apache/cassandra · error

Key %s in sstable %s not owned by local ranges %s

Error message

Key %s in sstable %s not owned by local ranges %s

What it means

During nodetool verify, verifySSTable validates every key in the sstable's index against the token ranges this node owns (rangeOwnHelper.validate). A key outside local ranges is warned (with the key, sstable, and owned ranges), recorded, and — per verify's fail-fast policy — marked and the original Throwable rethrown at the end, making verification fail. It detects misplaced sstable data, often after topology changes or misrestored files.

Source

Thrown at src/java/org/apache/cassandra/io/sstable/format/SortedTableVerifier.java:311

                DecoratedKey key = null;
                try
                {
                    key = sstable.decorateKey(ByteBufferUtil.readWithShortLength(dataFile));
                }
                catch (Throwable th)
                {
                    markAndThrow(th);
                }

                if (options.checkOwnsTokens && ownedRanges.size() > 0 && !(cfs.getPartitioner() instanceof LocalPartitioner))
                {
                    try
                    {
                        rangeOwnHelper.validate(key);
                    }
                    catch (Throwable t)
                    {
                        outputHandler.warn(t, "Key %s in sstable %s not owned by local ranges %s", key, sstable, ownedRanges);
                        markAndThrow(t);
                    }
                }

                ByteBuffer currentIndexKey = indexIterator.key();
                long nextRowPositionFromIndex = 0;
                try
                {
                    nextRowPositionFromIndex = indexIterator.advance()
                                               ? indexIterator.dataPosition()
                                               : dataFile.length();
                }
                catch (Throwable th)
                {
                    markAndThrow(th);
                }

                long dataStart = dataFile.getFilePointer();

View on GitHub (pinned to 88fd0f6a0e)

Solutions

1. Remove or relocate the misplaced sstable (nodetool decommission/cleanup semantics): run nodetool cleanup to drop keys not owned locally
2. If the sstable was restored from another node, restore from a snapshot belonging to this node instead
3. Check cassandra.yaml token configuration (initial_token, num_tokens) matches the ring; run a full ring repair after topology changes
4. Re-run nodetool verify after cleanup to confirm the ring is consistent

Example fix

// operator fix, not code
nodetool cleanup   # drop keys this node no longer owns
nodetool verify    # re-check

// Before verify, confirm node ownership covers sstable tokens:
for (DecoratedKey k : sampledKeys) {
    if (!StorageService.instance.getLocalRanges(keyspace).stream()
            .anyMatch(r -> r.contains(k.getToken())))
        throw new IllegalStateException("Key " + k + " not owned locally; run nodetool cleanup");
}

try { verifier.verify(sstable); } catch (Throwable t) { logger.error("verify failed: sstable holds out-of-range keys", t); scheduleCleanup(); }

When it happens

Trigger: Running nodetool verify (with extended verification) on a node where an sstable contains a key whose token is not in the node's current local ranges; validate() throws and markAndThrow(t) schedules the failure.

Common situations: Sstables copied/restored from another node or datacenter; token/ring changes after bootstrapping, decommissioning, or a wrong initial_token/num_tokens config; running verify on a node whose ownership shifted mid-operation.

Understand the failure class

Background: "This is a bug, please report it": internal invariant violations, unreachable panics, and SNH errors explained — this error's family across 47 libraries.

Related errors

• Index summary component of sstable
• Error occurred during verifying
• SSTable format name in %s cannot be null
• SSTable format name for %s must be non-empty, lower-case let
• Multiple sstable format implementations with the same name %

AI-assisted analysis of apache/cassandra@88fd0f6a0e (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/26d85479f0cebbdf. Report an issue: GitHub.