risingwavelabs/risingwave · error · iceberg::Error (ErrorKind::Unexpected)

Failed to update iceberg table.

Error message

Failed to update iceberg table.

What it means

JniCatalog::update_table wraps any error from the JNI commit/update call (Java exception during table commit, JNIEnv error, or JoinError from a panicked task) into this Unexpected iceberg error with source attached. The table commit was not applied.

Solutions

1. Inspect the source error chain for commit rejections or Java exceptions
2. Re-load the table to get fresh metadata and retry the commit (conflict handling)
3. Verify credentials and backend catalog availability
4. Ensure JVM/classpath is correctly configured for commit-heavy operations

// Reload fresh table metadata before committing to avoid stale-commit conflicts
let fresh = catalog.load_table(commit.table()).await?;
// verify requirements against fresh metadata before update_table

fn is_jni_update_failure(err: &iceberg::Error) -> bool {
    err.kind() == iceberg::ErrorKind::Unexpected && err.message().contains("Failed to update iceberg table.")
}

match catalog.update_table(commit).await {
    Err(e) if e.message().contains("Failed to update iceberg table.") => {
        // reload table, rebuild commit, retry with backoff
    }
    other => other,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling update_table with a TableCommit (schema evolution, partition spec updates, commit of new snapshots) where the underlying Java catalog commit fails or the block_in_place task panics.

Common situations: Commit conflicts (the Java side rejects a stale metadata version), auth/backend failures during snapshot commit, JVM misconfiguration when RisingWave commits changes to an Iceberg table.

Understand the failure class

Background: "API request failed": what wrapped HTTP errors from external APIs mean and how to find the real cause — this error's family across 29 libraries.

Related errors

• Failed to check iceberg table exists.
• Failed to drop iceberg table.
• Failed to list iceberg namespaces.
• Failed to load iceberg table.
• register_table is not supported by JniCatalog

AI-assisted analysis of risingwavelabs/risingwave@6469eb736d (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/90322ca7c5e560f5. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/connector/src/connector_common/iceberg/jni_catalog.rs:533

                );

                let table_metadata = response.metadata;

                let file_io = FileIOBuilder::new(Arc::new(OpenDalResolvingStorageFactory::new()))
                    .with_props(file_io_props.iter())
                    .build();

                Ok(Table::builder()
                    .file_io(file_io)
                    .identifier(commit.identifier().clone())
                    .metadata(table_metadata)
                    .runtime(runtime)
                    .build()?)
            })
        })
        .await
        .map_err(|e| {
            iceberg::Error::new(
                iceberg::ErrorKind::Unexpected,
                "Failed to update iceberg table.",
            )
            .with_source(e)
        })
    }
}

impl Drop for JniCatalogInner {
    fn drop(&mut self) {
        let _ = execute_with_jni_env(self.jvm, |env| {
            call_method!(env, self.java_catalog.as_obj(), {void close()})
                .with_context(|| "Failed to close iceberg catalog".to_owned())?;
            Ok(())
        })
        .inspect_err(
            |e| tracing::error!(error = ?e.as_report(), "Failed to close iceberg catalog"),
        );

View on GitHub (pinned to 6469eb736d)