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/FSDirStatAndListingOp.java:314

  /**
   * Get a listing of all the snapshots of a snapshottable directory
   */
  private static DirectoryListing getSnapshotsListing(
      FSDirectory fsd, INodesInPath iip, byte[] startAfter)
      throws IOException {
    Preconditions.checkState(fsd.hasReadLock());
    Preconditions.checkArgument(iip.isDotSnapshotDir(),
        "%s does not end with %s",
        iip.getPath(), HdfsConstants.SEPARATOR_DOT_SNAPSHOT_DIR);
    // drop off the null .snapshot component
    iip = iip.getParentINodesInPath();
    final String dirPath = iip.getPath();
    final INode node = iip.getLastINode();
    final INodeDirectory dirNode = INodeDirectory.valueOf(node, dirPath);
    final DirectorySnapshottableFeature sf = dirNode.getDirectorySnapshottableFeature();
    if (sf == null) {
      throw new SnapshotException(
          "Directory is not a snapshottable directory: " + dirPath);
    }
    final ReadOnlyList<Snapshot> snapshots = sf.getSnapshotList();
    int skipSize = ReadOnlyList.Util.binarySearch(snapshots, startAfter);
    skipSize = skipSize < 0 ? -skipSize - 1 : skipSize + 1;
    int numOfListing = Math.min(snapshots.size() - skipSize, fsd.getLsLimit());
    final HdfsFileStatus listing[] = new HdfsFileStatus[numOfListing];
    for (int i = 0; i < numOfListing; i++) {
      Snapshot.Root sRoot = snapshots.get(i + skipSize).getRoot();
      listing[i] = createFileStatus(fsd, iip, sRoot,
          HdfsConstants.BLOCK_STORAGE_POLICY_ID_UNSPECIFIED, false, false);
    }
    return new DirectoryListing(
        listing, snapshots.size() - skipSize - numOfListing);
  }

  /**
   * Get a listing of the /.reserved directory.

View on GitHub (pinned to 2add963021)

Solutions

1. Enable snapshot capability on the directory with 'hdfs dfsadmin -allowSnapshot <path>' first.
2. Run the snapshot operation against a snapshottable directory.

When it happens

Trigger: Requesting a snapshot diff listing for a directory that is not snapshottable.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/hadoop@2add963021 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/60c70a4af2fdc667. Report an issue: GitHub.