apache/cassandra · error · RuntimeException

Error during clearing snapshots

Error message

Error during clearing snapshots

What it means

Nodetool's ClearSnapshot wraps any IOException from the JMX call NodeProbe.clearSnapshot (which invokes StorageServiceMBean.takeSnapshot-style snapshot removal remotely) into a RuntimeException. It means the nodetool client could not communicate the clear-snapshots request to the node or the operation failed at the transport level. The snapshot data itself is not removed.

Source

Thrown at src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/nodetool/ClearSnapshot.java:129

        if (olderThanTimestamp != null)
            sb.append(" older than timestamp ").append(olderThanTimestamp);

        probe.output().out.println(sb);

        try
        {
            Map<String, Object> parameters = new HashMap<>();
            if (olderThan != null)
                parameters.put("older_than", olderThan);
            if (olderThanTimestamp != null)
                parameters.put("older_than_timestamp", olderThanTimestamp);

            probe.clearSnapshot(parameters, snapshotName, toArray(keyspaces, String.class));
        }
        catch (IOException e)
        {
            throw new RuntimeException("Error during clearing snapshots", e);
        }
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 88fd0f6a0e)

Solutions

1. Verify the node is up and JMX is reachable: `nodetool status` against the same host/port.
2. Check JMX connection settings (-p port, -u/-pw, SSL flags) in the nodetool command.
3. Inspect the wrapped cause (printed as 'Caused by') for the underlying IOException detail.
4. Retry after the node recovers; snapshot clearing is idempotent.

Example fix

// before
nodetool -h 10.0.0.5 clearsnapshot
// after
nodetool -h 10.0.0.5 -p 7199 -u jmxuser -pw jmxpass clearsnapshot  # correct port/creds

// check JMX reachability before clearing
try (JMXConnector c = JMXConnectorFactory.connect(new JMXServiceURL("service:jmx:rmi:///jndi/rmi://host:7199/jmxrmi"))) {
    c.getMBeanServerConnection().getDomains(); // probe connectivity
}

try { probe.clearSnapshot(params, name, keyspaces); }
catch (RuntimeException e) {
    Throwable cause = e.getCause();
    if (cause instanceof java.io.IOException) { /* node unreachable; alert + retry later */ }
    else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `nodetool clearsnapshot` (with optional --before-timestamp, snapshot names, or keyspaces) when the JMX connection to the node breaks or the remote call throws IOException, e.g. node down mid-command or JMX auth/SSL failure.

Common situations: JMX port (default 7199) wrong or firewalled; Cassandra node stopped or crashed while clearing snapshots; JMX remote SSL/username-password misconfiguration; connecting to a node of a mismatched Cassandra version.

Related errors

• throw new IOException(e)
• throw new IOException(e.getMessage())
• Error during list snapshot
• Could not retrieve list of stat mbeans.
• Error while refreshing system.size_estimates

AI-assisted analysis of apache/cassandra@88fd0f6a0e (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bf29d8611d9ef56d. Report an issue: GitHub.