elastic/elasticsearch · error · GradleException

Unable to read from file ${path}

Error message

Unable to read from file ${path}

What it means

Thrown as GradleException by assertLinesInFile()'s catch(IOException) block when Files.readAllLines(path) fails for the file being checked. This is the I/O-failure counterpart to the line-mismatch error: the file exists (or doesn't) but cannot be read — missing file, permission denied, or encoding error.

Source

Thrown at build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/InternalDistributionArchiveCheckPlugin.java:207

            t.eachFile(fileCopyDetails -> assertNoClassFile(fileCopyDetails.getFile()));
        });
    }

    private static void assertLinesInFile(Path path, List<String> expectedLines) {
        try {
            final List<String> actualLines = Files.readAllLines(path);
            int line = 0;
            for (final String expectedLine : expectedLines) {
                final String actualLine = actualLines.get(line);
                if (expectedLine.equals(actualLine) == false) {
                    throw new GradleException(
                        "expected line [" + (line + 1) + "] in [" + path + "] to be [" + expectedLine + "] but was [" + actualLine + "]"
                    );
                }
                line++;
            }
        } catch (IOException ioException) {
            throw new GradleException("Unable to read from file " + path, ioException);
        }
    }

    private static void assertNoClassFile(File file) {
        if (file.getName().endsWith(".class")) {
            throw new GradleException("Detected class file in distribution ('" + file.getName() + "')");
        }
    }

    private Object distTaskOutput(TaskProvider<Task> buildDistTask) {
        return new Callable<File>() {
            @Override
            public File call() {
                return buildDistTask.get().getOutputs().getFiles().getSingleFile();
            }

            @Override
            public String toString() {

View on GitHub (pinned to db6a809a66)

Solutions

1. Verify the file at the reported path actually exists after checkExtraction — re-run the distribution build if incomplete.
2. Check the path resolution logic in registerCheckNoticeTask/registerCheckLicenseTask for version-mismatch in 'elasticsearch-' + VersionProperties.getElasticsearch().
3. Ensure checkExtraction depends on the build task and ran successfully.
4. Inspect file permissions and encoding of the extracted file.

Example fix

// before: path resolves to non-existent elasticsearch-9.0.0/NOTICE.txt
// because VersionProperties.getElasticsearch() doesn't match archive name

// after: confirm the version string matches the archive directory name
String ver = VersionProperties.getElasticsearch();
Path notice = extractionDir.resolve("elasticsearch-" + ver + "/NOTICE.txt");
if (Files.exists(notice) == false) {
  throw new IllegalStateException("NOTICE.txt missing; archive dir mismatch: " + notice);
}

Path p = noticePath.get();
if (Files.exists(p) == false) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("File missing before check: " + p);
}
if (Files.isReadable(p) == false) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("File not readable: " + p);
}

try {
    assertLinesInFile(path, expectedLines);
} catch (GradleException e) {
    // includes IOException-wrapped message
    throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: The try block at line 194 calls Files.readAllLines(path). If path doesn't exist, isn't readable, or contains malformed UTF-8, an IOException is thrown and wrapped at line 207. Typically fires when checkExtraction didn't extract the expected file (distribution build incomplete) or the path resolves incorrectly.

Common situations: The distribution archive was built incompletely (NOTICE.txt or LICENSE.txt missing from the archive); extraction directory was cleaned between build and check; path resolution bug in the noticePath/licensePathProvider mapping; file permissions on CI agent.

Related errors

• Cannot load VersionPropertiesBuildService
• Cannot resolve minimum compiler version via VersionPropertie
• unable to read the git revision
• Cannot read ${f} to check for duplicate license headers
• Cannot generate license header report for ${path}

AI-assisted analysis of elastic/elasticsearch@db6a809a66 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3985dee044b806bf. Report an issue: GitHub.