apache/cassandra · error · java.lang.IllegalArgumentException

Error: Can not sort by host when there is not…

Error message

Error: Can not sort by host when there is not -r/--resolve-ip flag used.

What it means

nodetool status can sort by host/IP only when the -r/--resolve-ip flag is used; without resolution the display shows DNS names or the internal format does not permit host-based ordering. Status.execute() prints the message to stderr and throws IllegalArgumentException.

Solutions

1. Add -r/--resolve-ip to the command together with -s host.
2. Choose a different sort key (id, address, load, own, token).
3. Update scripts to always pass -r when sorting by host.

Example fix

// before
nodetool status -s host
// after
nodetool status -r -s host

if (sortKey === 'host' && !args.includes('-r')) args.push('-r');

try { runStatus(args); } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) { if (e.getMessage().contains("Can not sort by host")) { args.push('-r'); retry(); } else throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: Running `nodetool status -s host` without -r, e.g. `nodetool status keyspace1 -s host`.

Common situations: Users asking for IP-sorted output while the node is displaying hostnames because -r was omitted.

Understand the failure class

Background: "--flag is required" and "must specify" CLI errors: how missing-required-flag validation works and how to fix it — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• argument for sort must be one of
• argument for top must be a positive integer.
• arguments for -F are json,yaml only.
• arguments for -F are json,yaml only.
• arguments for -F are json,yaml only.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/cassandra@88fd0f6a0e (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c04a5b8fc417fc99. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/nodetool/Status.java:154

        if (hostIDMap.size() < nodesOfTokens)
            isTokenPerNode = false;

        if (sortBy == null)
        {
            if (isTokenPerNode)
                sortBy = SortBy.token;
            else
                sortBy = SortBy.id;
        }
        else if (!isTokenPerNode && sortBy == SortBy.token)
        {
            errOut.printf("%nError: Can not sort by token when there is not token per node.%n");
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Error: Can not sort by token when there is not token per node.");
        }
        else if (!resolveIp && sortBy == SortBy.host)
        {
            errOut.printf("%nError: Can not sort by host when there is not -r/--resolve-ip flag used.%n");
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Error: Can not sort by host when there is not -r/--resolve-ip flag used.");
        }

        // Datacenters
        for (Map.Entry<String, SetHostStatWithPort> dc : dcs.entrySet())
        {
            TableBuilder tableBuilder = sharedTable.next();
            addNodesHeader(hasEffectiveOwns, tableBuilder);

            ArrayListMultimap<InetAddressAndPort, HostStatWithPort> hostToTokens = ArrayListMultimap.create();
            for (HostStatWithPort stat : dc.getValue())
                hostToTokens.put(stat.endpointWithPort, stat);

            Map<String, List<Object>> data = new HashMap<>();
            for (InetAddressAndPort endpoint : hostToTokens.keySet())
            {
                Float owns = ownerships.get(endpoint.getHostAddressAndPort());
                List<HostStatWithPort> tokens = hostToTokens.get(endpoint);

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