apache/hadoop · error · SnapshotException

Directory is not a snapshottable directory: {}

Error message

Directory is not a snapshottable directory: {}

What it means

Error "Directory is not a snapshottable directory: {}" thrown in apache/hadoop.

Source

Thrown at hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSNamesystem.java:7167

   *                  to start from.
   * @return a list in which each entry describes a corrupt file/block
   * @throws IOException
   */
  List<String> listCorruptFileBlocksWithSnapshot(String path,
      List<String> snapshottableDirs, String[] cookieTab) throws IOException {
    final Collection<CorruptFileBlockInfo> corruptFileBlocks =
        listCorruptFileBlocks(path, cookieTab);
    List<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();

    // Precalculate snapshottableFeature list
    List<DirectorySnapshottableFeature> lsf = new ArrayList<>();
    if (snapshottableDirs != null) {
      for (String snap : snapshottableDirs) {
        final INode isnap = getFSDirectory().getINode(snap, DirOp.READ_LINK);
        final DirectorySnapshottableFeature sf =
            isnap.asDirectory().getDirectorySnapshottableFeature();
        if (sf == null) {
          throw new SnapshotException(
              "Directory is not a snapshottable directory: " + snap);
        }
        lsf.add(sf);
      }
    }

    for (CorruptFileBlockInfo c : corruptFileBlocks) {
      if (getFileInfo(c.path, true, false, false) != null) {
        list.add(c.toString());
      }
      final Collection<String> snaps = FSDirSnapshotOp
          .getSnapshotFiles(getFSDirectory(), lsf, c.path);
      if (snaps != null) {
        for (String snap : snaps) {
          // follow the syntax of CorruptFileBlockInfo#toString()
          list.add(c.block.getBlockName() + "\t" + snap);
        }
      }

View on GitHub (pinned to 2add963021)

Solutions

1. Enable snapshots on the directory first with 'hdfs dfsadmin -allowSnapshot <path>', then retry the snapshot operation.

When it happens

Trigger: A snapshot create/rename/delete operation targets a directory that has not been made snapshottable.

Common situations: Running 'hdfs dfs -createSnapshot' on a directory where allowSnapshot was never executed.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/hadoop@2add963021 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/61eebb2c7d086f62. Report an issue: GitHub.