apache/hadoop · error · IOException

Option '-moveToLocal' is not implemented yet.

Error message

Option '-moveToLocal' is not implemented yet.

What it means

MoveToLocal.processOptions (MoveCommands.java:91) unconditionally throws IOException('Option -moveToLocal is not implemented yet.') before any argument is processed. The remote-to-local move command has never been implemented; its DESCRIPTION is literally 'Not implemented yet'.

Source

Thrown at hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/shell/MoveCommands.java:91

        // we have no way to know the actual error...
        PathIOException e = new PathIOException(src.toString());
        e.setOperation("remove");
        throw e;
      }
    }
  }

  /**
   *  Move remote files to a local filesystem
   */
  public static class MoveToLocal extends FsCommand { 
    public static final String NAME = "moveToLocal";
    public static final String USAGE = "<src> <localdst>";
    public static final String DESCRIPTION = "Not implemented yet";

    @Override
    protected void processOptions(LinkedList<String> args) throws IOException {
      throw new IOException("Option '-moveToLocal' is not implemented yet.");
    }
  }

  /** move/rename paths on the same filesystem */
  public static class Rename extends CommandWithDestination {
    public static final String NAME = "mv";
    public static final String USAGE = "<src> ... <dst>";
    public static final String DESCRIPTION = 
      "Move files that match the specified file pattern <src> " +
      "to a destination <dst>.  When moving multiple files, the " +
      "destination must be a directory.";

    @Override
    protected void processOptions(LinkedList<String> args) throws IOException {
      CommandFormat cf = new CommandFormat(2, Integer.MAX_VALUE);
      cf.parse(args);
      getRemoteDestination(args);
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to 2add963021)

Solutions

  1. Replace with 'hadoop fs -get <src> <localdst>' followed by 'hadoop fs -rm <src>'
  2. For HDFS-specific work use 'hdfs dfs -get' plus 'hdfs dfs -rm -skipTrash <src>' if trash should be bypassed
  3. Wrap in a shell function if you want a moveToLocal-style verb: movetolocal() { hadoop fs -get "$1" "$2" && hadoop fs -rm "$1"; }

Example fix

# before
hadoop fs -moveToLocal /data/app.log /tmp/
# moveToLocal: Option '-moveToLocal' is not implemented yet.

# after
hadoop fs -get /data/app.log /tmp/ && hadoop fs -rm /data/app.log
Defensive patterns

Strategy: fallback

Validate before calling

# guard in wrappers: reject moveToLocal before it runs
if [[ "$1" == "-moveToLocal" ]]; then echo "not implemented; use get + rm"; exit 2; fi

Try / catch

catch (IOException e) when message contains 'not implemented yet' -> fall back to 'hadoop fs -get' followed by 'hadoop fs -rm'

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Any invocation of 'hadoop fs -moveToLocal <src> <localdst>' regardless of arguments — the throw happens in processOptions for every call.

Common situations: Operators assuming symmetry with -moveFromLocal; scripts copied from documentation of other tools; porting workflows that used 'hadoop fs -get' and expecting the source to be removed.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apache/hadoop@2add963021 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9385f5c04d70c7b1. Report an issue: GitHub.