# RemoteException file doesn't exist

**URL:** <https://discuss.hail.is/t/remoteexception-file-doesnt-exist/1865>\
**Category:** Hail Query & hailctl\
**Created:** [December 22, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://discuss.hail.is/t/remoteexception-file-doesnt-exist/1865 "2020-12-22T19:12:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ruchim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@ruchim](https://discuss.hail.is/u/ruchim)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://discuss.hail.is/t/remoteexception-file-doesnt-exist/1865/1 "2020-12-22T19:12:34Z")

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Hail Version: Hail version: 0.2.61-3c86d3ba497a

Error: Error summary: RemoteException: File does not exist: /header.g.vcf.gz

Using the run\_combiner tool below (from a docker image with Hail installed) – and the Header\_File is being passed in as a local file path “/header.g.vcf.gz” (and I can confirm it exists at that location with a quick ls). What’s the best way to interpret that error?

```
hl.experimental.run_combiner(
    gvcf_list,
    sample_names=samples_list,
    header=HEADER_FILE,
    out_file=args.output_cloud_path,
    tmp_path=args.tmp_bucket,
    key_by_locus_and_alleles=True,
    overwrite=args.overwrite_existing,
    reference_genome='GRCh38',
    use_exome_default_intervals=True,
    target_records=10000
)
```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![danking](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discuss.hail.is/danking/32/43_2.png) [@danking](https://discuss.hail.is/u/danking)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2020, 8:36pm UTC](https://discuss.hail.is/t/remoteexception-file-doesnt-exist/1865/2 "2020-12-22T20:36:12Z")

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I’m not familiar with the combiner, but I’d try `file:///header.g.vcf.gz`. It’s possible this is a Hadoop filesystem vs. local file system issue. `RemoteException` sounds to me like a Java exception (meaning that the root cause is Hail’s Java backend which indeed uses the Hadoop filesystem). The full stack trace would indicate if the issue arose in Java/Scala code or not.