apache/hadoop · error · PathIOException

Not a zero-length file

Error message

Not a zero-length file

What it means

Error "Not a zero-length file" thrown in apache/hadoop.

Source

Thrown at hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/shell/TouchCommands.java:74

    public static final String DESCRIPTION =
      "Creates a file of zero length " +
      "at <path> with current time as the timestamp of that <path>. " +
      "An error is returned if the file exists with non-zero length\n";

    @Override
    protected void processOptions(LinkedList<String> args) {
      CommandFormat cf = new CommandFormat(1, Integer.MAX_VALUE);
      cf.parse(args);
    }

    @Override
    protected void processPath(PathData item) throws IOException {
      if (item.stat.isDirectory()) {
        // TODO: handle this
        throw new PathIsDirectoryException(item.toString());
      }
      if (item.stat.getLen() != 0) {
        throw new PathIOException(item.toString(), "Not a zero-length file");
      }
      touchz(item);
    }

    @Override
    protected void processNonexistentPath(PathData item) throws IOException {
      if (!item.parentExists()) {
        throw new PathNotFoundException(item.toString())
            .withFullyQualifiedPath(item.path.toUri().toString());
      }
      touchz(item);
    }

    private void touchz(PathData item) throws IOException {
      item.fs.create(item.path).close();
    }
  }

View on GitHub (pinned to 2add963021)

Solutions

1. Use -touchz only to create zero-length files; the target exists and is not empty.
2. Use touch (without -z) to update timestamps of non-empty files.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown by the touchz shell command when the target path exists and is not a zero-length file.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/hadoop@2add963021 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fa69c9da2919280f. Report an issue: GitHub.