{"record":{"id":"9e816d8398adf51d","repo":"apache/hadoop","slug":"symlinks-not-supported-please-remove-symlink-bef-9e816d","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"Symlinks not supported - please remove symlink before upgrading to this version of HDFS","messagePattern":"Symlinks not supported - please remove symlink before upgrading to this version of HDFS","errorType":"exception","errorClass":"IOException","httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSImageFormat.java","lineNumber":846,"sourceCode":"        counter.increment();\n      }\n      final INodeDirectory dir = new INodeDirectory(inodeId, localName,\n          permissions, modificationTime);\n      if (nsQuota >= 0 || dsQuota >= 0) {\n        dir.addDirectoryWithQuotaFeature(new DirectoryWithQuotaFeature.Builder().\n            nameSpaceQuota(nsQuota).storageSpaceQuota(dsQuota).build());\n      }\n      if (withSnapshot) {\n        dir.addSnapshotFeature(null);\n      }\n      if (snapshottable) {\n        dir.addSnapshottableFeature();\n      }\n      return dir;\n    } else if (numBlocks == -2) {\n      //symlink\n      if (!FileSystem.areSymlinksEnabled()) {\n        throw new IOException(\"Symlinks not supported - please remove symlink before upgrading to this version of HDFS\");\n      }\n\n      final String symlink = Text.readString(in);\n      final PermissionStatus permissions = PermissionStatus.read(in);\n      if (counter != null) {\n        counter.increment();\n      }\n      return new INodeSymlink(inodeId, localName, permissions,\n          modificationTime, atime, symlink);\n    } else if (numBlocks == -3) {\n      //reference\n      // Intentionally do not increment counter, because it is too difficult at\n      // this point to assess whether or not this is a reference that counts\n      // toward quota.\n      \n      final boolean isWithName = in.readBoolean();\n      // lastSnapshotId for WithName node, dstSnapshotId for DstReference node\n      int snapshotId = in.readInt();","sourceCodeStart":828,"sourceCodeEnd":864,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/apache/hadoop/blob/2add9630210752f88ceb1bb74eb65e37bf41da8e/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSImageFormat.java#L828-L864","documentation":"Error \"Symlinks not supported - please remove symlink before upgrading to this version of HDFS\" thrown in apache/hadoop.","triggerScenarios":"Loading an old fsimage that contains symlinks, which this HDFS version no longer supports loading.","commonSituations":"See trigger scenarios.","solutions":["Remove symlinks from the namespace before upgrading to an HDFS version that dropped symlink support."],"exampleFix":null,"handlingStrategy":null,"validationCode":null,"typeGuard":null,"tryCatchPattern":null,"preventionTips":[],"tags":[],"backgroundTag":null,"analyzedSha":"2add9630210752f88ceb1bb74eb65e37bf41da8e","analyzedAt":"2026-08-22T19:55:07.957Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-08-23T01:17:44.959Z"}