apache/hadoop · error · IOException

Path {} is not a symbolic link

Error message

Path {} is not a symbolic link

What it means

Error "Path {} is not a symbolic link" thrown in apache/hadoop.

Source

Thrown at hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNodeRpcServer.java:1610

  }

  @Override // ClientProtocol
  public String getLinkTarget(String path) throws IOException {
    checkNNStartup();
    metrics.incrGetLinkTargetOps();
    HdfsFileStatus stat = null;
    try {
      stat = namesystem.getFileInfo(path, false, false, false);
    } catch (UnresolvedPathException e) {
      return e.getResolvedPath().toString();
    } catch (UnresolvedLinkException e) {
      // The NameNode should only throw an UnresolvedPathException
      throw new AssertionError("UnresolvedLinkException thrown");
    }
    if (stat == null) {
      throw new FileNotFoundException("File does not exist: " + path);
    } else if (!stat.isSymlink()) {
      throw new IOException("Path " + path + " is not a symbolic link");
    }
    return DFSUtilClient.bytes2String(stat.getSymlinkInBytes());
  }


  @Override // DatanodeProtocol
  public DatanodeRegistration registerDatanode(DatanodeRegistration nodeReg)
      throws IOException {
    checkNNStartup();
    verifySoftwareVersion(nodeReg);
    namesystem.registerDatanode(nodeReg);
    return nodeReg;
  }

  @Override // DatanodeProtocol
  public HeartbeatResponse sendHeartbeat(DatanodeRegistration nodeReg,
      StorageReport[] report, long dnCacheCapacity, long dnCacheUsed,
      int xmitsInProgress, int xceiverCount,

View on GitHub (pinned to 2add963021)

Solutions

1. Provide a path that is actually a symbolic link; the target is not a symlink.

When it happens

Trigger: A symlink-specific operation is invoked on a regular file or directory.

Common situations: Calling getLinkTarget or symlink metadata operations on a non-symlink path.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/hadoop@2add963021 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3bd05c6f835955de. Report an issue: GitHub.