spring-projects/spring-boot · error · GradleException

Failed to create

Error message

Failed to create {}

What it means

Thrown by BootZipCopyAction.execute when writeArchive(copyActions) throws an IOException. This is the top-level catch around the entire archive-writing loop that creates the output boot JAR/WAR/zip. The message names this.output (the target archive File). Any I/O failure during the creation of the archive file bubbles up here.

Solutions

1. Run 'gradle clean' to remove stale outputs, then rebuild.
2. Verify the build output directory (build/libs) exists and is writable: 'ls -la build/libs' and check permissions.
3. Close IDEs or file-locking tools that may hold the output JAR, or add the build directory to their exclusion lists.
4. Check available disk space: 'df -h .'
5. Run with '--no-daemon' to rule out a daemon holding a file lock.

// Pre-check output writability before the build.
File outDir = new File(project.buildDir, "libs");
if (!outDir.exists() && !outDir.mkdirs()) {
    throw new GradleException("Cannot create output dir: " + outDir);
}
if (!outDir.canWrite()) {
    throw new GradleException("Output dir not writable: " + outDir);
}

// Catch GradleException around the bootJar/bootWar task and inspect the cause.
try {
    project.getTasks().named("bootJar").get().copy();
} catch (GradleException ex) {
    if (ex.getCause() instanceof IOException) {
        // handle I/O: disk full, permissions, lock
    }
    throw ex;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Any IOException while creating the output archive: cannot open FileOutputStream(this.output) (permissions, path does not exist, file is locked), disk full during write, or the output stream is closed unexpectedly.

Common situations: The output directory does not exist or is not writable. Another process (IDE, file watcher, previous daemon) holds a lock on the output file. Disk full. Building into a network-mounted directory that drops. Antivirus scanning locks the file mid-write.

Related errors

• Failed to add to
• Failed to get mode from FileCopyDetails
• Failed to read main class name from
• Error reading Docker configuration file
• Failed to get dir mode from CopySpec

AI-assisted analysis of spring-projects/spring-boot@270dfe353f (2026-08-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/92fe4e2eda055351. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at build-plugin/spring-boot-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/gradle/tasks/bundling/BootZipCopyAction.java:143

		this.includeDefaultLoader = includeDefaultLoader;
		this.jarmodeToolsLocation = jarmodeToolsLocation;
		this.requiresUnpack = requiresUnpack;
		this.exclusions = exclusions;
		this.librarySpec = librarySpec;
		this.compressionResolver = compressionResolver;
		this.encoding = encoding;
		this.resolvedDependencies = resolvedDependencies;
		this.layerResolver = layerResolver;
	}

	@Override
	public WorkResult execute(CopyActionProcessingStream copyActions) {
		try {
			writeArchive(copyActions);
			return WorkResults.didWork(true);
		}
		catch (IOException ex) {
			throw new GradleException("Failed to create " + this.output, ex);
		}
	}

	private void writeArchive(CopyActionProcessingStream copyActions) throws IOException {
		OutputStream output = new FileOutputStream(this.output);
		try {
			writeArchive(copyActions, output);
		}
		finally {
			closeQuietly(output);
		}
	}

	private void writeArchive(CopyActionProcessingStream copyActions, OutputStream output) throws IOException {
		ZipArchiveOutputStream zipOutput = new ZipArchiveOutputStream(output);
		try {
			setEncodingIfNecessary(zipOutput);
			Processor processor = new Processor(zipOutput);

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