What causes "failed to write chaincode package to %s" in hyperledger/fabric?

Create the output directory first (mkdir -p) or pass an existing directory via --output-directory.

failed to write chaincode package to %s

Error message

failed to write chaincode package to %s

What it means

After successfully unmarshaling the package result, writePackage() failed writing the chaincode package tar.gz to disk via i.Writer.WriteFile, wrapping the OS error with the target output path. Usually a filesystem problem: bad directory, permissions, or disk full.

Source

Thrown at internal/peer/lifecycle/chaincode/getinstalledpackage.go:166

func (i *InstalledPackageGetter) writePackage(proposalResponse *pb.ProposalResponse) error {
	result := &lb.GetInstalledChaincodePackageResult{}
	err := proto.Unmarshal(proposalResponse.Response.Payload, result)
	if err != nil {
		return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to unmarshal proposal response's response payload")
	}

	outputFile := filepath.Join(i.Input.OutputDirectory, i.Input.PackageID+".tar.gz")

	dir, name := filepath.Split(outputFile)
	// translate dir into absolute path
	if dir, err = filepath.Abs(dir); err != nil {
		return err
	}

	err = i.Writer.WriteFile(dir, name, result.ChaincodeInstallPackage)
	if err != nil {
		err = errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to write chaincode package to %s", outputFile)
		logger.Error(err.Error())
		return err
	}

	return nil
}

func (i *InstalledPackageGetter) createProposal() (*pb.Proposal, error) {
	args := &lb.GetInstalledChaincodePackageArgs{
		PackageId: i.Input.PackageID,
	}

	argsBytes, err := proto.Marshal(args)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "failed to marshal args")
	}

	ccInput := &pb.ChaincodeInput{

View on GitHub (pinned to 2736b63f8f)

Solutions

Create the output directory first (mkdir -p) or pass an existing directory via --output-directory.
Check write permissions on the directory for the current user.
Verify free disk space on the target volume.
Confirm the target path is not a read-only mount.

Example fix

// before
peer lifecycle chaincode getinstalledpackage --package-id cc_1:abc --output-dir /nonexistent/dir
// after
mkdir -p /opt/packages
peer lifecycle chaincode getinstalledpackage --package-id cc_1:abc --output-dir /opt/packages

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

outDir := i.Input.OutputDirectory
if st, err := os.Stat(outDir); err != nil || !st.IsDir() {
    return fmt.Errorf("output directory %s not usable", outDir)
}
if f, err := os.OpenFile(filepath.Join(outDir, ".write-test"), os.O_CREATE|os.O_WRONLY, 0600); err == nil { f.Close() } else { return err }

Try / catch

if err := getter.Get(); err != nil {
    var pe *fs.PathError
    if errors.As(err, &pe) {
        // fix directory/permissions and retry
    }
    return err
}

Prevention

mkdir -p the output directory before running
Check disk space and mount ro/rw status
Run as a user with write access
Sanitize PackageID-derived filenames

When it happens

Trigger: Writer.WriteFile(dir, name, result.ChaincodeInstallPackage) returns an error while storing <OutputDirectory>/<PackageID>.tar.gz — directory doesn't exist, is unwritable, or the disk is full.

Common situations: --output-directory points to a nonexistent or read-only path; running as a user lacking write permission; output dir on a full or read-only mounted volume; PackageID containing characters that make an invalid filename.

Understand the failure class

Background: "failed to write file", "Could not save figure", "Error saving remote file" — file write failed: causes and fixes across languages and libraries — this error's family across 38 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of hyperledger/fabric@2736b63f8f (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0087e7a2e0b0c005. Report an issue: GitHub.