apache/cassandra · error · IllegalStateException

Not updating initial_range_tombstone_allocation_size as it…

Error message

Not updating initial_range_tombstone_allocation_size as it must be in the range [0, 1024] inclusive

What it means

setInitialRangeTombstoneListAllocationSize() is a JMX-exposed setter for the preallocation size of RangeTombstoneList structures. It throws IllegalStateException when the supplied size is outside the inclusive range [0, 1024], and does not apply the change.

Solutions

Pass an integer between 0 and 1024 inclusive (e.g., 16 or 64).
Check the current value with DatabaseDescriptor.getInitialRangeTombstoneListAllocationSize() before tuning.
If you need larger effect, tune range_tombstone_resize_factor instead, within its [1.2, 5.0] bounds.

Example fix

// before
ss.setInitialRangeTombstoneListAllocationSize(4096); // rejected
// after
ss.setInitialRangeTombstoneListAllocationSize(64);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (size < 0 || size > 1024) throw new IllegalArgumentException("size must be in [0,1024]");
ss.setInitialRangeTombstoneListAllocationSize(size);

Type guard

boolean validSize = size >= 0 && size <= 1024;

Try / catch

try { ss.setInitialRangeTombstoneListAllocationSize(size); } catch (IllegalStateException e) { log.warn("invalid size {}", size, e); }

Prevention

Validate the [0,1024] bound before calling.
Clamp scripted/computed values to the range.
Read the current value before tuning to sanity-check magnitude.
Remember this is a list size, not a byte/KB memory figure.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling StorageService.setInitialRangeTombstoneListAllocationSize(size) with size < 0 or size > 1024 via nodetool, JMX, or code.

Common situations: Typo in tuning scripts (e.g., passing a byte value like 4096 instead of a list size); copy-pasting a memory-size figure into a list-size knob; negative value from a script default.

Understand the failure class

Background: "value must be between 0 and 1" / "out of range" / "must not be negative" errors: fixing range-validation failures across open-source libraries — this error's family across 42 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apache/cassandra@88fd0f6a0e (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fd211c2fb94e5433. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java:5009

        }
        catch (ConfigurationException e)
        {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException(e.getMessage());
        }

        logger.info("Updated batch_size_warn_threshold to {}", thresholdInKiB);
    }

    public int getInitialRangeTombstoneListAllocationSize()
    {
        return DatabaseDescriptor.getInitialRangeTombstoneListAllocationSize();
    }

    public void setInitialRangeTombstoneListAllocationSize(int size)
    {
        if (size < 0 || size > 1024)
        {
            throw new IllegalStateException("Not updating initial_range_tombstone_allocation_size as it must be in the range [0, 1024] inclusive");
        }
        int originalSize = DatabaseDescriptor.getInitialRangeTombstoneListAllocationSize();
        DatabaseDescriptor.setInitialRangeTombstoneListAllocationSize(size);
        logger.info("Updated initial_range_tombstone_allocation_size from {} to {}", originalSize, size);
    }

    public double getRangeTombstoneResizeListGrowthFactor()
    {
        return DatabaseDescriptor.getRangeTombstoneListGrowthFactor();
    }

    public void setRangeTombstoneListResizeGrowthFactor(double growthFactor) throws IllegalStateException
    {
        if (growthFactor < 1.2 || growthFactor > 5)
        {
            throw new IllegalStateException("Not updating range_tombstone_resize_factor as growth factor must be in the range [1.2, 5.0] inclusive");
        }
        else

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