apache/hadoop · error · IOException

No input paths specified in job

Error message

No input paths specified in job

What it means

Error "No input paths specified in job" thrown in apache/hadoop.

Source

Thrown at hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/FileInputFormat.java:218

    }
  }
  
  /**
   * List input directories.
   * Subclasses may override to, e.g., select only files matching a regular
   * expression. 
   * 
   * If security is enabled, this method collects
   * delegation tokens from the input paths and adds them to the job's
   * credentials.
   * @param job the job to list input paths for and attach tokens to.
   * @return array of FileStatus objects
   * @throws IOException if zero items.
   */
  protected FileStatus[] listStatus(JobConf job) throws IOException {
    Path[] dirs = getInputPaths(job);
    if (dirs.length == 0) {
      throw new IOException("No input paths specified in job");
    }

    // get tokens for all the required FileSystems..
    TokenCache.obtainTokensForNamenodes(job.getCredentials(), dirs, job);
    
    // Whether we need to recursive look into the directory structure
    boolean recursive = job.getBoolean(INPUT_DIR_RECURSIVE, false);

    // creates a MultiPathFilter with the hiddenFileFilter and the
    // user provided one (if any).
    List<PathFilter> filters = new ArrayList<PathFilter>();
    filters.add(hiddenFileFilter);
    PathFilter jobFilter = getInputPathFilter(job);
    if (jobFilter != null) {
      filters.add(jobFilter);
    }
    PathFilter inputFilter = new MultiPathFilter(filters);

View on GitHub (pinned to 2add963021)

Solutions

1. Add at least one input path with FileInputFormat.addInputPath(job, path) or set mapreduce.input.fileinputformat.inputdir before submitting the job.
2. Verify the configured input paths exist and are readable by the submitting user.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/FileInputFormat.java:218 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/hadoop@2add963021 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/51624d1aae49f693. Report an issue: GitHub.