hyperledger/fabric · error

could not read channel create tx: %s

Error message

could not read channel create tx: %s

What it means

Returned by doInspectChannelCreateTx when os.ReadFile fails on the transaction file passed to the -inspectChannelCreateTx flag — nonexistent path or unreadable file. The failure occurs at the raw file-read stage, before envelope unmarshaling begins.

Source

Thrown at cmd/configtxgen/main.go:102

	}

	logger.Info("Parsing genesis block")
	block, err := protoutil.UnmarshalBlock(data)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("error unmarshalling to block: %s", err)
	}
	err = protolator.DeepMarshalJSON(os.Stdout, block)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("malformed block contents: %s", err)
	}
	return nil
}

func doInspectChannelCreateTx(inspectChannelCreateTx string) error {
	logger.Info("Inspecting transaction")
	data, err := os.ReadFile(inspectChannelCreateTx)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("could not read channel create tx: %s", err)
	}

	logger.Info("Parsing transaction")
	env, err := protoutil.UnmarshalEnvelope(data)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("Error unmarshalling envelope: %s", err)
	}

	err = protolator.DeepMarshalJSON(os.Stdout, env)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("malformed transaction contents: %s", err)
	}

	return nil
}

func doPrintOrg(t *genesisconfig.TopLevel, printOrg string) error {
	for _, org := range t.Organizations {

View on GitHub (pinned to 2736b63f8f)

Solutions

1. Check the file path passed to -inspectChannelCreateTx exists and is readable
2. Regenerate the channel creation tx with configtxgen if the file was lost

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cmd/configtxgen/main.go:102 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of hyperledger/fabric@2736b63f8f (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3575983b56176a99. Report an issue: GitHub.