dotnet/orleans · error · ArgumentOutOfRangeException

CompactionRowCountThreshold must be positive.

Error message

CompactionRowCountThreshold must be positive.

What it means

AzureTableJournalStorageOptions.CompactionRowCountThreshold was set to zero or a negative value. The AzureTableJournalStorageShared constructor (AzureTableJournalStorage.cs:1268) requires it to be positive because it gates IsCompactionRequested; a non-positive threshold would never trigger compaction. The argument blamed is `options`.

Source

Thrown at src/Azure/Orleans.Journaling.AzureStorage/AzureTableJournalStorage.cs:1270

    {
        public AzureTableJournalStorageShared(
            ILogger<AzureTableJournalStorage> logger,
            IOptions<AzureTableJournalStorageOptions> options,
            TableClientProvider tableClientProvider,
            AzureTableJournalStorageInstruments instruments,
            string? journalFormatKey = null)
        {
            ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(logger);
            ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(options);
            ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(tableClientProvider);

            Logger = logger;
            Options = options.Value;
            ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(Options);
            AzureTableJournalStorageOptions.ValidateTableName(Options.TableName);
            if (Options.CompactionRowCountThreshold <= 0)
            {
                throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(options), $"{nameof(AzureTableJournalStorageOptions.CompactionRowCountThreshold)} must be positive.");
            }

            if (Options.CompactionSizeThreshold <= 0)
            {
                throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(options), $"{nameof(AzureTableJournalStorageOptions.CompactionSizeThreshold)} must be positive.");
            }

            if (Options.MaxMetadataOnlyConflictRetries < 0)
            {
                throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(options), $"{nameof(AzureTableJournalStorageOptions.MaxMetadataOnlyConflictRetries)} must be non-negative.");
            }

            if (Options.MetadataOnlyConflictInitialBackoff < TimeSpan.Zero)
            {
                throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(options), $"{nameof(AzureTableJournalStorageOptions.MetadataOnlyConflictInitialBackoff)} must be non-negative.");
            }

            if (Options.MetadataOnlyConflictMaxBackoff < TimeSpan.Zero)

View on GitHub (pinned to fca799fa70)

Solutions

1. Set CompactionRowCountThreshold to a positive value (default is 10,000).
2. To effectively disable size-based compaction, set a very large threshold rather than 0.
3. Validate options in a startup IValidateOptions<T> so misconfiguration fails fast with a clear message.

Example fix

// before
options.CompactionRowCountThreshold = 0;

// after
options.CompactionRowCountThreshold = AzureTableJournalStorageOptions.DEFAULT_COMPACTION_ROW_COUNT_THRESHOLD;

if (options.CompactionRowCountThreshold <= 0)
    throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(options.CompactionRowCountThreshold), "Must be positive");

static bool IsValidCompactionRowCountThreshold(long v) => v > 0;

When it happens

Trigger: Configuring AzureTableJournalStorageOptions with CompactionRowCountThreshold <= 0; thrown during construction of AzureTableJournalStorageShared at line 1270.

Common situations: appsettings bound a missing/zero value; a deliberate attempt to disable compaction by setting 0 (use a very large threshold instead); typo in configuration key.

Related errors

• CompactionSizeThreshold must be positive.
• MaxMetadataOnlyConflictRetries must be non-negative.
• MetadataOnlyConflictInitialBackoff must be non-negative.
• MetadataOnlyConflictMaxBackoff must be non-negative.
• WEBSITE_PRIVATE_PORTS must contain at least one TCP port.

AI-assisted analysis of dotnet/orleans@fca799fa70 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1bd20d32d44de576. Report an issue: GitHub.