apache/hadoop · error · SnapshotException

The directory {} cannot be deleted since {} is snapshottable

Error message

The directory {} cannot be deleted since {} is snapshottable and already has snapshots

What it means

Error "The directory {} cannot be deleted since {} is snapshottable and already has snapshots" thrown in apache/hadoop.

Source

Thrown at hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSDirSnapshotOp.java:339

  /**
   * Check if the given INode (or one of its descendants) is snapshottable and
   * already has snapshots.
   *
   * @param target The given INode
   * @param snapshottableDirs The list of directories that are snapshottable
   *                          but do not have snapshots yet
   */
  private static void checkSnapshot(
      INode target, List<INodeDirectory> snapshottableDirs)
      throws SnapshotException {
    if (target.isDirectory()) {
      INodeDirectory targetDir = target.asDirectory();
      DirectorySnapshottableFeature sf = targetDir
          .getDirectorySnapshottableFeature();
      if (sf != null) {
        if (sf.getNumSnapshots() > 0) {
          String fullPath = targetDir.getFullPathName();
          throw new SnapshotException("The directory " + fullPath
              + " cannot be deleted since " + fullPath
              + " is snapshottable and already has snapshots");
        } else {
          if (snapshottableDirs != null) {
            snapshottableDirs.add(targetDir);
          }
        }
      }
      for (INode child : targetDir.getChildrenList(Snapshot.CURRENT_STATE_ID)) {
        checkSnapshot(child, snapshottableDirs);
      }
    }
  }

  /**
   * Check if the given path (or one of its descendants) is snapshottable and
   * already has snapshots.
   *

View on GitHub (pinned to 2add963021)

Solutions

1. Delete all snapshots of the directory first (hdfs dfs -deleteSnapshot) then disallow snapshots and delete it.

When it happens

Trigger: Deleting a snapshottable directory that already has snapshots; the snapshots must be deleted first.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/hadoop@2add963021 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/33e5c94ebbcf4e7a. Report an issue: GitHub.