vectordotdev/vector · error

Failed to create output dir

Error message

Failed to create output dir: {new_dir:?}

What it means

After computing the mirrored output subdirectory name, the walker creates it with fs::create_dir_all; failure panics with 'Failed to create output dir: <path>'. This mirrors the input directory structure into the output root.

Solutions

1. Ensure the output root exists and is writable; remove conflicting regular files that block directory creation
2. Run with a user/group that has write permission on the output tree, or chown the output root
3. Shorten paths by using a shallower output root if PATH_MAX is the issue (use a path under a short tmpdir)
4. Patch to push the io::Error into the errors Vec rather than panicking

Example fix

// before
fs::create_dir_all(&new_dir)
    .unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!("Failed to create output dir: {new_dir:?}"));
// after
if let Err(err) = fs::create_dir_all(&new_dir) {
    errors.push(format!("Failed to create output dir {new_dir:?}: {err}"));
    continue;
}

fn ensure_writable_dir(p: &std::path::Path) -> std::io::Result<()> {
    std::fs::create_dir_all(p)?;
    let probe = p.join(".write_probe");
    std::fs::write(&probe, b"")?;
    std::fs::remove_file(&probe)
}

fn is_writable_dir(p: &std::path::Path) -> bool { p.is_dir() && !fs::metadata(p).map(|m| m.permissions().readonly()).unwrap_or(true) }

When it happens

Trigger: create_dir_all fails for the mirrored subdirectory: parent output dir is read-only, a same-named path component already exists as a regular file, path length limits are exceeded, or the disk is full.

Common situations: Reusing an output root that partially contains files where directories are expected, running as a user without write access to the output tree, or very deep input trees hitting PATH_MAX on Linux.

Understand the failure class

Background: mkdir permission denied (EACCES): failed to create directory errors explained — this error's family across 32 libraries.

Related errors

• Failed to create output dir(s)
• Failed to bind to listener socket at path
• Failed to get entry for dir
• Failed to get extension for
• Failed to get file_name for

AI-assisted analysis of vectordotdev/vector@bdb87aeaa4 (2026-09-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/26a1f8b330cd1472. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/convert_config.rs:168

) -> Result<(), Vec<String>> {
    let mut errors = Vec::new();

    if input_path.is_dir() {
        for entry in fs::read_dir(input_path)
            .unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!("Failed to read dir: {input_path:?}"))
        {
            let entry_path = entry
                .unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!("Failed to get entry for dir: {input_path:?}"))
                .path();
            let new_output_dir = if entry_path.is_dir() {
                let last_component = entry_path
                    .file_name()
                    .unwrap_or_else(|| panic!("Failed to get file_name for {entry_path:?}"));
                let new_dir = output_dir.join(last_component);

                if !new_dir.exists() {
                    fs::create_dir_all(&new_dir)
                        .unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!("Failed to create output dir: {new_dir:?}"));
                }
                new_dir
            } else {
                output_dir.to_path_buf()
            };

            if let Err(new_errors) = walk_dir_and_convert(
                &input_path.join(&entry_path),
                &new_output_dir,
                output_format,
            ) {
                errors.extend(new_errors);
            }
        }
    } else {
        let output_path = output_dir.join(
            input_path
                .with_extension(output_format.to_string().as_str())

View on GitHub (pinned to bdb87aeaa4)