apache/hadoop · error · IOException

mkdirs: Pathname too long. Limit {} characters, {} levels.

Error message

mkdirs: Pathname too long.  Limit {} characters, {} levels.

What it means

Error "mkdirs: Pathname too long. Limit {} characters, {} levels." thrown in apache/hadoop.

Source

Thrown at hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNodeRpcServer.java:1173

  /**
   * Check path length does not exceed maximum.  Returns true if
   * length and depth are okay.  Returns false if length is too long 
   * or depth is too great.
   */
  private boolean checkPathLength(String src) {
    Path srcPath = new Path(src);
    return (src.length() <= MAX_PATH_LENGTH &&
            srcPath.depth() <= MAX_PATH_DEPTH);
  }
    
  @Override // ClientProtocol
  public boolean mkdirs(String src, FsPermission masked, boolean createParent)
      throws IOException {
    checkNNStartup();
    stateChangeLog.debug("*DIR* NameNode.mkdirs: {}.", src);
    if (!checkPathLength(src)) {
      throw new IOException("mkdirs: Pathname too long.  Limit " 
                            + MAX_PATH_LENGTH + " characters, " + MAX_PATH_DEPTH + " levels.");
    }
    return namesystem.mkdirs(src,
        new PermissionStatus(getRemoteUser().getShortUserName(),
            null, masked), createParent);
  }

  @Override // ClientProtocol
  public void renewLease(String clientName, List<String> namespaces)
      throws IOException {
    if (namespaces != null && namespaces.size() > 0) {
      LOG.warn("namespaces({}) should be null or empty "
          + "on NameNode side, please check it.", namespaces);
      throw new IOException("namespaces(" + namespaces
          + ") should be null or empty");
    }
    checkNNStartup();
    namesystem.renewLease(clientName);        

View on GitHub (pinned to 2add963021)

Solutions

1. Use a shorter directory path within configured limits when calling mkdirs.

When it happens

Trigger: mkdirs is called with a pathname exceeding configured character or depth limits.

Common situations: Creating very deep or long directory paths with hdfs dfs -mkdir -p.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/hadoop@2add963021 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e77231df4a09ed47. Report an issue: GitHub.