dgraph-io/dgraph · error

while updating persisted query's type

Error message

while updating persisted query's type

What it means

This is the sibling failure in fixPersistedQuery: after updating the p_query schema, the function writes a new type entry for dgraph.graphql.persisted_query. A badger write failure on the TypeKey entry is wrapped with this message.

Source

Thrown at upgrade/change_v21.03.0.go:432

	if err := update(entry); err != nil {
		return errors.Wrap(err, "while updating persisted query's schema")
	}

	// Update the type.
	tu := pb.TypeUpdate{
		TypeName: x.AttrInRootNamespace("dgraph.graphql.persisted_query"),
		Fields:   []*pb.SchemaUpdate{&su},
	}
	data, err = proto.Marshal(&tu)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	entry = &badger.Entry{}
	entry.Key = x.TypeKey(x.AttrInRootNamespace("dgraph.graphql.persisted_query"))
	entry.Value = data
	entry.UserMeta = posting.BitSchemaPosting
	if err := update(entry); err != nil {
		return errors.Wrap(err, "while updating persisted query's type")
	}
	return nil
}

// OfflineUpgradeFrom2011To2103 upgrades a p directory restored from backup of 20.11 to the changes
// in 21.03. It fixes the cors, schema and drops the deprecated types/predicates.
func OfflineUpgradeFrom2011To2103(db *badger.DB) error {
	if err := fixPersistedQuery(db); err != nil {
		return errors.Wrapf(err, "while upgrading persisted query")
	}
	return errors.Wrapf(fixCors(db), "while upgrading cors")
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 759e242be6)

Solutions

1. Inspect the wrapped badger error and fix the underlying cause (disk space, permissions, lock).
2. Verify the server is fully stopped before running the offline upgrade so the p directory is not locked.
3. Re-restore from backup and rerun the upgrade if the type entry is corrupt.
4. Keep a pre-upgrade copy of the p directory to allow a clean retry.

Example fix

// before
df -h # disk full -> write fails
# after freeing space
dgraph upgrade offline -w v21.03.0 -d ./p

// Sanity-check write access and space before running the upgrade
if fi, err := os.Statfs(pDir); err == nil && fi.Bavail*uint64(fi.Bsize) < 1<<30 {
	log.Fatal("less than 1GB free; upgrade writes may fail")
}

func isPersistedQueryTypeWriteErr(err error) bool {
	return err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "while updating persisted query's type")
}

if err := upgrade.OfflineUpgradeFrom2011To2103(db); err != nil {
	log.Fatalf("type update failed: %+v", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: During OfflineUpgradeFrom2011To2103, badger.DB.Write fails for the entry keyed by TypeKey(dgraph.graphql.persisted_query) — e.g. disk full, DB closed, badger internal error.

Common situations: Offline migration of a 20.11 backup to 21.03; badger lock contention; storage exhaustion on the node performing the upgrade.

Related errors

• while upgrading persisted query
• Error while updating GraphQL schema.
• Error while dropping depreciated preds/types.
• while updating persisted query's schema
• while upgrading cors

AI-assisted analysis of dgraph-io/dgraph@759e242be6 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1470d5b3b1462fa1. Report an issue: GitHub.