apache/hadoop · error · InconsistentFSStateException

file VERSION is invalid.

Error message

file VERSION is invalid.

What it means

setBlockPoolID found blockpoolID null or empty while reading the block pool's VERSION file — thrown as InconsistentFSStateException('file VERSION is invalid.'). The storage metadata is unusable because the pool identity is missing.

Source

Thrown at hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/BlockPoolSliceStorage.java:329

  /**
   * Set layoutVersion, namespaceID and blockpoolID into block pool storage
   * VERSION file
   */
  @Override
  protected void setPropertiesFromFields(Properties props, StorageDirectory sd)
      throws IOException {
    props.setProperty("layoutVersion", String.valueOf(layoutVersion));
    props.setProperty("namespaceID", String.valueOf(namespaceID));
    props.setProperty("blockpoolID", blockpoolID);
    props.setProperty("cTime", String.valueOf(cTime));
  }

  /** Validate and set block pool ID */
  private void setBlockPoolID(File storage, String bpid)
      throws InconsistentFSStateException {
    if (bpid == null || bpid.equals("")) {
      throw new InconsistentFSStateException(storage, "file "
          + STORAGE_FILE_VERSION + " is invalid.");
    }
    
    if (!blockpoolID.equals("") && !blockpoolID.equals(bpid)) {
      throw new InconsistentFSStateException(storage,
          "Unexpected blockpoolID " + bpid + ". Expected " + blockpoolID);
    }
    blockpoolID = bpid;
  }
  
  @Override
  protected void setFieldsFromProperties(Properties props, StorageDirectory sd)
      throws IOException {
    setLayoutVersion(props, sd);
    setNamespaceID(props, sd);
    setcTime(props, sd);
    
    String sbpid = props.getProperty("blockpoolID");

View on GitHub (pinned to 2add963021)

Solutions

1. Inspect <data_dir>/<bpid>/current/VERSION for truncation
2. Restore it from backup, or reconstruct the blockpoolID line from the BP directory name (bpid == dirname)
3. If the blocks are re-replicable, delete the BP directory and let the DN re-register and format

Example fix

# BP-123456/current/VERSION after repair:
#   namespaceID=123456789
#   blockpoolID=BP-123456-10.0.0.1-50010   <- was blank
#   cTime=0
# layoutVersion=...
hdfs --daemon restart datanode

Properties p = new Properties();
try (FileInputStream in = new FileInputStream(versionFile)) { p.load(in); }
String bpid = p.getProperty("blockpoolID");
if (bpid == null || bpid.isEmpty()) {
  throw new IOException("Corrupted VERSION (empty blockpoolID): " + versionFile);
}

catch (InconsistentFSStateException e) {
  // treat as corrupt storage: quarantine the BP dir, let NN re-replicate
  quarantineBpDirAndRestart();
}

When it happens

Trigger: A truncated or empty VERSION file under <data_dir>/current/<bpid>/current/ — crash during a metadata write, disk fault, or manual editing.

Common situations: Power loss mid-upgrade; full or failing disk corrupting metadata; operators hand-editing storage files.

Related errors

• file VERSION is invalid.
• file VERSION has " + name + " missing.
• Unknown op {} in data stream
• Can't format the storage directory because the current direc
• version file in current directory is missing.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/hadoop@2add963021 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/63647d4c1ad5950b. Report an issue: GitHub.