apache/pulsar · critical · RuntimeException

failed to init BookieId list

Error message

 failed to init BookieId list

What it means

BookieRackAffinityMapping.setConf calls getMetadataStore(conf); if that throws MetadataException (failed to create/connect the metadata store), setConf wraps it in a RuntimeException "... failed to init BookieId list". This makes the mapping fail fast at configuration time instead of silently serving empty rack data.

Solutions

1. Check broker logs for the underlying MetadataException and fix the metadata store URL/credentials/connectivity
2. Verify ZooKeeper or etcd is reachable from the broker (telnet the host:port)
3. Validate the metadataServiceUri scheme (metadata-store:zk:... ) and zkTimeout parseability, then restart

Example fix

// before
// metadataServiceUri=metadata-store:zk:zk-bad-host:2181/ledgers
// after
// metadataServiceUri=metadata-store:zk:zk1:2181,zk2:2181,zk3:2181/ledgers

try {
    mapping.setConf(conf);
} catch (RuntimeException e) {
    log.error("failed to init bookie rack mapping", e);
    // check connectivity to the metadata store before retry/startup
}

When it happens

Trigger: setConf() invoked (by BookKeeper loading the RackawareEnsemblePlacementPolicy config) when the metadata service URI is unreachable, malformed, or the store client cannot be created.

Common situations: ZooKeeper down or wrong address in metadataServiceUri; invalid zkTimeout value; network/firewall blocking the metadata store port; bad scheme in metadataStoreUrl during migration to the metadata-store abstraction.

Related errors

• Failed to write cookie for bookie
• Error contacting metadata store
• Error contacting with metadata store
• Error contacting zookeeper
• Error preloading next range

AI-assisted analysis of apache/pulsar@820761864e (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/477184d0ecb60646. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at pulsar-broker-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/bookie/rackawareness/BookieRackAffinityMapping.java:121

                        MetadataStoreConfig.builder()
                                .metadataStoreName(MetadataStoreConfig.METADATA_STORE)
                                .sessionTimeoutMillis(zkTimeout)
                                .build());
            } catch (MetadataStoreException e) {
                throw new MetadataException(Code.METADATA_SERVICE_ERROR, e);
            }
        }
        return store;
    }

    @Override
    public synchronized void setConf(Configuration conf) {
        super.setConf(conf);
        MetadataStore store;
        try {
            store = getMetadataStore(conf);
        } catch (MetadataException e) {
            throw new RuntimeException(METADATA_STORE_INSTANCE + " failed to init BookieId list");
        }

        bookieMappingCache = store.getMetadataCache(BookiesRackConfiguration.class);
        store.registerListener(this::handleUpdates);

        try {
            var racksWithHost = bookieMappingCache.get(BOOKIE_INFO_ROOT_PATH)
                    .thenApply(optRes -> optRes.orElseGet(BookiesRackConfiguration::new))
                    .get();

            for (var bookieMapping : racksWithHost.values()) {
                for (String address : bookieMapping.keySet()) {
                    bookieAddressListLastTime.add(BookieId.parse(address));
                }
                log.debug()
                        .attr("bookieAddressListLastTime", bookieAddressListLastTime)
                        .log("BookieRackAffinityMapping init, bookieAddressListLastTime");
            }

View on GitHub (pinned to 820761864e)