apache/cassandra · error · ConfigurationException

Failed to instantiate sstable format

Error message

Failed to instantiate sstable format '%s'

What it means

After validating format options, DatabaseDescriptor invokes each registered format Supplier to instantiate the SSTableFormat; any RuntimeException or Error thrown by the supplier is wrapped in this ConfigurationException naming the format. This converts provider-construction failures (bad option values, missing classes, internal errors) into a single startup-time config error.

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped cause (ex) in the stack trace to see why the format's constructor failed
2. Fix or remove the offending sstable_formats.options entry for that format in cassandra.yaml
3. Restore missing dependency jars or use a format version compatible with your Cassandra version

Example fix

// before (cassandra.yaml)
sstable_formats:
  options:
    bti:
      target_segment_size: "not-a-number"
// after
sstable_formats:
  options:
    bti:
      target_segment_size: 64MiB

try { DatabaseDescriptor.daemonInitialization(); }
catch (ConfigurationException e) {
    log.error("SSTable format init failed: {}", e.getMessage(), e.getCause()); // inspect cause
}

When it happens

Trigger: A registered format's Supplier.get() throws while applying its configured options, e.g. invalid sstable_formats.options value for the format, NoClassDefFoundError from a missing dependency jar, or an assertion/internal error inside the format's constructor.

Common situations: Misconfigured format-specific options in cassandra.yaml; incomplete deployment missing a format's dependency classes; incompatible format implementation against the running Cassandra version throwing during init.

Related errors

• Multiple sstable format implementations with the same name
• 3
• Can not initialize CMS without any seeds
• Cannot create CompressionParams for stored parameters
• Cannot find configured row cache provider class

AI-assisted analysis of apache/cassandra@88fd0f6a0e (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6bb109ecdb9e34bd. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java:2010

    }

    private static void applySSTableFormats(Iterable<SSTableFormat.Factory> factories, Config.SSTableConfig sstableFormatsConfig)
    {
        if (sstableFormats != null)
            return;

        validateSSTableFormatFactories(factories);
        ImmutableMap<String, Supplier<SSTableFormat<?, ?>>> providers = validateAndMatchSSTableFormatOptions(factories, sstableFormatsConfig.format);

        ImmutableMap.Builder<String, SSTableFormat<?, ?>> sstableFormatsBuilder = ImmutableMap.builder();
        providers.forEach((name, provider) -> {
            try
            {
                sstableFormatsBuilder.put(name, provider.get());
            }
            catch (RuntimeException | Error ex)
            {
                throw new ConfigurationException(String.format("Failed to instantiate sstable format '%s'", name), ex);
            }
        });
        sstableFormats = sstableFormatsBuilder.build();

        selectedSSTableFormat = getAndValidateWriteFormat(sstableFormats, sstableFormatsConfig.selected_format);

        sstableFormats.values().forEach(SSTableFormat::allComponents); // make sure to reach all supported components for a type so that we know all of them are registered
        logger.info("Supported sstable formats are: {}", sstableFormats.values().stream().map(f -> f.name() + " -> " + f.getClass().getName() + " with singleton components: " + f.allComponents()).collect(Collectors.joining(", ")));
    }

    /**
     * Computes the sum of the 2 specified positive values returning {@code Long.MAX_VALUE} if the sum overflow.
     *
     * @param left  the left operand
     * @param right the right operand
     * @return the sum of the 2 specified positive values of {@code Long.MAX_VALUE} if the sum overflow.
     */
    private static long saturatedSum(long left, long right)

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