apache/hadoop · error · IllegalArgumentException

Cannot parse ssQuota: {}

Error message

Cannot parse ssQuota: {}

What it means

Thrown by dfsrouteradmin -setQuota when the token after -ssQuota cannot be parsed by StringUtils.TraditionalBinaryPrefix.string2long. That parser accepts a whole number with an optional traditional binary prefix (k, m, g, t, p, e -- e.g. 1536, 100GB, 5t) and nothing else. Fractional values, unit-only tokens, or embedded spaces make setQuota throw this IllegalArgumentException before contacting the Router.

Source

Thrown at hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-rbf/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/tools/federation/RouterAdmin.java:995

    long ssQuota = HdfsConstants.QUOTA_DONT_SET;

    String mount = parameters[i++];
    while (i < parameters.length) {
      if (parameters[i].equals("-nsQuota")) {
        i++;
        try {
          nsQuota = Long.parseLong(parameters[i]);
        } catch (Exception e) {
          throw new IllegalArgumentException(
              "Cannot parse nsQuota: " + parameters[i]);
        }
      } else if (parameters[i].equals("-ssQuota")) {
        i++;
        try {
          ssQuota = StringUtils.TraditionalBinaryPrefix
              .string2long(parameters[i]);
        } catch (Exception e) {
          throw new IllegalArgumentException(
              "Cannot parse ssQuota: " + parameters[i]);
        }
      } else {
        throw new IllegalArgumentException(
            "Invalid argument : " + parameters[i]);
      }

      i++;
    }

    if (nsQuota <= 0 || ssQuota <= 0) {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException(
          "Input quota value should be a positive number.");
    }

    if (nsQuota == HdfsConstants.QUOTA_DONT_SET &&
        ssQuota == HdfsConstants.QUOTA_DONT_SET) {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException(

View on GitHub (pinned to 2add963021)

Solutions

1. Use a whole number with an optional binary prefix: -ssQuota 1536GB, -ssQuota 5t, or plain bytes -ssQuota 1073741824
2. Replace decimal amounts with the nearest whole-unit value (1.5TB -> 1536GB)
3. Quote the argument and keep it a single token with no spaces or thousands separators
4. Verify with the usage text: hdfs dfsrouteradmin -help setQuota

Example fix

# before
hdfs dfsrouteradmin -setQuota /mount -ssQuota 1.5TB
# after
hdfs dfsrouteradmin -setQuota /mount -ssQuota 1536GB

# accept integer or integer+binary suffix (k,m,g,t,p,e), reject decimals/units-only
if ! [[ "$SS" =~ ^-?[0-9]+[kKmMgGtTpPeE]?$ ]]; then
  echo "ssQuota must be like 1536GB or 1073741824 (no decimals)" >&2; exit 2
fi

When it happens

Trigger: -setQuota /mount -ssQuota 1.5TB (decimals unsupported); -ssQuota GB (unit without a number); -ssQuota '100 GB' (space splits it into two tokens, 'GB' then fails); -ssQuota ten.

Common situations: Operators wanting '1.5 TB' and not realizing only whole numbers with binary prefixes parse; shell scripts passing unquoted or truncated values; copy-paste from spreadsheets that inserts separators (1,024).

Related errors

• Cannot parse nsQuota: {}
• Invalid argument : {}
• Input quota value should be a positive number.
• Must specify at least one of -nsQuota and -ssQuota.
• "{}" is not a valid value for a quota.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/hadoop@2add963021 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ab65852ad7f07e88. Report an issue: GitHub.