What causes "Unable to open or read \"%s\" option file. status = %s\n" in nodejs/node?

Verify the options file exists and is readable: 'ls -la' on the path printed in the error.

Unable to open or read \"%s\" option file. status = %s\n

Error message

Unable to open or read \"%s\" option file. status = %s\n

What it means

parseFlagsFile() returned a UErrorCode that is a failure other than U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR. The options file path (o->options) could not be opened or parsed. The error name from u_errorName(status) is printed, indicating the specific ICU error code.

Source

Thrown at deps/icu-small/source/tools/pkgdata/pkgdata.cpp:905

        }

#if !defined(WINDOWS_WITH_MSVC) || defined(USING_CYGWIN)
        /* Read in options file. */
        if(o->verbose) {
          fprintf(stdout, "# Reading options file %s\n", o->options);
        }
        status = U_ZERO_ERROR;
        tmpResult = parseFlagsFile(o->options, pkgDataFlags, currentBufferSize, FLAG_NAMES, static_cast<int32_t>(PKGDATA_FLAGS_SIZE), &status);
        if (status == U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR) {
            for (int32_t i = 0; i < PKGDATA_FLAGS_SIZE; i++) {
                if (pkgDataFlags[i]) {
                    uprv_free(pkgDataFlags[i]);
                    pkgDataFlags[i] = nullptr;
                }
            }
            currentBufferSize = tmpResult;
        } else if (U_FAILURE(status)) {
            fprintf(stderr,"Unable to open or read \"%s\" option file. status = %s\n", o->options, u_errorName(status));
            return -1;
        }
#endif
        if(o->verbose) {
            fprintf(stdout, "# pkgDataFlags=\n");
            for(int32_t i=0;i<PKGDATA_FLAGS_SIZE;i++) {
                fprintf(stdout, "  [%d] %s:  %s\n", i, FLAG_NAMES[i], pkgDataFlags[i]);
            }
            fprintf(stdout, "\n");
        }
#if !defined(WINDOWS_WITH_MSVC) || defined(USING_CYGWIN)
    } while (status == U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR);
#endif

    return result;
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 1b2de5e052)

Solutions

Verify the options file exists and is readable: 'ls -la' on the path printed in the error.
Ensure configure has been run to generate the options file.
Check the file content for malformed entries (each line should be NAME=VALUE format).
Look up the specific u_errorName value printed (e.g. U_FILE_ACCESS_ERROR means file not found).

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Before running pkgdata, verify the options file exists and is readable
#include <unistd.h>
#include <fcntl.h>

bool checkOptionsFile(const char* path) {
    if (access(path, R_OK) != 0) return false;
    int fd = open(path, O_RDONLY);
    if (fd < 0) return false;
    close(fd);
    return true;
}

Prevention

Run ICU configure before pkgdata to generate the options file.
Verify the options file path is correct and the file exists.
Check file permissions allow reading by the build user.

When it happens

Trigger: The options file specified by o->options (typically a Makefile.generated or pkgdatain file) doesn't exist, isn't readable, contains malformed flag entries, or parseFlagsFile encountered a parse error. Buffer overflow is handled separately (triggers a retry with larger buffer); this catch is for all other failures.

Common situations: Options file path is wrong or the file was deleted; file permissions prevent reading; the file has syntax errors in flag=value lines; running pkgdata before running configure which generates the options file.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of nodejs/node@1b2de5e052 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/edcbbfa697e46246. Report an issue: GitHub.