apache/rocketmq · error · AuthenticationException

The user is not exist

Error message

The user is not exist

What it means

Admin operation updateUser was rejected because getUser(username) returned null - you cannot update a user that does not exist. The manager patches the stored record field-by-field, so it requires the old record to be present.

Source

Thrown at auth/src/main/java/org/apache/rocketmq/auth/authentication/manager/AuthenticationMetadataManagerImpl.java:122

                if (old != null) {
                    throw new AuthenticationException("The user is existed");
                }
                return this.getAuthenticationMetadataProvider().createUser(user);
            });
        } catch (Exception e) {
            this.handleException(e, result);
        }
        return result;
    }

    @Override
    public CompletableFuture<Void> updateUser(User user) {
        CompletableFuture<Void> result = new CompletableFuture<>();
        try {
            this.validate(user, false);
            result = this.getAuthenticationMetadataProvider().getUser(user.getUsername()).thenCompose(old -> {
                if (old == null) {
                    throw new AuthenticationException("The user is not exist");
                }
                if (StringUtils.isNotBlank(user.getPassword())) {
                    old.setPassword(user.getPassword());
                }
                if (user.getUserType() != null) {
                    old.setUserType(user.getUserType());
                }
                if (user.getUserStatus() != null) {
                    old.setUserStatus(user.getUserStatus());
                }
                return this.getAuthenticationMetadataProvider().updateUser(old);
            });
        } catch (Exception e) {
            this.handleException(e, result);
        }
        return result;
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to 293f588571)

Solutions

  1. Create the user first with createUser if it should exist.
  2. Verify the exact username with listUser/getUser before updating.
  3. In concurrent admin flows, re-check existence immediately before the update or use the returned error to re-drive creation.

Example fix

// before
authManager.updateUser(User.of("alice", "newPw")); // alice never created

// after
authManager.getUser("alice")
    .thenCompose(existing -> existing == null
        ? authManager.createUser(User.of("alice", "newPw"))
        : authManager.updateUser(User.of("alice", "newPw")));
Defensive patterns

Strategy: fallback

Validate before calling

authManager.getUser(username)
    .thenCompose(existing -> existing == null
        ? authManager.createUser(user)   // create-if-missing
        : authManager.updateUser(user));

Try / catch

catch (AuthenticationException e) { if message contains "user is not exist" -> fall back to createUser with the intended attributes, then re-apply the update. }

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling updateUser / mqadmin updateUser for a username never created, or one that was deleted concurrently (e.g. between a list and the update).

Common situations: Provisioning scripts assuming a default user exists; typos in the username; race where another admin deleted the user; wrong metadata store pointed at.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apache/rocketmq@293f588571 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/91b7e3f8a65a6bb4. Report an issue: GitHub.