What causes "Could not get user name on remote host (error code: )" in pentaho/pentaho-kettle?

Manually run 'whoami' over SSH as the same account to reproduce and see the exit code

pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · JSchException

Could not get user name on remote host (error code: )

Error message

Could not get user name on remote host (error code: )

What it means

Thrown by SftpFileSystemWindows.getUser() when the remote 'whoami' command (WHO_AMI) exits with a non-zero code, so the remote user name cannot be determined. The user name is required to populate group/identity info on Windows SFTP connections.

Solutions

Manually run 'whoami' over SSH as the same account to reproduce and see the exit code
Verify the SSH server provides a Windows command shell (WinClass execution) and whoami.exe is on PATH
Unblock whoami.exe via security policy or antivirus exclusions
Use an account whose shell can execute whoami
Catch the JSchException and fall back to the username supplied in the VFS connection URI

Example fix

// before
String user = fs.getUser();
// after
String user;
try {
  user = fs.getUser();
} catch ( JSchException | IOException e ) {
  user = rootName.getUserName(); // fallback to configured username
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

// ssh user@host "whoami" || echo WILL_FAIL

Try / catch

try {
  String user = fs.getUser();
} catch ( JSchException | IOException e ) {
  // fall back to the username from the connection URI
}

Prevention

Confirm 'whoami' works over plain SSH with the same credentials
Use accounts whose shells are not restricted
Keep the Windows OpenSSH server default shell as cmd.exe or ensure WinClass execution works
Cache the username once resolved to avoid repeated remote calls

When it happens

Trigger: Any call chain that resolves the remote user (getUser, and therefore getUserGroups/userGroups) when 'whoami' returns non-zero on the remote Windows host.

Common situations: Same causes as the groups error: restricted remote shell, whoami.exe blocked or missing from PATH, non-Windows-class SSH server, account lacking execute rights.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Something went wrong' / 'Request failed (500)' / 'HTTP error! status: 404' — what failed HTTP requests actually mean and how to find the real cause — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/73fc708230d4800f. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at core/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/core/vfs/SftpFileSystemWindows.java:151

      if ( endIndex < 0 ) {
        return result;
      }
      result.add( commandOutput.substring( startIndex, endIndex ).toUpperCase().trim() );
    }
  }

  /**
   * Get current user on remote host
   *
   * @return name of user on remote host
   * @throws JSchException
   * @throws IOException
   */
  String getUser() throws JSchException, IOException {
    StringBuilder output = new StringBuilder();
    int code = this.executeCommandWinClass( WHO_AMI, output );
    if ( code != 0 ) {
      throw new JSchException( "Could not get user name on remote host (error code: " + code + ")" );
    }

    return output.toString().trim().toUpperCase();
  }

  /**
   * @param path path to file or directory
   * @return Map Windows Group - permissions
   * @throws JSchException
   * @throws IOException
   */
  Map<String, String> getFilePermission( String path ) throws JSchException, IOException {
    String windowsAbsPath;
    if ( path.startsWith( WINDOWS_PATH_DELIMITER ) ) {
      //cut first "/" windows does not have it
      //it mean first letter is name of disk
      path = path.substring( WINDOWS_PATH_DELIMITER.length() );
      windowsAbsPath = path.substring( 0, 1 ) + ":" + path.substring( 1 );

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