What causes "CREATE_SCHEDULE_ERROR: create schedule error" in apache/dolphinscheduler?

Check API server logs for the preceding 'Schedule create error, workflowDefinitionCode:...' entry and the underlying SQL exception from the DB; fix the datasource config in application.yaml if it's connectivity.

apache/dolphinscheduler · error · ServiceException

CREATE_SCHEDULE_ERROR

CREATE_SCHEDULE_ERROR

Error message

CREATE_SCHEDULE_ERROR: create schedule error

What it means

Thrown from the batch copy-workflow flow when copying a workflow's schedule row fails: scheduleDao.insert() returns a row count other than 1, so the copied schedule could not be persisted. It is a Spring @Transactional ServiceException, so the whole copy operation (including the already-inserted workflow definition) is rolled back. It signals a database-layer write problem or constraint violation on the t_ds_schedule table, not a user-input problem.

Source

Thrown at dolphinscheduler-api/src/main/java/org/apache/dolphinscheduler/api/service/impl/WorkflowDefinitionServiceImpl.java:1421

                        ObjectNode node = (ObjectNode) jsonNodes.path(i);
                        node.put("taskCode", taskCodeMap.get(node.get("taskCode").asLong()));
                        jsonNodes.set(i, node);
                    }
                    workflowDefinition.setLocations(JSONUtils.toJsonString(jsonNodes));
                }
                // copy timing configuration
                Schedule scheduleObj = scheduleDao.queryByWorkflowDefinitionCode(oldWorkflowDefinitionCode);
                if (scheduleObj != null) {
                    scheduleObj.setId(null);
                    scheduleObj.setUserId(loginUser.getId());
                    scheduleObj.setWorkflowDefinitionCode(workflowDefinition.getCode());
                    scheduleObj.setReleaseState(ReleaseState.OFFLINE);
                    scheduleObj.setCreateTime(date);
                    scheduleObj.setUpdateTime(date);
                    int insertResult = scheduleDao.insert(scheduleObj);
                    if (insertResult != 1) {
                        log.error("Schedule create error, workflowDefinitionCode:{}.", workflowDefinition.getCode());
                        throw new ServiceException(Status.CREATE_SCHEDULE_ERROR);
                    }
                }
                try {
                    createDagDefine(loginUser, taskRelationList, workflowDefinition, taskDefinitionLogs);
                } catch (Exception e) {
                    log.error("Copy workflow definition error, workflowDefinitionCode from {} to {}.",
                            oldWorkflowDefinitionCode, workflowDefinition.getCode(), e);
                    failedWorkflowList.add(workflowDefinition.getCode() + "[" + workflowDefinition.getName() + "]");
                }
            } else {
                log.info("Move workflow definition...");
                try {
                    updateDagDefine(loginUser, taskRelationList, workflowDefinition, null,
                            Lists.newArrayList());
                } catch (Exception e) {
                    log.error("Move workflow definition error, workflowDefinitionCode:{}.",
                            workflowDefinition.getCode(), e);
                    failedWorkflowList.add(workflowDefinition.getCode() + "[" + workflowDefinition.getName() + "]");

View on GitHub (pinned to 02eac45a1b)

Solutions

Check API server logs for the preceding 'Schedule create error, workflowDefinitionCode:...' entry and the underlying SQL exception from the DB; fix the datasource config in application.yaml if it's connectivity.
Verify t_ds_schedule schema matches the version expected by your DolphinScheduler release (run the appropriate upgrade SQL scripts).
Retry the copy once the database is healthy; the copy is transactional so no partial data remains.
If the source workflow has a stale/orphan schedule row, delete or fix it via the UI (Timing management) before copying.

Example fix

// There is no user-side code fix; operator action example:
// before: DB unreachable / schema mismatch -> insert returns != 1
// after: verify datasource & schema
./bin/start.sh  # after checking application.yaml datasource url/user and running dolphinscheduler_mysql.sql upgrades

Defensive patterns

Strategy: retry

Validate before calling

// Verify DB connectivity and that the source workflow has a schedule before copying
Schedule srcSchedule = scheduleDao.queryByWorkflowDefinitionCode(srcWorkflowCode);
if (srcSchedule != null) { /* copy will attempt a schedule insert; ensure DB is healthy */ }

Try / catch

try {
    workflowDefinitionService.copyWorkflowDefinition(...);
} catch (ServiceException e) {
    if (e.getCode() == Status.CREATE_SCHEDULE_ERROR) {
        // transaction rolled back; check DB health then retry once
    }
}

Prevention

Keep the metadata datasource (application.yaml) healthy and monitored.
Run the DolphinScheduler upgrade SQL scripts after version changes so t_ds_schedule matches the code.
Retry batch copies after transient DB failures — the copy is transactional and leaves no partial rows.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the copy-workflow-definition API (copyWorkflowDefinition) for a source workflow that HAS a schedule, when scheduleDao.insert(scheduleObj) returns 0 or -1 — e.g. DB connection failure, unique constraint collision on the new schedule row, or schema mismatch in t_ds_schedule.

Common situations: Database connectivity hiccups or failover mid-copy; a corrupted/legacy t_ds_schedule schema after upgrade; running with a read-only or misconfigured metadata DB; batch-copying many workflows when the DB pool is exhausted.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apache/dolphinscheduler@02eac45a1b (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fdbfbf6d981a683c. Report an issue: GitHub.