apache/hadoop · error · IOException

Directory: %s is not empty.

Error message

Directory: %s is not empty.

What it means

Error "Directory: %s is not empty." thrown in apache/hadoop.

Source

Thrown at hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/sftp/SFTPFileSystem.java:400

      fileStat = getFileStatus(channel, absolute);
    } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
      // file not found, no need to delete, return true
      return false;
    }
    if (!fileStat.isDirectory()) {
      boolean status = true;
      try {
        channel.rm(pathName);
      } catch (SftpException e) {
        status = false;
      }
      return status;
    } else {
      boolean status = true;
      FileStatus[] dirEntries = listStatus(channel, absolute);
      if (dirEntries != null && dirEntries.length > 0) {
        if (!recursive) {
          throw new IOException(String.format(E_DIR_NOTEMPTY, file));
        }
        for (int i = 0; i < dirEntries.length; ++i) {
          delete(channel, new Path(absolute, dirEntries[i].getPath()),
              recursive);
        }
      }
      try {
        channel.rmdir(pathName);
      } catch (SftpException e) {
        status = false;
      }
      return status;
    }
  }

  /**
   * Convenience method, so that we don't open a new connection when using this
   * method from within another method. Otherwise every API invocation incurs

View on GitHub (pinned to 2add963021)

Solutions

1. Delete the directory contents first, or use recursive delete (delete(path, true)).
2. Verify the directory is empty on the SFTP server before non-recursive deletion.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown by SFTPFileSystem.delete when asked to delete a directory non-recursively while it still contains entries.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/hadoop@2add963021 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1261f7f28b75c9bf. Report an issue: GitHub.