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javawindows

Possible causes of java.io.IOException: CreateProcess error=5

What kind of problem(s) could cause Java's ProcessBuilder.start method to return an IOException with a note saying error=5?

Specifically, we've seen a remote customer system running some Java code along the lines of...

ProcessBuilder pb = new ProcessBuilder(cmdArray);
pb.redirectErrorStream(true);
Process p = pb.start();

...throw exceptions like this...

java.io.IOException: CreateProcess: C:\example\example.exe argument1 argument2 error=5
at java.lang.ProcessImpl.create(Native Method)
at java.lang.ProcessImpl.<init>(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.ProcessImpl.start(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.ProcessBuilder.start(Unknown Source)
at example_code_above

We have confirmed that the command noted in the exception, "C:\example\example.exe argument1 argument2" can be run successfully by hand via cmd.exe, so we are confident the command itself is not broken.

Solution

  • error=5 means one of:

    1) file is not executable
    2) file is not accessible

    EDIT: wont throw exception
    3) the command (example.exe) exits with exit code 5