garbageCollect wrapper calls the JMX gc operation and checks the returned status code; a non-zero result means the garbage-collection (compaction) job aborted for at least one table. It prints a message and throws RuntimeException so nodetool exits with an error.

Solutions

Check the server logs on the node for the underlying compaction abort reason
Re-run garbagecollect after concurrent compactions have settled
Retry per-keyspace/table to isolate which table failed
Consider running with lower parallelism or during lower load

Example fix

// before
nodetool garbagecollect keyspace1
// after (retry per table to isolate failures)
nodetool garbagecollect keyspace1 table1

Defensive patterns

Strategy: retry

Try / catch

try {
    probe.garbageCollect(out, tombstoneOption, jobs, ks, tableNames);
} catch (RuntimeException e) {
    logger.warn("garbagecollect aborted for {} — check server logs, retrying", ks, e);
    probe.garbageCollect(out, tombstoneOption, jobs, ks, tableNames);
}

Prevention

Avoid running garbagecollect concurrently with repairs or other compactions
Retry per-table to isolate and localize failures
Always check node server logs for the root cause

When it happens

Trigger: nodetool garbagecollect (or NodeProbe.garbageCollect) when the server-side CompactionManagerMBean.garbageCollect returns a non-zero status for at least one table in the given keyspace — typically the tombstone compaction task aborted or failed to mark SSTables.

Common situations: Concurrent compaction activity on the target tables; interrupted JMX task execution; a table in the keyspace unavailable mid-operation (e.g. being dropped or repaired).

Understand the failure class

Background: Database query failed: Internal Server Error 500s wrapping SQL, Prisma, and connection failures — what to check first — this error's family across 16 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apache/cassandra@88fd0f6a0e (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6eae7c9c007a4542. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/NodeProbe.java:503

    {
        switch (job.perform())
        {
            case 1:
                out.printf("Aborted %s for at least one table in keyspace %s, check server logs for more information.\n",
                           jobName, ks);
                break;
            case 2:
                out.printf("Failed marking some sstables compacting in keyspace %s, check server logs for more information.\n", ks);
                throw new RuntimeException(String.format("Failed marking some sstables compacting in keyspace %s, check server logs for more information.\n", ks));
        }
    }

    public void garbageCollect(PrintStream out, String tombstoneOption, int jobs, String keyspaceName, String... tableNames) throws IOException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException
    {
        if (garbageCollect(tombstoneOption, jobs, keyspaceName, tableNames) != 0)
        {
            out.println("Aborted garbage collection for at least one table in keyspace " + keyspaceName + ", check server logs for more information.");
            throw new RuntimeException("Aborted garbage collection for at least one table in keyspace " + keyspaceName + ", check server logs for more information.");
        }
    }

    public void userDefinedGarbageCollect(PrintStream out, String tombstoneOption, int jobs, List<String> userDefinedTables) throws IOException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException
    {
        if (userDefinedGarbageCollect(tombstoneOption, jobs, userDefinedTables) != 0)
        {
            out.println("Aborted garbage collection for at least one table, check server logs for more information.");
            throw new RuntimeException("Aborted garbage collection for at least one table, check server logs for more information.");
        }
    }

    public void forceUserDefinedCompaction(String datafiles) throws IOException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException
    {
        compactionProxy.forceUserDefinedCompaction(datafiles);
    }

    public void forceKeyspaceCompaction(boolean splitOutput, int parallelism, String keyspaceName, String... tableNames) throws IOException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException

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