What causes "Incorrect data format: no data version" in theonedev/onedev?

Restore the db_version file from backup and ensure it contains a N entry

theonedev/onedev · error · RuntimeException

Incorrect data format: no data version

Error message

Incorrect data format: no data version

What it means

migrateData locates the version element by looking up child element ModelVersion.PROP_VERSION_COLUMN under the single root child of the db_version XML file. If that element is missing, the file has no data version recorded and it throws this RuntimeException.

Source

Thrown at server-core/src/main/java/io/onedev/server/data/DefaultDataService.java:340

	private File getVersionFile(File dataDir) {
		File versionFile = new File(dataDir, ModelVersion.class.getSimpleName() + "s.xml");
		if (!versionFile.exists())
			versionFile = new File(dataDir, "VersionTables.xml");
		return versionFile;
	}
	
	@Override
	public void migrateData(File dataDir) {
		File versionFile = getVersionFile(dataDir);
		
		VersionedXmlDoc dom = VersionedXmlDoc.fromFile(versionFile);
		List<Element> elements = dom.getRootElement().elements();
		if (elements.size() != 1)
			throw new RuntimeException("Incorrect data format: illegal data version");
		Element versionElement = elements.iterator().next().element(ModelVersion.PROP_VERSION_COLUMN);		
		if (versionElement == null) {
			throw new RuntimeException("Incorrect data format: no data version");
		}
		
		if (MigrationHelper.migrate(versionElement.getText(), new DataMigrator(), dataDir)) {
			// load version file again in case we changed something of it while migrating
			versionFile = getVersionFile(dataDir);
			dom = VersionedXmlDoc.fromFile(versionFile);
			elements = dom.getRootElement().elements();
			Preconditions.checkState(elements.size() == 1);
			versionElement = Preconditions.checkNotNull(elements.iterator().next().element(ModelVersion.PROP_VERSION_COLUMN));		
			versionElement.setText(MigrationHelper.getVersion(DataMigrator.class));
			dom.writeToFile(versionFile, false);
		}		
	}

	/**
	 * Determines whether or not entityType1 has transitive foreign key
	 * dependency on entityType2.
	 *

View on GitHub (pinned to d44925c47c)

Solutions

Restore the db_version file from backup and ensure it contains a <version>N</version> entry
Recreate the file with the proper structure: single child element containing the version column element
If the site data version cannot be determined, re-initialize the data directory
Check the file with the same OneDev version to confirm the expected structure

Example fix

<!-- before -->
<root><other>10</other></root>
<!-- after -->
<root><version>10</version></root>

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

Element versionEl = (Element) dom.getRootElement().elements().get(0).element("version");
if (versionEl == null) restoreFromBackup(dbVersionFile);

Try / catch

try { migrateData(dir); } catch (RuntimeException e) { if (e.getMessage().contains("no data version")) { recreateDbVersionFile(); } }

Prevention

Preserve the <version> element when editing any versioned file
Take backups of data-dir metadata files
Never regenerate the version file by hand — copy from a working install
Use OneDev's own export/import instead of manual file surgery

When it happens

Trigger: The db_version XML file exists with exactly one root child, but that child lacks the 'version' column element — e.g. the file was hand-edited or generated incorrectly.

Common situations: Manual editing/removal of the version entry in the site data directory, corrupted export, or copy-pasting a wrong file structure into db_version.

Understand the failure class

Background: Schema validation failed / invalid input schema: payload rejected because its shape doesn't match the expected schema — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of theonedev/onedev@d44925c47c (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a47e1f7cc2755867. Report an issue: GitHub.