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

Question

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.

i have same issue in android http://stackoverflow.com/questions/39245238/errorcreateprocess-error-193-1-is-not-a-valid-win32-application — Aditya Vyas-Lakhan, Aug 31 '16 at 09:17

Op De Cirkel · Accepted Answer · 2011-07-13T05:48:14.240

15

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~~

edited Jul 13 '11 at 05:48

answered Jul 13 '11 at 05:40

Op De Cirkel

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Thanks - Can you tell me where that information is available for future reference? – Matt Sheppard Jul 13 '11 at 05:55
[Windows predefined exit codes](http://en.kioskea.net/faq/2347-error-codes-in-windows) and a little bit of experimenting with ProcessBuilder for various cases – Op De Cirkel Jul 13 '11 at 06:03
9

I had this error on Windows 7 too. The reason ? Basically, I have tried to execute a folder rather than an executable :\ Dumb error – Stephan Nov 27 '11 at 19:09
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/39245238/errorcreateprocess-error-193-1-is-not-a-valid-win32-application can you tell about this – Aditya Vyas-Lakhan Aug 31 '16 at 09:19

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 01 '14 at 17:13

Alexandr is correct, it's Windows security that's not allowing that process to run, but that powershell command didn't work for me. here's what I did:

Open up Windows explorer, and navigate to example.exe
Right click on it and choose "Properties"
Go to the "Security" tab and click the "Edit" button
Select your username in the top box and in the bottom one give "Full Control" or at least "Read & Execute"
Click OK to get rid of these boxes

Now your user can execute that program. Yay!

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Jul 26 '16 at 19:05

2

Sometimes this happens because the path you put in code is not correct. For windows put "\\" as a path separator instead of "\" For example change path to "C:\\example\\example.exe"

edited Jul 26 '16 at 19:05

Bo Persson

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answered Jul 26 '16 at 18:45

Harry

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The proper escaping is equally important in these posts. :-) – Bo Persson Jul 26 '16 at 19:06

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 24 '14 at 14:42

1

I have the same exception because of Windows UAC.

This can happen even if your account has administrator privileges.

To be able to run such command I had to use powershell to elevate privileges.

powershell start-process 'start.bat' -Verb RunAs

answered Feb 24 '14 at 14:42

Alexandr

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

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