apache/cassandra · error · IllegalArgumentException

Specify only one of snapshot name or --all

Error message

Specify only one of snapshot name or --all

What it means

`nodetool clearsnapshot` treats a named snapshot and the --all flag as mutually exclusive: --all already implies deleting every snapshot, so a name alongside it is ambiguous. Supplying both throws this IllegalArgumentException.

Source

Thrown at src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/nodetool/ClearSnapshot.java:67

    @Option(paramLabel = "clear_all_snapshots", names = "--all", description = "Removes all snapshots")
    private boolean clearAllSnapshots = false;

    @Option(paramLabel = "older_than", names = "--older-than", description = "Clear snapshots older than specified time period.")
    private String olderThan;

    @Option(paramLabel = "older_than_timestamp", names = "--older-than-timestamp",
            description = "Clear snapshots older than specified timestamp. It has to be a string in ISO format, for example '2022-12-03T10:15:30Z'")
    private String olderThanTimestamp;

    @Override
    public void execute(NodeProbe probe)
    {
        if (snapshotName.isEmpty() && !clearAllSnapshots)
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Specify snapshot name or --all");

        if (!snapshotName.isEmpty() && clearAllSnapshots)
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Specify only one of snapshot name or --all");

        if (olderThan != null && olderThanTimestamp != null)
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Specify only one of --older-than or --older-than-timestamp");

        if (!snapshotName.isEmpty() && olderThan != null)
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Specifying snapshot name together with --older-than flag is not allowed");

        if (!snapshotName.isEmpty() && olderThanTimestamp != null)
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Specifying snapshot name together with --older-than-timestamp flag is not allowed");

        if (olderThanTimestamp != null)
            try
            {
                Instant.parse(olderThanTimestamp);
            }
            catch (DateTimeParseException ex)
            {
                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Parameter --older-than-timestamp has to be a valid instant in ISO format.");

View on GitHub (pinned to 88fd0f6a0e)

Solutions

  1. Use only --all to delete every snapshot
  2. Use only --snapshot <name> (repeatable per snapshot name) to delete specific ones
  3. If the goal is selective cleanup, run clearsnapshot once per snapshot name instead of adding --all

Example fix

// before
nodetool clearsnapshot --snapshot snap1 --all
// after
nodetool clearsnapshot --snapshot snap1
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if snapName && allFlag: raise SystemExit("use --snapshot OR --all, not both")

Try / catch

try { clearSnapshot(); }
catch (IllegalArgumentException e) { /* fix flags */ }

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Running `nodetool clearsnapshot --snapshot my_snap --all`.

Common situations: Scripts accumulating flags over time, users wanting 'this snapshot and all others' without realizing --all subsumes the name.

Understand the failure class

Background: "mutually exclusive" flag errors: what "can't supply both nx and xx", "--raw is not compatible with -i" and "cannot be used with" mean, and how to fix them — this error's family across 29 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apache/cassandra@88fd0f6a0e (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1f622100598edc40. Report an issue: GitHub.