prestodb/presto · error · PrestoException

GENERIC_SPILL_FAILURE

GENERIC_SPILL_FAILURE

Error message

Failed to create spill file: %s

What it means

Runtime error from FileSingleStreamSpiller: creating the temporary spill file on the configured spill filesystem failed (IOException wrapped). This is an environment/infrastructure failure of the spill path, not a query-logic problem; the %s names the file that could not be created.

Source

Thrown at presto-main-base/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/spiller/FileSingleStreamSpiller.java:111

        this.spillCipher = requireNonNull(spillCipher, "spillCipher is null");
        checkState(!spillCipher.isPresent() || !spillCipher.get().isDestroyed(), "spillCipher is already destroyed");
        this.spillCipher.ifPresent(cipher -> closer.register(cipher::destroy));
        // HACK!
        // The writePages() method is called in a separate thread pool and it's possible that
        // these spiller thread can run concurrently with the close() method.
        // Due to this race when the spiller thread is running, the driver thread:
        // 1. Can zero out the memory reservation even though the spiller thread physically holds onto that memory.
        // 2. Can close/delete the temp file(s) used for spilling, which doesn't have any visible side effects, but still not desirable.
        // To hack around the first issue we reserve the memory in the constructor and we release it in the close() method.
        // This means we start accounting for the memory before the spiller thread allocates it, and we release the memory reservation
        // before/after the spiller thread allocates that memory -- -- whether before or after depends on whether writePages() is in the
        // middle of execution when close() is called (note that this applies to both readPages() and writePages() methods).
        this.memoryContext.setBytes(BUFFER_SIZE);
        try {
            this.targetFile = closer.register(new FileHolder(Files.createTempFile(spillPath, SPILL_FILE_PREFIX, SPILL_FILE_SUFFIX)));
        }
        catch (IOException e) {
            throw new PrestoException(GENERIC_SPILL_FAILURE, format("Failed to create spill file: %s", e.getMessage()), e);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public ListenableFuture<?> spill(Iterator<Page> pageIterator)
    {
        requireNonNull(pageIterator, "pageIterator is null");
        checkNoSpillInProgress();
        spillInProgress = executor.submit(() -> writePages(pageIterator));
        return spillInProgress;
    }

    @Override
    public long getSpilledPagesInMemorySize()
    {
        return spilledPagesInMemorySize;
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to 55bb57d202)

Solutions

1. Check that the spill filesystem has free space and correct permissions for the Presto process user
2. Verify experimental.spiller-spill-path points to a valid, writable local directory
3. Ensure the spill disk is not full or read-only; clean up stale spill files

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at presto-main-base/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/spiller/FileSingleStreamSpiller.java:111 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of prestodb/presto@55bb57d202 (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6ebe3e07a56c8084. Report an issue: GitHub.