apache/hadoop · error · IllegalArgumentException

The number of map tasks ${maps} exceeded limit ${maxMaps}

Error message

The number of map tasks ${maps} exceeded limit ${maxMaps}

What it means

Error "The number of map tasks ${maps} exceeded limit ${maxMaps}" thrown in apache/hadoop.

Source

Thrown at hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/JobSubmitter.java:208

        conf.setInt(MRJobConfig.MR_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS, 1);
        LOG.warn("Max job attempts set to 1 since encrypted intermediate" +
                "data spill is enabled");
      }

      copyAndConfigureFiles(job, submitJobDir);

      Path submitJobFile = JobSubmissionFiles.getJobConfPath(submitJobDir);
      
      // Create the splits for the job
      LOG.debug("Creating splits at " + jtFs.makeQualified(submitJobDir));
      int maps = writeSplits(job, submitJobDir);
      conf.setInt(MRJobConfig.NUM_MAPS, maps);
      LOG.info("number of splits:" + maps);

      int maxMaps = conf.getInt(MRJobConfig.JOB_MAX_MAP,
          MRJobConfig.DEFAULT_JOB_MAX_MAP);
      if (maxMaps >= 0 && maxMaps < maps) {
        throw new IllegalArgumentException("The number of map tasks " + maps +
            " exceeded limit " + maxMaps);
      }

      // write "queue admins of the queue to which job is being submitted"
      // to job file.
      String queue = conf.get(MRJobConfig.QUEUE_NAME,
          JobConf.DEFAULT_QUEUE_NAME);
      AccessControlList acl = submitClient.getQueueAdmins(queue);
      conf.set(toFullPropertyName(queue,
          QueueACL.ADMINISTER_JOBS.getAclName()), acl.getAclString());

      // removing jobtoken referrals before copying the jobconf to HDFS
      // as the tasks don't need this setting, actually they may break
      // because of it if present as the referral will point to a
      // different job.
      TokenCache.cleanUpTokenReferral(conf);

      if (conf.getBoolean(

View on GitHub (pinned to 2add963021)

Solutions

1. Reduce the number of input splits/maps (larger split size) or raise mapreduce.job.max.map / the configured map limit.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/JobSubmitter.java:208 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/hadoop@2add963021 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2b7aa68f2f44490f. Report an issue: GitHub.