snbk can't send snapshots. TheBigThing.cc(transfer):85 ... File exists 'mkdir' failed

[grigio]

I think it;s something related #1061 , I can send the first full snapshot correctly with snbk but from the second snapshot and beyond i can't send new ones.

~ ❯ sudo snbk -b home transfer-and-delete
Running transfer and delete for backup config 'home'.
Transferring snapshot 14.
Transferring snapshot 15.
Transferring snapshot 16.

~ ❯ sudo snbk -b home transfer-and-delete
Running transfer and delete for backup config 'home'.
Transferring snapshot 14.
Thu 22 Jan 2026 10:05:25 AM CET <3> TheBigThing.cc(transfer):81 command '/usr/bin/ssh 192.168.1.79 -p 22 -l root -i /etc/snapper/certs/id_ecdsa '/usr/bin/mkdir' '--' '/@bkp-home/14'' failed: 1
Thu 22 Jan 2026 10:05:25 AM CET <3> TheBigThing.cc(transfer):85 mkdir: cannot create directory '/@bkp-home/14': File exists
'mkdir' failed.
Running transfer and delete for backup config 'home' failed.
Running transfer and delete failed for 1 of 1 backup config.

info

ssh root@192.168.1.79 btrfs version
btrfs-progs v6.17.1
-EXPERIMENTAL -INJECT -STATIC +LZO +ZSTD +UDEV +FSVERITY +ZONED CRYPTO=libgcrypt

~ ❯ cat /etc/snapper/backup-configs/root.json
{
  "config": "root",
  "target-mode": "ssh-push",
  "automatic": true,
  "source-path": "/",
  "target-path": "/backups/omarchy/root",
  "ssh-host": "192.168.1.79",
  "ssh-user": "root",
  "ssh-port": 22,
  "ssh-identity": "/etc/snapper/certs/id_ecdsa"
}

~ ✗ cat /etc/snapper/backup-configs/home.json
{
  "config": "home",
  "target-mode": "ssh-push",
  "automatic": true,
  "source-path": "/home",
  "target-path": "/@bkp-home",
  "ssh-host": "192.168.1.79",
  "ssh-user": "root",
  "ssh-port": 22,
  "ssh-identity": "/etc/snapper/certs/id_ecdsa"
}

BTRFS server

[root@archlinux root]# tree /@bkp-home/ -L 2
/@bkp-home/
├── 14
│   ├── info.xml
│   └── snapshot
├── 15
│   ├── info.xml
│   └── snapshot
└── 16
    ├── info.xml
    └── snapshot

[aschnell]

If the fix for the mentioned issue included on your system? Likely not since no release was made since then. What version of snapper do you use? What distribution are you using?

[grigio]

@aschnell I didn't try that fix. I'm using Archlinux with snapper 0.13.0

[grigio]

I've this, what should i do?

[root@archlinux ~]# /usr/bin/findmnt --json --target /@bkp-home
{
   "filesystems": [
      {                                                                            "target": "/",
         "source": "/dev/mapper/root[/@]",
         "fstype": "btrfs",
         "options": "rw,relatime,compress=zstd:3,ssd,space_cache=v2,subvolid=302,subvol=/@"
      }
   ]
}

[grigio]

Do this commit fix this issue? 574d72f

[jamesljlster]

Do this commit fix this issue? 574d72f

I am afraid that the commit is irrelevant to the issue you met.
If you are comfortable building the package yourself (since the AUR package is outdated), I would encourage you try the latest unreleased version.
I use Manjaro, and I believe the following instructions should also work on Arch Linux, too.
Assume that you have already cloned the repository:

1. Install the runtime and build dependencies. You can find them in the official pkgbuild for Snapper:

   sudo pacman -S acl boost boost-libs btrfs-progs dbus docbook-xsl git json-c libxml2 libxslt lvm2 pam systemd

2. Disable the SELinux feature. It's not officially supported by Arch:

   diff --git a/Makefile.repo b/Makefile.repo
   index 37f5e455..4f2613db 100644
   --- a/Makefile.repo
   +++ b/Makefile.repo
   @@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ endif
    PREFIX = /usr
    
    configure: all
   -	./configure --prefix=$(PREFIX) --libdir=$(PREFIX)/$(LIB) --enable-selinux --disable-ext4
   +	./configure --prefix=$(PREFIX) --libdir=$(PREFIX)/$(LIB) --disable-ext4
    
    all:
    	aclocal

3. Follow the README to build Snapper. For example:

   make -f Makefile.repo
   make -j8

4. Finally, run the built snbk to test if it works for you:

   sudo ./client/snbk/snbk -b home transfer-and-delete