apereo/cas · warning

Unable to create folder

Error message

Unable to create folder [{}]

What it means

CasServiceRegistryInitializationConfiguration.getServiceRegistryInitializerServicesDirectoryResource materializes embedded classpath service definitions to a temp directory (java.io.tmpdir/cas). If File.mkdirs() fails and the folder does not already exist, this warning is logged; startup continues but materializing default services may fail downstream.

Solutions

1. Ensure the temp directory (java.io.tmpdir, typically /tmp) is writable by the CAS process user; set -Djava.io.tmpdir to a writable path if not.
2. Free disk space or raise the quota if tmpfs is full.
3. In containers, mount an writable emptyDir at /tmp or disable readOnlyRootFilesystem for the CAS container.

Example fix

// before (k8s container)
volumes: []
// after
volumes:
  - name: tmp
    emptyDir: {}
volumeMounts:
  - name: tmp
    mountPath: /tmp

// Startup pre-check
File tmp = new File(System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir"), "cas");
if (!tmp.exists() && !tmp.mkdirs()) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("Cannot create CAS temp dir: " + tmp + "; check java.io.tmpdir writability");
}

When it happens

Trigger: CAS startup with default/embedded JSON service registry location where new File(FileUtils.getTempDirectory(), "cas").mkdirs() fails — parent.mkdirs() returns false and parent.exists() is false; called via location() during the service registry initializer bean setup.

Common situations: Read-only or full tmp directory (readOnlyRootFilesystem in k8s, TMPDIR pointing to unwritable path); disk quota exceeded; restrictive permissions on java.io.tmpdir.

Understand the failure class

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

Related errors

• subordinate directory
• subordinate directory
• Cannot read/load from subordinate directory
• Metadata directory location cannot be located/created
• Unable to create folder

AI-assisted analysis of apereo/cas@e7288fc434 (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a768766a5de77e52. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at core/cas-server-core-services/src/main/java/org/apereo/cas/config/CasServiceRegistryInitializationConfiguration.java:122

        }

    }

    @Configuration(value = "CasServiceRegistryEmbeddedConfiguration", proxyBeanMethods = false)
    @EnableConfigurationProperties(CasConfigurationProperties.class)
    static class CasServiceRegistryEmbeddedConfiguration {
        private static Resource getServiceRegistryInitializerServicesDirectoryResource(
            final CasConfigurationProperties casProperties,
            final ConfigurableApplicationContext applicationContext) {
            val registry = casProperties.getServiceRegistry().getJson();
            if (ResourceUtils.doesResourceExist(registry.getLocation())
                || (ResourceUtils.isJarResource(registry.getLocation()) && !registry.isUsingDefaultLocation())) {
                LOGGER.debug("Using JSON service registry location [{}] for embedded service definitions", registry.getLocation());
                return registry.getLocation();
            }
            val parent = new File(FileUtils.getTempDirectory(), "cas");
            if (!parent.mkdirs() && !parent.exists()) {
                LOGGER.warn("Unable to create folder [{}]", parent);
            }
            val baseName = FilenameUtils.getBaseName(registry.getLocation().getFilename());
            val patterns = Arrays.stream(applicationContext.getEnvironment().getActiveProfiles())
                .map(profile -> String.format("classpath*:/%s/%s/*.json", baseName, profile))
                .collect(Collectors.toList());

            if (casProperties.getServiceRegistry().getCore().isInitDefaultServices()) {
                patterns.add("classpath*:/services/*.json");
            }
            LOGGER.debug("Patterns to scan for embedded service definitions: [{}]", patterns);
            ResourceUtils.exportResources(applicationContext, parent, patterns);
            LOGGER.debug("Using service registry location [{}] for embedded service definitions", parent);
            return new FileSystemResource(parent);
        }

        @RefreshScope(proxyMode = ScopedProxyMode.DEFAULT)
        @Bean
        public ServiceRegistry embeddedJsonServiceRegistry(

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