nextcloud/server · error · InvalidArgumentException

User <$user> in unknown.

Error message

User <$user> in unknown.

What it means

InvalidArgumentException from the occ dav:create-calendar command when the required user argument does not exist (userExists() returns false). It aborts before constructing the principal backend and creating the calendar.

Source

Thrown at apps/dav/lib/Command/CreateCalendar.php:61

	#[\Override]
	protected function configure(): void {
		$this
			->setName('dav:create-calendar')
			->setDescription('Create a dav calendar')
			->addArgument('user',
				InputArgument::REQUIRED,
				'User for whom the calendar will be created')
			->addArgument('name',
				InputArgument::REQUIRED,
				'Name of the calendar');
	}

	#[\Override]
	protected function execute(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output): int {
		$user = $input->getArgument('user');
		if (!$this->userManager->userExists($user)) {
			throw new \InvalidArgumentException("User <$user> in unknown.");
		}
		$principalBackend = new Principal(
			$this->userManager,
			$this->groupManager,
			Server::get(IAccountManager::class),
			Server::get(\OCP\Share\IManager::class),
			Server::get(IUserSession::class),
			Server::get(IAppManager::class),
			Server::get(ProxyMapper::class),
			Server::get(KnownUserService::class),
			Server::get(IConfig::class),
			Server::get(IFactory::class),
		);
		$random = Server::get(ISecureRandom::class);
		$logger = Server::get(LoggerInterface::class);
		$dispatcher = Server::get(IEventDispatcher::class);
		$config = Server::get(IConfig::class);
		$name = $input->getArgument('name');

View on GitHub (pinned to ecdeb153ff)

Solutions

1. Look up the id with occ user:list and re-run with it
2. Pre-check occ user:info <uid> in automation
3. Prefer provisioning shares/calendars from your user directory of record rather than free-text input

Example fix

# before
occ dav:create-calendar jane.doe@example.com 'Work'
# after
occ user:list
occ dav:create-calendar jane 'Work'

#!/bin/bash
uid="$1"; name="$2"
occ user:info "$uid" >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "unknown user: $uid" >&2; exit 1; }
occ dav:create-calendar "$uid" "$name"

When it happens

Trigger: occ dav:create-calendar <user> <name> with a misspelled/deleted user id or an email address passed as the user argument.

Common situations: Automated provisioning with unvalidated user input; environments where LDAP uid differs from mail; scripts reused across instances with different user bases.

Related errors

• User <$userId> not found.
• User <$userId> not found.
• User <$user> in unknown.
• User <$user> is unknown.
• User $user is unknown

AI-assisted analysis of nextcloud/server@ecdeb153ff (2026-08-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/62c00fe0fbeba2d9. Report an issue: GitHub.