hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · JndiException

Unable to open InitialContext

Error message

Unable to open InitialContext

What it means

Error "Unable to open InitialContext" thrown in hibernate/hibernate-orm.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/engine/jndi/internal/JndiServiceImpl.java:105

		final var initialContext = buildInitialContext();
		final Name name = parseName( jndiName, initialContext );
		try {
			return initialContext.lookup( name );
		}
		catch ( NamingException e ) {
			throw new JndiException( "Unable to lookup JNDI name [" + jndiName + "]", e );
		}
		finally {
			cleanUp( initialContext );
		}
	}

	private InitialContext buildInitialContext() {
		try {
			return initialContextSettings.size() == 0 ? new InitialContext() : new InitialContext( initialContextSettings );
		}
		catch ( NamingException e ) {
			throw new JndiException( "Unable to open InitialContext", e );
		}
	}

	private Name parseName(String jndiName, Context context) {
		try {
			final URI uri = new URI( jndiName );
			final String scheme = uri.getScheme();
			if ( scheme != null && (! allowedScheme( scheme ) ) ) {
				throw new JndiException( "JNDI lookups for scheme '" + scheme + "' are not allowed" );
			}
		}
		catch (URISyntaxException e) {
			//Ok
		}
		try {
			return context.getNameParser( "" ).parse( jndiName );
		}
		catch ( InvalidNameException e ) {

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

1. Ensure a JNDI provider is available and the environment properties are correct
2. Run in a container that provides an InitialContext or configure one explicitly

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/engine/jndi/internal/JndiServiceImpl.java:105 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8e1efff0c9ea7852. Report an issue: GitHub.