zhisheng17/flink-learning · error · KubernetesException

ConfigMap {configMapName} does not exists. It may be deleted

Error message

ConfigMap {configMapName} does not exists. It may be deleted externally.

What it means

KubernetesStateHandleStore.getAndLock throws getConfigMapNotExistException when kubeClient.getConfigMap(configMapName) returns empty, meaning the entire HA ConfigMap is gone — the message warns it may have been deleted externally. Flink's HA relies on this ConfigMap persisting job state handles; its absence breaks leader election/recovery assumptions. Callers get a distinct error from key-missing so they can react to total storage loss.

Source

Thrown at flink-learning-k8s/flink-k8s/src/main/java/org/apache/flink/kubernetes/highavailability/KubernetesStateHandleStore.java:243

	 *
	 * @throws IOException if the method failed to deserialize the stored state handle
	 * @throws NotExistException when the name does not exist
	 * @throws Exception if get state handle from ConfigMap failed
	 */
	@Override
	public RetrievableStateHandle<T> getAndLock(String key) throws Exception {
		checkNotNull(key, "Key in ConfigMap.");

		final Optional<KubernetesConfigMap> optional = kubeClient.getConfigMap(configMapName);
		if (optional.isPresent()) {
			final KubernetesConfigMap configMap = optional.get();
			if (configMap.getData().containsKey(key)) {
				return deserializeObject(configMap.getData().get(key));
			} else {
				throw getKeyNotExistException(key);
			}
		} else {
			throw getConfigMapNotExistException();
		}
	}

	/**
	 * Gets all available state handles from Kubernetes.
	 *
	 * @return All state handles from ConfigMap.
	 */
	@Override
	public List<Tuple2<RetrievableStateHandle<T>, String>> getAllAndLock() {

		return kubeClient.getConfigMap(configMapName)
			.map(
				configMap -> {
					final List<Tuple2<RetrievableStateHandle<T>, String>> stateHandles = new ArrayList<>();
					configMap.getData().entrySet().stream()
						.filter(entry -> configMapKeyFilter.test(entry.getKey()))
						.forEach(entry -> {

View on GitHub (pinned to d731cee761)

Solutions

1. Confirm the ConfigMap exists in the expected namespace: kubectl -n <ns> get configmap <configMapName>
2. Check high-availability configuration (namespace, cluster-id) hasn't changed between savepoint and recovery
3. Recreate the ConfigMap from backup or restore HA metadata from an alternative storage backend
4. Investigate external deletion (TTL controllers, cleanup scripts, RBAC-restricted operators) and disable or reconfigure it

Example fix

// before
kubectl delete configmap flink-cluster-ha --namespace flink
// after
kubectl -n flink get configmap flink-cluster-ha  # verify before any cleanup; exclude *-ha configmaps from TTL/cleanup policies

if (!kubeClient.getConfigMap(configMapName).isPresent()) {
    LOG.error("HA ConfigMap {} missing — state handles unavailable", configMapName);
    return Optional.empty();
}

try {
    return stateHandleStore.getAndLock(configMapName, key);
} catch (Exception e) {
    if (e.getMessage() != null && e.getMessage().contains("does not exists")) {
        LOG.error("HA ConfigMap {} was deleted externally; manual restore required", configMapName);
    }
    throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling getAndLock(configMapName, key) where the Kubernetes API returns no ConfigMap for configMapName — it was never created, deleted manually/by a GC controller, or the client is pointed at the wrong namespace.

Common situations: Someone ran kubectl delete on HA ConfigMaps, a namespace-scoped cleanup job (or TTL controller) removed them, or the Flink configuration's namespace/cluster-id changed so the store looks in the wrong place.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• Failed to update ConfigMap {} since current KubernetesCheckp
• Failed to clear job state in ConfigMap {} for job {}
• Failed to set {} state in ConfigMap {} for job {}
• {} already exists in ConfigMap {}
• Could not find {} in ConfigMap {}

AI-assisted analysis of zhisheng17/flink-learning@d731cee761 (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c7f53ae5cb4cbb7d. Report an issue: GitHub.