juicedata/juicefs · error

compact [%d:%s] error: %s

Error message

compact [%d:%s] error: %s

What it means

doCompact wraps the errno returned by the metadata engine's Compact() call (issued via the internal fs layer). A non-zero errno other than EINVAL is reported as 'compact [inode:path] error: %s', meaning the compact operation failed at the metadata layer. EINVAL specifically is caught earlier and prompts an upgrade, so any message here is an unexpected engine-level failure.

Source

Thrown at cmd/compact.go:123

	if err != nil {
		logger.Fatalf("write message: %s", err)
	}

	progress := utils.NewProgress(false)
	bar := progress.AddCountBar("Compacted chunks", 0)
	_, errno := readProgress(f, func(totalChunks, currChunks uint64) {
		bar.SetTotal(int64(totalChunks))
		bar.SetCurrent(int64(currChunks))
	})

	bar.Done()
	progress.Done()

	if errno == syscall.EINVAL {
		logger.Fatalf("compact is not supported, please upgrade and mount again")
	}
	if errno != 0 {
		return fmt.Errorf("compact [%d:%s] error: %s", inode, path, errno)
	}

	logger.Infof("compact [%d:%q] success.", inode, path)
	return nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to c9a67b23e8)

Solutions

1. Re-check the target file still exists and re-run `juicefs compact`
2. Check metadata engine connectivity/health (redis-cli ping, DB logs)
3. Confirm the mounted client and metadata engine versions both support compact; upgrade juicefs if needed
4. Inspect logger output just above the error for the underlying engine error detail

Example fix

// before
err := doCompact(...) // prints 'compact [i:pkg] error: ...'
// after
if _, serr := os.Stat(mountPoint + "/" + path); serr != nil { log.Fatalf("target missing: %v", serr) }
err := doCompact(...)

test -e /mnt/jfs/$TARGET_PATH && echo ok || echo 'target missing'

if err := doCompact(...); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "not supported") { /* upgrade path */ }
    else { log.Printf("compact failed, retry later: %v", err) }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `juicefs compact <path>` on a mounted volume when the metadata engine's Compact call returns a non-zero errno (e.g. ENOENT because the inode no longer exists, EACCES, or engine-specific failures).

Common situations: Compacting a file deleted concurrently by another client; running compact against a metadata engine version lacking compact support in a way other than EINVAL; metadata backend connectivity issues mid-operation.

Understand the failure class

Background: Database query failed: Internal Server Error 500s wrapping SQL, Prisma, and connection failures — what to check first — this error's family across 16 libraries.

Related errors

• changelog is not enabled, use `juicefs config %s --changelog
• clone failed: %v
• set tier for inode %d tier:%d failed: %w
• set tier for inode %d failed: %w
• user/group quota is inconsistent, please repair it with --re

AI-assisted analysis of juicedata/juicefs@c9a67b23e8 (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/47a6d32847cb25e3. Report an issue: GitHub.