What causes "create(): Mkdirs failed to create: %s" in apache/seatunnel?

Check that the SFTP user has write permission on the parent directory printed in the message (chmod/chown on the server).

apache/seatunnel · error · IOException

create(): Mkdirs failed to create: %s

Error message

create(): Mkdirs failed to create: %s

What it means

SFTPFileSystem.create() throws this IOException when it cannot create the parent directories for the file being opened for write. Before putting the file, it calls mkdirs() on the parent path; if that returns false or the parent is null (no parent could be resolved), it fails with a formatted message naming the parent directory. It is a wrapper so the user sees which directory could not be created.

Source

Thrown at seatunnel-connectors-v2/connector-file/connector-file-sftp/src/main/java/org/apache/seatunnel/connectors/seatunnel/file/sftp/system/SFTPFileSystem.java:534

            short replication,
            long blockSize,
            Progressable progress)
            throws IOException {
        final ChannelSftp client = connect();
        try {
            Path workDir = new Path(client.pwd());
            Path absolute = makeAbsolute(workDir, f);
            if (exists(client, f)) {
                if (overwrite) {
                    delete(client, f, false);
                } else {
                    throw new IOException(String.format(E_FILE_EXIST, f));
                }
            }
            Path parent = absolute.getParent();
            if (parent == null || !mkdirs(client, parent, FsPermission.getDefault())) {
                parent = (parent == null) ? new Path("/") : parent;
                throw new IOException(String.format(E_CREATE_DIR, parent));
            }
            final String previousCwd = client.pwd();
            client.cd(parent.toUri().getPath());
            OutputStream os = client.put(f.getName());
            client.cd(previousCwd);
            return new FSDataOutputStream(os, statistics) {
                @Override
                public void close() throws IOException {
                    try {
                        super.close();
                    } finally {
                        disconnect(client);
                    }
                }
            };
        } catch (Exception e) {
            disconnectAfterFailure(client, e);
            if (e instanceof IOException) {

View on GitHub (pinned to cf67b549a7)

Solutions

Check that the SFTP user has write permission on the parent directory printed in the message (chmod/chown on the server).
Pre-create the parent directory on the SFTP server manually (mkdir -p via ssh).
Verify the output path is correct and absolute relative to the SFTP user's chroot/home; fix the configured path.
Check the SFTP server logs for the underlying mkdir failure reason.

Example fix

// before
stream = sftpFileSystem.create(new Path("sftp://host/data/out/result.txt"));
// after
Path out = new Path("sftp://host/data/out/result.txt");
sftpFileSystem.mkdirs(out.getParent()); // ensure parent exists with proper perms
stream = sftpFileSystem.create(out);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

Path parent = outPath.getParent();
if (parent == null || !sftpFs.exists(parent)) {
    sftpFs.mkdirs(parent); // or fail early with a clear message
}
if (!sftpFs.exists(parent)) throw new IOException("Cannot create parent dir: " + parent);

Try / catch

try (FSDataOutputStream out = sftpFs.create(outPath)) { ... }
catch (IOException e) {
    if (e.getMessage() != null && e.getMessage().contains("Mkdirs failed")) {
        // handle missing/forbidden parent dir
    } else throw e;
}

Prevention

Pre-create output directories with correct permissions before the job runs
Verify SFTP user write permissions on target directories
Use paths relative to the SFTP user's home/chroot consistently

When it happens

Trigger: Calling FileSystem.create() (or opening a sink that writes via this filesystem) where the parent directory chain on the SFTP server does not exist and cannot be created — typically due to missing write permission on the remote parent, or the parent path being invalid/rootless.

Common situations: Writing to a remote output path like sftp://host/data/output/result.txt when /data/output does not exist and the SFTP user lacks permission to create it; SFTP user chrooted to a directory so absolute paths like /home/user/... do not resolve; typo in configured output directory.

Understand the failure class

Background: mkdir permission denied (EACCES): failed to create directory errors explained — this error's family across 32 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apache/seatunnel@cf67b549a7 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/938996e587c4a11d. Report an issue: GitHub.