apache/hadoop · error · IOException

Mkdirs failed to create " + file.getParentFile().toString()

Error message

Mkdirs failed to create " + file.getParentFile().toString()

What it means

In unZip(File inFile, File unzipDir), after the traversal check, file.getParentFile().mkdirs() returning false with a subsequent isDirectory()==false triggers IOException("Mkdirs failed to create <parent>"). Note this variant checks mkdirs() first and only then verifies isDirectory(), the inverse order of the stream variant — behaviorally equivalent: the parent directory for an entry could not be established. Environment failure, not archive content.

Source

Thrown at hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/FileUtil.java:846

    Enumeration<? extends ZipArchiveEntry> entries;
    ZipFile zipFile = new ZipFile(inFile);

    try {
      entries = zipFile.getEntries();
      String targetDirPath = unzipDir.getCanonicalPath() + File.separator;
      while (entries.hasMoreElements()) {
        ZipArchiveEntry entry = entries.nextElement();
        if (!entry.isDirectory()) {
          InputStream in = zipFile.getInputStream(entry);
          try {
            File file = new File(unzipDir, entry.getName());
            if (!file.getCanonicalPath().startsWith(targetDirPath)) {
              throw new IOException("expanding " + entry.getName()
                  + " would create file outside of " + unzipDir);
            }
            if (!file.getParentFile().mkdirs()) {
              if (!file.getParentFile().isDirectory()) {
                throw new IOException("Mkdirs failed to create " +
                                      file.getParentFile().toString());
              }
            }
            OutputStream out = Files.newOutputStream(file.toPath());
            try {
              byte[] buffer = new byte[8192];
              int i;
              while ((i = in.read(buffer)) != -1) {
                out.write(buffer, 0, i);
              }
            } finally {
              out.close();
            }
            if (entry.getPlatform() == ZipArchiveEntry.PLATFORM_UNIX) {
              Files.setPosixFilePermissions(file.toPath(), permissionsFromMode(entry.getUnixMode()));
            }
          } finally {
            in.close();

View on GitHub (pinned to 2add963021)

Solutions

1. Remove the blocking regular file at the parent path or choose a clean extraction directory
2. Confirm write permission and free space for unzipDir before starting
3. Run extraction with an account that owns unzipDir, or chown/chmod it appropriately
4. Retry with a fresh unique target dir per invocation

Example fix

// before
FileUtil.unZip(zipFile, new File("/srv/data")); // Mkdirs failed to create /srv/data/conf

// after
File target = Files.createDirectories(
    Paths.get("/srv/data/extract-" + System.currentTimeMillis())).toFile();
FileUtil.unZip(zipFile, target);

File target = new File("/srv/extract-" + UUID.randomUUID());
Files.createDirectories(target.toPath()); // throws precise errors on failure
FileUtil.unZip(inFile, target);

try {
  FileUtil.unZip(inFile, unzipDir);
} catch (IOException e) {
  if (e.getMessage() != null && e.getMessage().startsWith("Mkdirs failed")) {
    // inspect the named parent path: usually a stale FILE or permission denial
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: unzipDir on a read-only mount; an existing regular file where the archive needs a directory; permission denied for the extracting user; out of space/inodes.

Common situations: Extracting to system paths (/usr, /opt) without root; leftover files from earlier failed extractions; restricted container filesystems; NFS/samba mounts with wrong uid mapping.

Related errors

• Mkdirs failed to create " + parent.getAbsolutePath()
• Mkdirs failed to create " + untarDir
• Mkdirs failed to create tar internal dir " + outputDir
• Cannot create directory ${aliasMapFile}
• expanding " + entry.getName() + " would create file outside

AI-assisted analysis of apache/hadoop@2add963021 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7d2db7e53b68326e. Report an issue: GitHub.