risingwavelabs/risingwave · error · SinkError::Iceberg

failed to create iceberg namespace: {namespace}

Error message

failed to create iceberg namespace: {namespace}

What it means

After confirming a namespace does not exist, RisingWave calls `catalog.create_namespace`; if that call fails the error is wrapped in `SinkError::Iceberg` and annotated with `failed to create iceberg namespace: {namespace}`. It means the catalog backend rejected or failed the namespace creation request.

Source

Thrown at src/connector/src/sink/iceberg/create_table.rs:293

    namespace: &NamespaceIdent,
) -> Result<()> {
    let mut namespaces = vec![namespace.clone()];
    let mut parent = namespace.parent();
    while let Some(parent_namespace) = parent {
        parent = parent_namespace.parent();
        namespaces.push(parent_namespace);
    }

    for namespace in namespaces.into_iter().rev() {
        if !catalog
            .namespace_exists(&namespace)
            .await
            .map_err(|e| SinkError::Iceberg(anyhow!(e)))?
        {
            catalog
                .create_namespace(&namespace, HashMap::default())
                .await
                .map_err(|e| SinkError::Iceberg(anyhow!(e)))
                .with_context(|| format!("failed to create iceberg namespace: {namespace}"))?;
        }
    }

    Ok(())
}

const MAP_KEY: &str = "key";
const MAP_VALUE: &str = "value";

fn field_is_compatible(
    rw_type: &risingwave_common::types::DataType,
    arrow_field: &ArrowField,
) -> anyhow::Result<bool> {
    use risingwave_common::types::DataType as RwDataType;

    // A Variant is physically an Arrow struct, but its extension metadata makes it a leaf
    // Iceberg type. The binding is exclusive in both directions: a plain struct mimicking

View on GitHub (pinned to 6469eb736d)

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped underlying error for the real cause (permission denied, conflict, etc.).
2. Pre-create the namespace manually in the catalog (or with spark/trino) with correct permissions.
3. Check catalog credentials/ACLs allow namespace creation.
4. If it's a race, re-run the sink creation; the namespace now exists and the check will skip creation.

// pre-create the namespace via the catalog CLI/API before sinking
// REST: PUT /v1/{prefix}/namespaces/{ns} with {"namespace": ["ns"]}

// match on the wrapped catalog error kind
if let Err(e) = create_sink().await {
    if e.to_string().contains("failed to create iceberg namespace") {
        log::error!("namespace creation failed; check ACLs: {e:#}");
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Called from `create_table_if_not_exists_impl` (via `create_namespace_if_not_exists`) when `catalog.create_namespace(&namespace, HashMap::default())` returns Err during Iceberg sink table creation.

Common situations: Insufficient permissions on the catalog to create namespaces; namespace already exists but `namespace_exists` gave a stale/false negative (eventual consistency or race with another writer); invalid namespace characters for the catalog backend.

Related errors

• Snowflake catalog only supports iceberg sources
• `catalog.type` must be set
• Failed to list iceberg namespaces.
• Failed to create namespace.
• Failed to check namespace exists.

AI-assisted analysis of risingwavelabs/risingwave@6469eb736d (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1ae5239c526db65b. Report an issue: GitHub.