apache/cassandra · error · ConfigurationException

Invalid value for

Error message

Invalid value for 

What it means

Fired in CompressionParams.parseChunkLength: the chunk_length_in_kb value string cannot be parsed as an integer (Integer.parseInt threw), or the context requires a formatted error 'Invalid value for ' + CHUNK_LENGTH_IN_KB. A ConfigurationException is raised for a malformed compression option value in CREATE/ALTER TABLE.

Source

Thrown at src/java/org/apache/cassandra/schema/CompressionParams.java:373

     * @param chLengthKB the length of the chunk to parse
     * @return the chunk length in bytes
     * @throws ConfigurationException if the chunk size is too large
     */
    private static Integer parseChunkLength(String chLengthKB) throws ConfigurationException
    {
        if (chLengthKB == null)
            return null;

        try
        {
            int parsed = Integer.parseInt(chLengthKB);
            if (parsed > Integer.MAX_VALUE / 1024)
                throw new ConfigurationException(format("Value of %s is too large (%s)", CHUNK_LENGTH_IN_KB,parsed));
            return 1024 * parsed;
        }
        catch (NumberFormatException e)
        {
            throw new ConfigurationException("Invalid value for " + CHUNK_LENGTH_IN_KB, e);
        }
    }

    /**
     * Removes the chunk length option from the specified set of option.
     *
     * @param options the options
     * @return the chunk length value
     */
    private static int removeChunkLength(Map<String, String> options)
    {
        if (options.containsKey(CHUNK_LENGTH_IN_KB))
        {
            return parseChunkLength(options.remove(CHUNK_LENGTH_IN_KB));
        }

        return DEFAULT_CHUNK_LENGTH;
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to 88fd0f6a0e)

Solutions

1. Provide chunk_length_in_kb as a plain integer string, e.g. '64' (unit is implied, in KB)
2. Quote the value correctly in cqlsh so embedded characters are not introduced
3. Remove the option to use the default chunk length

Example fix

// before
{'class': 'LZ4Compressor', 'chunk_length_in_kb': '64kb'}
// after
{'class': 'LZ4Compressor', 'chunk_length_in_kb': '64'}

if (value == null || !value.matches("\\d+")) throw new IllegalArgumentException("chunk_length_in_kb must be an integer, got: " + value);

try { params = CompressionParams.fromMap(opts); } catch (ConfigurationException e) { log.error("unparseable chunk_length_in_kb", e); }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling removeChunkLength/fromMap with a non-numeric chunk_length_in_kb value such as '64kb', '4.5', or an empty string.

Common situations: Typing the unit inside the value ('64kb'), using a decimal, or passing a map where the value is not a plain digit string when defining or altering a table's compression options.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid ... format", "must be in format X", "does not look like a ..." — invalid argument format errors across CLI tools and libraries — this error's family across 17 libraries.

Related errors

• Value of %s is too large (%s)
• The '%s' option must not be empty. To disable compression us
• Invalid negative or null
• chunk_length_in_kb must be a power of 2
• Invalid negative min_compress_ratio

AI-assisted analysis of apache/cassandra@88fd0f6a0e (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9cb95948a1d1fd6d. Report an issue: GitHub.