hyperledger/fabric · error

filename cannot be empty

Error message

filename cannot be empty

What it means

GetConfig loads a connection profile (network configuration) from a file path; the function requires a non-empty filename. An empty string would attempt a pointless (and failing) file read, so it is rejected immediately with this sentinel error.

Source

Thrown at internal/peer/common/networkconfig.go:160

	// Certfiles root certificates for TLS validation (Comma separated path list)
	Path string `yaml:"path"`

	// Client TLS information
	Client TLSKeyPair `yaml:"client"`
}

// TLSKeyPair contains the private key and certificate for TLS encryption
// not currently used by CLI
type TLSKeyPair struct {
	Key  TLSConfig `yaml:"key"`
	Cert TLSConfig `yaml:"cert"`
}

// GetConfig unmarshals the provided connection profile into a network
// configuration struct
func GetConfig(fileName string) (*NetworkConfig, error) {
	if fileName == "" {
		return nil, errors.New("filename cannot be empty")
	}

	data, err := os.ReadFile(fileName)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "error reading connection profile")
	}

	configData := string(data)
	config := &NetworkConfig{}
	err = yaml.Unmarshal([]byte(configData), &config)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "error unmarshalling YAML")
	}

	return config, nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 2736b63f8f)

Solutions

1. Pass the path to a valid connection profile YAML/JSON file
2. Check the env var or flag feeding the fileName argument is set and non-empty
3. Verify the calling wrapper/CLI parsed the flag correctly

Example fix

// before
profilePath := os.Getenv("CONNECTION_PROFILE") // empty!
nc, err := common.GetConfig(profilePath)
// after
profilePath := os.Getenv("CONNECTION_PROFILE")
if profilePath == "" { log.Fatal("CONNECTION_PROFILE must point to a connection profile file") }
nc, err := common.GetConfig(profilePath)

if profilePath == "" {
    return errors.New("connection profile path is required")
}
if _, err := os.Stat(profilePath); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("connection profile not found: %w", err)
}

nc, err := common.GetConfig(path)
if err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "filename cannot be empty") {
        return errors.New("--connectionProfile flag or its env var was not set")
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling common.GetConfig("") — e.g. the --connectionProfile flag or path variable was never set, an env var like the connection-profile path is empty/unset.

Common situations: Forgetting --connectionProfile on peer CLI commands, an empty configPath field in a wrapper script, env var (e.g. path to the profile YAML) not exported.

Related errors

• chaincode install package must be provided
• %s is mandatory and cannot be empty
• enrollment certificate isn't a valid PEM block
• failed to decode PEM block from %s
• could not create channel %s sub-group config

AI-assisted analysis of hyperledger/fabric@2736b63f8f (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1ec022badf3fa44f. Report an issue: GitHub.