ruby/rubygems · error · Gem::Package::TarInvalidError

#{str.inspect} is not an octal string

Error message

#{str.inspect} is not an octal string

What it means

Error "#{str.inspect} is not an octal string" thrown in ruby/rubygems.

Source

Thrown at lib/rubygems/package/tar_reader.rb:62

  ##
  # Close the tar file

  def close
  end

  ##
  # Iterates over files in the tarball yielding each entry

  def each
    return enum_for __method__ unless block_given?

    until @io.eof? do
      begin
        header = Gem::Package::TarHeader.from @io
      rescue ArgumentError => e
        # Specialize only exceptions from Gem::Package::TarHeader.strict_oct
        raise e unless e.message.match?(/ is not an octal string$/)
        raise Gem::Package::TarInvalidError, e.message
      end

      return if header.empty?
      entry = Gem::Package::TarReader::Entry.new header, @io
      yield entry
      entry.close
    end
  end

  alias_method :each_entry, :each

  ##
  # NOTE: Do not call #rewind during #each

  def rewind
    if @init_pos == 0
      @io.rewind
    else

View on GitHub (pinned to 86cbb817a3)

Solutions

1. The tar archive is corrupt (a numeric header field is not octal); re-download the gem
2. Rebuild the gem if you created it

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/rubygems/package/tar_reader.rb:62 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of ruby/rubygems@86cbb817a3 (2026-08-23). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b5a2207954d362ba. Report an issue: GitHub.