apache/hadoop · error · NoSuchAlgorithmException

No transformation given.

Error message

No transformation given.

What it means

tokenizeTransformation() parses the cipher transformation string before the native cipher is created. A null transformation is rejected immediately with NoSuchAlgorithmException("No transformation given.") rather than causing an NPE inside the parser.

Source

Thrown at hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/crypto/OpensslCipher.java:158

  }
  
  /** Nested class for algorithm, mode and padding. */
  private static class Transform {
    final String alg;
    final String mode;
    final String padding;
    
    public Transform(String alg, String mode, String padding) {
      this.alg = alg;
      this.mode = mode;
      this.padding = padding;
    }
  }
  
  private static Transform tokenizeTransformation(String transformation) 
      throws NoSuchAlgorithmException {
    if (transformation == null) {
      throw new NoSuchAlgorithmException("No transformation given.");
    }
    
    /*
     * Array containing the components of a Cipher transformation:
     * 
     * index 0: algorithm (e.g., AES)
     * index 1: mode (e.g., CTR)
     * index 2: padding (e.g., NoPadding)
     */
    String[] parts = new String[3];
    int count = 0;
    StringTokenizer parser = new StringTokenizer(transformation, "/");
    while (parser.hasMoreTokens() && count < 3) {
      parts[count++] = parser.nextToken().trim();
    }
    if (count != 3 || parser.hasMoreTokens()) {
      throw new NoSuchAlgorithmException("Invalid transformation format: " + 
          transformation);

View on GitHub (pinned to 2add963021)

Solutions

1. Find why the transformation string is null — usually a missing configuration value — and supply it
2. Default to CipherSuite.AES_CTR_NOPADDING.getName() when the config key is unset
3. Null-check the transformation before calling getInstance and fail with a descriptive message

Example fix

// before
String suite = conf.get("my.cipher.suite"); // null if unset
Cipher c = OpensslCipher.getInstance(suite); // NoSuchAlgorithmException: No transformation given.

// after
String suite = conf.get("my.cipher.suite", CipherSuite.AES_CTR_NOPADDING.getName());
Cipher c = OpensslCipher.getInstance(suite);

// Fail fast on missing config
String suite = conf.get("hadoop.security.crypto.cipher.suite");
if (suite == null) {
  suite = CipherSuite.AES_CTR_NOPADDING.getName();
}
Cipher c = OpensslCipher.getInstance(suite);

public String requireTransformation(String t) {
  if (t == null || t.trim().isEmpty()) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Cipher transformation must be set");
  }
  return t;
}

try {
  cipher = OpensslCipher.getInstance(suite);
} catch (NoSuchAlgorithmException e) {
  throw new IllegalStateException("Cipher suite not configured or invalid: " + suite, e);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing a null transformation to OpensslCipher.getInstance() — typically because a configuration key holding the suite name was unset and returned null, or a variable was never initialized.

Common situations: Building the transformation from hadoop.security.crypto.cipher.suite when that key is absent and no default was applied; unit tests passing null; refactors that dropped the suite argument.

Related errors

• Doesn't support algorithm: ${algorithm} and mode: ${mode}
• Doesn't support padding: ${padding}
• Invalid transformation format: ${transformation}
• The OpenSSL native library is built without SM4 CTR support
• tokenStr cannot be null

AI-assisted analysis of apache/hadoop@2add963021 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5c8fffa44255ae07. Report an issue: GitHub.