apache/hadoop · error · IOException

rename: Pathname too long. Limit {} characters, {} levels.

Error message

rename: Pathname too long.  Limit {} characters, {} levels.

What it means

Error "rename: Pathname too long. Limit {} characters, {} levels." thrown in apache/hadoop.

Source

Thrown at hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNodeRpcServer.java:1054

    checkNNStartup();
    namesystem.commitBlockSynchronization(block, newgenerationstamp,
        newlength, closeFile, deleteblock, newtargets, newtargetstorages);
  }
  
  @Override // ClientProtocol
  public long getPreferredBlockSize(String filename) 
      throws IOException {
    checkNNStartup();
    return namesystem.getPreferredBlockSize(filename);
  }
    
  @Deprecated
  @Override // ClientProtocol
  public boolean rename(String src, String dst) throws IOException {
    checkNNStartup();
    stateChangeLog.debug("*DIR* NameNode.rename: {} to {}.", src, dst);
    if (!checkPathLength(dst)) {
      throw new IOException("rename: Pathname too long.  Limit "
          + MAX_PATH_LENGTH + " characters, " + MAX_PATH_DEPTH + " levels.");
    }
    namesystem.checkOperation(OperationCategory.WRITE);
    CacheEntry cacheEntry = getCacheEntry();
    if (cacheEntry != null && cacheEntry.isSuccess()) {
      return true; // Return previous response
    }

    boolean ret = false;
    try {
      ret = namesystem.renameTo(src, dst, cacheEntry != null);
    } finally {
      RetryCache.setState(cacheEntry, ret);
    }
    if (ret) {
      metrics.incrFilesRenamed();
    }
    return ret;

View on GitHub (pinned to 2add963021)

Solutions

1. Choose a shorter destination path within the configured pathname limits for rename.

When it happens

Trigger: A rename call targets a pathname that exceeds configured character or depth limits.

Common situations: Renaming a file into a deep directory tree or to an overly long name.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/hadoop@2add963021 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8cabda643c9db0df. Report an issue: GitHub.